EP 1165-2-1
30 Jul 99
APPENDIX B
LEGISLATION PERTINENT TO THE WATER RESOURCES
PROGRAM OF THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS
B-1. 11 March 1779, Corps of Engineers. Resolved, "That the
engineers in the service of the United States shall be formed into a
corps and styled the 'Corps of Engineers,' ...That a commandant of the
Corps of Engineers shall be appointed by Congress, ...." However, the
Corps was mustered out of service in 1783 and was not permanently
organized until 1802.
B-2. 7 August 1789, Lighthouse Act of 1789. The ninth statute
enacted by the First Congress, this act initiated Federal navigational
improvements. It authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to maintain
existing lighthouses, beacons, buoys, and piers to aid navigation in
the nation's bays, inlets, ports, and harbors, provided that the
states would cede the structures to the new federal government. He
was also authorized to build a new lighthouse near the entrance to
Chesapeake Bay (1 Stat. 53-54).
B-3. 16 March 1802, An Act Fixing the Military Establishment of the
United States. Authorizes the President "when he shall deem it
expedient, to organize and establish a corps of engineers" and
establishes that the Corps "shall be stationed at West Point in the
state of New York, and shall constitute a military academy." The
Corps traces its continuous existence to this act.
B-4. 30 April 1824, An Act to Procure the Necessary Surveys, Plans,
and Estimates, upon the subject of roads and canals (General Survey
Act). Authorizes the President to "employ two or more skilfull (sic)
engineers, and such officers of the corps of engineers, or who may be
detailed to do duty with that corps" to survey "routes of such roads
and canals as he may deem of national importance in a commercial or
military point of view, or necessary for the transportation of the
public mail." (4 Stat. 22-23) Although this act did not authorize
surveys of inland rivers, the Corps generally traces its permanent
involvement in civil works to this legislation.
B-5. 24 May 1824, Navigation. The first appropriation by Congress
for work in inland navigable waters was ,000 for improving
navigation over sand bars in the Ohio River and for removing snags
from the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers (4 Stat. 32).
B-6. 20
May 1826, River and Harbor Act of 1826. This was the first
act that
authorized both surveys and construction for numerous water
projects
throughout the country. In consolidating in one act both
planning
and construction, it became the first true river and harbor
law.
B-7. 3 March 1841, U.S. Lake Survey. Appropriated ,000 for a
"hydrographic survey of the coasts of the northern and northwestern
lakes of the United States" thus initiating the U.S. Lake Survey
supervised by the Corps. This survey lasted until 1970, when most of
its responsibilities were transferred to the newly established
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the Department of
Commerce.
B-8. 11 September 1841, Joint Resolution. Land Titles. A joint
resolution, which had the force of law, prohibited the expenditure of
B-1
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