Page 1 GAO-24-106929 Corps Project Mitigation
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, an agency within the Department of Defense,
develops civil works projects primarily to improve navigable channels, reduce
flood and storm damage, and restore aquatic ecosystems. Congress authorizes
and provides appropriations for proposed projects based on Corps feasibility
studies. The studies are statutorily required to include a specific plan to mitigate
damage to ecological resources and fish and wildlife losses created by the
project, unless it is determined that the project will have negligible adverse
impacts. Mitigation generally involves avoiding and minimizing impacts or
undertaking compensatory mitigation for unavoidable impacts by replacing or
providing substitutes to restore, establish, enhance, and preserve resources.
Section 2036(b) of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2007, as
amended, requires the Corps to report to relevant congressional committees
each fiscal year, concurrent with its request for appropriations, on the status of
construction of projects requiring mitigation. The Corps is to report the status of
such mitigation and make the information in the report available to the public,
including on the internet. Section 2036(b), as amended, also requires the Corps
to use a uniform methodology to determine the status of all projects included in
the report and to report on statutorily required consultations with appropriate
federal agencies and states to determine whether a mitigation plan is successful.
The annual reports inform the budget process to help ensure projects are
adequately funded to meet their mitigation needs.
The Water Resources Development Act of 2022 includes a provision for GAO to,
among other things, review the Corps’ annual reports and activities to mitigate
fish and wildlife losses resulting from the construction, operation, and
maintenance of water resources development projects. (Pub. L. No. 117-263, div.
H, tit. LXXXI, § 8236(d)(1)(A), (B)(iv), 136 Stat. 2395, 3770-3771). This report
describes how the Corps reports and tracks such mitigation activities, the extent
of environmental restoration from these activities reported by the Corps, the
extent to which mitigation is undertaken prior to—or concurrently with—
construction, and other information on the Corps’ mitigation activities in fiscal
years 2008 through 2020.
• After fiscal year 2020, the Corps did not deliver annual reports on the status
of construction of projects requiring mitigation to congressional committees
as required by statute. The fiscal year 2021 report is in the Corps’ approval
process, and the fiscal year 2022 report is being drafted, according to Corps
U.S. Government Accountability Office
CORPS OF ENGINEERS: The Status of
Construction Project Environmental Mitigation
Has Not Been Reported and Tracked as
Required
-24-106929
Committees
, 2024
