U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: FY2024 Appropriations
Congress generally funds the civil works activities of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in annual Energy and Water Development appropriations acts. These activities include the planning and construction of authorized water resource projects and the operation and maintenance (O&M) of infrastructure and navigation improvements managed by USACE. USACE uses most of its appropriations for work on specific studies and projects authorized by Congress. Nonfederal project sponsors or users often share in project construction costs. For more on USACE annual appropriations in general, see CRS Report R46320, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Annual Appropriations Process.
For FY2024 annual appropriations, Congress provided $8.68 billion for USACE civil works (after accounting for $22 million in recissions) in Title I of the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024 (Division D of P.L. 118-42). This total is 17% above the FY2024 President's budget request (see Figure 1). Congress included an explanatory statement providing further direction to USACE. The act directed $1.46 billion of unobligated Construction account funding from prior appropriations to fund FY2024 Construction account activities. That is, the act provided for $8.68 billion in new appropriations (Figure 1) and redirected the use of $1.46 billion in previous unobligated appropriations (not shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2).
In addition, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA; P.L. 117-58) provided $1.05 billion in advance appropriations for FY2024—$1.00 billion for O&M activities and $50 million for coastal flood damage reduction construction. (See CRS Insight IN11723, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Funding for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Civil Works.) The Administration allocated these supplemental funds toward eligible USACE activities in FY2024 IIJA spend plans.
USACE FY2024 Annual Appropriations
The O&M account, which funds maintenance of existing USACE infrastructure, accounted for 64% of USACE's $8.68 billion in FY2024 annual appropriations (Figure 2). Some accounts decreased in funding compared with FY2023 annual appropriations, including the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (-$100 million) and Investigations (-$40 million). The explanatory statement listed Investigations appropriations, which fund studies and design work to contemplate USACE projects, in two categories: (1) Feasibility and (2) Preconstruction, Engineering, and Design (PED).
For the Construction account, the act directed $3.32 billion to fund construction projects and activities. This total included $1.85 billion in annual appropriations provided by the act and the use of the following prior unobligated appropriations, as mentioned previously:
- $1.43 billion from unobligated and unallocated prior year IIJA Construction appropriations, and
- $35 million from unobligated and unallocated prior year Continuing Authorities Program (CAP) appropriations.
The act directed that the projects receiving IIJA appropriations "shall be subject to the terms and conditions" of IIJA Construction funding. For instance, because of a provision of the IIJA, FY2024 projects receiving IIJA funds are not limited in how much a project's total costs can exceed its authorization of appropriations without being required to obtain additional congressional authorization (i.e., 33 U.S.C. §2280 would not apply).
Community Project Funding and Congressional Directed Spending
The 112th through the 116th Congresses limited congressionally directed funding of site-specific studies and projects, which are sometimes referred to as earmarks. The 117th and 118th Congresses, in enacted FY2022, FY2023, and FY2024 annual appropriations, included community project funding (CPF) and congressionally directed spending (CDS) requested by Representatives and Senators, respectively, for site-specific studies and projects. Congress also enacted funding for broad categories (referred to as additional funding), such as navigation and flood and storm damage reduction.
In the FY2024 explanatory statement, Congress approved $1.49 billion for CPF/CDS items and $1.12 billion in additional funding. Following the direction of Congress, USACE developed work plans distributing the additional funding. In the Construction work plan, USACE identified which appropriations (e.g., FY2024 annual appropriations, prior year IIJA appropriations, or prior year CAP appropriations) were funding certain projects.
New Starts
New start is a term to describe USACE studies or projects receiving appropriations for the first time. The explanatory statement named most of the new starts allowed for FY2024: the Administration's request for five new studies and the first construction funds for Cape Cod Canal bridges, MA, and new studies and construction projects from CPF/CDS requests. The explanatory statement also directed USACE to select four additional new starts to receive additional funding: one new construction project for flood and storm damage reduction and three new studies for flood and storm damage reduction authorized in the Water Resources Development Act of 2022 (Title LXXXI of Division H of P.L. 117-263) and in states that had a Federal Disaster Emergency declared in 2022. In total, 20 new studies and six new projects were funded in FY2024.
Continuing Authorities Programs
USACE plans and constructs projects of limited scope and cost without project-specific authorizations through its CAPs. (See CRS In Focus IF11106, Army Corps of Engineers: Continuing Authorities Programs.) President Biden's FY2024 request included $4.5 million for four of the nine authorized CAPs. FY2024 annual appropriations funded nine CAPs at $54.9 million total, including $2.1 million for CPF/CDS projects. A portion of the CAP total was funded by the previously mentioned prior year unobligated and unallocated CAP appropriations.
Environmental Infrastructure Assistance
Since 1992, Congress has authorized and funded USACE to provide environmental infrastructure (EI) assistance (e.g., design and construction of municipal drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects in specified locations). (See CRS Report R47162, Overview of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Environmental Infrastructure (EI) Assistance.) Until FY2024, no Administration had requested funding for EI assistance. The Biden Administration requested $5.0 million for FY2024. Congress funded $197.7 million for EI assistance in FY2024 through use of prior year IIJA appropriations, including $179.8 million to fund 48 CPF/CDS requests for specific EI assistance authorities and $17.9 million that USACE allocated to eight EI authorities in its Construction work plan.
Corps Water Infrastructure Financing Program
In 2014, Congress authorized USACE to provide credit assistance (i.e., direct loans or loan guarantees) for a range of water projects (Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, or WIFIA; 33 U.S.C. §§3901-3914, as amended). USACE's program is referred to as the Corps Water Infrastructure Financing Program (CWIFP) and is funded from the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Program account. (See CRS Insight IN12021, Corps Water Infrastructure Financing Program (CWIFP).) From FY2021 through FY2023, Congress limited CWIFP's lending to nonfederal dam safety projects. Of the program's $7.2 million enacted for FY2024, $5.0 million is for program administration and $2.2 million is for credit assistance for nonfederal dam safety and levee projects.
Direction Relating to Prior Supplemental Appropriations
Congress in Division D of P.L. 118-42 included general provisions related to funding USACE studies and projects that have previously received supplemental appropriations. Congress directed that certain appropriations—specific prior supplemental and emergency appropriations and appropriations from the act and future acts—may be used for certain studies and projects that have received funding from the following accounts:
- the USACE Construction account in P.L. 113-2;
- the USACE Investigations and Construction accounts in P.L. 115-123; and
- the USACE Investigations account in P.L. 117-58.
Further, Congress directed that "any additional funds for such studies and projects shall be subject to the same terms and conditions applicable to the headings of those acts" as listed above.