Recovery Act to fund $4.6 billion in civil works

By Corps of EngineersApril 28, 2009

WASHINGTON (April 28, 2009) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers today released a list of civil-works projects to be funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The legislation, signed into law by President Barack Obama on Feb. 17, appropriated $4.6 billion to the Corps of Engineers for its civil-works program, in the following areas:

- Operation and Maintenance $2.075 billion

- Construction $2 billion

- Mississippi River and Tributaries $375 million

- Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program $100 million

- Investigations $25 million

- Regulatory Program $25 million

"The Recovery Act funds for civil works will enable the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to do much good for the nation," said John Paul Woodley Jr., assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works.

"In addition to the opportunity to help the nation and her citizens recover from this time of economic hardship," Woodley said, "the Corps will be able to use these funds to accomplish work on water resources projects that will benefit the nation for years to come."

"The Corps is fully committed to ensuring the Recovery Act funds provided for civil works are used to achieve the purposes envisioned by the president and Congress for the legislation," said Maj. Gen. Merdith "Bo" Temple, deputy commanding general for Civil and Emergency Operations for the Corps.

"We intend to quickly put these dollars into action to get our fellow citizens to work on Corps projects throughout the nation," said Temple. "At the same time, we will use these funds to build long-term value for the nation in its water resources projects."

Economists estimate that Corps Recovery Act projects will create or maintain about 57,400 direct construction industry jobs and an additional 64,000 indirect and induced jobs in firms supplying or supporting the construction and the businesses that sell goods and services to these workers and their families.

The Corps' list of Recovery Act-funded civil works projects includes about 178 construction projects, 892 Operation and Maintenance projects, 45 Mississippi River and Tributaries projects, 67 investigations, and nine projects under the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program.

Regulatory program funds are distributed to Corps districts based upon workload, officials said. All projects on the lists have received appropriated funds in prior years' Energy and Water Development Appropriations acts. No project on the lists is a new start, they said.

The projects selected represent a set of productive investments that will contribute to economic development and aquatic ecosystem restoration, officials said. Consistent with congressional guidance, Corps officials said they allocated Recovery Act construction funds based on the economic and environmental return of projects.

The projects also meet the five criteria enumerated in the Congressional report accompanying the Recovery Act, namely that the projects:

- Be obligated/executed quickly;

- Result in high, immediate employment;

- Have little schedule risk;

- Be executed by contract or direct hire of temporary labor; and

- Complete a project phase, a project, an element, or will provide a useful service that does not require additional funding.

Recovery Act funds will be used to complete increments of work on previously started projects and in some cases to complete such projects.

The projects are distributed broadly across the United States. The distribution of selected projects spreads the employment and other economic benefits across the nation, Corps officials said.

The lists of projects released today and additional information on the Corps' role in the Recovery Act are available on the Web at <a href="http://www.usace.army.mil/recovery"target=_blank>www.usace.army.mil/recovery</a>.