ROCK ISLAND, Illinois -- The U.S. Army has announced the Civil Works studies, projects and programs that the Corps would implement in Fiscal Year 2022 with the $22.81 billion in supplemental funding provided in two recently enacted laws — the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act; and the 2022 Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act.
Included in this supplemental funding is $1.2 billion for the Rock Island District to carry out projects and programs in the Upper Mississippi River Valley.
“This is a historic day for the Rock Island District,” said Col. Jesse Curry, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District. “This represents funding that vastly outnumbers figures our District’s annual budget has ever seen. It’s testament to our professional workforce that they are trusted to carry out the kind of workload this funding will bring.”
Rock Island District is set to receive two priority construction new starts, one through the Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program (NESP) and new start funding for the Brandon Road Interbasin Project.
“NESP has been authorized for more than a decade, awaiting construction funding to bring about this critical, multi-billion dollar program,” said Kim Thomas, Deputy for Programs and Project Management for the Rock Island District. “Our regional team has fully utilized several years of preconstruction, engineering and design (PED) funds to develop construction ready projects and now will be able to start delivering on the significant navigation improvements as well as the environmental enhancements laid out within the NESP authorization. This funding is the first step toward construction.”
The Brandon Road Interbasin Project, which is designed to stop the spread of invasive carp and other species into the Great Lakes, received $226 million to complete the preconstruction, engineering and design phase (PED) and initiate construction.
Thomas said, “Support for the Brandon Road Interbasin Project, which is a complex ecosystem protection effort designed to prevent upstream movement of invasive carp and other aquatic nuisance species into the Great Lakes from the Illinois Waterway, is also a key element for keeping one of Rock Island District's critical environmental efforts on track with continued design and its anticipated construction timeline.”
In addition to the new start construction funding, Rock Island District will receive nearly $170 million to carry-on critical operations and maintenance work through the District’s area of responsibility.
“So much of our operational infrastructure, like locks and dams, lakes, and recreation sites, are aging,” Curry said. “Our managers and maintenance crews do an excellent job of keeping this infrastructure operating efficiently but even in areas where we’ve made recent investments, there is a need for more to safeguard long term reliability of this infrastructure. Infrastructure that is critical to our Nation’s economy, environment, and well-being of our communities. This new funding coming from the IIJA will not only provide much of that needed investment to infrastructure, but it will also bring thousands of great jobs of all types to the region.”
The spend plan supports the Administration hitting the ground running by focusing on current Fiscal Year 2022 spending. Future announcements will provide spend plans for subsequent years. Each spend plan will be in continued support of Administration goals of expanded access to America’s ports through dredging, as well as building resilience in the face of global climate change, while benefitting economically disadvantaged communities and regions, and advancing environmental justice.
"The Army will work with community partners to leverage these historic Civil Works funds for investments that strengthen national supply chains through our commercial navigation mission, help communities impacted by climate change to increase their resiliency, advance environmental justice, and invest in communities that have too often been left behind," said The Honorable Michael L. Connor, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works.
Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal: Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Public Law 117-58
With the $17.099 billion provided in Public Law 117-58, the Army will fund Army Civil Works studies and projects, maintain existing infrastructure, and repair damage and dredge channels in response to floods and coastal storms. Through this investment in water resources infrastructure, over $5 billion will help improve community resilience in the face of global climate change and $3.936 billion will address commercial navigation improvements at coastal ports and on the inland waterways. The Army plan funds the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration program at $1.098 billion, a historic funding level that will enable significant progress in restoring Florida’s nationally significant Everglades ecosystem. In the coming year, the Army will engage with environmental justice communities in the development of a strategy to allocate $130 million in two pilot programs authorized in the Water Resources Development Act of 2020 that target economically disadvantaged community’s needs.
As part of this effort, the Army plan funds to completion 15 feasibility studies, the Preconstruction Engineering and Design (PED) phase of 5 projects, and 19 construction projects in Fiscal Year (FY) 2022. Additionally, in FY 2022, 22 new projects will be funded in the Construction account.
Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2022, which is Division B of Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act, 2022, Public Law 117-43
Of the $5.711 billion supplemental funds that Public Law 117-43 provides for the Army Civil Works Program, $100 million is designated for studies of proposed projects in the four states where major disasters were declared in FY 2021 due to Hurricane Ida – Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Leveraging these funds, 11 feasibility studies, plus the preconstruction engineering and design for six projects, will be funded to completion within the Investigations account in FY 2022.
This law also provides $3 billion for construction of qualifying flood and storm damage reduction, including shore protection, projects, with $1.5 billion to be put toward projects in the four states where major disasters were declared in FY 2021 due to Hurricane Ida. The Army will use this funding, in part, to construct a total of 11 projects in FY 2022, including 5 in states where major disasters were declared due to Hurricane Ida, and 6 in other states and territories.
Additionally, Public Law 117-43 provides $868 million of Mississippi River and Tributaries funding to construct, rehabilitate, and repair damages to projects, including $500 million to construct flood and storm damage reduction projects in the State of Louisiana. This funding will be used to complete two projects, continue construction of the Lower Mississippi River Main Stem Project including a significant investment in levee safety, and to complete one of the features of that project in FY 2022.
Additional Information
Additional details regarding the amounts provided to various programs, projects and activities for each of the five appropriations accounts for FY 2022 may be found at: https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Budget/. Look for future announcements regarding funds to be executed in FY 2023 and FY 2024!
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