Beginning on January 17, 2014, and hereafter, not later than 120 days after the date of the Chief of Engineers Report on a water resource matter, the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) shall submit the report to the appropriate authorizing and appropriating committees of the Congress.

In the evaluation by the Secretary of benefits and costs of a water resources project, the benefits attributable to measures included in a project for the purpose of environmental quality, including improvement of the environment and fish and wildlife enhancement, shall be deemed to be at least equal to the costs of such measures.

In evaluating potential improvements to navigation and the maintenance of navigation projects, the Secretary shall consider, and include for purposes of project justification, economic benefits generated by cruise ships as commercial navigation benefits.

In conducting studies of potential water resources projects, the Secretary shall consider measures to preserve and enhance scenic and aesthetic qualities in the vicinity of such projects.

There is established an Environmental Protection and Mitigation Fund. There is authorized to be appropriated to such fund $35,000,000 for fiscal years beginning after September 30, 1986. Amounts in the fund 1

The Secretary is authorized to accept funds from any entity, public or private, in accordance with the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act [16 U.S.C. 839 et seq.] to be used to protect, mitigate, and enhance fish and wildlife in connection with projects constructed or operated by the Secretary. The Secretary may accept and use funds for such purposes without regard to any limitation established under any other provision of law or rule of law.

In the preparation of feasibility reports for projects for flood damage prevention in urban and rural areas, the Secretary may consider and evaluate measures to reduce or eliminate damages from flooding without regard to frequency of flooding, drainage area, and amount of runoff. This section shall apply with respect to any project, or separable element thereof, the Federal share of the cost of which is less than $3,000,000.

The Secretary is authorized to use the authority contained in section 205 of the Flood Control Act of 1948 (33 U.S.C. 701s), section 2 of the Flood Control Act of August 28, 1937 (33 U.S.C. 701g), section 14 of the Flood Control Act of 1946 (33 U.S.C. 701r), section 107 of the River and Harbor Act of 1960 (33 U.S.C. 577), section 3 of the Act entitled “An Act authorizing Federal participation in the cost of protecting the shores of publicly owned property”, approved August 13, 1946 (33 U.S.C. 426g), and section 111 of the River and Harbor Act of 1968 (33 U.S.C. 426i) in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

Any surveying or mapping services to be performed in connection with a water resources project which is or has been authorized to be undertaken by the Secretary shall be procured in accordance with title IX of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949.1

None of the funds made available before, on, or after June 15, 2006, in an appropriations Act may be expended to prevent or limit any reprogramming of funds for a project to be carried out by the Corps of Engineers using funds appropriated in any Act making appropriations for energy and water development, based on whether the project was included by the President in the budget transmitted under section 1105(a) of title 31 or is otherwise proposed by the President or considered part of the budget by the Office of Management and Budget, if the project received funds in an Act making appropriations for energy and water development or any other appropriations Act making additional funds available for energy and water development.

The Secretary shall establish in the Directorate of Civil Works of the Office of the Chief of Engineers an Office of Environmental Policy. Such Office shall be responsible for the formulation, coordination, and implementation of all matters concerning environmental quality and policy as they relate to the water resources program of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Such Office shall, among other things, develop, and monitor compliance with, guidelines for the consideration of environmental quality in formulation and planning of water resources projects carried out by the Secretary, the preparation and coordination of environmental impact statements for such projects, and the coordination with Federal, State, and local agencies of environmental aspects of such projects and regulatory responsibilities of the Secretary.

Every 5 years, the Secretary shall revise, rescind, or certify as current, as applicable, each policy and technical standards publication for the civil works programs of the Corps of Engineers, including each engineer regulation, engineer circular, engineer manual, engineer pamphlet, engineer technical letter, planning guidance letter, policy guidance letter, planning bulletin, and engineering and construction bulletin.

The Secretary shall not require, under section 460d of title 16, and the Federal Water Project Recreation Act [16 U.S.C. 460l–12 et seq.], non-Federal interests to assume operation and maintenance of any recreational facility operated by the Secretary at any water resources project as a condition to the construction of new recreational facilities at such project or any other water resources project.

Any report describing a project having recreation benefits that is submitted after November 17, 1986, to the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate or the Committee on Public Works and Transportation of the House of Representatives by the Secretary, or by the Secretary of Agriculture under authority of the Watershed Protection and Flood Protection Act (68 Stat. 666; 16 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), shall describe the usage of other, similar public recreational facilities within the general area of the project, and the anticipated impact of the proposed project on the usage of such existing recreational facilities.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in any case in which the use of fill material for beach erosion and beach nourishment is authorized as a purpose of an authorized water resources project, the Secretary is authorized to acquire by purchase, exchange, or otherwise from nondomestic sources and utilize such material for such purposes if such materials are not available from domestic sources for environmental or economic reasons.

The Secretary shall study and evaluate the measures necessary to increase the capabilities of the United States Army Corps of Engineers to undertake the planning and construction of water resources projects on an expedited basis and to adequately comply with all requirements of law applicable to the water resources program of the Corps of Engineers. As part of such study the Secretary shall consider appropriate measures to increase reliance on the private sector in the conduct of the water resources program of the Corps of Engineers. The Secretary shall implement such measures as may be necessary to improve the capabilities referred to in the first sentence of this section, including the establishment of increased levels of personnel, changes in project planning and construction procedures designed to lessen the time required for such planning and construction, and procedures for expediting the coordination of water resources projects with Federal, State, and local agencies.

The Secretary is authorized to preserve, restore, and maintain those historic properties located on water resource development project lands under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Army if such properties have been entered into the National Register of Historic Places.

If any provision of this Act, or the application of any provision of this Act to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances, and the remainder of this Act, shall not be affected thereby.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, Federal assistance made available by the Farmers Home Administration may be used to pay the non-Federal share of any other Federal grant-in-aid program for any project for water resources, including water pollution control.

If any report required to be transmitted under this Act to the Committee on Public Works and Transportation of the House of Representatives or the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate pertains in whole or in part to fish and wildlife mitigation, benthic environmental repercussions, or ecosystem mitigation, the Federal officer required to prepare or transmit that report also shall transmit a copy of the report to the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries of the House of Representatives.

Any report that is submitted to the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate or the Committee on Public Works and Transportation of the House of Representatives by the Secretary, or the Secretary of Agriculture acting under Public Law 83–566, as amended [16 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.], which proposes construction of a water impoundment facility, shall include information on the consequences of failure and geologic or design factors which could contribute to the possible failure of such facility.

Before the Secretary may make changes in the operation of any reservoir which will result in or require a reallocation of storage space in such reservoir or will significantly affect any project purpose, the Secretary shall provide an opportunity for public review and comment.

Upon receipt of a request from a non-Federal sponsor of a water resources development project under construction by the Secretary, the Secretary shall provide such sponsor with periodic statements of project expenditures. Such statements shall include an estimate of all Federal and non-Federal funds expended by the Secretary, including overhead expenditures, the purpose for expenditures, and a schedule of anticipated expenditures during the remaining period of construction. Statements shall be provided to the sponsor at intervals of no greater than 6 months.

On the request of a non-Federal interest, the Secretary shall provide to the non-Federal interest a detailed accounting of the Federal expenses associated with a water resources project.

The Secretary shall ensure that, in developing or revising reservoir operating manuals of the Corps of Engineers, the Corps shall provide significant opportunities for public participation, including opportunities for public hearings. The Secretary shall issue regulations to implement this section, including a requirement that all appropriate informational materials relating to proposed management decisions of the Corps be made available to the public sufficiently in advance of public hearings. Not later than January 1, 1992, the Secretary shall transmit to Congress a report on measures taken pursuant to this section.

For purposes of Federal participation in water resource development projects which are to be carried out by the Secretary, benefits which are to be provided to a facility owned by a State (including the District of Columbia and a territory or possession of the United States), county, municipality, or other public entity shall not be treated as benefits to be provided a single owner or single entity. The Secretary shall not treat such a facility as a single owner or single entity for any purpose.

The Secretary may enter into agreements to assume the operation and maintenance costs of an alternative project to maintenance dredging for a Federal navigation channel if the costs of the operation and maintenance of the alternative project, and any remaining costs necessary for maintaining the Federal navigation channel, are less than the costs of maintaining such channel without the alternative project.

At the request of a non-Federal interest, the Secretary is authorized to study the incorporation of public recreational amenities, including facilities for hiking, biking, walking, and waterborne recreation, into a project for ecosystem restoration, including a project carried out under section 2330 of this title, if the incorporation of such amenities would be consistent with the ecosystem restoration purposes of the project.

The Secretary shall examine using, and, if appropriate, encourage the use of, innovative treatment technologies, including membrane technologies, for watershed and environmental restoration and protection projects involving water quality.

The Secretary may enter into a cooperative agreement with an Indian tribe (or a designated representative of an Indian tribe) to carry out authorized activities of the Corps of Engineers to protect fish, wildlife, water quality, and cultural resources.

The Secretary shall expedite any authorized planning, design, and construction of any project for flood damage reduction for an area that, within the preceding 5 years, has been subject to flooding that resulted in the loss of life and caused damage of sufficient severity and magnitude to warrant a declaration of a major disaster by the President under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.).