T he U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is an agency within the Department of Defense with both military and civil works responsibilities. Congress directs USACE's civil works activities through authorizations legislation, annual and supplemental appropriations, and oversight activities. As part of USACE's civil works activities, Congress has authorized and appropriated funds for the agency to perform the following: 
water resource projects for maintaining navigable channels, reducing flood and storm damage, and restoring aquatic ecosystems, among other purposes; regulation of activities affecting certain waters and wetlands activities; and remediation of sites involved in the development of U.S. nuclear weapons from the 1940s through the 1960s, administered under the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). In February 2018, Congress also provided more than $17.40 billion in emergency supplemental appropriations in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA 2018; P.L. USACE Projects

USACE water resource projects attract congressional attention because these projects can have significant local and regional economic benefits and environmental effects. Instead, USACE generally has been directly engaged in the planning and construction of projects; the majority of its appropriations are used to perform work on geographically specific studies and projects authorized by Congress. An estimated $96 billion in authorized USACE construction projects and dam safety work is eligible for USACE construction appropriations; discretionary appropriations for the USACE Construction account in annual Energy and Water Development appropriations bills have averaged $2 billion in recent years. At times, including in BBA 2018, Congress also has funded construction of new flood control projects in areas affected by recent flood disasters. Enacted appropriations bills since FY2014 have allowed the agency to initiate a specified number of USACE new start studies and construction projects. USACE Supplemental Appropriations

USACE also undertakes flood fighting activities and other natural disaster response and recovery activities. From FY1990 through FY2018, Congress in total provided USACE accounts with almost $50.63 billion in supplemental appropriations, more than $49.20 billion of which was provided from FY2005 through FY2018. The following sections discuss three current policy topics related to USACE supplemental appropriations in more detail:
transparency on the use of USACE supplemental appropriations; funding nonfederal interests to study and construct federal flood control projects; and the level of supplemental appropriations for construction activities. Although some of the funding has provided for (or is expected to provide for) the completion of ongoing construction projects in flood-affected areas, a significant portion of the funding has been allocated to construction projects that were not funded for construction prior to the flood event or the enactment of the supplemental appropriations law. Also supplemental bills often alter or waive various requirements that otherwise are standard for USACE activities, such as cost shares, project cost increase limitations, and congressional limits on new studies and new construction starts. In FY2012 and FY2019, Congress provided $0.5 billion and $2.2 billion, respectively, in additional funding to USACE through the annual appropriations process. Examples of these policy questions include the following:
How has Congress's role shifted vis-à-vis USACE and the agency's appropriations, and does that shift affect the type of information and engagement that Congress may pursue in the future regarding USACE's use of appropriations? How do these trends affect the effective, efficient, and accountable use of federal funding provided to USACE? What do these trends portend for USACE's long-term planning, budgeting, and duties? 115-123 ), Congress has provided $17.398 billion in supplemental appropriations to the following U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) accounts: 
$135 million for Investigations for flood risk reduction studies; $15,055 million for Construction (of which $15,000 million is specifically for construction of flood risk reduction projects and $55 million is for short-term repairs to damaged construction projects); $770 million for Mississippi River and Tributaries; $608 million for Operations and Maintenance; $810 million for Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies; and $20 million for Expenses. $4.575 billion is to be used for USACE flood and storm damage reduction construction activities in any state or territory with more than one flood-related major disaster declaration in calendar year (CY) 2014, CY2015, CY2016, or CY2017. Seventeen states (e.g., North Carolina, which was affected by Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and Hurricane Florence in 2018) do not qualify for USACE supplemental construction appropriations provided by the BBA 2018.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is an agency within the Department of Defense with both military and civil works responsibilities. The agency's civil works activities consist largely of the planning, construction, and operation of water resource projects to maintain navigable channels, reduce flood and storm damage, and restore aquatic ecosystems. Congress directs USACE's civil works activities through authorization legislation, annual and supplemental appropriations, and oversight. For Congress, the issue is not only the level of USACE appropriations but also how efficiently the agency is delivering flood control, navigation, and ecosystem restoration projects. These projects can have significant local as well as national economic and environmental benefits.
Annual and Supplemental Appropriations
USACE discretionary appropriations, which typically are provided through annual Energy and Water Development appropriations acts, have ranged from $4.7 billion to $7.0 billion during the decade from FY2009 to FY2019 and have been increasing since FY2013. In recent years, Congress has directed that more than 50% of the enacted appropriations be used for operation and maintenance of USACE's aging infrastructure.
USACE also has a prominent role in responding to natural disasters, especially floods, in U.S. states and territories. Congress increasingly is using supplemental appropriations not only to perform emergency response and repair for damaged flood control works and USACE projects but also to study and construct new projects that reduce flood risks in areas recently affected by hurricanes and floods. From FY2005 through FY2018, Congress enacted 13 supplemental bills related to flooding and natural disasters, providing a total of almost $45 billion to USACE; for the same period, annual discretionary appropriations for USACE's flood-related projects and activities totaled $23 billion. Supplemental appropriations bills often alter or waive various requirements for USACE activities, such as cost shares and project cost limitations, and establish project selection and reporting requirements that differ from requirements for USACE activities funded through annual discretionary appropriations.
Issues for Congress
Issues for Congress include the significant role of supplemental appropriations in advancing studies and construction of flood control projects since FY2005 and the agency's backlog of authorized but unconstructed projects. The agency has reported a $96 billion backlog of authorized construction projects; for context, annual appropriations for the USACE Construction account (which funds most USACE construction projects) in FY2018 and FY2019 are $2.1 billion and $2.2 billion, respectively. Congress also has limited the number of new studies and construction projects initiated with annual discretionary appropriations (e.g., a limit of five new construction starts using FY2019 appropriations). Given that only a few construction projects typically are started each fiscal year, numerous projects authorized for construction by previous Congresses remain unfunded.
USACE may fund some of the authorized flood control projects in its backlog with the more than $17 billion in emergency supplemental appropriations provided to USACE accounts in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA; P.L. 115-123). Although no numerical limits on starting new studies or construction projects are associated with these funds, the study and construction funds have some geographic limitations that tie their use to areas affected by flooding by the hurricanes in 2017 or by more than one flood in calendar years 2014 through 2017. As a result of this limitation, seventeen states (including North Carolina, which was affected by Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and Hurricane Florence in 2018) did not qualify for USACE supplemental construction appropriations provided through the BBA 2018.
Related policy questions for Congress and other decisionmakers include the following:
How have the roles of Congress and the Administration shifted vis-à-vis USACE and its appropriations, and does that shift affect the type of information and engagement that Congress may pursue in the future regarding USACE's use of appropriations? How do trends in annual and supplemental appropriations amounts, processes, and requirements influence the effective, efficient, and accountable use of federal funding provided to USACE? What do these trends portend for USACE's long-term planning, budgeting, and duties?