1). Corps headquarters primarily develops policies based on  administration guidance; plans the direction of the organization; and  approves projects to recommend for inclusion in the President’s annual  budget request to Congress. The Corps’  construction appropriations account has three main business lines— aquatic ecosystem restoration, flood risk management, and navigation— that correspond to the three primary missions of its civil works program. For fiscal years 2008 through 2017, the President’s budgets requested  about $4.78 billion per year, on average, in discretionary funding for the  Corps’ civil works program to plan, construct, operate, and maintain a  wide range of water resources projects (see fig. Construction Projects Included in the President’s Budget Requests for the Corps Located In Over Half of the States

For fiscal years 2008 through 2017, the President’s budget requests for  the Corps included 164 construction projects located in 31 states, the  District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Construction  projects included in the President’s budget requests for the Corps’ three  main business lines for fiscal years 2015 through 2017 were  geographically distributed in 26 states and Puerto Rico. According to our  analysis of Corps budget data, most of the projects were near either  water sources or Corps-constructed water infrastructure. Corps Used a Multi- level Process to Prioritize Construction Projects

To prioritize construction projects to recommend for inclusion in the  President’s budget requests for fiscal years 2008 through 2017, the Corps  used a process involving the three levels of its organization—districts,  divisions, and headquarters. According to a district official, district officials  then assigned one of six priority levels to indicate the order in which work  packages for the same project should be completed for that fiscal year. Districts, Divisions, and Headquarters Ranked Work Packages

Corps districts, divisions, and headquarters consecutively ranked the  work packages, as shown in figure 5. In doing so, they established criteria  specific to the business line for each project. Corps officials said they routinely revised the criteria while  developing the annual budget guidance, for reasons such as addressing  changes in the policy guidance from the Assistant Secretary of the Army  for Civil Works or OMB, or improving the ranking process. According to information from the Civil Works Integrated  Funding Database, the Corps ranked more than 25,000 work packages  for the fiscal year 2017 budget recommendation. Agency Comments and Our Evaluation

We provided a draft of this report for review and comment to the  Department of Defense. The department told us they had no comments  on the draft report. GAO staff who made key contributions to this report  are listed in appendix V.

Appendix I: Corps Construction Projects Included in the President’s Budget Requests, by State, Fiscal Years 2008 through 2017

Table 1 lists the 164 construction projects and funds requested, by state,  within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) three main business  lines—aquatic ecosystem restoration, flood risk management, and  navigation—for fiscal years 2008 through 2017. Appendix II: Corps Construction Projects Included in the President’s Budget Requests, Fiscal Years 2008 through 2017

Table 2 lists the names and locations of the 164 construction projects the  U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) identified as included in the  President’s budget requests for its three main business lines for fiscal  years 2008 through 2017. GAO-10-453.
Why GAO Did This Study

Through its civil works program, the Corps plans, designs, constructs, operates, and maintains a range of water resources projects for purposes such as aquatic ecosystem restoration, flood risk management, and navigation. To support these projects, the Corps requests funding through the annual budget and appropriation process. For fiscal year 2017, the President's budget requested $4.6 billion for Corps' water resources projects, of which about $1 billion was for construction projects.
GAO was asked to review budget requests for construction projects under the Corps' civil works program, including the geographic distribution of those projects. This report examines for fiscal years 2008 through 2017 (1) the geographic distribution of the construction projects included in the President's budget requests for the Corps, and (2) how the Corps prioritized such projects for inclusion in the President's budget requests. GAO summarized available budget data for fiscal years 2008 through 2017; reviewed the Corps' budget guidance and documents; mapped locations for construction projects in budget requests for years when sufficient information was available; and interviewed Corps headquarters and division officials.

What GAO Found

For fiscal years 2008 through 2017, construction projects included in the President's budget requests to Congress for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) were geographically distributed in 31 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. During this 10-year period, the President requested over $12.9 billion for 164 construction projects included in the Corps' three main missions—aquatic ecosystem restoration, flood risk management, and navigation. The Corps provided GAO with detailed information on the location of construction projects included in the budget requests for the 3 most recent fiscal years at the time of its review—2015 through 2017. These projects, shown in the figure below, spanned 26 states and Puerto Rico. They were typically located near sources of water or Corps-constructed water infrastructure.
To prioritize construction projects to include in the President's budget requests for fiscal years 2008 through 2017, the Corps used a process involving each of its three organizational levels—districts, divisions, and headquarters. Districts divided projects into work packages and assigned 1 of 6 priority levels to indicate the order in which work packages from the same project should be completed. Districts grouped these work packages by business line or appropriations account based on the Corps' budget guidance for the fiscal year and then ranked them. Then Corps divisions and headquarters ranked the work packages. To assign rankings, Corps officials applied criteria specific to the business line of each project. These criteria often varied by fiscal year to address changes to policy guidance. Across the organization, Corps officials ranked more than 25,000 packages for fiscal year 2017. After assigning rankings, headquarters developed final budget recommendations to submit to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, who in turn provided the recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget for review and potential inclusion in the President's budget requests.

What GAO Recommends

GAO is not making recommendations in this report. The Department of Defense stated that they had no comments on the draft report.