[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15210]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                 CORPS OF ENGINEERS REFORM ACT OF 2000

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KIND. Mr. Speaker, today, I, along with the gentleman from Oregon 
(Mr. Blumenauer) and the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Baldwin), 
introduced the Corps of Engineers Reform Act of 2000.
  The purpose of this legislation is to reform the project review and 
authorization procedures at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and let 
the sun shine in through greater civilian oversight of Corps projects. 
Through this legislation we hope to persuade our fellow Members of 
Congress to act this session to clarify the mission of the U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers and to restore the public's severely eroded trust in 
the Corps.
  The Corps of Engineers is the primary Federal agency responsible for 
construction and maintenance of our Nation's water resources 
infrastructure. The Corps' civil works mission is large and vital, with 
projects in the areas of flood protection, navigation, irrigation, 
hydropower and recreation. In recent years, the Corps has assumed a 
more significant role in the areas of environmental protection and 
restoration.
  Despite its historic reputation for professionalism and integrity, 
the Corps is at present an embattled agency. Over the past 6 months, 
the Corps has come under intense fire because of alleged improprieties 
in connection with its multiyear, $50 million Upper Mississippi River-
Illinois waterway system navigation study. Earlier this year, Congress 
also learned of efforts by top Corps officials to increase the Corps' 
civil works budget from its current level of $4 billion a year to over 
$6 billion by 2005.
  Reports about the Corps' attempts to push through projects that lack 
a sound economic justification or that contain inadequate environmental 
provisions point to the breakdowns in the Corps' process for planning 
and approving water resources projects. This bill attempts to fix that 
problem, and with these reforms to lift the cloud of distrust and 
suspicion that currently hangs over the Corps of Engineers.
  Last year, the National Research Council of the National Academy of 
Sciences published a report entitled New Directions in Water Resources 
Planning for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This study was the 
product of 2 years of careful input and analysis by leading economists, 
engineers, environmental scientists, and water resource planners, 
including former high-level Corps of Engineers officials. The bill we 
introduced today builds on many of the key recommendations contained in 
the study.
  Specifically, it clarifies congressional intent with respect to the 
Corps' broad mission in water resources planning. The bill states that, 
and I quote, ``It is the intent of Congress that economic development 
and the environmental protection and restoration be coequal goals of 
water resources planning and development.''
  The bill creates new advisory and review procedures through the 
establishment of an environmental advisory board, an independent review 
panel, and a stakeholder advisory group.
  The legislation also calls for the ongoing monitoring of the economic 
and environmental results of all Corps projects exceeding $25 million. 
The purpose of this monitoring program is to establish the baseline 
data needed to evaluate current and future Corps projects and to ensure 
that all Corps projects meet high standards of fiscal responsibility.
  Finally, the bill seeks to ensure that environmental damages caused 
by projects are fully mitigated. Under this legislation, the Corps 
would also be required to mitigate damages to wildlife on a one-to-one 
basis.
  The overarching purpose of this legislation, Mr. Speaker, is to 
restore trust and confidence in the Army Corps of Engineers and to 
enable the Corps to get on with its important work on our Nation's 
rivers, lakes, coastlines and harbors. The best way to achieve this 
goal is to increase the level of transparency, and through transparency 
create greater accountability in the Corps' planning process, and to 
establish guidelines that strike a genuine balance between economic 
development and other social and environmental priorities.
  In closing, I would urge my colleagues on the House Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure to work to build significant reforms 
into this year's reauthorization of the Water Resources and Development 
Act. I would like to thank the efforts of key environmental and 
taxpayer groups, such as American Rivers and Taxpayers for Common Sense 
for their support and interest in Corps reform.
  Finally, I would invite other interested groups and citizens across 
the Nation to join in this effort to bring fiscal responsibility and 
environmental accountability to the Corps of Engineers.

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