Dems urge updated Army Corps guidelines to elevate EJ, climate

E&E DAILY | House Transportation and Infrastructure Democrats say the Army Corps of Engineers is late in updating 30-year-old guidelines for federal projects, something that could hamstring the agency's ability to tackle climate change and environmental justice and deploy infrastructure dollars.

Chair Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee Chair Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.), and Rep. Jesús "Chuy" García (D-Ill.) yesterday called on Michael Connor, who oversees the corps, and Brenda Mallory, the Council on Environmental Quality's chair, to get the job done.

Democrats say the corps has yet to update the so-called principles, requirements and guidelines, which would elevate environmental concerns as the agency weighs costs and benefits of water resource projects, from building dams and levees to protecting and restoring coastlines.

A House committee aide said the agency was supposed to have updated the guidelines by last summer under the 2020 water resources bill. The corps didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

DeFazio and other lawmakers hoped that by pushing the corps to finalize the guidelines, the agency would also expand what it considers project benefits beyond economic factors to things like climate change, loss of life and helping disadvantaged communities, said the aide.

The issue dates back to 2015, the aide said, when the Obama administration released guidance on how to implement the principles, requirements and guidelines, but a Republican-led spending bill rider blocked the corps from taking action.

Today, the aide said, all other water resource agencies have finished implementing the principles and guidelines. Delays may date back to the Trump administration, which didn't see the issue as a priority, said the aide.

Updating the principles, requirements and guidelines with climate and the environment in mind gained bipartisan currency ahead of the last water bill, the aide said, partly because of expected benefits to rural America.

"Once implemented, the PR&G will allow the Corps to consider wider perspectives when evaluating projects, such as community risk, ability to pay, and long-standing environmental injustices," said the Democrats' letter.