Army Corps Engineers
Army Corps Engineers (United States Army Corps of Engineers or USACoE) is a major Army command and a federal agency made up of 34,600 civilian and 650 military personnel. This makes it the world’s largest public design, engineering, and construction management agency. Although the Army Corps Engineers is generally associated with canals, dams, and flood protection in the United States, USACE is involved in public works support to the entire nation as well as the Department of Defense throughout the world.
The Army Corps Engineer’s mission is to provide military and public works services to the U.S. by providing vital engineering capabilities and services, as a public service, across the full range of operations—from war to peace —in support of national interests. Their most notable missions include:
- Planning, building, designing, and operating dams and locks. Other civil engineering projects include flood control, dredging for waterway navigation, and beach nourishment.
- Construction and design of flood protection systems through various federal mandates.
- Construction and design management of military facilities for the Air Force and Army and other Defense and Federal agencies.
- Environmental regulation and ecosystem restoration
The Army Corps Engineers environmental mission has two (2) major focus areas: stewardship and restoration. The Army Corps Engineers supports or manages numerous environmental programs that range from cleaning up areas on former military facilities contaminated by munitions or hazardous waste to helping establish and/or reestablish wetlands that help endangered species survive. Some of these programs include Formerly Used Defense Sites, Ecosystem Restoration, Environmental Stewardship, Abandoned Mine Lands, EPA Superfund, Base Realignment and Closure, 2005, Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program, and Regulatory. This mission includes regulation and cleanup as well as education.
The Army Corps Engineers has a very active environmental program under both its Civil and Military Programs. The Civil Works environmental mission ensures all Corps facilities, projects, and associated lands meet those environmental standards. This program has four (4) functions: compliance, prevention conservation and restoration. The Corps also regulates work in wetlands and waters of the United States.
One of the major responsibilities of the Army Corps of Engineers is to administer the wetlands permitting program under Section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972. (The Clean Water Act). This Clean Water Act authorized the Secretary of the Army to issue permits for the discharge of fill and dredged materials.
There are three (3) types of permits issued by the Army Corps of Engineers: Regional, Nationwide, Individual, and General. Eighty percent of the permits issued are nationwide permits. This includes several general types of activities, as published in the Federal Register. To obtain authorization under a nationwide permit, an applicant usually only needs to send a letter to the regional Corps office notifying it of their intent, type and amount of impact, and a site map. Corps approval must be obtained before commencing with any work.