CEQ leads rewrite of
Corps Principles and Guidelines
Congress, in WRDA 2007, directed the Administration to
revise the Principles and Guidelines (P&Gs) used to evaluate water resource
development projects prior to authorization. Under the Bush Administration, the
Corps and OMB each drafted revisions in 2008 and requested public comments.
Neither drafted a final version. Now, CEQ is leading the Obama Administration's
effort.
The current P&Gs were written in 1983 and directed
agencies to consider National Economic Development benefits and consider
environmental impacts. The Administration's new effort will take a "more
balanced approach, looking at all benefits and impacts, monetary and non-monetary",
according to CEQ. The P&Gs were originally designed to address new projects
prior to Congressional authorization. The revision will apply to work proposed
both pre- and post-authorization. Another change is that the original applies
primarily to Corps and Bureau of Reclamation projects. The revision will apply
more broadly to any federal agency engaging in water resource projects.
The first phase will be a revision of the Principles
section. Once that is finalized, the Guidelines on how to implement the
Principles section will be drafted. CEQ expects to complete a draft and put it
out for public comment in the next 60 days. They then will send a draft to the
National Academy of Sciences for comment. Publication of a final draft of the
Principles for public review appears to be a year or more away.
PNWA commented on both of the previous P&G revisions. PNWA
stated the need to consider Regional Economic Development benefits in addition
to national benefits. PNWA also highlighted the
need to develop quantitative measures for the public safety and
environmental quality components of its plans. For example, maintenance and
repair of locks on the Columbia Snake River System provide both national
economic development and environmental quality benefits. The environmental
benefits, such as climate change impacts or the barging of salmon smolt, which is
a critical component of the salmon BiOp, are not quantified. If reported at
all, they are merely an asterisk on the spreadsheet. The project priorities are
set by the economic benefit-cost ratio, and not by the combined economic and
environmental benefits. The P&Gs should be revised to incorporate
quantitative or surrogate measures of environmental benefits in setting priorities
for authorizing projects and for post-authorization funding.
You may view the original P&Gs at http://www.usace.army.mil/CECW/PlanningCOP/Documents/library/Principles_Guidelines.pdf.
Comments are due by July 17 and can be sent by email to P&G@ceq.eop.gov or by fax to 202-456-6546.
PNWA staff contact: Glenn Vanselow
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New Columbia Snake
River System representative selected to the Inland Waterways Users Board
PNWA would like to congratulate John Pigott, Tidewater Barge
Lines' General Manager, on his selection as the Columbia Snake River System's
(CSRS) representative to the Inland Waterways Users Board (IWUB). The IWUB is an eleven member Board that collectively
represents industry stakeholders from all of the inland waterway systems of the
U.S. The purpose of the IWUB is to make
recommendations to Congress and to the Secretary of the Army, on how to
prioritize construction and rehab projects that are funded through the Inland
Waterways Trust Fund. Jerry Grossnickle
of Bernert Barge Lines served as the previous CSRS representative to the
Board. PNWA would like to thank Jerry
for his two terms of service and for helping to move Coloumbia and Snake River
projects higher on the list of national priorities.
For more information on the IWUB, go to http://www.iwr.usace.army.mil/newusersboard/index.htm. To learn more about river system projects and
the work that PNWA is doing to secure stimulus and FY2010 funding, please log
on to our website, www.pnwa.net.
PNWA staff contact: Glenn Vanselow
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