Through its Civil Works Mission, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is able to partner with non-federal entities to complete water-resource development activities, including navigation safety, hurricane and storm risk management, ecosystem restoration, hydropower, and recreation. Authorities give the Corps permission to complete certain types of projects.  Appropriation provides funds for a project.

The authorities that the Corps works under include:

• General Investigations Direct funding by Congress
• Planning Assistance to States
• Floodplain Management Services
• Continuing Authorities Program

For an in-depth look, see Partnering with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, A Guide for Communities, Local Governments, States, Tribes, and Non-Governmental Organizations.

These projects are directly funded through Congress and allow the Corps to assist a community in addressing large-scale, complex water resource problems related to navigation, flood risk management or ecosystem restoration. This is sometimes referred to as a “3 x 3 x 3” study, intended to be implemented for a cost of $3 million, be completed in three years and have three concurrent levels of review.  A feasibility study assesses the federal interest, engineering feasibility, economic justification and environmental acceptability of a project.  These projects are cost-shared with the non-federal sponsor 50/50. 

This authority allows the Corps to provide technical assistance to non-federal partners on things such as water supply studies, stormwater management studies, watershed studies, water resources and recreation planning, data collection, maters drainage planning, surveying floodplain inventories and pipe network analysis. These projects are cost-shared with the non-federal partner 50/50. This authority does not allow for design or construction. For more, view the Planning Assistance to States Fact Sheet with a sample letter to request support.

The FPMS program provides a full range of information, technical services and planning guidance and assistance on floods and floodplain issues that are needed to support effective floodplain management. The types of activities that are appropriate under this authorization include floodplain delineation, dam failure analysis, hurricane evacuation, flood warning, flood damage reduction, stormwater management, flood proofing and inventories of flood prone structures. For non-federal partners, these studies are conducted at a 100% Federal expense. For more, view the Floodplain Management Services Fact Sheet with a sample letter to request support.

Silver Jackets Program: Silver Jackets teams are collaborative state-led interagency teams, continuously working together to reduce flood risk at the state level. Through the Silver Jackets program, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, additional federal, state and sometimes local and Tribal agencies provide a unified approach to addressing a state’s priorities. To learn more, view the Silver Jackets Program.

CAP is a collection of nine water resource authorities that allow the Corps to plan design and construction projects without specific permission from Congress. These projects are typically of limited scope and complexity.