Page 10: of Marine News Magazine (March 2025)

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Column

Infrastructure Watch

Time to Remedy Inef? ciency in Executive Order 12322

By Tracy Zea, President/CEO, Waterways Council, Inc.

The members of Waterways Council, Inc.,

The modern-day Corps Civil Works program is often (WCI) the national organization that advocates for a mod- connected with the Reagan Administration, which made ern, ef? cient, well-maintained system of ports and inland seismic policy changes in the 1980s that reformed how waterways, recently met in Washington, DC with Mem- projects are justi? ed, how they are funded by adding cost- bers of the 119th Congress to discuss WCI key and related share requirements from non-federal partners, how conser- priorities for 2025. vation is considered in the process, and how oversight by

An ancillary issue that WCI is looking to address is the the Administration’s OMB became integral. removal or modi? cation of an antiquated 1980s Executive But President Jimmy Carter mistrusted the Corps’ abil-

Order (EO) 12322 that mandates any federal or federally as- ity to recommend projects that were economically justi? ed sisted land or water resources project proposal must ? rst be and to protect the environment and this sowed the seeds for submitted to the Of? ce of Management and Budget (OMB) policy changes to come. Proving the phrase “all politics are for review before being presented to Congress for approval. local,” the project at the center of President Carter’s atten-

Some background is required: The U.S. Army Corps tion was a proposed dam project on the Flint River in his of Engineers’ Civil Works mission is to develop, manage, home state of Georgia. In 1977, he announced a major re- and protect the Nation’s water resources to “support na- view of 320 water resource projects, after questioning their tional security, democracy, and prosperity.” Program ar- compliance with environmental laws and doubting that eas include Flood Risk Management to reduce the risk of many projects remained justi? ed under the existing eco- ? ood damage; Navigation; Environmental Restoration to nomic conditions. Ultimately, Carter suggested eliminat- protect and restore aquatic ecosystems; and Emergency ing funds for 19 water resources projects, sparking backlash

Response to provide disaster relief services. from Congress and a debate on whether certain water proj-

The Corps was created in 1824, when President James ects were worthy of investment from American taxpayers.

Monroe signed into law a bill to improve navigation on the Following Carter’s defeat in 1980, the incoming Reagan

Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. And while Corps’ projects are Administration maintained the previous Administration’s large and complex, the Civil Works mission has evolved priority to reform the Corps of Engineers. And in 1981, over time to incorporate new regulations, policies, shifts Reagan issued Executive Order 12322 to mandate that from political pressures, and unfortunately, bureaucracy OMB review, prior to Congress, any federal or federally that is often cumbersome. And infrastructure projects with assisted land or water resources project proposal. such colossal impact on the U.S. economy and communi- But over the last several decades, OMB has broadened its ties are sometimes controversial and politically sensitive. interpretation of the EO to withhold nearly all information,

To offer transparency and promote public involvement, including outyear funding needs, up-to-date project capabil-

Corps’ water resources projects are developed and recom- ities, approval of innovative acquisition strategies, and other mended to Congress for authorization after an extensive information critical to Congressional decision-makers. public planning process that ensures the project is eco- While perhaps once intended to improve coordination nomically justi? ed, environmentally acceptable, and tech- and remove duplicative processes, the EO has now effec- nically achievable. tively created an unnecessary choke point for basic, fact- 10 | MN March 2025