New Corps Project Standards Nearly Ready

摘要

After a long delay, the Army Corps of Engineers' first rewrite in 28 years of its "Principles and Guidelines" for evaluating water projects is expected to be released in June, top Army officials say. The new standards will be a major shift away from the present P&G, issued in 1983, which said the sole federal water-resources planning objective is "to contribute to national economic development" while being "consistent with protecting the nation's environment." Jo-Ellen Darcy, assistant secretary of the Army for civil works, told a Senate subcommittee on March 31 that the revision will put projects' environmental benefits and social impacts "more on an equal footing" with their economic benefits.