Army Corps of Engineers: The Corps Needs to Take Steps to Identify All Projects and Studies Eligible for Deauthorization
Highlights
What GAO Found
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (Corps) backlog list of authorized water resources construction projects is incomplete because the agency does not track all authorized projects and the list does not include studies. Specifically, GAO found that the backlog does not include some projects that were authorized but were not appropriated funds. Corps headquarters officials said that the agency does not have a policy instructing its district offices to enter into their databases projects that are authorized but have not been appropriated funds and that it is up to the discretion of the district offices to do so. Corps officials also stated that the agency does not include studies on its backlog, nor does it have a policy instructing district offices to track studies. Federal internal control standards state that agencies are to document internal controls in management directives, administrative policies, or operating manuals to help ensure consistent treatment. Officials at 15 of 16 district offices told GAO that they enter projects into the databases only after funds are appropriated. The Corps has begun to take steps to include all authorized projects in a new agency database; however, this database will not include studies. Federal internal control standards call for agencies to have mechanisms to appropriately document transactions and other significant events. Without written policies requiring districts to track all projects and studies and a mechanism to track studies, the Corps may continue to have an incomplete backlog list. The absence of a complete backlog list of projects and studies will likely make it difficult for the Corps to know the full universe of unmet water resource needs of the country, and Congress to make informed decisions when authorizing projects and studies, and appropriating funds.
The Corps has not identified all eligible construction projects and studies for deauthorization and has not complied with statutory requirements to notify Congress of all projects and studies eligible for deauthorization. The agency is unlikely to identify those projects that have been excluded from the databases and had no funds obligated for 5 fiscal years, because, as discussed above, the Corps does not require districts to enter all authorized projects into its databases. Officials GAO interviewed from 5 of 16 districts said they likely would not identify and add projects to the draft deauthorization eligible list because they were not required to do so. Moreover, the Corps has not complied with statutory requirements to notify Congress of all projects that have not had obligations in 5 fiscal years. Specifically, the Corps cannot demonstrate it transmitted a list of projects eligible for deauthorization 8 times in the 12 years it was required to do so since 1997. Corps headquarters officials said that the process and communication mechanisms for deauthorizing projects are not in Corps policies or procedures. Without documented policies and procedures consistent with federal standards for internal control, the Corps may continue its inconsistent publishing of deauthorization lists. In addition, the Corps has not complied with requirements to identify studies for deauthorization because officials have said the agency does not have the policies and procedures in place to do so. Without having the data, as discussed above, or policies and procedures in place to identify studies for deauthorization, the Corps and Congress will not have complete information to make decisions when prioritizing the water resources needs of the country.
Why GAO Did This Study
The Corps reports having a backlog of more than 1,000 authorized water resources construction projects in its Civil Works Program that it estimates to cost more than $62 billion to complete, as of June 2014. Federal statute requires the Corps to identify for deauthorization projects that have had no obligations for 5 years and studies that have had no appropriations for 5 years. Once a project or study is deauthorized, it must be reauthorized to begin or resume construction or study.
GAO was asked to review the Corps' construction backlog and deauthorization processes. This report examines (1) the extent to which the Corps tracks its backlog of construction projects and studies, and (2) the extent to which the Corps identifies construction projects and studies eligible for deauthorization, and meets statutory deauthorization requirements. GAO reviewed legislation, Corps policy, guidance, and documentation of its backlog and deauthorization process. GAO interviewed Corps headquarters officials and officials from 16 of the Corps' 38 domestic civil works districts, selected based on geographical representation and number of projects.
Recommendations
GAO recommends, among other things, that the Corps establish and implement policies to ensure projects and studies are tracked; establish a mechanism to track studies; and develop and implement policies to identify projects and studies that meet deauthorization criteria, and notify Congress. The Department of Defense concurred with the recommendations.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | To ensure that the Corps meets the statutory requirements related to deauthorization of projects, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Secretary of the Army to direct the Chief of Engineers and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to establish and implement a written policy to ensure all authorized projects are entered into the agency's database and tracked. |
DOD concurred with the recommendation and, in 2016, the Corps began tracking projects using the Authorized Project Data Set with annual updates based on the Corps of Engineers Financial Management System (CEFMS) financial database, with reviews by the Corps' headquarters, division, and districts, among others. In 2018, the Corps implemented standard operating procedures to ensure that authorized projects are tracked using this process.
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| Department of Defense | To ensure that the Corps meets the statutory requirements related to deauthorization of projects, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Secretary of the Army to direct the Chief of Engineers and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to determine what projects are eligible for deauthorization, transmit the list to Congress, and publish projects that are deauthorized in the Federal Register once the new database includes all authorized projects. |
DOD initially concurred with this recommendation and the Corps developed a list of projects for deauthorization in accordance with the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 1986, Section 1001, and provided the list to OMB for clearance on January 26, 2018. Additionally, on December 9, 2019, the Corps reported that it provided a list of projects eligible for deauthorization in FY 2020 to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works for review. After receiving OMB clearance, according to the Corps, the list was to be provided to Congress and the public in accordance with WRDA. DOD subsequently reported that modifications to requirements in WRDA 2020, Section 360(b), repealed statutory requirements to transmit lists of projects for deauthorization and to publish such lists in the Federal Register. As such, we have closed the recommendation as not implemented because events have overcome the recommendation.
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| Department of Defense | To ensure that the Corps meets the statutory requirements related to deauthorization of projects, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Secretary of the Army to direct the Chief of Engineers and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to establish and implement written policies and procedures documenting the project deauthorization process, from initial compilation of a list of eligible projects to submitting the list to Congress and publishing the projects that are deauthorized in the Federal Register. |
DOD concurred with this recommendation and in April 2016, the Corps established and implemented guidance to clarify the annual process for deauthorizing eligible projects. The guidance includes information on what projects are eligible for deauthorization and the steps the Corps must take in order to complete the deauthorization process.
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| Department of Defense | To ensure that the Corps meets the statutory requirements related to deauthorization of projects, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Secretary of the Army to direct the Chief of Engineers and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to establish and implement a policy for record-keeping to ensure that documents related to deauthorization are maintained as federal records. |
DOD concurred with this recommendation and in June 2015, the Corps established and implemented a policy for recordkeeping in its engineer regulation 25-60-1 to ensure that documents related to deauthorization are maintained as federal records. This engineer regulation outlines the Corps' policy to maintain and manage information from creation or receipt through final disposition. According to Corps officials, as of Spring 2017, documents related to deauthorization are stored in the Corps' Electronic Document Records Management System.
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| Department of Defense | To ensure that the Corps meets the statutory requirements related to deauthorization of incomplete water resources studies, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Secretary of the Army to direct the Chief of Engineers and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to establish a mechanism for tracking all authorized studies and establish and implement a written policy to ensure all authorized studies are tracked. |
DOD concurred with this recommendation and in December 2016, awarded a task order for a contractor to prepare a comprehensive inventory of studies authorized by statute, which identified approximately 5,600 authorized studies. The Corps has since been tracking authorized studies in the Authorized Project Data Set. The Corps also implemented standard operating procedures for compiling and tracking an annual list of authorized studies, including those that are eligible for deauthorization.
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| Department of Defense | To ensure that the Corps meets the statutory requirements related to deauthorization of incomplete water resources studies, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Secretary of the Army to direct the Chief of Engineers and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to establish and implement policies and procedures documenting the deauthorization process for studies, from initial compilation of a list of eligible studies to submitting the list to Congress. |
DOD concurred with this recommendation and, in December 2016, awarded a task order for a contractor to prepare a comprehensive inventory of studies authorized by statute, which identified approximately 5,600 authorized studies. The Corps also implemented standard operating procedures for compiling and tracking an annual list of authorized studies, compiling a list of studies eligible for deauthorization, and submitting the list of eligible studies to Congress.
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| Department of Defense | To ensure that the Corps meets the statutory requirements related to deauthorization of incomplete water resources studies, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Secretary of the Army to direct the Chief of Engineers and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to determine what studies are eligible for deauthorization and transmit the list to Congress. |
DOD concurred with this recommendation and as of December 2016, a task order was awarded for a contractor to prepare a comprehensive inventory of studies authorized by statute. The Corps reported that once the comprehensive inventory of studies was completed, the Corps would develop policies and procedures for the study deauthorization process and those policies and procedures would be used to carry out the process of deauthorizing studies. In March 2020, the Corps reported that it was working to develop a scheduled for providing us with a list of studies eligible for deauthorization. DOD subsequently reported that modifications to requirements in WRDA 2020, Section 360(a), repealed statutory requirements to transmit lists of studies for deauthorization. As such, we have closed the recommendation as not implemented because events have overcome the recommendation.
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