Infrastructure Insights: Executive Action Needed to Amend Antiquated Executive Order
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works mission began in 1824 when our Nation’s fifth President, James Monroe, signed into law a bill to improve navigation on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. While Corps projects have always been large and complex, the Civil Works missions have evolved over time to incorporate new regulations, policies, shifts from political pressures, and unfortunately, cumbersome bureaucracy.
Today’s Corps’ Civil Works mission is critical to America’s economy and global competitiveness and provides a true return on investment to move the country forward. The net economic benefit generated by Corps’ Civil Works is estimated to be $268 billion dollars annually, a return of nearly $40 for every dollar expended.
Infrastructure projects that have such a colossal impact on our economy and our communities can sometimes be controversial and politically sensitive. How water behaves hydraulically is largely dictated by physics, and has little regard for geographical, cultural, or political boundaries. To ensure transparency and promote public involvement, the development and recommendation of a Corps’ water resource project for authorization by Congress follows an extensive public planning process that ensures it is economically justified, environmentally acceptable, and technically achievable.
Many credit the modern-day Civil Works program to the Reagan Administration given the seismic policy changes of the 1980s that reformed how projects are justified, how they are funded by adding cost share requirements from non-federal partners, how conservation is considered, and (the focus of this discussion) oversight by the Administration’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB). But it was President Jimmy Carter’s mistrust of the Corps’ ability to recommend projects that were economically justified and protect the environment that sowed the seeds for the changes to come. Proving the phrase “all politics is local,” the project at the center of Carter’s attention was a proposed dam project on the Flint River in his home state of Georgia. In 1977, he announced a major review of 320 water resource projects, questioning their compliance with environmental laws and doubting that many projects remained justified under the existing economic conditions. Ultimately, he suggested the elimination of funds for 19 water resource projects, sparking backlash from Congress and debate on whether certain water projects were worthy of investment from the American taxpayers.
Following Carter’s defeat in 1980, the incoming Reagan Administration maintained the previous Administration’s focus on the Corps of Engineers. In 1981, Reagan issued Executive Order (EO) 12322 to mandate any federal or federally assisted land or water resource project proposal first be submitted to OMB for review before being presented to Congress for approval. But over the last several decades, a broadened interpretation has caused a withholding of nearly all information, including outyear funding needs, up-to-date project capabilities, innovative acquisition strategies, and other information critical to Congressional decision-makers.
What was once intended to improve coordination and remove duplicative processes has effectively created an unnecessary choke point for basic factual information. This information is often not budget-sensitive and decisions that are not based on policy, overruling the judgement of technical experts, economists, scientists, and professional engineers. The impact of this has had real world consequences. Mislabeling almost all factual information as “budget sensitive” has negative and sometimes devasting impacts on the Corps relationships with its project partners and the public.
In fairness to OMB, they often find themselves fulfilling the role as the federal constant in a policy space that is ever-changing and subject to the never-ending whiplash of political attention and Congressionally directed reforms. During major shifts, OMB is a fixed presence as Administrations, the Congress, and Corps military leadership can frequently change.
The lack of transparent and objective information coupled with inconsistent communication has eroded trust in the Corps’ ability to execute projects effectively. Restoring American maritime dominance and unleashing American energy can only happen if we assess and address what holds it back. By addressing the bureaucracy created by Executive Order 12322, President Trump can streamline Corps projects and ensure that the harmful and shortsighted policies of past Administrations do not continue on his watch.
