Environmental Stewardship: Policy & Procedures

Policy & Procedures

Army Regulations

AR 200-3, dated 28 February 1995
Natural Resources - Land, Forest and Wildlife Management
AR 405-80, dated 10 October 1997
Management of Title and Granting Use of Real Property

Engineer Pamphlets

EP 1130-2-540, dated 15 November 1996 revised 11 August 2008
Project Operations - Environmental Stewardship Operations and Maintenance Policies
- Chapter 2, Natural Resources Stewardship
EP 1130-2-550, dated 15 November 1996 revised 15 August 2002
Projection Operations - Recreation Operations and Maintenance Guidance and Procedures
EP 1165-2-316 (Title 36)
Rules and Regulations Governing Public Use of Corps of Engineers Water Resource Development Projects
EP 200-2-3, dated 30 October 1996
Environmental Compliance Guidance and Procedures

Engineer Regulations

ER 1130-2-406, dated 31 October 1990 revised 28 May 1999
Project Operation - Shoreline Management at Civil Works Projects
ER 1130-2-540, dated 15 November 1996 revised 11 August 2008
Project Operations - Environmental Stewardship Operations and Maintenance Policies
ER 1130-2-550, dated 15 November 1996 revised 15 August 2002
Project Operations - Recreation Operations and Maintenance Policies
ER 200-2-2, dated 4 March 1988
Procedures for Implementing NEPA
ER 200-2-3, dated 29 October 2010
Environmental Quality - Environmental Compliance Policies
ER 405-1-12, dated 20 November 1985 revised 15 May 2000
Real Estate Handbook

Public Law Regulation

95-341, American Indian Religious Freedom Act
93-291, Archaeological and Historical Preservation Act of 1973
100-588, Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 (ARPA)
93-205, Endangered Species Act of 1973
ESA requires the protection of endangered species and their critical habitat. The Act is based on not only the species but the habitat they depend on.
92-500, Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972
In 1972, Congress passed the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments, better known as the Clean Water Act, "to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity" of the Nation's waters. The Act defined "navigable waters" as "waters of the United States." The legislative history made plain that Congress intended the broadest possible Federal jurisdiction, expanding beyond traditionally navigable waters. Section 404 of the Clean Water Act established a permit program regarding discharges of dredged and fill material.
89-72, Federal Water Project Recreation Act of 1965
This law was intended to provide uniform rules for the treatment of recreation and fish and wildlife benefits and costs in connection with most Federal water resources projects.
79-624, Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act of 1954
85-624, Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act of 1958
This law requires the Corps to coordinate with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service on civil works projects undertaken by the Corps to insure that fish & wildlife issues are given consideration during the planning and operational phase of a project. The law required preparation of a General Plan during the planning phase to establish who would be responsible for managing wildlife on project lands. In some cases project lands were turned over to USFWS to be managed as a National Wildlife Refuge or were outgranted to a state wildlife agency to be managed for wildlife. In many cases, no other agency took responsibility for fish & wildlife management, thus leaving that responsibility to the Corps in spite of the Corps "shadow world" authority to manage for fish and wildlife purposes. The Fish & Wildlife Coordination Act requires the Corps to coordinate with the USFWS when moderately significant actions, such as a major outgrant, occur at an operational lake. The coordination generally takes place during preparation of any environmental documentation prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act, but may also take place during routine actions such as a timber harvest or resolution of an act of trespass involving damage to wildlife habitat.
534-58, Flood Control Act of 1944
This act authorized the Chief of Engineers to provide recreation facilities at civil works projects in order to fulfill an obvious need. This act did not provide clear direction for fulfilling ES responsibilities but did give the Corps very clear authority to provide recreation facilities. With regard to ES, little was stated except that "No use of any area to which this section applies shall be permitted which is inconsistent with the laws for the protection of fish and game of the State in which such area is situated."
, Flood Control Act of 1970
This law granted the Corps authority to designate certain persons to issue citations for violating the regulations adopted by the Secretary of the Army.
86-717, Forest Cover Act
The Forest Cover Act provides a mandate for multiple use forest management. It provides "for the protection and development of forest or other vegetative cover and the establishment and maintenance of other conservation measures on reservoirs under his [Chief of Engineers] jurisdiction, so as to yield the maximum benefit and otherwise improve such areas". The Forest Cover Act also provides authority for the Corps to manage project lands and waters for any or all conservation purposes, including fish and wildlife conservation.
, National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA)
This law created the requirement for preparation of Environmental Impact Statements and Environmental Assessments on Federal actions. At first, Federal agencies implemented the new law under guidelines promulgated by the newly-created Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), but in1978 the CEQ published regulations for implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA at 40 CFR Parts 1500-1508. Subsequently, the Corps prepared an implementing regulation, ER 200-2-2, in 1980.
89-665, National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA), October 15, 1966
The NHPA and subsequent amendments (1980 and 1992) Section 110 states "each Federal agency shall establish a program to locate, inventory, and nominate to the Secretary (of Interior) all properties under the agencys ownership." Furthermore, "each Federal agency shall exercise caution to ensure that any such property that might qualify for inclusion is not inadvertently transferred, sold, demolished, substantially altered, or allowed to deteriorate significantly."
101-601, Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA)
89-669, Protection of Rare and Endangered Species Act
86-717, The Forest Conservation Act of 1960
Enacted in 1960, this law comes close to serving as an organic act for the Corps ES business line. The law was somewhat obscure and was not even referenced in the very first edition of ER 1130-2-400 in 1971. Enactment of the law was championed by legislators from southern states where the Corps had acquired significant forested land in the 1950s. These southern legislators, in response to their constituents, expressed concern that the Corps was not practicing forest management on its lands. Thus, the committee version of the law was focused almost entirely on directing the Corps to practice sustained yield forest management on suitable Corps lands. However, in response to comments offered by the Secretary of Agriculture, the final version of the law included much broader language directing that "the Chief of Engineers, under supervision of the Secretary of the Army, shall provide for the protection and development of forest cover or other vegetative cover and the establishment and maintenance of other conservation measures on reservoir areas&&&to yield the maximum benefit and otherwise improve such areas."
93-251, Water Resources Development Act of 1974
, Water Resources Development Act of 1986
This Act provided authority to mitigate for fish and wildlife losses associated with older Corps projects and also established the Section 1135 program whereby improvements to environmental quality could be pursued at existing Corps projects subject to the requirement to cost share the improvement with a local sponsor.

Executive Orders

E.O. 13053, Adding Members to and Extending the President's Council on Sustainable Development
E.O. 12855, Amendment to Executive Order 12852
E.O. 12948, Amendment to Executive Order 12898
E.O. 13080, American Heritage Rivers Initiative Advisory Committee
E.O. 13093, American Heritage Rivers, Amending Executive Orders 13061 and 13080
E.O. 12630, Constitutional Takings
E.O. 12906, Coordinating Geographic Data Acquisition and Access: The National Spatial Data Infrastructure
E.O. 13089, Coral Reef Protection
E.O. , Executive Order on Facilitation of Cooperative Conservation
E.O. 11987, Exotic Organisms
E.O. 12780, Federal Agency Recycling and the Council on Federal Recycling and Procurement Policy
E.O. 13327, Federal Real Property Management
E.O. 11988, Floodplain Management
E.O. 12965, Further Amendment to Executive Order 12852
E.O. 13114, Further Amendment to Executive Order 12852, as Amended, Extending the President's Council on Sustainable Development
E.O. 13007, Indian Sacred Sites
E.O. 12986, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
E.O. 13112, Invasive Species
E.O. 12996, Management and General Public Use of the National Wildlife Refuge System
E.O. 12852, President's Council on Sustainable Development
E.O. 11514, Protection and Enhancement of Environmental Quality
E.O. 11990, Protection of Wetlands
E.O. 12962, Recreational Fisheries
E.O. 11644, Use of Off-Road Vehicles on Public Lands

Memos

09/05/24 FY24 Annual NRM Update including important dates
I am asking for your full support in our annual NRM update that provides leadership and reviewing agencies such as the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) with data for performance and strategic metrics. Portions of this data are presented at annual budget time to the Secretary of the Army for Civil Works (ASACW) and to OMB. Other data is directly used to help rank budget work packages or provide input to the Civil Works Strategic Plan. I cannot understate the importance of having quality data and encourage extra focus on data quality for this entry period. The field POCs have been notified earlier of this entry period, but I wanted to bring the effort to your attention. I can assure you this data is used to direct funds, prioritize work, and most importantly tell the NRM program story to those outside the NRM and Operations community. Please review the following bullets which outline the highlights for this year.
1. For FY24 NRM annual update, the NRM community (Recreation and Environmental Stewardship Business Lines) will utilize the CWBI-OPS Natural Resources Management Modules, https://cwbi.ops.usace.army.mil/.
2. CWBI-OPS is the primary database of record for all O&M business line data. CWBI-OPS data is used for many different purposes, including decisions concerning facility development, budget development and defense, tracking performance measures, preparation of briefings and fact sheets, asset management, etc. It is used to populate information on the Gateway and numerous other internal and external web sites. CWBI-OPS will continue to serve as source for many other systems including CWIFD and EDW. Inaccurate and/or incomplete data not only reflects poorly on the Corps and renders a disservice to the public but could also jeopardize the viability of our O&M missions and budget defense.
3. Training through web meetings will be provided to the field on the system and data entry process as needed and will be announced through the CWBI-OPS District POCs. The schedule for entering data by modules is as follows.
Recreation PSA Module
PSA Detail Information ONLY

Opens September 16 and Closes October 18 to field entry.

District Review is concurrent through November 1.

Includes Corps Managed PSA fee information, collection method, and RUDA.

NRM Module
Opens September 16 and Closes October 18 to field entry.

District Review is concurrent through November 1.

Includes Passes, Project Public & Service Roads, Project Trails, Title 18 Offences, Interpretive Contacts, Special Events, Law Enforcement Contracts, and Project Details

Environmental Stewardship Module
Opens September 16 and Closes October 18 to field entry.

District Review is concurrent through November 1.

Includes Shoreline Management, Boundaries, Encroachments & Trespasses, Master Plans, Fire Management, Cultural Resources, Pollinators, Vegetation Classification, Land Classification, Invasive Species, and the Federal Special Status Species

Partnerships and Volunteers Module
Opens October 1 and Closes November 15 to field entry.

District Review is concurrent through December 13.

Includes Partnership and Volunteer information.

Contact the Partnership Advisory Committee for assistance.

4. I'm requesting your continued leadership support to reinforce the importance of data and to provide "quality assurance" on accurateness and completeness of the data.
Thank you for all your efforts and if you have any questions, please contact me. My POC on this effort is Dena Williams who can be reach at dena.k.williams@usace.army.mil
Jeff
Jeffrey F. Krause
Chief, Natural Resources Management
08/07/24 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Migratory Bird Treaty Act Policy and Best Management Practices for Civil Works
See USACE Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) Policy signed by Mr. Edward E. Belk, Director of Civil Works and Best Management Practices for Civil Works and implementation guidance. Please share this with your Commanders and all staff that work with MBTA.
This policy memorandum is intended to educate and inform staff as well as to provide Best Management Practices (BMP) on commonly performed activities to help achieve compliance with MBTA. This compliance will allow USACE to meet its responsibility to avoid or minimize negative impacts to migratory birds and their habitat while adhering to USACE policies, practices, and guidelines.
The USACE vision is to ensure that MBTA compliance is met at all Civil Works projects, programs, and activities on USACE lands and waters. This policy memorandum is applicable to all USACE missions and projects and will be applied to migratory bird issues in the execution of all Civil Works Programs.
My point of contact for this initiative is Mike Richards, Program Manager for Land Use and Natural Resources
Jeffrey F. Krause
Chief, Natural Resources Management