I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5722 
To require the Corps of Engineers to update Upper Mississippi River levee 
and floodwall design standards, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 26, 2023 
Mrs. MILLER of Illinois (for herself, Mr. BOST, Mr. SORENSEN, and Mr. 
LAHOOD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To require the Corps of Engineers to update Upper Mis-
sissippi River levee and floodwall design standards, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 
1. 
UPPER 
MISSISSIPPI 
RIVER 
LEVEE 
AND 
FLOODWALL DESIGN STANDARDS. 
(a) UPDATES REQUIRED.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the Upper 
Mississippi River levee and floodwall projects, the 
Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of 
Engineers, shall not less frequently than every 20 
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years update the design probabilities used to estab-
lish the design profiles for levees and floodwalls, 
using the most recent probabilities and flood fre-
quency profiles and current appropriate factors of 
safety as needed for wave action, settlement, other 
existing and anticipated future uncertainties, and 
Federal Emergency Management Agency guidelines 
to maintain accreditations. 
(2) CONTENTS.—In updating the design prob-
abilities under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall ob-
tain public input at each stage of development, in-
cluding base elevation data, base hydrological and 
hydraulic assumptions, and shall utilize a public in-
volvement group for meaningful public engagement 
throughout the development of the updated flood 
frequency profiles. 
(b) UNIFORM FLOOD PROTECTION.—Local sponsors 
of the Upper Mississippi River levee and floodwall projects 
in paragraph (b) may maintain flood protection at levels 
consistent with the profiles established under subsection 
(a) such that— 
(1) the maintenance for Uniform Flood Protec-
tion is hereby deemed as not injurious to the feder-
ally authorized flood protection project, and no 
change in risk transfer from original Corps of Engi-
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neers probability-based design, and previously ap-
proved alterations approved pursuant to section 
208.10 of title 33, Code of Federal Regulations, 
prior to 33 USC 408 EC 1165–2–216 dated 31, 
July 2014; 
(2) alterations to the Upper Mississippi River 
levee and floodwall projects made prior to July 31, 
2014, having met the standard established by sec-
tion 208.10 of title 33, Code of Federal Regulations, 
are hereby federally authorized; 
(3) repairs made by the United States of Amer-
ica pursuant to section 5 of the Flood Control Act 
of 1941 (33 U.S.C. 701n) shall be consistent with 
the most recent probabilities and flood frequency 
profiles and appropriate factors of safety; 
(4) maintenance under this section shall include 
local sponsor alteration or improvement of the 
Upper Mississippi River levee and floodwall projects 
to the prior approved level of protection using the 
profiles established under subsection (a); 
(5) maintenance to meet current flood fre-
quency profiles shall be within section 208.10 of title 
33, Code of Federal Regulations, and coordinated 
with the local sponsor’s respective St. Louis or Rock 
Island Corps of Engineers District, to preserve the 
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existing and prior approved systemic flood damage 
reduction planning, in general of rural areas pro-
tected to the 2 percent probability event, districts 
protecting combination urban, critical infrastructure, 
and rural areas at 1 percent and districts protecting 
highly industrial or all urban at 0.2 percent levels, 
as prior Corps of Engineers approved; and 
(6) maintenance to meet current flood fre-
quency profiles are voluntary and shall be the local 
sponsor’s responsibility at local sponsor’s cost. 
(c) PROJECT DEFINED.—In this section, the term 
‘‘Upper Mississippi River levee and floodwall projects’’ 
means the federally authorized projects for flood protec-
tion on the Upper Mississippi River that include— 
(1) levees or floodwalls in the region from Ham-
burg, Illinois, to Guttenberg, Iowa; 
(2) levees in the region from Cape Girardeau, 
Missouri, to Hamburg, Illinois; and 
(3) federally improved levees with local spon-
sors. 
Æ 
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