Corps of Engineers Modernization and Improvement Act of 2004

Bill: 108-s-2188
Sponsor: Sen. Feingold, Russell D. [D-WI]
Introduced: 2004-03-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Water Resources Development
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Administrative remedies
Animals
Appropriations
Aquatic ecology
Army Corps of Engineers
Arts, Culture, Religion
Beaches
Civil engineering
Commerce
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Conservation easements
Construction costs
Cost effectiveness
Cultural property
Data banks
Department of Defense
Dredging
Easements
Economic development
Economic impact statements
Economics and Public Finance
Ecosystem management
Electronic government information
Emergency Management
Endangered species
Environmental Protection
Environmental assessment
Environmental monitoring
Executive reorganization
Federal advisory bodies
Federal aid to water resources development
Federal officials
Federal-state relations
Fishes
Flood control
Flood damage prevention
Forest conservation
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Government publicity
Government trust funds
Governmental investigations
Habitat conservation
Harbors
Hydraulic engineering
Infrastructure
Inland water transportation
Inspectors general
Intergovernmental fiscal relations
Internet
Land transfers
Law
Maintenance and repair
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Marine terminals
Navigation
Performance measurement
Planning
Public Lands and Natural Resources
Railroad freight operations
Railroads
Restoration ecology
Right-of-way
Science, Technology, Communications
Sedimentation
Shore protection
Soil pollution
Sports and Recreation
Subsidies
Term limits
Trade secrets
Traffic congestion
Transportation and Public Works
Waste disposal in rivers, lakes, etc.
Water pollution control
Watersheds
Waterways
Wetlands
Wildlife conservation

Summary:
action_date: 2004-03-10
text: 
Corps of Engineers Modernization and Improvement Act of 2004 - Amends the Flood Control Act of 1970 to require: (1) the Secretary of the Army to revise the planning guidelines, regulations, and circulars of the Corps of Engineers to comply with specified requirements, including encouraging ecosystem restoration; and (2) the Corps to develop and annually update an integrated national plan to manage, rehabilitate, and modernize inland waterway and port infrastructure to meet specified needs. 
 
Directs the Secretary to ensure that each feasibility report, general reevaluation report, and environmental impact statement of a water resource project is subject to review by an independent panel of experts if: (1) the project has an estimated total cost of more than $25 million; (2) the Governor of an affected State requests such review; (3) the head of a Federal agency charged with reviewing the project determines that it is likely to have a significant adverse impact; or (4) the Secretary determines that the project is controversial.
 
Directs the Inspector General of the Army to appoint a Director of Independent Review. Permits the Secretary to recommend a project for congressional authorization only if it has projected national benefits that are at least 1.5 times as great as the estimated total project costs. Establishes full mitigation requirements for losses of aquatic and terrestrial resources, fish, and wildlife.
 
Directs the Secretary to establish: (1) a record-keeping system to track each project constructed, operated, or maintained by the Secretary; and (2) a mechanism for decommissioning waterways that are no longer economically justified or that are no longer in the national interest.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2004-04-01
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S3528-3529)
action_date: 2004-03-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. (text of measure as introduced: CR S2551-2556)
action_date: 2004-03-10
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S2550-2551)
action_date: 2004-03-10
text: Introduced in Senate