Levee Safety: Army Corps and FEMA Have Made Little Progress in Carrying Out Required Activities
Published: 2016-07-26T00:00:00

Fast Facts:

Highlights:
section_title: Why GAO Did This Study
paragraphs: Levees, which are man-made structures such as earthen embankments or concrete floodwalls, play a vital role in reducing the risk of flooding. Their failure can contribute to loss of lives or property, as shown by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It is estimated that there are over 100,000 miles of levees across the United States, many of which are owned or operated by nonfederal entities. The Corps and FEMA are the two principal federal agencies with authorities related to levee safety.
The Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 requires the Corps and FEMA to take the lead on certain national levee-safety-related activities including developing a national levee inventory, which Congress authorized in 2007. The act also includes a provision for GAO to report on related issues. This report examines the Corps' and FEMA's progress in carrying out key national activities related to levee safety required in the act. GAO reviewed pertinent federal laws and executive orders as well as budget, planning, and policy documents from the Corps and FEMA; compared agency activities with federal internal control standards; and interviewed Corps and FEMA headquarters officials.
section_title: What GAO Found
paragraphs: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have made little progress in implementing key national levee-safety-related activities required in the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014. More specifically, the Corps has been working to develop a national levee inventory, but the agencies have taken no action on the remaining key national levee-safety-related activities for which they are responsible under the act, as shown in the table below. Agency officials identified resource constraints as a primary reason for their lack of progress in implementing such activities, and Corps officials said that not implementing these activities could potentially result in safety risks and federal financial risks for disaster relief, among other impacts. However, the agencies have no plan for implementing the remaining activities required by the act. Without a plan that includes milestones for accomplishing these activities using existing resources or requesting additional resources as needed, the agencies are unlikely to make progress implementing the activities under the act.
section_title: What GAO Recommends
paragraphs: GAO recommends that the Corps and FEMA develop a plan that includes milestones for implementing the required national levee-safety-related activities using existing resources or requesting additional resources as needed. The agencies generally concurred with GAO's recommendation.

section_title: Letter
paragraphs: Levees—man-made structures such as earthen embankments or  concrete floodwalls—play a vital role in reducing the risk of flooding, and  a levee’s failure can lead to the loss of lives or property. The impact of  levee failures was brought to national attention in 2005, when waves from  Hurricane Katrina resulted in the overtopping and failure of levees in parts  of New Orleans contributing to major devastation, including at least 1,300  deaths. Addressing the damage from the hurricane cost the federal  government more than $16 billion in disaster relief, according to data from  the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). It is estimated  that, across the United States, there could be more than 100,000 miles of  levees, the majority of which—over 85,000 miles—are owned,  maintained, or operated by nonfederal stakeholders, such as states, local  governments, tribes, and private entities. FEMA data indicate that levees  are found in approximately 22 percent of U.S. counties, where almost half  of the U.S. population resides. According to the U.S. Army Corps of  Engineers (Corps) and FEMA officials, the federal government does not  have a program overseeing all levees across the nation, and no national  standards exist for levee safety.
A number of federal agencies have a role in levee-related activities, such  as inspections, inventories, assessments, training and assistance,  development of standards, mapping, and risk communication; however,  the Corps, within the Department of Defense, and FEMA, within the  Department of Homeland Security, are the two principal federal agencies  with authorities related to levees. The Corps has some responsibility for  approximately15,000 miles of levees under its Levee Safety Program,  including levees that the Corps has built and maintains, levees that it has  built but does not maintain, and levees that it did not build but  rehabilitates. The aim of this program, according to a Corps document, is  to better understand, manage, and reduce flood risks associated with  levees through such activities as maintaining a national inventory of  levees, inspecting and assessing the performance of certain levees, and  providing levee rehabilitation to eligible flood-damaged levees. FEMA  implements the National Flood Insurance Program, under which public  and private levees can be accredited as designed to withstand a certain  flood event. The program provided insurance to help protect over 5.1  million policyholders against flood losses in 2015.
In 2007, Congress established the National Committee on Levee Safety  to develop recommendations for a national levee safety program. The  committee comprised 23 members, including both federal and nonfederal  stakeholders. In 2009, the committee recommended, among other things,  that federal levee-related programs be aligned to promote levee safety  nationwide. More specifically, the committee stated that all federal  programs that significantly impact governmental and individual decision  making in leveed areas must be aligned toward (1) the goal of reliable  levees, (2) an informed and involved public, (3) shared responsibility for  the protection of human life, and (4) mitigation of public and private  economic damages. In keeping with this goal, the committee called on the  Corps, with assistance from FEMA, to develop voluntary national levee- safety guidelines to help ensure best engineering practices for levees are  implemented throughout the nation at all levels of government. Further,  the committee discussed the potential for federal levee-related programs  to be aligned to provide incentives, such as financial or technical  assistance, to nonfederal stakeholders to promote more shared  responsibility for levee safety. In its report, the committee stated that the  average age of levees within federal levee-safety programs was  approximately 50 years but that many nonfederal levees could be much  older—100 years old or more.
In June 2014, the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of  2014 was enacted and included provisions to, among other things,  increase the capacity of nonfederal stakeholders to promote levee safety.  The act requires the Corps and FEMA to take the lead on certain national  levee-safety-related activities, including establishing voluntary national  levee-safety guidelines and providing financial and technical incentives to  nonfederal stakeholders to take various actions to promote levee safety.  The act also includes a provision for us to submit a report concerning  related issues. This report examines the Corps’ and FEMA’s progress in  carrying out key national activities related to levee safety under the Water  Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014.
To examine the progress that the Corp and FEMA have made in carrying  out key national levee- safety-related activities under the Water  Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014, we reviewed pertinent  federal laws and executive orders, including the Water Resources Reform  and Development Act of 2014; the Water Resources Development Act of  2007; the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act; Executive  Order 11988, Floodplain Management; and Executive Order 13690,  Establishing a Federal Flood Risk Management Standard and a Process  for Further Soliciting and Considering Stakeholder Input. We reviewed  Corps and FEMA budget, planning, and policy documents concerning the  agencies’ levee-related programs, as well as documentation about  interagency efforts in which they participate. We also reviewed  documents developed by the National Committee on Levee Safety,  including its 2009 draft report on recommendations for a national levee  safety program and its website. In addition, we reviewed our past  reports related to levee safety. We also interviewed Corps and FEMA  officials who are responsible for implementing the levee-safety-related  provisions of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014.  On the basis of our reviews and interviews, we identified the  implementation status of key national levee-safety-related activities and  compared their status with the requirements in the Water Resources  Reform and Development Act of 2014.
We conducted this performance audit from August 2015 to July 2016 in  accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.  Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain  sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our  findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that  the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and  conclusions based on our audit objectives.
subsections: section_title: Background
paragraphs: This section includes information on the types of levee structures and  potential levee failures, major levee-related programs of the Corps and  FEMA, and selected legislation related to levee safety.
subsections: section_title: Types of Levee Structures and Potential Failures
paragraphs: The Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 defines a  levee as a manmade barrier (e.g., as an embankment, floodwall, or other  structure), the primary purpose of which is to provide hurricane, storm, or  flood protection relating to seasonal high water, storm surges,  precipitation, or other weather events; such a barrier is normally subject  to water loading for only a few days or weeks during a calendar year.  According to a Corps document, levees are usually earthen  embankments or concrete floodwalls, which have been designed and  constructed to contain, control, or divert the flow of water so as to reduce  the risk of temporary flooding. An American Society of Civil Engineers  public information document describes earthen levees as being  constructed from compacted soil that is typically covered with various  surface materials, such as grass, gravel, stone, asphalt, or concrete, to  help prevent erosion. The document further states that a floodwall is a  vertical levee structure usually erected in urban areas where there is  insufficient land for an earthen levee. Levees can either function  passively or can require active operations depending on their  components. Some levees have gates and pumps, for example, and may  require personnel to operate these devices in times of floods. Levees  typically require regular maintenance and periodic upgrades to retain their  level of protection. Maintenance can include such actions as removing  debris and unwanted vegetation from the levees, areas adjacent to  floodwalls, and channels; controlling damage caused by animals (e.g.,  filling burrows); painting or greasing structural components, such as metal  gates; and repairing concrete damage, particularly in northern climates  with severe freeze-thaw cycles. Figure 1 depicts an earthen levee and a  floodwall as well as their respective components.
According to FEMA documents, levees are designed to provide a specific  level of protection. However, they can be overtopped or fail; they can  also decay over time (see fig. 2).
section_title: Corps’ and FEMA’s Major Levee-Related Programs
paragraphs: The Corps and FEMA combined have three primary levee-related  programs: the Corps’ Levee Safety Program, the Corps’ Flood Risk  Management program, and FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program.
subsections: section_title: Corps’ Levee Safety Program
paragraphs: According to Corps documents, the Corps’ Levee Safety Program,  established in 2007, works to better understand, manage, and reduce the  flood risks associated with levees through various activities. For example,  the Corps maintains a national inventory of levees and makes the  information available in the National Levee Database. In addition, the  Corps inspects and assesses the performance of about 2,500 levees,  comprising about 15,000 miles, nationwide to determine associated risks.  On the basis of information from its assessments, the Corps makes  recommendations about future federal investments and to prioritize  maintenance, repairs, and other actions on levees.
section_title: Corps’ Flood-Risk Management Program
paragraphs: The Corps’ Flood Risk Management Program, established in 2006, is  intended to work across multiple Corps’ programs to reduce and manage  flood risk, according to the Corps’ website. The program promotes the  appropriate use of levees and floodwalls or alternative actions to reduce  flood risk, such as land acquisition and flood proofing. The Corps also  communicates levee-related concerns to stakeholders and works with  stakeholders to develop solutions to reduce flood risk. The Corps  accomplishes this outreach and communication through its flood risk  management program as well as through other programs such as the  Silver Jackets program, which, according to the Corps’ website, is  intended to bring together multiple federal, state, and sometimes local  agencies and tribes to learn from one another and help reduce the risk of  flooding and other natural disasters and enhance response and recovery  efforts.
section_title: FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program
paragraphs: FEMA’s primary levee-related program is the National Flood Insurance  Program, which was first authorized in the National Flood Insurance Act  of 1968 to, among other things, addresses the increasing cost of federal  disaster assistance by providing flood insurance to property owners in  flood-prone areas, where such insurance was either not available or  prohibitively expensive. This act also authorized subsidies to encourage  community and property owner participation. To participate in the  program, communities must adopt and agree to enforce floodplain  management regulations to reduce the risk of future flood damage. An  integral part of the program is the accreditation of any levees near the  communities. In exchange for meeting program requirements, federally  backed flood insurance is offered to residents in those communities.
subsections: section_title: Selected Legislation Related to Levee Safety
paragraphs: The Water Resources Development Act of 2007 directed the Corps to  create and maintain a National Levee Database that includes a national  inventory of levees, with information on the location and condition of all  federal levees and, to the extent such information is provided to the  Corps, nonfederal levees among other things. It also established the  National Committee on Levee Safety to develop recommendations for a  national levee safety program. The committee, which was composed of  23 diverse professionals from federal, state, and local or regional  governments as well as the private sector and Indian tribes, operated  from 2007 to 2011. In 2009, it submitted a draft report to Congress that  included 20 recommendations for actions to establish a national levee- safety program, in addition to a strategic plan for implementing the  program.
The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, enacted in 2012,  called for the Corps and FEMA to align agency processes to allow  interchangeable use of information collected for the Corps’ Inspection of  Completed Works Program and FEMA’s National Flood Insurance  Program. In 2013, a joint Corps and FEMA taskforce determined that  under certain circumstances, Corps risk assessments of levees  conducted under the agency’s Levee Safety Program could satisfy  aspects of levee accreditation under FEMA’s National Flood Insurance  Program. The effort culminated in a memorandum of understanding  signed by the Corps and FEMA in which the Corps agrees to, among  other things, provide FEMA with risk assessment results and FEMA  agrees to accept and consider the Corps results, when possible.
The Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 amends  portions of the Water Resources and Development Act of 2007 and also  requires the Corps and FEMA to take the lead in implementing certain  key national levee-safety-related activities. More specifically, it  established new reporting responsibilities for the National Committee on  Levee Safety, required continued development of a national levee  inventory, and required implementation of a multifaceted levee safety  initiative under which the agencies are to accomplish the following tasks:
Develop voluntary national levee-safety guidelines: The voluntary  national levee-safety guidelines are intended to be comprehensive  standards that are available for use by all federal, state, and local  agencies as well as tribes. Under the act, the voluntary guidelines are  also expected to address activities and practices by states, local  governments, tribes, and private entities to safely build, regulate,  operate, and maintain a wide range of levee types, canal structures,  and related facilities. The guidelines are also expected to address  federal activities—including levee inspection, levee rehabilitation, local  floodplain management, and public education and training—that  facilitate state efforts to develop and implement effective state  programs for levee safety.
Adopt a hazard potential classification system: A hazard-potential  classification system, as described by the National Committee on  Levee Safety in its 2009 draft report, would be a first step in  identifying and prioritizing hazards in leveed areas and is to be based  solely on the potential consequences associated with a levee’s failure,  as opposed to the likelihood or probability of a levee failure. The act  provides for such a system to be considered in the development of the  voluntary national levee-safety guidelines; under the act, the system is  also expected to be consistent with the Corps’ levee-safety action- classification tool, which ranks levees based on their likelihood of  flooding and the associated consequences. According to Corps  officials, the tool is currently being used on levees within the Corps’  Levee Safety program.
Provide technical assistance and materials: The agencies are to  provide technical assistance and training to help promote levee safety  and assist states, communities, and levee owners in (1) developing  levee safety programs; (2) identifying and reducing flood risks  associated with levees; and (3) identifying local actions that may be  carried out to reduce flood risks in leveed areas.
Provide public education and promote awareness: To improve  public understanding of the role of levees, the agencies are to carry  out public education and awareness efforts about the risks associated  with living in leveed areas. Education and awareness efforts are to be  directed particularly toward individuals living in leveed areas. These  efforts must also promote consistency in how information about levee- related risks is communicated at the state and local level and shared  among federal agencies.
Develop guidelines and provide assistance for a national state  and tribal levee-safety program: This national program, as  described by the National Committee on Levee Safety in its 2009 draft  report, would assist states and tribes in developing and maintaining  the institutional capacity, expertise, and framework to quickly initiate  and maintain their own levee-safety program activities and  requirements. The guidelines are to identify the minimum  components necessary for an individual state or tribe to participate in  the program. The national program provides assistance to help  establish state and tribal programs that would meet these  requirements. The act also requires that state and tribal levee-safety  programs will have to adopt the voluntary national levee-safety  guidelines to be eligible for assistance.
Develop guidelines and provide assistance for a levee  rehabilitation assistance program: This program is to provide  assistance to states, local governments, and tribes related to  addressing flood mitigation activities that result in an overall reduction  of flood risk. The Corps, in consultation with FEMA, is to develop  guidelines for floodplain management plans that program participants  are required to prepare to reduce the impacts of future floods in areas  with levees. Assistance provided under the program may be used for  any rehabilitation activity to maximize risk reduction associated with  levees that are (1) under a participating state or tribal levee-safety  program and (2) not federally operated and maintained. To be eligible,  applicants are expected to comply with all applicable federal  floodplain management and flood insurance programs, have a  floodplain management plan, have a hazard mitigation plan that  includes all levee risks, and act in accordance with the voluntary  national levee safety guidelines.
In addition, among other things, the act called for several reports to be  prepared. Specifically, the Corps is to submit to Congress and make  publicly available a biennial report that describes the state of levees in the  United States and the effectiveness of the levee safety initiative, as well  as any recommendations for legislation and other congressional actions  necessary to ensure national levee safety. The Corps and FEMA are  also required to submit a report that included recommendations on the  advisability and feasibility of, and potential approaches for, establishing a  joint national dam and levee safety program, and the Corps is required to  submit a report that includes recommendations that identify and address  any legal liabilities associated with levee engineering projects.
section_title: The Corps and FEMA Have Made Little Progress on Key Activities under the Act, Citing Resource Constraints, and Do Not Have a Plan for Implementing the Rest
paragraphs: The Corps and FEMA have made little progress in implementing key  national levee-safety-related activities under the Water Resources  Reform and Development Act of 2014 primarily because of resource  constraints, according to officials from both agencies. The Corps has  been working on its development of a national levee inventory, but the  Corps and FEMA have not begun work on other key national levee- safety-related activities required by the act and do not have a current plan  for doing so (see table 1).
Concerning the national levee inventory, a summary document that the  Corps developed for us states that the Corps is incorporating levee data  that FEMA has provided from the National Flood Insurance Program and  is working to incorporate levee data voluntarily provided by state and local  agencies. The Corps’ actions are an extension of earlier work on the  database, which it was directed to establish and maintain under the Water  Resources and Development Act of 2007. Corps officials said that  improving the inventory will be an ongoing process. The Corps had  allocated $5 million for the inventory in fiscal year 2016, and the Corps’  fiscal year 2017 Operations and Maintenance budget justification lists an  allocation of an additional $5 million to further expand the inventory.
The agencies have taken no action on the remaining key national levee- safety-related activities for which they were responsible and have missed  several statutory deadlines for developing guidelines and reports. For  example, the agencies took no action on developing the guidelines for the  preparation of floodplain management plans under the levee rehabilitation  assistance program, which were due on December 7, 2014; the voluntary  national levee-safety guidelines, due June 10, 2015; or a report, due June  10, 2015, that was to include, among other things, recommendations for  legislation and other congressional actions necessary to ensure national  levee safety. Additionally, according to agency officials we interviewed,  the agencies have no current plan for implementing the remaining  activities. Without a plan, including milestones for accomplishing these  activities using existing resources or requesting additional resources as  needed, the agencies are unlikely to make further progress on  implementing the remaining activities required by the act.
Corps officials we interviewed said that they have continued to make  progress on other activities that will complement activities required by the  Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 and that are  within the scope of their existing Levee Safety Program and Flood Risk  Management Program. Similarly, FEMA officials stated that they also are  working to provide general public education and promote awareness  about the risks associated with living behind levees through their existing  National Flood Insurance Program.
In a slide presentation that the Corps prepared for us, dated October  2015, the Corps identified resource constraints as a primary reason why  the Corps has not been able to carry out certain key national levee- safety-related activities under the Water Resources Reform and  Development Act of 2014. Specifically, the Corps’ presentation indicated  that new appropriations would be needed to (1) provide technical  assistance and training; (2) develop guidelines and provide financial  assistance for a state and tribal levee-safety program; and (3) develop  guidelines and provide financial assistance for a levee rehabilitation  assistance program. Corps officials we interviewed stated that the  remaining national levee-safety-related activities required in the act could  be funded using existing appropriations, but these activities would have to  compete with existing Corps projects in the Corps civil works program.  We reviewed a 2016 Corps budget document and determined that,  except for the national inventory of levees, the Corps did not specifically  allocate funds for national levee-safety-related activities required in the  act.
FEMA officials we interviewed stated that the agency would need  additional appropriations to carry out the agency’s main responsibility  under the act—providing assistance for a state and tribal levee safety  program—and told us that the agency had not received any funding  directed toward national activities required by the act. They also said that  even if these activities were funded, the agency would need additional  staffing resources—specifically, in its 10 regional offices—to carry out  requirements under the act. As of this report, FEMA has one staff person  who is available part-time to implement the national levee-safety-related  activities required by the act.
As noted above, the Corps’ 2017 budget includes $5 million for the  national levee inventory; however, it does not specify funds for  implementing the other national levee-safety-related activities in the  Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014. Corps  headquarters officials told us that not implementing the act’s national  levee-safety-related activities could result in several potential impacts,  including that the disaster relief burden for the federal government may  increase, safety risks and loss of life may increase, and risk education in  communities with levees may not be carried out.
section_title: Conclusions
paragraphs: Since the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Congress has  enacted legislation, including the Water Resources Reform and  Development Act of 2014 that provided the Corps and FEMA with lead  responsibility for undertaking certain national levee-safety-related  activities, including some that would increase the capacity of nonfederal  stakeholders to promote levee safety. The Corps is working on one of the  key national levee-safety-related activities required by the act, namely  expanding a national inventory of levees. However, the Corps and FEMA  have not taken action to implement the other activities, required by the  act, citing resource constraints. Further, Corps officials have identified  potential impacts—including safety and financial risks—of not carrying out  these activities, but the agencies do not have a plan for implementing  these activities. Without a plan, including milestones for accomplishing  the activities using existing resources or requesting additional resources  as needed, the agencies are unlikely to make further progress  implementing the activities under the act.
section_title: Recommendation for Executive Action
paragraphs: To help ensure that the Corps and FEMA carry out the national levee- safety-related activities required in the Water Resources Reform and  Development Act of 2014, we recommend that the Secretary of Defense  direct the Secretary of the Army to direct the Chief of Engineers and  Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and that the  Secretary of Homeland Security direct the FEMA Administrator to develop  a plan, with milestones, for implementing these activities, using existing  resources or requesting additional resources as needed. This plan could  be posted on the Corps’ website and monitored for progress.
section_title: Agency Comments
paragraphs: We provided a draft of this report for review and comment to the  Departments of Defense and Homeland Security. In their written  comments, reproduced in appendixes I and II, respectively, both agencies  generally concurred with our recommendation. The Department of  Defense stated that the agencies are drafting an implementation plan and  suggested that we focus our recommendation on finalization of this plan.  However, the agencies did not provide a copy of the draft plan or a date  when it would be finalized, so we believe that the current focus of the  recommendation is appropriate. The Department of Defense further  stated that, to date, no funding has been allocated to the Corps  specifically to implement provisions under the Water Resources Reform  and Development Act of 2014, except for the levee inventory activities, as  we have acknowledged in our report. In addition, the Department of  Defense suggested that the recommendation be revised to include  posting the plan on the Corps’ website and monitoring the plan for  progress. We have modified our recommendation to incorporate this  suggestion, which we believe would help inform nonfederal stakeholders  who own, maintain, or operate the majority of levees. The Department of  Homeland Security said that FEMA will continue to work with the Corps to  develop and implement a plan to carry out key national safety-related  activities required in the act. Both agencies also provided technical  comments that we incorporated, as appropriate.
We are sending copies of this report to the appropriate congressional  committees, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland  Security, and other interested parties. In addition, the report is available at  no charge on the GAO website at http://www.gao.gov.
If you or your staff members have any questions about this report, please  contact me at (202) 512-3841 or fennella@gao.gov. Contact points for  our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found  on the last page of this report. GAO staff who made key contributions to  this report are listed in appendix III.
section_title: Appendix I: Comments from the Department of Defense
section_title: Appendix II: Comments from the Department of Homeland Security
section_title: Appendix III: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments
subsections: section_title: GAO Contact
section_title: Staff Acknowledgments
paragraphs: In addition to the individual named above, key contributors to this report  included Vondalee R. Hunt (Assistant Director), Kevin Bray, Patricia  Donahue, John Johnson, Armetha Liles, Cynthia Norris, and Kyle Stetler .