The Corps’ Civil Works Program is organized into three tiers: headquarters, in Washington, D.C.; eight regional divisions that were generally established according to watershed boundaries; and 38 districts nationwide (see fig. 1). Corps headquarters primarily develops policies and guidance to fulfill agency responsibilities and plans the direction of the organization. The Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, appointed by the President, sets the strategic direction for the agency and has principal responsibility for the overall supervision of functions relating to the Civil Works Program, including supervising the Chief of Engineers’ execution of the program. The Chief of Engineers, a military officer, is responsible for the execution of the Corps’ civil works and military missions. The Corps’ divisions have the primary role of coordinating the districts’ civil works projects and are commanded by military officers. The role of the districts, also commanded by military officers, is to plan and implement the studies and projects that Corps divisions and headquarters approve. The Corps typically becomes involved in water resources projects when a local community perceives a need or experiences a problem that is beyond its ability to solve and contacts the Corps for assistance. Figure 2 illustrates the major steps in the typical process when the Corps leads a feasibility study or construction project. If it does not have current statutory authority to study the problem, the Corps needs congressional authorization before proceeding. Studies are authorized through legislation, typically a Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), or in some circumstances, a resolution by an authorizing committee. In addition to congressional authorization, the Corps needs an appropriation to conduct the study. Prior to WRRDA 2014, after receiving authorization and an appropriation, the Corps conducted studies in two phases: reconnaissance and feasibility. Corps district offices conducted reconnaissance studies at full federal expense to determine if the problem warranted federal participation in a feasibility study and how the problem could be addressed. During the reconnaissance phase, the Corps also assessed the level of interest and support from nonfederal entities such as state, tribal, county, or local governments or agencies that might become sponsors. If the Corps determined that further study was warranted, the district office sought agreement from the local sponsor to share costs for a feasibility study. WRRDA 2014 eliminated the reconnaissance phase to accelerate the study process and allow the Corps to proceed directly to the feasibility study. The purpose of the feasibility study is to further investigate the problem and make recommendations on whether a project is worth pursuing and how the problem should be addressed. Generally, the cost of the feasibility study is split equally between the Corps and the nonfederal sponsor. The district office conducts the study and documents the results in a feasibility study report that includes a total project cost estimate based on the recommended plan. The Chief of Engineers reviews the feasibility report and upon deciding to recommend the project for construction, signs the final decision document—called the Chief’s Report—and transmits it through the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works and the Office of Management and Budget for review. The Office of Management and Budget recommends to the President whether to support or change the Corps’ budget request, and the President’s budget request is transmitted to Congress. Congress may then authorize the project’s construction in a WRDA or other legislation. The purpose of the preconstruction engineering and design phase is to complete any additional planning studies and all of the detailed technical studies and designs needed to begin construction. During this time, the Corps pursues congressional authorization for the project and construction funding through the annual budget process. Under its budget formulation process, the Corps prioritizes projects that it determines have the highest expected returns for the national economy and the environment, as well as those that reduce risk to human life. When the Corps receives appropriations, which generally provide funding directly for individual projects in increments over the course of several years, the district enters into a cost-sharing agreement with a nonfederal sponsor. The standard federal and nonfederal cost share percentages for construction projects can vary by the purpose of the project, as shown in table 1. Typically, the Corps manages the construction process, contracting out the majority of construction work to private engineering and construction contractors. Throughout the construction phase, the Corps oversees the contractors’ work, performing routine inspections to ensure it meets the Corps’ design and engineering specifications. During construction, the Corps may request and Congress may enact scope or cost changes. When construction is complete, the Corps may operate and maintain the constructed project (e.g., navigation projects), or it may turn over operation and maintenance to the nonfederal sponsor (e.g., most flood damage reduction projects). Alternatively, when a nonfederal sponsor undertakes a feasibility study or construction project, the sponsor typically manages and funds the total cost of the feasibility study or construction project and may later seek reimbursement or credit for the federal share of the work it conducts. Reimbursement refers to the Corps’ repayment to a nonfederal sponsor for the federal share of a construction project that the nonfederal sponsor incurs in undertaking such work. Credit is a noncash offset toward the local share of a feasibility study or construction project and is an alternate means for the Corps to compensate a nonfederal sponsor for the federal share of the costs it incurs when it undertakes such work. In the case of feasibility studies, a nonfederal sponsor may independently undertake the study and submit a study report to the Secretary of the Army. The Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works then forwards to Congress an assessment of whether the study report and process complied with applicable federal laws and regulations and any recommendation the Assistant Secretary has about the project. If Congress later authorizes the project for construction, the nonfederal sponsor may be eligible to receive credit for the federal share of the feasibility study toward the nonfederal share of the construction project costs. When a nonfederal sponsor undertakes construction of an authorized federal water resources project, or separable element thereof, it first enters into a partnership agreement with the Corps. The agreements specify how the Corps and nonfederal sponsor will collaborate, generally stating their respective roles and responsibilities and the terms and conditions under which both parties will execute their responsibilities. The agreements also establish the requirements the nonfederal sponsor must meet to be eligible for credit or reimbursement for the federal share of the construction costs. In general, to be eligible for credit or reimbursement, nonfederal sponsors are required to design and construct the project in accordance with applicable federal and state laws, regulations, standards, and policies. In addition, the nonfederal sponsor is responsible for all public and government agency coordination and for obtaining all necessary federal and state permits. However, the nonfederal sponsor can contract with the Corps to undertake these efforts at the nonfederal sponsor’s expense if such work does not delay the completion of other Corps projects. Corps headquarters and district officials said that to be eligible for credit or reimbursement for the federal share of the construction of a project, nonfederal sponsors must meet the same requirements that the Corps would adhere to if it led the construction project, such as meeting the Corps’ engineering and design standards. The Corps maintains an oversight role, performing inspections of the project as constructed and validating costs that the sponsor submits for reimbursement or credit. However, the Corps cannot guarantee reimbursement for the federal share of the costs because such reimbursement is subject to the enactment of appropriations, as is generally specified in the agreement between the Corps and nonfederal sponsor. The authorities that allow nonfederal sponsors to undertake feasibility studies and construction projects have been included in various federal statutes since 1968. These authorities allow sponsors to take responsibility for and fund a study or project in its entirety and, upon completion of the project in accordance with Corps standards, request reimbursement for the federal portion of project costs under the relevant cost-sharing formula. We identified five federal statutory authorities that existed prior to changes enacted in WRRDA 2014 allowing nonfederal sponsors to undertake a feasibility study or construction of harbors or navigational improvements, shoreline protection projects, flood control projects, or generally authorized federal water resources projects (see table 2). The Corps confirmed that these are the relevant statutes that allow nonfederal sponsors to undertake federal water resources projects. In addition to these five broader statutory authorities, Congress may authorize projects led by nonfederal sponsors in separate, project-specific legislation. For example, Congress authorized a flood damage reduction project in the 1993 Defense Appropriations Act. In June 2014, Congress enacted WRRDA 2014, which amended or replaced most of the authorities outlined in table 2 and consolidated them under two new provisions. Specifically, section 1014 of WRRDA 2014 amends sections 203 and 204 of WRDA 1986 to provide authority for nonfederal sponsors to undertake the study and construction of the full range of water resources projects. Similar to prior authorities, WRRDA 2014 authorizes nonfederal sponsors to study, design, and construct water resources projects using their own funding, in accordance with Corps engineering and design standards. The act also authorizes nonfederal sponsors to receive credit or reimbursement for nonfederal funds expended on the federal share of the project upon determination by the Corps that the completed project adhered to federal law, regulations, and applicable standards and conditions, such as the Corps’ engineering standards. A senior Corps headquarters official said that a significant difference between WRRDA 2014 and previous water resources development authorization acts is that WRRDA 2014 authorizes nonfederal sponsors to undertake construction projects that have not yet been authorized by Congress and to seek reimbursement for those projects if they are subsequently authorized. Prior legislation provided that Corps approval could occur and construction begin only after a project was authorized by Congress. Corps headquarters could not provide the exact number of, or specific information about, projects undertaken by nonfederal sponsors because it has delegated the responsibility for overseeing such projects to the districts. In addition, the information that Corps headquarters collected from the districts on the number of such projects and reimbursements to nonfederal sponsors did not match the information that districts provided to us.