USACE Planning 101 Planning Basics for Partners

Transcription

1 USACE Planning 101 Planning Basics for Partners Bret Walters ( ) Conservation Partnering Conference Memphis, TN November 2011 US Army Corps of Engineers

2 Topics of Discussion Corps Organization Corps Mission Areas Corps Programs Planning Process Cost-Share Agreements Reports Post Construction Commitments

3 USACE Organizational Structure ASA (CW) Washington, DC Corps HQ Washington, DC Divisions: 8 C/W Regions: 4 Regional Offices Districts: 38 Civil Works District Offices District Deputy For Programs & Project Management District Corporate Board Project Delivery Team Project Sponsor Project Manager Planning Engineering Real Estate Construction Operations Counsel

4 Flood Risk Management Navigation Civil Works Mission Areas Inland & Deep Draft Ecosystem Restoration Other Missions Hydropower Storm Damage Reduction Water Quality/Supply Recreation

5 Larger Projects Primary Programs General Investigations to Construction General Smaller Projects Continuing Authorities Program CAP Planning Assistance to States PAS Floodplain Management Services FPMS Technical Services such as Base Flood Elevations and Geographic Information Systems Environmental Infrastructure Section 219 Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Interagency Intergovernmental Support IIS

6 It Takes Two to Tango Authorization Appropriation

7 GI/CG Projects Advantages Ability to adequately implement large scale, complex projects Federal Funding Often take advantage of interagency cooperation and expertise Projects completed to Federal standard Disadvantages Cumbersome process not ideally suited to small scale projects Use of funds constrained by Congressional authorization Maintaining federal standard may increase total project costs 8-10 year timeframe

8 CAP/Smaller Project Programs Advantages Better suited to small to medium sized projects Fast-track project implementation Do not require new Congressional authorization Funding Available from national allotment Disadvantages Program limits prohibit implementation of large scale projects Great demand for assistance within limited budget

9 Planning Process (For water resource Projects) There is a Federal planning process Codified in 1983 in the Principals and Guidelines (Reagan) Applies to Corps and other Federal Agencies Establishes national priorities and criteria Non-Federal Cost-Share Requirements (1986) Cost-Share Percentages depend on the program

10 4-Phase Planning Process & Cost-Share Agreements Reconnaissance Phase - No Cost-Share or Agreement - (Reconnaissance Report) Feasibility Phase - Feasibility Cost Share Agreement (FCSA) (Feasibility Report) Pre-construction Engineering and Design Phase - Design Agreement (DA) (Design) Construction Phase - Project Partnership Agreement (PPA) (Completed Project)

11 Planning Process (Quantifying Benefits) Four Accounts to Quantify Improvements National Economic Development Environmental Quality Regional Economic Development Other Social Effects

12 What is the problem? How can it be solved? Planning Process What are the advantages and disadvantages of solutions? What is the best solution? Feedback

13 BUILDING STRONG

14 Step 1 Specify Problems and Opportunities Problems (negative)/opportunities (positive) Define Objectives (what you are working towards) These bridge from problems to plans Identify Constraints Objectives guide data inventory, data collection, forecasting, and evaluation of effects

15 Step 2 Inventory and Forecast Collect relevant data to for alternative evaluation Four conditions: Historic Existing future with project future without project A good future without project condition is essential to a good decision

16 Step 3 Formulate Alternative Plans No Action is always the baseline All plans must be better than No Action Management Measure - feature or activity at a site Alternative Plan - one or more management measures combined into self-sufficient plan Alternative plans must address one or more of the planning objectives

17 Screen out alternatives that fail to meet most objectives early Looking at remaining plans: Based on their merits Forecast with project and without project conditions Compare with and without conditions effects Describe effects Step 4 Evaluation Benefit-Cost analysis (including non-economic benefits)

18 Step 5 Comparison Contrasting the merits among plans Describe cost differences Describe trade-offs Compare effects

19 Formulation Criteria Formulation criteria are used to determine when adequate iterations have been accomplished Effectiveness Efficiency Completeness Acceptability

20 Comparison Example Item Alternative 1 Alternative 2 Alternative 3 Cost $ $$$ $ Benefits $$ $$ $$$ Ecosystem + Habitat ++ Habitat - Habitat Other Comparison Congress Likes Public Accept Opposition

21 Step 6 Selection Decision makers can disagree on what is most important. Different selection criteria will lead to different decisions. Corps makes recommendations but Congress/President make the decision.

22 After Construction: (Sponsor Commitments) Once construction is complete, the project is accepted and transferred to the local sponsor for OMRR&R (operations, maintenance, repair, replacement, and rehabilitation) 100% non-federal (Excluding Navigation) O&M manual and PPA provide the guidelines as to responsibilities and procedures required of the local sponsor after construction

23 Questions?