The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is made up of approximately 34,600 Civilian and 650 military members. Their military and civilian engineers, scientists and other specialists work hand in hand as leaders in engineering and environmental matters. Their diverse workforce of biologists, engineers, geologists, hydrologists, natural resource managers and other professionals meets the demands of changing times and requirements as a vital part of America’s Army. Their mission is to provide quality, responsive engineering services to the nation including: 

• Planning, designing, building and operating water resources and other civil works projects
• Designing and managing the construction of military facilities for the Army and Air Force.
• Providing design and construction management support for other Defense and federal agencies.

Their web site ( http://www.usace.army.mil/ ) contains a wealth of information for the professional engineer.  Much information is readily available in the Headquarters Publications Library, Technical Libraries, Digital Visual Library, and a variety of map repositories.  The web site also contains a comprehensive history of the corps, as well as current news items.

As a professional civil engineer you may have interaction with USACE when working on wetlands and waterways regulation and permitting. The USACE has been involved in regulating activities by others in navigable waterways through the granting of permits since passage of the Rivers & Harbors Act of 1899. At first, this program was meant to prevent obstructions to navigation, although an early 20th century law gave them regulatory authority over the dumping of trash and sewage. Passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972 greatly broadened this role by giving the Corps authority over dredging and filling in the “waters of the United States,” including many wetlands.

A major aspect of the Regulatory program is determining which areas qualify for protection as wetlands. In reaching these decisions, the Corps uses its 1987 Wetland Delineation Manual.

In making decisions on whether to grant, deny or set conditions on permits, District commanders are required to consider “all factors in the public interest,” including economic development and environmental protection.

Numerous relatively minor activities in wetlands are covered by regional or nationwide general permits, allowing the USACE regulatory staff to concentrate on more complex cases. Of the approximately 1,100 people who carry out this mission, about 70% have academic backgrounds in biology and environmental sciences.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 29th, 2008 at 10:41 am and is filed under Civil Engineering. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.