SACRAMENTO DISTRICT

The Water Resources Development Act of 2000 (WRDA 2000, Public Law No. 106-541) as amended, allows the Corps to accept funds from non-federal public entities to provide priority review of their permit applications.

Section 214 of WRDA 2000 reads as follows:

(a) IN GENERAL.- The Secretary, after public notice, may accept and expend funds contributed by a non-Federal public entity to expedite the evaluation of a permit of that entity related to a project or activity for a public purpose under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Army.

(b) EFFECT ON PERMITTING.-

(1) IN GENERAL.-In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall ensure that the use of funds accepted under subsection (a) will not impact impartial decisionmaking with respect to permits, either substantively or procedurally.

(2) IMPARTIAL DECISIONMAKING.- In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall ensure that the evaluation of permits carried out using funds accepted under this section shall:

(A) be reviewed by

(i) the District Commander, or the Commander?s designee, of the Corps District in which the project or activity is located; or

(ii) the Commander of the Corps Division in which the District is located if the evaluation of the permit is initially conducted by the District Commander; and

(B) utilize the same procedures for decisions that would otherwise be required for the evaluation of permits for similar projects or activities not carried out using funds authorized under this section.

(c) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.- None of the funds accepted under this section shall be used to carry out a review of the evaluation of permits required under subsection (b)(2)(A).

(d) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.-The Secretary shall ensure that all final permit decisions carried out using funds authorized under this section are made available to the public, including on the Internet.

(e) Duration of Authority.-The authority provided under this section shall be in effect from October 1, 2000 through December 31, 2016.

The Secretary of the Army has delegated this responsibility to the Chief of Engineers and his authorized representatives, including the Commander of the Sacramento District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Non-federal public entities are comprised of state and local governmental agencies and Indian tribal governments. They include, but are not limited to, local transportation agencies, port authorities, flood and storm water management agencies, and governmental economic development agencies.

The Corps' Regulatory Program is funded as a congressionally appropriated line item in the annual Federal budget. Additional funds received by the Sacramento District from a non-Federal public entity are used to augment the Sacramento District Regulatory budget, in accordance with the provisions of WRDA 2000 and EWDA 2004. Funds are used primarily to hire additional staff to expedite the evaluation of permit applications designated by the non-Federal public entity.

To ensure funds received from a from a non-Federal public entity will not impact impartial decision-making, the following procedures have been established:

    All final permit decisions for cases where these funds are used must be reviewed at least by one level above the decision maker, unless the decision maker is the District Commander.

    All final permit decisions for cases where these funds are used will be made available on the Sacramento District web page.
The Corps will not eliminate any procedures or decisions that would otherwise be required for that type of project and permit application under consideration.

    The Corps will comply with all applicable laws and regulations.

    Funds will only be expended to provide priority review of the participating non-federal entity's permit application.