(a) Introduction. The following planning process will be used to implement the common framework summarized in the Interagency Guidelines for analyzing Federal investments in applicable water resources. The planning process will ensure that plan formulation, evaluation, and recommendations for proposed Corps investments reflect the Guiding Principles identified in the P&R: healthy and resilient ecosystems, sustainable economic development, floodplains, public safety, environmental justice, and a watershed approach. The planning process consists of a series of steps that identify or respond to problems and opportunities, as well as specific Tribal, State, and local concerns, and, in most cases, culminates in a recommended plan. The process involves an orderly and systematic approach to making determinations and decisions at each step so that the interested public and decision-makers in the planning organization can be fully aware of the following: the basic assumptions employed; the data and information analyzed; the areas of risk and uncertainty; the reasons and rationales used; and the significant implications of each alternative. The Corps will identify impacts to Tribal treaty and water rights at the earliest phases and throughout the plan evaluation process, screening alternatives that impact Tribal treaty and water rights. The planning process is iterative to adapt to new information and understanding. The result of the planning process is investment advice. The advice may be a recommended plan or plans that seek to maximize net public benefits in addressing the identified water resources problem and a description of the analysis of the benefits and costs of that and other potential plans.
(b) National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Where Federal investments in water resources require analysis under NEPA and this part, Army Civil Works should integrate, to the extent possible, the analysis in this part into existing planning processes, and may integrate this part and NEPA analyses in a single analytical document that reflects both processes. Army Civil Works shall seek opportunities to integrate other required Federal and State environmental reviews with their combined analyses.
(c) Guiding Principles. The Guiding Principles provide the overarching concepts that the Corps seeks to promote through investments in water resources.
(1) Environmental justice. Environmental justice refers to the just treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of income, race, color, national origin, Tribal affiliation, or disability, in agency decision-making and other Federal activities that affect human health and the environment so that people:
(i) Are fully protected from disproportionate and adverse human health and environmental effects (including risks) and hazards, including those related to climate change, the cumulative impacts of environmental and other burdens, and the legacy of racism or other structural or systemic barriers; and
(ii) Have equitable access to a healthy, sustainable, and resilient environment in which to live, play, work, learn, grow, worship, and engage in cultural and subsistence practices. Environmental justice shall be considered throughout the Civil Works program and in all phases of project planning and decision-making. Army Civil Works projects and programs shall advance equity by meeting the needs of communities, such as by reducing disparate environmental burdens, protecting Tribal treaty rights, removing barriers to participation in decision-making, and increasing access to benefits provided by Civil Works programs, including for disadvantaged communities. The planning process shall put these communities at the front and center of studies, providing robust opportunities for effective participation in the planning and decision-making processes. Any disproportionate adverse public safety, human health, or environmental burdens of project alternatives on communities with environmental justice concerns shall be avoided, minimized, or mitigated to the greatest extent reasonable. The Corps shall ensure that communities with environmental justice concerns have meaningful opportunities to identify potential alternatives, effects, and mitigation measures. The Corps shall also be transparent in fully displaying, disclosing and considering the potential effects of alternative actions on communities with environmental justice concerns.
(2) Floodplains. All future Federal investments in and affecting floodplains must meet some level of floodplain resilience. Alternatives affecting floodplains should aim to improve floodplain resilience if possible and also should avoid the unwise use of floodplains. To identify floodplain areas for the purpose of this section, the Corps will use the best-available and actionable science including a climate-informed science approach. If construction in the floodplain or adverse impacts to a floodplain's natural and beneficial functions cannot be avoided, then the alternative must minimize adverse impacts to these areas and mitigate unavoidable impacts using nature-based approaches where possible. The Corps shall identify and communicate potential adverse effects on floodplain functions for the various alternatives under consideration. Where the Corps proposes to construct a project feature in a floodplain because that is the best way to achieve flood risk reduction or other public purposes, that proposed Corps project is not automatically considered an unwise use of the floodplain. The Corps shall strive to sustain the floodplain's natural and beneficial functions to the maximum extent practicable given the project's purpose and need.
(3) Healthy and resilient ecosystems. Alternatives shall protect the existing functions of ecosystems and may restore the health of damaged ecosystems to a less degraded and more natural state where feasible and in accordance with current study and cost-sharing authorities. When adverse environmental impacts cannot be completely avoided, alternatives shall strive to minimize environmental impacts. When a particular alternative will cause unavoidable damage to the environment, mitigation to offset damages shall be incorporated into that alternative and evaluated as part of that alternative. In developing alternatives, consideration shall be given to ecosystem resilience, including acknowledging the value of ecosystem services to people. When evaluating alternatives, the health of the affected ecosystem shall be measured in its current condition as the baseline and projected under the alternatives being considered, including the No Action alternative.
(4) Public safety. Alternative solutions shall strive to avoid, reduce, or mitigate significant risks to public safety, including both loss of life and injury, and shall include measures to manage and communicate the residual risks. The impact and reliability of alternatives on significant risks to public safety must be evaluated for both existing and future conditions, considered in decision-making, and documented.
(5) Sustainable economic development. The Corps' investments in water resources shall encourage sustainable economic development. This is accomplished through the sustainable use and management of water resources, ensuring overall water resources resilience. Sustainable economic development creates and maintains conditions under which humans and nature can coexist. Analysis under sustainable economic development shall present, where feasible, information about the environmental resources in the project area or the area where activities are occurring, and how the resources and their value might be expected to change over time. Physical capital information may also be included where relevant. Analysis shall also include information on socio-economic conditions under current and projected conditions. Economic, social, and environmental effects and benefits shall be incorporated into the analysis of alternatives.
(6) Watershed approach. When developing alternatives, the water resources problem being addressed should be analyzed on a watershed-based level to facilitate inclusion of a complete range of solutions, after considering the breadth of impacts across the watershed. A key aspect of the watershed approach is the analysis of information regarding watershed conditions and needs, allowing for consideration of upstream and downstream conditions and needs; consideration of other projects and actions in place, underway or planned by other agencies within the watershed; and the more thorough addressing of the potential impacts of a proposed action. The scale of the watershed used to develop alternatives can vary. The appropriately sized watershed for the particular need being addressed shall be a case-specific determination based on the relevant facts and circumstances. The watershed scale used to develop alternatives should encompass a geographical area large enough to ensure plans address cause and effect relationships among affected resources and activities, both upstream and downstream, and cumulative in nature, that are important to gaining public benefits or avoiding harm from the project. The watershed approach ensures that the interconnectedness of systems is evaluated to fully understand the root causes and symptoms of the water resources problem and the full range of potential public benefits. Communication starting in the scoping phase with other agencies or Tribal, territorial, State, and local government partners working in the watershed will help realize a watershed approach. In addition, other potential investments in the watershed shall also be accounted for under the watershed approach.
(d) Collaboration. (1) The planning process will seek to achieve full collaboration with a wide range of affected Tribes, governmental and non-governmental stakeholders, communities with environmental justice concerns, and the public in all stages of the planning process. Collaboration with Tribes, governmental and non-governmental stakeholders, communities with environmental justice concerns, and the general public throughout the planning process allows consideration of multiple perspectives and information sources, such as Indigenous Knowledge, and shall be emphasized throughout the planning process. Collaboration with Tribes, communities, and local and State governments is a critical element to help identify specific problems, opportunities, and significant constraints within the study area, and to help establish planning goals and objectives that are consistent with the objectives of this part and are locally appropriate. Starting at the earliest phase in the planning process, Tribes and other communities with environmental justice concerns shall have an opportunity to play a key role in identifying alternatives, enhancing the positive benefits to their communities from potential Federal investment, and describing any concerns they may have with a potential project. Such early, meaningful, and robust engagement will help identify and address problems, possible solutions, and scope studies. Robust, early collaboration with Tribes does not negate the need for Tribal consultation. Robust, early collaboration with Tribes is in addition to the requirement to conduct early, meaningful, and robust Government-to-Government consultation with Tribal Nations when appropriate.
(2) To improve Federal decision-making and to promote transparency, Army Civil Works shall seek to meaningfully collaborate with other Federal and non-Federal entities. Engagement methods and scope of engagement will depend on the stage of the planning process, the issues, and the groups that will be contributing ideas and information to the planning process, and shall use best practices and techniques for engagement. Engagement strategies shall consider Corps, Tribal, and community resource constraints. Indigenous Knowledge, information from Tribal Nations, local and State governments, non-governmental organizations, and the public shall be incorporated into the problem definition and forecasting of future conditions as well as the development and analysis of alternatives. Robust engagement and transparency throughout the planning process, including during the evaluation and comparison of alternatives, will help deliver sound investment advice for water resources solutions that maximize net public benefits.
(e) Investigations and data collection. Investigations, data collection, and analysis should be ongoing and integrated early in the planning process. Investigations should be relevant to the planning objectives and constraints. The interdisciplinary study team should identify the most important areas to focus on in the study, such as: engineering and design; surface water and groundwater hydrology; hydraulics; geology; operations; water quality; land resources; power generation and conservation; economics; financing; environmental, social, and cultural impacts and mitigation; opportunities for recreation; cost estimation for construction, operation, maintenance, replacement, and energy consumption; and climate change (to include greenhouse gas emissions). Investigation, data collection, and analysis should leverage and incorporate information from Tribal, State, local, non-governmental sources, and the public. Additional investigations should be performed as necessary.
(f) Identify purpose, problems, needs, and opportunities. To identify purpose, problems, needs, and opportunities, the Corps shall:
(1) Ensure that the planning goals and objectives are consistent with the study authority.
(2) Clearly identify the purpose of the study, the role of the Federal Government, as well as the views of the non-Federal interest (if any), cooperating agencies, Tribes, various stakeholders, and the public.
(3) Describe the problems and opportunities to which the agency is responding in a manner that will not foreclose consideration of the full range of reasonable alternatives, including options that the non-Federal sponsor may not support.
(4) Define the study area, including activities within the watershed that are relevant to the proposed project and areas where impacts should be avoided.
(5) Describe the plans for stakeholder involvement.
(6) Prepare a summary of the planning objectives and constraints to be used in the analysis of the Federal investment. This summary should include a discussion of stakeholder, partner, and public input.
(7) Include a discussion of the social and cultural context of the region and resources.
(g) Inventory existing resources and forecast future conditions. A summary of the specific economic, environmental, and social setting within the study area shall cover the condition and functional relationships of affected resources; their development potential and possible conflicts in producing affected ecosystem services; and the local situation with respect to investment, climate, markets, affected communities, and basic economic productivity.
(1) The phrase “forecast future conditions” generally relates to the identification of impacts associated with the alternatives, including the No Action alternative. Future conditions should be assessed and analyzed as part of the evaluation process, and the best available data and forecast should be used to complete an analysis of these uncertain conditions.
(2) This exercise of identifying existing resources and forecasting future conditions will quantify, to the extent practicable, relevant water and related resource conditions as they currently exist within the study area, and forecast future conditions over the period of analysis. This would also include resources and conditions regarding the economic, environmental, and social aspects within the study area, as well as ecosystem services and climate-related scenarios. The existing resources and future conditions will be established using generally accepted sources that are national, State, or regional in scope, such as from peer-reviewed sources or sources which are government-produced.
(3) The “without-project condition” is the most likely condition expected to exist in the future over the period of analysis in the absence of a Federal investment by the Corps (through the proposed Corps project, action, or program that is under consideration), given current laws, policies, projects under construction, and any existing resources/conditions. It considers expected actions that may be executed by others, including potential future land use conditions, and shall consider effects of climate change using multiple scenario analyses.
(4) The “with-project condition” is the most likely condition expected to exist in the future, over the period of analysis, with a specific Corps project or program in place. It considers expected actions that may be executed by others, including potential future land use conditions, and shall consider effects of climate change using multiple scenario analyses.
(5) To ensure that the appropriate criteria and problems are incorporated into the analytical framework, a summary of the process used to define the relevant existing conditions and foreseeable future conditions shall be prepared and made available to the public and shared with stakeholders.
(h) Formulate alternatives. The primary goal of an alternative is to address a water resources challenge, consistent with the Federal Objective and Guiding Principles. The primary function of an alternative must be to alleviate unsatisfactory conditions or address a problem or opportunity that exists or will exist in the future without the proposed Federal investment that is under consideration. Alternatives should address the defined water resources challenge that is the subject of the analysis, and may achieve multiple purposes. Alternative formulations should focus on solutions that are feasible and meet the planning objectives of the study, based on the most likely future conditions expected with and without implementation of an alternative. The viability of an alternative should be determined through an evaluation of its acceptability, efficiency, effectiveness, and completeness, as required in the PR&G. The period of analysis should be the same for each alternative and sufficient to encompass the lifespan and significant long-term impacts of the project. In addition, alternatives may also include actions which are beyond the missions of the Corps where others may help provide solutions to the identified problem and meet the goals of the PR&G. However, such alternatives shall identify the relevant parties with requisite responsibility for those actions beyond Corps missions (such as other Federal agencies and non-Federal partners), their authority for that action, the interrelation between that action and the recommended Corps project, action, or program and appropriate sequencing of implementation. For Corps investments, the Corps will be the designated lead for completing PR&G analysis.
(1) Alternatives are to be developed in a systematic manner that ensures that the Corps has identified and considered the full range of reasonable alternatives. A range of potential alternatives should be initially investigated reflecting a range of scales and measures, and as alternatives are refined, some would be screened out for reasons such as having excessive cost or unavoidable impacts, not sufficiently addressing the identified problem or opportunity, or other factors. The study report should include some analysis of the eliminated alternatives and reasons for their elimination. The plans that are retained for additional analysis will comprise the range of reasonable alternatives required for the NEPA analysis. Section 234.8 describes the alternatives required in the final array.
(2) Consideration of nonstructural approaches and nature-based solutions that meet the planning objectives shall be an integral part of the development and evaluation of Federal investments in water resources.
(3) Each alternative formulated for the PR&G analysis should align with the alternatives evaluated in the corresponding NEPA document.
(4) The Corps should formulate the alternatives based on an incremental analysis of their benefits and costs to society. The economic, environmental, and social effects of a water resources development project are interrelated. In formulating alternatives to address the identified water resources problem or opportunity, the Corps shall consider each of these effects and seek to maximize net public benefits.