Corps Publishes List of Projects to be Paused for Reevaluation

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers published a list today of 172 projects that had been assessed to determine a need for economic and other reviews. Of that list, 54 projects were already undergoing or have been identified for more rigorous re-evaluation. That means the Corps will restudy the underlying economic justification for each of these projects. The Corps' Director of Civil Works, Maj. Gen. Robert H. Griffin, directed a nationwide pause on April 30 as a result of recent questions regarding the accuracy and currency of economic analyses, the validity of other plan formulation decisions, and the rigor of the review process for some projects. Under review are projects that the Congress has authorized but are not yet under construction. They fall into two categories: -- Those with an economic assessment older than 1999. These will have a new economic analysis before they can proceed. -- Those with credible indications of changes in economic conditions or other engineering and environmental information. These will be reviewed and the analyses updated as appropriate. Of the 172 projects which were authorized but not yet under construction, 46 projects were already undergoing rigorous reevaluation due to problems previously identified. Using the criteria described above to review the remaining projects, 118 were reassessed and cleared to proceed. Eight more were found to need further review. The Corps found that seven of the eight projects in the final list require a current economic analysis.