Current Projects
Army Corps of Engineers Priority-Setting for Water Resource Construction Projects

Client/Funder:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Purpose and Scope:
In the Conference Report of the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, 2006 (HR2419), Congress called for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to contract with the Academy to "study and recommend factors.which should be used in determining the allocation of limited resources for the construction of water resource projects." The Congress acknowledged the Administration's efforts to develop a methodology for prioritizing such projects, but recognized the limitations of the remaining-costs-to-remaining-benefits ratio used by the Administration. As Congress alluded, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the need for clear priorities and related action is more urgent than ever.

Project Description:
The Academy will develop a framework for priority-setting at the Corps. The Academy's approach will involve examining the factors the Corps currently uses to prioritize projects, reviewing those used at other agencies that engage in major construction projects, and convening experienced practitioners and thought leaders to examine innovative approaches. The Academy report by the Panel of Fellows and other experts responsible for it will recommend:

• Factors for ranking projects, setting priorities, and allocating funding for construction projects
• A methodology to create a list of top-priority projects for each of the Corps' four major business lines and for combining these four priority ranking lists to create a single list of top priority projects

Project Director:
Bruce McDowell

Panel:
The Academy plans to appoint the following individuals to a Panel to oversee and direct the study. The public may comment by email on the composition of the Panel for a period of seven days after the posted date. Please send comments to Mary Appah at mappah@napawash.org.

Sean O'Keefe, Chair — Chancellor, Louisiana State University. Former Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration; Deputy Director, U.S. Office of Management and Budget; Louis A. Bantle Chair in Business and Government Policy, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University; Special Assistant to the Senior Vice President for Research, Dean of Graduate School, Professor of Business Administration, Pennsylvania State University; Secretary of the Navy; Comptroller and Chief Financial Officer, U.S. Department of Defense; Staff Director, Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

Mortimer L. Downey, Vice Chair —  President, Pb Consult, Inc. Former Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation. Former positions with Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York); Assistant Executive Director for Management and Budget; Deputy Executive Director for Capital Programs; Executive Director; Chief Financial Officer. Former Assistant Secretary for Budget and Programs, U.S. Department of Transportation; Budget Priorities Analyst, Committee on the Budget, U.S. House of Representatives; increasingly responsible positions with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

A. James Barnes —  Professor and former Dean, School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Adjunct Professor of Law, Indiana University. Former positions with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Deputy Administrator; General Counsel; Special Assistant to Administrator/Chief of Staff. Former General Counsel, U.S. Department of Agriculture; Partner, Beveridge & Diamond; Campaign Manager, Governor William G. Milliken (Michigan); Assistant to Deputy Attorney General and Special Assistant/Trial Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice.

Lenneal J. Henderson —  Distinguished Professor of Government and Public Administration, Senior Fellow, Schaefer Center for Public Policy, Senior Fellow, Hoffberger Center of Professional Ethics, University of Baltimore. Former Daniel T. Blue Endowed Professor of Political Science, North Carolina Central University; Project Administrator, Baltimore City Council; Senior Faculty Member, Federal Executive Institute; Professor and Department Head, Department of Political Science, University of Tennessee; Professor, School of Business and Public Administration, Howard University; Director, Ethics Studies, University of San Francisco; Professor in Residence, Federal Emergency Management Academy; Vice President (Energy Management; Science and Technology), Ronson Management Corporation; Policy Analyst, Office of Assistant Secretary for Policy and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Energy.

Glenda E. Hood —  Advisor to the Secretary, Advisory Council, U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Former Secretary of State, State of Florida; Mayor, City Commissioner, City of Orlando, Florida; President, Glenda Hood and Associates; Consultant.

Mark A. Pisano —  Executive Director, Southern California Association of Governments; Chief Executive Officer, Southern California Hazardous Waste Management Authority. Former Chief Executive Officer, Regional Institute of Southern California; Director, Water Quality Planning Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Vice President and General Manager, Frank Pisano and Associates.

Michael Strachn — Independent consultant on federal water resources programs, primarily as Senior Advisor to Dawson & Associates, Inc. Former private sector positions: Senior Vice President, Dawson & Associates; Senior Vice President, Cassidy & Associates. Former positions in the US House of Representatives: Deputy Chief of Staff, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; Senior Professional Staff Member, Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Former positions in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Deputy Chief, Programs Division, Directorate of Civil Works, Headquarters; Chief, Legislative Initiatives Branch, Policy and Planning Division, Directorate of Civil Works, Headquarters; Chief, Environmental Analysis Branch, Planning Division, Vicksburg District; Vicksburg District Environmental Liaison Officer; Chief, Regulatory Functions Branch, Operations Division, Vicksburg District.

Disclosure:

Potential conflict of interest that is relevant to the work of this Panel:

I am an independent consultant having expertise in the water resources policies of the Army Corps of Engineers. As such, I have clients that seek my assistance and advice on numerous matters relating to Corps programs. At the present time, my sole client in this arena is Dawson & Associates, Inc., which is a government relations firm located in Washington, D.C. Dawson & Associates (D&A) specializes in water resources programs of the Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation of the Department of the Interior and in federal environmental and regulatory programs. I provide technical support and advice to D&A and its clients on a regular basis. Of particular note, I am D&A’s lead consultant for two governmental entities which are seeking to implement Corps of Engineers flood damage reduction projects. For these clients, we provide technical support and government relations services on matters relating to general Corps policy and legislative requirements. However, we do not provide support in seeking federal appropriations (funding) or in seeking favorable budgetary support from the Corps of Engineers; these functions are provided solely by other government relations firms with whom I am not associated.

Potential source of bias that is relevant to the work of this panel and may bear on the Academy’s ability to ensure that this Panel is fairly balanced:

I worked for the Corps of Engineers for over twenty-three years. In addition, I worked for the Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure of the U.S. House of Representatives for eight years. My duties included legislative and oversight responsibility for the Corps of Engineers. One cannot spend thirty-one years of one’s career having such direct and indirect impacts on Corps programs without forming opinions on things that work right and things that could stand improvement. While I am certainly a strong advocate of the benefits that Corps programs can provide the Nation, I am also aware that its decision-making and processes can always be improved.