42 U.S.C. § 1962–3 — Water resources principles and guidelines

(a) All water-resources projects should reflect national priorities, encourage economic development, and protect the environment by seeking to maximize sustainable economic development; avoiding unwise use of floodplains and flood-prone areas and reducing harmful effects and vulnerabilities when such areas must be used; and protecting and restoring natural systems and reducing unavoidable damage to them. (b)(1) “Principles and guidelines” means the Water Resources Council document called “Economic and Environmental Principles and Guidelines for Water and Related Land Resources Implementation Studies,” dated March 10, 1983, and prepared under 42 U.S.C. § 1962a–2. (2) Within two years after November 8, 2007, the Secretary must issue revisions, consistent with paragraph (3), for use in forming, evaluating, and carrying out water-resources projects. (3) The Secretary must evaluate consistency with, and ensure the revisions address: (A) the best available economic principles and analytical methods, including risk and uncertainty analysis; (B) public safety in alternatives and recommended plans; (C) methods reflecting the value of projects for low-income communities and nonstructural approaches; (D) interaction with other regional or watershed projects and programs; (E) current water-resources approaches, including integrated and adaptive management; and (F) methods ensuring projects are justified by public benefits. (4) The Secretary must consult the listed Cabinet officials, the Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, the National Academy of Sciences, and the Council on Environmental Quality, and must request and consider public and expert comments. (5) The Secretary must send the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee the revisions and an explanation of each revision’s purpose, consistency with this section, and likely effect on the Secretary’s projects. The Secretary must make the revisions public, including online. (6) Subject to this subsection, the revised principles and guidelines replace those in effect before November 8, 2007, for the Secretary’s projects. (7) After issuance, they apply to all such projects except projects whose feasibility study began earlier; they apply to an earlier-started study if the non-Federal interest requests it; and they apply to reevaluations or modifications not already begun by the Secretary. (8) They do not affect the validity of a completed study. (9) After completing the revisions, the Secretary must recommend to Congress whether subsections (a) and (b) of 42 U.S.C. § 1962d–17 should be repealed.