President Releases Proposed Budget for the Corps

The President’s Fiscal Year 2019 Civil Works budget for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is $4.785 billion with $3.769 billion coming from the General Fund of the Treasury, $965.13 million from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, approximately $45 million from Special Recreation User Fees and $5.25 million from the Inland Waterways Trust Fund. The budget prioritizes funding for coastal harbors and inland waterways that accommodate the most commercial traffic and for channel maintenance at small ports that support significant commercial fishing, subsistence or public transportation benefits. However, the recreational boating community benefits from many Corps projects and should note the following disbursements:

• Recreation at $260 million – the Corps hosts approximately 250 million visits annually at its more than 400 lake and river projects in 43 states;
• Regulatory Program at $200 million – the Corps protects the nation’s waters and wetlands and provides permit processing;
• Corps Emergency Management at $33 million with $27 million in the Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies account for preparedness and training to respond to floods, hurricanes and other natural disasters, and $6 million in the Operations & Management (O&M) account
• Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration at $224 million – this program supports restoring aquatic habitat in significant ecosystems where the aquatic ecosystem structure, function and processes have been degraded.