ST. PAUL DISTRICT

Under the Continuing Authorities Program (CAP), the Corps of Engineers is authorized to plan, design, and construct certain types of water resource and ecosystem restoration projects without additional and specific congressional authorization. The purpose is to implement projects of limited scope and complexity. Each authority has specific guidelines and total program and per-project funding limits. Studies are cost shared 50/50 during feasibility. Most projects are cost shared 65 percent Federal and 35 percent non-Federal during implementation, unless otherwise noted. The following are the most commonly used CAP authorities:

• Small Flood Control Projects authorized by Section 205 of the 1948 Flood Control Act. Per-project Federal funding limit of $7 million. Designed to implement projects that reduce overland flood damages. Projects must be engineeringly sound, economically justified, and environmentally acceptable. 
• Emergency Streambank Protection Projects authorized by Section 14 of the 1946 Flood Control Act. Per-project Federal funding limit of $1.5 million. Designed to protect essential public facilities threatened by flood-induced erosion. 
• Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration authorized by Section 206 of the 1996 Water Resources Development Act. Per-project Federal funding limit of $5 million. Designed to develop aquatic ecosystem restoration and protection projects that improve the quality of the environment, are in the public interest, and are cost effective. 
• Project Modifications for the Improvement of the Environment authorized by Section 1135 of the 1986 Water Resources Development Act. Federal funding limit of $5 million. Designed to modify existing Corps projects for the purpose of improving environmental quality. Cost shared 75 percent Federal and 25 percent local during implementation.