Shore damage prevention or mitigation

33 U.S.C. § 426i

• Title: 33 — Navigation and Navigable Waters
• Chapter: SUBCHAPTER I—IN GENERAL

Text

(a) In general
The Secretary of the Army is authorized to investigate, study, plan, and implement structural and nonstructural measures for the prevention or mitigation of shore damages attributable to Federal navigation works and shore damage attributable to the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, if a non-Federal public body agrees to operate and maintain such measures, and, in the case of interests in real property acquired in conjunction with nonstructural measures, to operate and maintain the property for public purposes in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary.
(b) Cost sharing
The costs of implementing measures, including a study, shall be cost-shared in the same proportion as the cost-sharing provisions applicable to construction of the project causing the shore damage.
(c) Requirement for specific authorization
No such project shall be initiated without specific authorization by Congress if the Federal first cost exceeds $15,000,000.
(d) Coordination
The Secretary shall—
(1) coordinate the implementation of the measures under this section with other Federal and non-Federal shore protection projects in the same geographic area; and
(2) to the extent practicable, combine mitigation projects with other shore protection projects in the same area into a comprehensive regional project.
(e) Reimbursement for feasibility studies
Beginning on December 16, 2016, in any case in which the Secretary implements a project under this section, the Secretary shall reimburse or credit the non-Federal interest for any amounts contributed for the study evaluating the damage in excess of the non-Federal share of the costs, as determined under subsection (b).

History

(Pub. L. 90–483, title I, §111, Aug. 13, 1968, 82 Stat. 735; Pub. L. 99–662, title IX, §§915(f), 940, Nov. 17, 1986, 100 Stat. 4191, 4199; Pub. L. 106–53, title II, §214, Aug. 17, 1999, 113 Stat. 291; Pub. L. 113–121, title I, §1030(c), June 10, 2014, 128 Stat. 1232; Pub. L. 114–322, title I, §1169, Dec. 16, 2016, 130 Stat. 1671; Pub. L. 115–270, title I, §1157(c), Oct. 23, 2018, 132 Stat. 3794; Pub. L. 118–272, div. A, title I, §1107(h), Jan. 4, 2025, 138 Stat. 3005.)

Editorial Notes

Editorial Notes

Amendments
2025—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 118–272 substituted "$15,000,000" for "$12,500,000".
2018—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 115–270 substituted "$12,500,000" for "$10,000,000".
2016—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 114–322, §1169(1), substituted "measures, including a study, shall be cost-shared in the same proportion as the cost-sharing provisions applicable to construction of the project" for "measures under this section shall be cost-shared in the same proportion as the cost-sharing provisions applicable to the project".
Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 114–322, §1169(2), added subsec. (e).
2014—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 113–121 substituted "$10,000,000" for "$5,000,000".
1999—Pub. L. 106–53 designated first sentence as subsec. (a), inserted heading, and inserted "and shore damage attributable to the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway" after "navigation works", designated second sentence as subsec. (b) and inserted heading, and designated third sentence as subsec. (c), inserted heading, and substituted "$5,000,000" for "$2,000,000", and added subsec. (d).
1986—Pub. L. 99–662, §940, amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section read as follows: "The Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, is authorized to investigate, study, and construct projects for the prevention or mitigation of shore damages attributable to Federal navigation works. The cost of installing, operating, and maintaining such projects shall be borne entirely by the United States. No such project shall be constructed without specific authorization by Congress if the estimated first cost exceeds $2,000,000."
Pub. L. 99–662, §915(f), substituted "$2,000,000" for "$1,000,000".

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 1986 Amendment
Amendment by section 915(f) of Pub. L. 99–662 not applicable to any project under contract for construction on Nov. 17, 1986, see section 915(i) of Pub. L. 99–662, set out as a note under section 426g of this title.

Coastal Erosion
Pub. L. 115–270, title I, §1172, Oct. 23, 2018, 132 Stat. 3799, provided that:
"(a) In General.—Pursuant to section 111 of the River and Harbor Act of 1968 (33 U.S.C. 426i), the Secretary [of the Army] shall, to the maximum extent practicable, complete operation and maintenance renourishment to mitigate coastal erosion attributed to Federal project structures in the upper northeast United States.
"(b) Project Selection.—In carrying out the work under subsection (a), the Secretary shall—
"(1) identify and carry out not more than five projects—
"(A) located in any of the States of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, or New York; and
"(B) for which a feasibility study has been completed by December 31, 2019, that includes findings that a Federal project structure is interrupting the natural flow of sediment and causing coastal erosion; and
"(2) consult with relevant State agencies in selecting projects."