The archive
throughline No. 217 October 9, 2026

Army Corps Fails To Document Why 52 Projects Need No Wildlife Mitigation

Since 1986 the law has given the Corps two options for every project it sends Congress: a mitigation plan or a stated negligible-impact finding. GAO found the plans generally done and the findings generally not written down, with no internal guidance for writing them. The safeguard is a sentence; the sentence is missing.

Since 1986 the law has given the Corps two options for every project it sends Congress: a mitigation plan or a stated negligible-impact finding. GAO found the plans generally done and the findings generally not written down, with no internal guidance for writing them. The safeguard is a sentence; the sentence is missing.

GAO reported on October 8 that for 52 of 74 Civil Works projects sent to Congress in 2020–2025, the Army Corps decided no fish-and-wildlife mitigation was needed but generally did not clearly document that determination or the reason, as federal law requires; the Army did not concur with GAO's fix.

Why it matters: Congress authorizes levees, harbors and flood projects, cost-shared with states and cities, on the strength of these reports. Without the finding, lawmakers and the public cannot see why a project needs no offset for the habitat it affects.

Date to watch: The Water Resources Development Act of 2026, now being drafted by Senate EPW and House T&I.

Sources:

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