This Special Public Notice announces the decision of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), Jacksonville District to accept and expend funds from the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) to expedite processing of their Department of the Army (DA) permit applications. This decision follows a previous public noticed issued by the Jacksonville District on February 15, 2024, that solicited public comment on the aforementioned funding arrangement.
Following consideration of comments received on the initial public notice, the Jacksonville District Commander determined that acceptance and expenditure of such funds would be appropriate in accordance with Section 214 of the Water Resources Development Act of 2000, (WRDA 2000, Public Law No. 106-541), as amended.
Section 214 of the Water Resources Development Act of 2000 (WRDA 2000, Public Law No. 106-541), as amended and codified at 33 U.S.C. 2352, authorizes the Secretary of the Army, after public notice, to accept and expend funds contributed by non-Federal public entities, public-utility companies, natural gas companies, or railroad carriers to expedite the evaluation of a permit of that entity, company, or carrier related to a project or activity for a public purpose under the jurisdiction of the DA. The authority to accept and expend funds under Section 214 has been delegated from the Secretary of the Army to District and Division Commanders, including the Commander of the Jacksonville District, Corps. PRASA is eligible to provide funds to the Corps under Section 214 as a non-Federal public entity.
The Corps is implementing the provisions of Section 214 of WRDA 2000, as amended with PRASA through a signed memorandum of agreement (MOA) that will be posted on the Corps’ Headquarters website at: https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Regulatory-Program-and-Permits/Section-214/
Procedures to ensure impartial decision-making: To ensure the funds will not impact impartial decision-making, the Corps has incorporated the following procedures into the funding agreement:
(a) All final permit decisions where funds were used for the permit review process will be reviewed and approved in writing by a Corps official that is at least one level above the typical Corps decision-maker. Funds accepted under the agreement will not be expended for review of such decisions by supervisors or other Corps officials in the decision-making chain of command. Additionally, the one-level-above reviewer must hold a position that is not partially or fully funded by the PRASA for at least one year.
(b) All preliminary jurisdictional determinations (JDs) and approved JDs where funds are used to complete the JD will have documentation in the administrative record that a non-funded Corps District Regulatory Program staff member conducted a review of the determination. This review does not require a field review. For those approved JDs that require coordination with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, additional internal review will not be required.
(c) The Corps will not use funds accepted under this agreement to conduct enforcement activities; this includes, but is not limited to, the resolution of non-compliance issues.
(d) The Corps will comply with all applicable laws and regulations and will not eliminate any procedures or decisions that would otherwise be required for the type of project and permit application under consideration.
(e) To ensure transparency, the Corps will ensure the funding agreement and all final permit decisions carried out using funds accepted from the PRASA will be made available to the public on the Corps Headquarters’ public web pages at: https://permits.ops.usace.army.mil/orm-public# and https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Regulatory-Program-and-Permits/Section-214
Additional information concerning Section 214 of WRDA 2000, as amended, may be found on the Corps Headquarters website at https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Regulatory-Program-and-Permits/Section-214/. If you have questions or would like additional information, please contact the Jacksonville District Regulatory Section Chief Jose A. Alicea-Pou by email at Jose.A.Alicea-Pou@usace.army.mil, by cell phone at 787-368-8669, or by mailing address at Fund. Angel Ramos Annex Bldg., Suite 202, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 00918.