Title 33Navigation and Navigable WatersRelease 119-73

§426i Shore damage prevention or mitigation

Title 33 › Chapter CHAPTER 9— - PROTECTION OF NAVIGABLE WATERS AND OF HARBOR AND RIVER IMPROVEMENTS GENERALLY › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - IN GENERAL › § 426i

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of the Army can study, plan, and carry out projects to prevent shore damage from Federal navigation works, including Atlantic and Gulf Intracoastal Waterways, if a nonfederal public agency agrees to operate and maintain them. Costs follow the same cost‑sharing as the project that caused the damage. Federal first costs over $15,000,000 need specific Congressional approval. From December 16, 2016, the Secretary must reimburse or credit nonfederal interests for any study payments they made above their required share.

Full Legal Text

Title 33, §426i

Navigation and Navigable Waters — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)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)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)No such project shall be initiated without specific authorization by Congress if the Federal first cost exceeds $15,000,000.
(d)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)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).

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

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 AmendmentAmendment 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.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

33 U.S.C. § 426i

Title 33Navigation and Navigable Waters

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73