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Title 33, Navigation and Navigable WatersRelease 119-110

§2203 Review of Contracting Policies

Title 33 › CHAPTER 36 — WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT › § 2203

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary must finish a review within 180 days after December 27, 2020 of the Corps of Engineers’ policies, guidelines, and rules for making contracts with non‑Federal partners and utilities for water projects. Within 90 days after that review is done, the Secretary must send a report to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and make it public. The report must summarize the review and give public best‑practice guidance for non‑Federal partners, and the Secretary must give that guidance to those partners before contracts are developed. Congress urges the Secretary to use methods that consider factors besides price when choosing contractors for emergency work in areas where the President has declared a major disaster under section 5170 of title 42.

Full Legal Text

Title 33, §2203

Navigation and Navigable Waters, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Review of contractual agreements
(1)In general
Not later than 180 days after December 27, 2020, the Secretary shall complete a review of the policies, guidelines, and regulations of the Corps of Engineers for the development of contractual agreements between the Secretary and non-Federal interests and utilities associated with the construction of water resources development projects.
(2)Report
Not later than 90 days after completing the review under subsection (a)(1), the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate, and make publicly available, a report that includes—
(A)a summary of the results of the review; and
(B)public guidance on best practices for a non-Federal interest to use when writing or developing contractual agreements with the Secretary and utilities.
(3)Provision of guidance
The Secretary shall provide the best practices guidance included under paragraph (2)(A) to non-Federal interests prior to the development of contractual agreements with such non-Federal interests.
(b)Sense of Congress
It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary should maximize use of nonprice tradeoff procedures in competitive acquisitions for carrying out emergency work in an area with respect to which the President has declared a major disaster under section 5170 of title 42.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was enacted as part of the Water Resources Development Act of 2020, and not as part of the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 which comprises this chapter.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

“Secretary” Defined Secretary means the Secretary of the Army, see section 2 of div. AA of Pub. L. 116–260, set out as a note under section 2201 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

33 U.S.C. § 2203

Title 33, Navigation and Navigable Waters

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110