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Planning Assistance to States
How to Request Assistance



Scope and Authority
Section 22 of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 1974, as amended, provides authority for the Corps of Engineers to assist the States, local governments, and other non-Federal entities in the preparation of comprehensive plans for the development, utilization, and conservation of water and related land resources. Section 208 of the WRDA of 1992 amended the WRDA of 1974 to include Native American Tribes as equivalent to a State.

Funding
The Planning Assistance to States (PAS) Program is funded annually by Congress.   Federal allotments for each State or Tribe from the nation-wide appropriation are limited to $500,000 annually, but typically are much less.  Individual studies, of which there may be more than one per State or Tribe per year, generally cost $25,000 to $75,000. These studies are cost shared on a 50 percent Federal - 50 percent non-Federal basis. Up to 100% of the non-Federal share may be provided by in-kind services.

Program Development
The needed planning assistance is determined by the individual States and Tribes. Every year, each State and Indian Tribe can provide the Corps of Engineers its request for studies under the program, and the Corps then accommodates as many studies as possible within the funding allotment. Typical studies are only planning level of detail; they do not include detailed design for project construction. The studies generally involve the analysis of existing data for planning purposes using standard engineering techniques although some data collection is often necessary. Most studies become the basis for State or Tribal and local planning decisions. To assist in expediting a request for Planning Assistance to states activities, a sample letter and Cost Sharing Agreement are included on the following two pages.

Typical Studies
The program can encompass many types of studies dealing with water resources issues.  Types of studies conducted in recent years under the program include the following:

How to Request Assistance
State, local government, and Tribal officials who are interested in obtaining planning assistance under this Program can contact the Mobile District’s PAS Coordinator - (251) 694-3863, 
e-mail james.o.buckalew@usace.army.mil or write to 
the address in the sample planning assistance letter.
 


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