News Articles

Here’s a couple of moving proposals from the 22 Jun 2018, federal government’s 132-page reorganization proposal “Reform Plan and Reorganization Recommendations”. They are still in its early stages and will require congressional approval for any changes to occur. 

 

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) would merge with the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) of the Department of the Interior (DOI). Justification for this merger is that currently the two agencies could end the confusion over who's in charge of implementing the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

 

It is proposed to move the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Civil Works out of the Department of Defense (DOD) and into the Department of Transportation (DOT) and Department of the Interior (DOI) to consolidate and align USACE civil works missions with those agencies.

 

The corps "civil works" programs have historically included overseeing construction of the $14.6 billion hurricane levees in the New Orleans area after Hurricane Katrina, the construction of the Mississippi River and Tributaries river levee system and the dredging of various rivers and navigation channels.