Council Leads Construction Industry Effort to Increase Flexibility for Army Corps of Engineers

April 27, 2022

Council Leads Construction Industry Effort to Increase Flexibility for Army Corps of Engineers

This week, ACEC sent a letter to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees requesting their consideration of a much-needed revision to its reprogramming policy, specifically related to Military Construction (MILCON) and family housing construction accounts.

Congress provides the Department of Defense (DOD) limited authority to obligate funds for purposes other than originally approved. These authorities allow the DoD to reprogram funds which involves shifting funds within the same account. When the requested reprogramming exceeds the threshold prescribed in law, the department is required to provide written notice to the defense authorization and appropriations committees for their approval, which affords them the flexibility to respond to unanticipated budgetary conditions.

Currently, the reprogramming limit for MILCON projects is the lesser of 25 percent of the project funded amount or $2 million, and this has remained unchanged since 1982. We believe it is important to provide the military services with an appropriate level of flexibility to proceed with construction contracts without disruption or delay, especially in our current inflationary environment. In addition to cost estimating challenges, it is not uncommon in the private or public sector to encounter unanticipated environmental issues during construction; thus, we also support the flexibility Congress has provided for paying for unanticipated environmental hazard remediation issues that may arise. 

The Council was joined by the American Subcontractors Association, Associated General Contractors of America, Construction Management Association of America, Design-Build Institute of America, International Institute of Building Enclosure Consultants, National Association of Surety Bond Producers, National Electrical Contractors Association, National Society of Professional Surveyors, Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors National Association, and the Surety & Fidelity Association of America.

Read our letter here.

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