After years of discussion and drafting, the White House has issued revised standards for evaluating federally funded water projects. Announced by the Council on Environmental Quality on March 22, the new Principles and Guidelines, or P&G, are the first rewrite of this key planning document in 30 years.

The new P&G give more prominence to environmental factors than did the 1983 version and add floodplain considerations to criteria agencies will weigh.