A Corps spokesman said that more details would be provided “soon.”

The new program “will enable the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to deliver critical projects and programs for the nation more efficiently, sooner, and at less cost than the current ways of doing business,” Telle said. “This will eliminate bureaucratic delays and provide fast, clear decisions needed to save lives and empower our economy.”

Core missions include dredging, flood and storm damage reduction, aquatic ecosystem restoration and hydroelectric dam maintenance and upgrade.

Democrats from both the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee subcommittee noted the agency’s considerable backlog, currently estimated to be between $100 billion and $200 billion.

In his opening statement, Rick Larsen (D-WA), ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, noted that the current administration has formally implemented only three provisions of the $10.7-billion WRDA 2024, enacted in January 2025. “Failure to implement WRDA 2024 denies our country the benefits of the 21 Chief Reports it authorized,” including upgraded navigation, flood risk-reduction and storm-protection projects, he said.  

Ensuring the Corps addresses the backlog is the Associated General Contractors of America’s top priority for WRDA 2026, according to its director of federal/heavy and utility infrastructure divisions, John Chambers.

“We want to try to make sure that the Corps improves the backlog … with their industry partners … to simplify the work on harbors and inland waterways, to make sure that they can move forward on a timely basis,” Chambers told ENR.

AGC will push the Corps to work with private industry firms rather than competing with them, Chambers said. In some instances, its districts have used public dollars to purchase dredges and related equipment rather than having private sector firms perform dredging activities. They "can do it at a much more efficient rate, as far as costs, as far as manpower go, and just as far as overall capabilities,” he said.

Corps leaders "want to stay away from mission creep,” said Ed Fleming, who led two Corps districts and is a former executive director of cvil works and emergency operations, in an interview with ENR. “There may be some re-emphasis on the core mission areas at the expense of things that maybe were somebody's favorite project but didn't necessarily fit in the sweet spot of the Corps of Engineers” focus areas. 

Fleming, now a senior advisor at environmental permitting consultant Dawson & Associates, noted, however, that Congress bears some responsibility for the slow pace at which some projects are delivered, as well as higher costs.

“There are plenty of members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, who will say, ‘Why did the project in my district take so long?’ Well, okay, let's tell you the whole story," said Fleming, pointing to a lack of full funding for authorized projects as a major factor.

Lawmakers hope to pass the 2026 WRDA bill before the end of the year.