(a) Allotment from appropriations for construction

The Secretary of the Army is authorized to allot from any appropriations hereafter made for rivers and harbors not to exceed $62,500,000 for any one fiscal year for the construction of small river and harbor improvement projects not specifically authorized by Congress which will result in substantial benefits to navigation and which can be operated consistently with appropriate and economic use of the waters of the Nation for other purposes, when in the opinion of the Chief of Engineers such work is advisable, if benefits are in excess of the cost.

(b) Limitation on allotment

Terms Used In 33 USC 577

  • county: includes a parish, or any other equivalent subdivision of a State or Territory of the United States. See 1 USC 2
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. Source: FDIC
  • State: means a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any other territory or possession of the United States. See 1 USC 7

Not more than $10,000,000 shall be allotted for the construction of a project under this section at any single locality and the amount allotted shall be sufficient to complete the Federal participation in the project under this section.

(c) Lands, easements, and rights-of-way; indemnification; assurances of local cooperation

Local interests shall provide without cost to the United States all necessary lands, easements and rights-of-way for all projects to be constructed under the authority of this section. In addition, local interests may be required to hold and save the United States free from damages that may result from the construction and maintenance of the project and may be required to provide such additional local cooperation as the Chief of Engineers deems appropriate. A State, county, municipality or other responsible local entity shall give assurance satisfactory to the Chief of Engineers that such conditions of cooperation as are required will be accomplished.

(d) Sharing of costs by non-Federal interests

Non-Federal interests may be required to share in the cost of the project to the extent that the Chief of Engineers deems that such cost should not be borne by the Federal Government in view of the recreational or otherwise special or local nature of the project benefits.

(e) Completeness of project

Each project for which money is allotted under this section shall be complete in itself and not commit the United States to any additional improvement to insure its successful operation, other than routine maintenance, and except as may result from the normal procedure applying to projects authorized after submission of survey reports, and projects constructed under the authority of this section shall be considered as authorized projects.

(f) Low water access navigation channels from existing channel of Mississippi River

This section shall apply to, but not be limited to, the provision of low water access navigation channels from the existing channel of the Mississippi River to harbor areas heretofore or now established and located along the Mississippi River.