BALTIMORE -- The President’s budget for fiscal year 2025, released March 11, includes more than $7.2 billion in discretionary funding for the Civil Works program of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and about $124 million designated towards the USACE Baltimore District to dredge the Baltimore Harbor; continue aquatic ecosystem restoration that benefits the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed; and operate and maintain flood risk management projects throughout the mid-Atlantic region.
The budget invests in the development, management, restoration, and protection of the nation's water, wetlands, and related resources through studies, construction and operation and maintenance of projects, the USACE regulatory program, and emergency response.
“Funding from the President’s budget affords Baltimore District the opportunity to continue to deliver on our mission to provide vital engineering solutions that energize our local and regional economies and provides for necessary operation and maintenance of major flood risk management projects that reduce risk to communities and infrastructure,” said Baltimore District Commander Col. Estee Pinchasin. “A prime example of that is our partnership with the Maryland Port Administration to maintain the depths of vital shipping channels that ensure the Port of Baltimore can accommodate some of the world’s largest container ships and continue to serve the region.”
“The efforts of our innovative team, collaborating with state and federal partners, aim to increase regional readiness and resiliency in the face of climate change,” said Pinchasin. “I am proud of their holistic approach in maximizing comprehensive benefits and environmental justice to support underserved communities.”
USACE Baltimore funding highlights are as follows:
- $49.227 million to dredge the Baltimore Harbor and approach channels to a uniform 50-foot depth to support improved navigational efficiencies at the Port of Baltimore and help meet demand for future capacity at Port facilities. Additionally, $1.017 million is allocated to patrol and collect debris within the Patapsco River and its tributaries in an area covering 24 square miles, providing benefits to navigation by reducing damages, financial losses and safety hazards to both commercial and recreational vessels.
- $10 million towards construction management, environmental monitoring and continued development of critical wetlands and uplands for the Paul S. Sarbanes Ecosystem Restoration Project at Poplar Island in Talbot County, where dredged material from the approach channels to the Port of Baltimore is beneficially reused, providing critical habitat to Chesapeake Bay wildlife.
- $5.025 million towards continued maintenance dredging of the Wicomico River, as well as initiation and completion of a Dredged Material Management Plan to guide the management of dredged material placement and ensure these activities are performed in an environmentally acceptable manner, using sound engineering techniques, are economically warranted, and that sufficient placement areas are available for at least the next 20 years.
- $1.415 million for operation and maintenance of the Ocean City Harbor and Inlet and Sinepuxent Bay, including maintenance dredging of sand in and around the inlet navigation channel as well as Assateague Island bypass operations, in which the dredged sand is beneficially placed immediately south of the inlet along Assateague Island to mitigate the impacts of sediment transport and erosion caused by the Ocean City Inlet and its jetties.
- $600,000 for the continued environmental cleanup of the W.R. Grace and Co. Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program site in Baltimore.
- $1.557 million towards debris unit operations along the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers, covering 27 miles around the Nation’s Capital, and $30,000 for the Washington Harbor.
- $55.143 million towards operations and maintenance at flood risk management projects across Maryland, West Virginia, New York and Pennsylvania.
- Jennings Randolph Lake, Maryland and West Virginia: $9.682 million, including critical dam port gate and insulation repairs.
- Cumberland, Maryland and Ridgeley, West Virginia levee system: $246,000
- Almond Lake, New York: $1.009 million
- Arkport Lake, New York: $1.018 million
- East Sidney Lake, New York: $781,000
- Southern New York Flood Control Projects: $1.125 million towards federally constructed channels, levees, floodwalls, drainage structures, etc. as part of 11 projects located on a number of tributaries of the North Branch of the Susquehanna River in Oxford, Avoca, Binghamton, Canisteo, Corning, Elmira, Hornell, Lisle, Whitney Point Village and Addison
- Whitney Point Lake, New York: $24.957 million, including critical dam outlet works gate repairs.
- Alvin R. Bush Dam, Pennsylvania: $869,000
- Aylesworth Creek Lake, Pennsylvania: $347,000
- Cowanesque Lake, Pennsylvania: $2.268 million
- Curwensville Lake, Pennsylvania: $1.049 million
- Foster Joseph Sayers Dam, Pennsylvania: $1.203 million
- Raystown Lake, Pennsylvania: $5.377 million
- Stillwater Lake, Pennsylvania: $570,000
- Tioga-Hammond and Cowanesque Lakes, Pennsylvania: $3.591 million
- Indian Rock Dam, Pennsylvania: $1.051 million
For more information on the President’s FY 2025 Budget, please visit: https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/. The FY 2025 Civil Works budget press book is available at http://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/Budget.aspx.
Additional Information
Baltimore District delivers vital engineering solutions in collaboration with its partners to serve and strengthen the Nation, energize the economy, and reduce disaster risks. Headquartered near Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, Baltimore District provides design, engineering, construction, environmental, and real estate expertise to various important projects and customers. This support spans five states, the District of Columbia, overseas, and the Susquehanna, Potomac, and Chesapeake Bay watersheds. These civil and military missions and diverse engineering services support communities and warfighters while addressing the ever-growing list of emerging national security requirements and ultimately protecting the Nation.
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