33 U.S.C. § 2345 — Electronic submission and tracking of

Page 849 TITLE 33—NAVIGATION AND NAVIGABLE WATERS § 2345 § 2345. Electronic submission and tracking of permit applications (a) Development of electronic system (1) In general The Secretary shall research, develop, and implement an electronic system to allow the electronic preparation and submission of ap- plications for permits and requests for juris- dictional determinations under the jurisdic- tion of the Secretary. (2) Inclusion The electronic system required under para- graph (1) shall address— (A) applications for standard individual permits; (B) applications for letters of permission; (C) joint applications with States for State and Federal permits; (D) applications for emergency permits; (E) applications or requests for jurisdic- tional determinations; and (F) preconstruction notification submis- sions, when required for a nationwide or other general permit. (3) Improving existing data systems The Secretary shall seek to incorporate the electronic system required under paragraph (1) into existing systems and databases of the Corps of Engineers to the maximum extent practicable. (4) Protection of information The electronic system required under para- graph (1) shall provide for the protection of personal, private, privileged, confidential, and proprietary information, and information the disclosure of which is otherwise prohibited by law. (b) System requirements The electronic system required under sub- section (a) shall— (1) enable an applicant or requester to pre- pare electronically an application for a permit or request; (2) enable an applicant or requester to sub- mit to the Secretary, by email or other means through the Internet, the completed applica- tion form or request; (3) enable an applicant or requester to sub- mit to the Secretary, by email or other means through the Internet, data and other informa- tion in support of the permit application or re- quest; (4) provide an online interactive guide to provide assistance to an applicant or requester at any time while filling out the permit appli- cation or request; and (5) enable an applicant or requester (or a designated agent) to track the status of a per- mit application or request in a manner that will— (A) allow the applicant or requester to de- termine whether the application is pending or final and the disposition of the request; (B) allow the applicant or requester to re- search previously submitted permit applica- tions and requests within a given geographic area and the results of such applications or requests; and (C) allow identification and display of the location of the activities subject to a permit or request through a map-based interface. (c) Documentation All permit decisions and jurisdictional deter- minations made by the Secretary shall be in writing and include documentation supporting the basis for the decision or determination. The Secretary shall prescribe means for docu- menting all decisions or determinations to be made by the Secretary. (d) Record of determinations (1) In general The Secretary shall maintain, for a min- imum of 5 years, a record of each permit deci- sion and jurisdictional determination made by the Secretary, including documentation sup- porting the basis of the decision or determina- tion. (2) Archiving of information The Secretary shall explore and implement an appropriate mechanism for archiving records of permit decisions and jurisdictional determinations, including documentation sup- porting the basis of the decisions and deter- minations, after the 5-year maintenance pe- riod described in paragraph (1). (e) Availability of determinations (1) In general The Secretary shall make the records of all permit decisions and jurisdictional determina- tions made by the Secretary available to the public for review and reproduction. (2) Protection of information The Secretary shall provide for the protec- tion of personal, private, privileged, confiden- tial, and proprietary information, and infor- mation the disclosure of which is prohibited by law, which may be excluded from disclo- sure. (f) Deadline for electronic system implementa- tion (1) In general The Secretary shall develop and implement, to the maximum extent practicable, the elec- tronic system required under subsection (a) not later than 2 years after December 23, 2022. (2) Update on electronic system implementa- tion The Secretary shall submit to the Com- mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Com- mittee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate a quarterly update describing the status of the implementation of this section. (g) Applicability The requirements described in subsections (c), (d), and (e) shall apply to permit applications and requests for jurisdictional determinations submitted to the Secretary after December 16, 2016. (h) Limitation This section shall not preclude the submission to the Secretary, acting through the Chief of Page 850 TITLE 33—NAVIGATION AND NAVIGABLE WATERS § 2346 Engineers, of a physical copy of a permit appli- cation or a request for a jurisdictional deter- mination. (Pub. L. 110–114, title II, § 2040, Nov. 8, 2007, 121 Stat. 1100; Pub. L. 114–322, title I, § 1134(a), Dec. 16, 2016, 130 Stat. 1654; Pub. L. 117–263, div. H, title LXXXI, § 8226, Dec. 23, 2022, 136 Stat. 3764.) Editorial Notes CODIFICATION Section was enacted as part of the Water Resources Development Act of 2007, and not as part of the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 which comprises this chapter. AMENDMENTS 2022—Subsec. (f)(1). Pub. L. 117–263, § 8226(1), sub- stituted ‘‘December 23, 2022’’ for ‘‘December 16, 2016’’. Subsec. (f)(2). Pub. L. 117–263, § 8226(2), added par. (2) and struck out former par. (2). Prior to amendment, text read as follows: ‘‘Not later than 180 days after the expiration of the deadline under paragraph (1), the Sec- retary shall submit to the Committee on Transpor- tation and Infrastructure of the House of Representa- tives and the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate a report describing the measures implemented and barriers faced in carrying out this section.’’ 2016—Pub. L. 114–322 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section related to electronic submission of permit applications. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries ‘‘SECRETARY’’ DEFINED Secretary means the Secretary of the Army, see sec- tion 2 of Pub. L. 110–114, set out as a note under section 2201 of this title. § 2346. Project administration (a) Project tracking The Secretary shall assign a unique tracking number to each water resources project under the jurisdiction of the Secretary to be used by each Federal agency throughout the life of the project. (b) Report repository (1) In general The Secretary shall provide to the Library of Congress a copy of each final feasibility study, final environmental impact statement, final reevaluation report, final post-authoriza- tion change report, record of decision, and re- port to Congress prepared by the Corps of En- gineers. (2) Availability to public Each document described in paragraph (1) shall be made available to the public, and an electronic copy of each document shall be made permanently available to the public through the Internet. (Pub. L. 110–114, title II, § 2041, Nov. 8, 2007, 121 Stat. 1100; Pub. L. 114–322, title I, § 1136(b), Dec. 16, 2016, 130 Stat. 1657.) Editorial Notes CODIFICATION Section was enacted as part of the Water Resources Development Act of 2007, and not as part of the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 which comprises this chapter. AMENDMENTS 2016—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 114–322 inserted ‘‘final post-authorization change report,’’ after ‘‘final reevalu- ation report,’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries ‘‘SECRETARY’’ DEFINED Secretary means the Secretary of the Army, see sec- tion 2 of Pub. L. 110–114, set out as a note under section 2201 of this title. § 2346a. Real estate administrative fees (a) In general Not later than 30 days after January 4, 2025, the Secretary shall initiate the development of guidance to standardize processes for devel- oping, updating, and tracking real estate admin- istrative fees administered by the Corps of Engi- neers. (b) Guidance In developing guidance under subsection (a), the Secretary shall— (1) outline standard methodologies to esti- mate costs for purposes of setting real estate administrative fees; (2) define the types of activities involved in managing real estate instruments that are in- cluded for purposes of setting such fees; (3) establish cost-tracking procedures to cap- ture data relating to the activities described in paragraph (2) for purposes of setting such fees; (4) outline a schedule for divisions or dis- tricts of the Corps of Engineers to review, and update as appropriate, real estate administra- tive fees, including specifying what such re- views should entail and the frequency of such reviews; and (5) provide opportunities for stakeholder input on real estate administrative fees. (c) Publicly available The Secretary shall make publicly available on the website of each Corps of Engineers dis- trict— (1) the guidance developed under this sec- tion; and (2) any other relevant information on real estate administrative fees, including lists of real estate instruments requiring such fees, and methodologies used to set such fees. (Pub. L. 118–272, div. A, title I, § 1120, Jan. 4, 2025, 138 Stat. 3014.) Editorial Notes CODIFICATION Section was enacted as part of the Water Resources Development Act of 2024, and also as part of the Thom- as R. Carper Water Resources Development Act of 2024, and not as part of the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 which comprises this chapter. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries ‘‘SECRETARY’’ DEFINED Secretary means the Secretary of the Army, see sec- tion 1002 of Pub. L. 118–272, set out as a note under sec- tion 2201 of this title.