§ 203.72 Eligibility criteria and procedures.

(a) Threat of flooding. An imminent threat of unusual flooding must exist before Advance Measures projects can be approved. The threat may be established by National Weather Service predictions, or by Corps of Engineers determinations of unusual flooding from adverse or unusual conditions. The threat must be clearly defined to the extent that it is readily apparent that damages will be incurred if preventive action is not taken immediately.

(b) Governor's request. A letter signed by the Governor, requesting Corps assistance and addressing the State's commitments and capabilities with response to the emergency situation, is required. All requests should identify the following information:

(1) Describe the non-Federal efforts undertaken. Verify that all available resources have been committed.

(2) Identify the specific needs, and the required Corps assistance.

(3) Identify additional commitments to be accomplished by the non-Federal interests.

(4) Identify the non-Federal sponsor(s).

(c) Feasibility. The proposed work should be temporary in nature, technically feasible, designed to deal effectively and efficiently with the specific threat, and capable of construction in time to prevent anticipated damages.

(d) Economic justification. All work undertaken under this category must have a favorable benefit-to-cost ratio, under Corps of Engineers economic guidelines.

(e) Local cooperation/responsibilities. Subpart G of this part provides requirements for a Cooperation Agreement needed to provide local assurances. The project sponsor must remove temporary works constructed by the Corps when the operation is over, at no cost to the Corps.

(f) Contingency planning efforts for potential Advance Measures activities. Occasionally weather phenomena occur which produce a much higher than normal probability or threat of flooding which may be predicted several months in advance of occurrence or significant impact. Impacts on specific locations may be unpredictable, but regional impacts may have a high likelihood of occurrence. In such situations, the Corps may provide technical and contingency planning assistance to tribal, State, and local agencies, commensurate with the predicted weather phenomenon, based on requests for assistance from such tribal, State, and local agencies. Specific Advance Measures projects must be addressed as specified in paragraph (b) of this section.

(g) Definitions —

(1) Imminent threat. A subjective statistical evaluation of how quickly a threat scenario can develop, and how likely that threat is to develop in a given geographical location. Implicit in the timing aspect can be considerations of available time (when the next flood or storm event is likely to occur), season (e.g., a snowpack that will melt in the coming spring runoff), or of known cyclical activities.

(2) Unusual flooding. A subjective determination that considers potential ability to approach an area's flood of record, a catastrophic level of flooding, or a greater than 50-year level of flooding.