Environmental Program

As the nation’s environmental engineer, the U.S. Army Corps manages one of the largest federal environmental missions: restoring degraded ecosystems; constructing sustainable facilities; regulating waterways; managing natural resources; and, cleaning up contaminated sites from past military or other activities. 

The USACE environmental programs support the warfighter and military installations worldwide as well as USACE public recreation facilities throughout the country.  In 2002, USACE adopted its seven Environmental Operating Principles, or green ethics, which continue to guide our environmental and sustainability work today.

USACE works in partnership with other federal and state agencies, non-governmental organizations and academic institutions to find innovative solutions to challenges that affect everyone – sustainability, climate change, endangered species, environmental cleanup, ecosystem restoration and more.

USACE works to restore degraded ecosystem structure, function and dynamic processes to a more natural condition through large-scale ecosystem restoration projects and by employing system-wide watershed approaches to problem solving and management for smaller ecosystem restoration projects. USACE’s  regulatory program works to ensure no net loss of wetlands while issuing about 90,000 permits a year.

USACE environmental cleanup programs focus on reducing risk and protecting human health and the environment in a timely and cost-effective manner.  We are striving to restore ecosystem structure and processes, manage our land, resources and construction activities in a sustainable manner, and support cleanup and protection activities efficiently and effectively, all while leaving the smallest footprint behind.

Fast Facts

USACE manages, designs and executes a full range of cleanup and protection activities, such as:

  • Cleaning up sites contaminated with hazardous, toxic or radioactive waste or ordnance through the Formerly Used Defense Sites program
  • Cleaning up low-level radioactive waste from the nation’s early atomic weapons program through the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program
  • Supporting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by cleaning up Superfund sites and working with its Brownfields and Urban Waters programs
  • Supporting the Army with the Base Realignment and Closure Act program
  • Ensuring that facilities comply with federal, state and local environmental laws
  • Conserving cultural and natural resources
  • Restoring degraded ecosystems through the District's Civil Works program

FACT SHEETS (HQ Links):

Contact

New York District Environmental Program
Mailing Address:
USACE New York District
26 Federal Plaza Rm 17-420
New York, NY 10278

Email: cenan-pl-e@usace.army.mil 
 

Ecosystem Restoration

Serving the nation in Ecosystem Restoration: Ecosystem restoration has become a primary mission of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which budgets approximately $400-500 million annually to restore a wide variety of aquatic systems. New York District is engaged in several ecosystem restoration projects in the region. To find out more about each, please visit the Ecosystem Restoration page for a comprehensive look at New York District's ecosystem restoration projects by state. 

Environmental Remediation

Serving the nation in Environmental Remediation: Environmental Remediation is an important part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This mission area includes a wide range of cleanup programs, including the Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) program, the Superfund program and the Formerly Utilized Site Remediation Action Program (FUSRAP). New York District's Environmental Branch, working with our partners like the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, state and local partners and others, manages several remedial investigations and cleanups  in the region. To find out more about each, look at the District's Environmental Remediation page.

Environmental Assessment

Serving the nation in Environmental Assessment: The Environmental Branch at the New York District provides leadership and technical support to the District's Planning Division and to Military Installations to ensure the District or Installation activities are in compliance with all environmental and cultural resources law and regulations. To find out more about some of the environmental assessments underway in the region visit the Environmental Assessment page.

Restoration and Repairs

Find out more about the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District's, Comprehensive Restoration Plan for the Hudson-Raritan Estuary.