[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 33, Volume 3]
[Revised as of July 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 33CFR203.48]

[Page 14-15]
 
                TITLE 33--NAVIGATION AND NAVIGABLE WATERS
 
 CHAPTER II--CORPS OF ENGINEERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, DEPARTMENT OF 
                                 DEFENSE
 
PART 203_EMERGENCY EMPLOYMENT OF ARMY AND OTHER RESOURCES, NATURAL 
DISASTER PROCEDURES--Table of Contents
 
 Subpart D_Rehabilitation Assistance for Flood Control Works Damaged by 
 Flood or Coastal Storm: The Corps Rehabilitation and Inspection Program
 
Sec. 203.48  Inspection guidelines for non-Federal flood control works.

    (a) Intent. The intent of these guidelines is to facilitate 
inspections of the design, construction, and maintenance of non-Federal 
flood control works. The guidelines are not intended to establish design 
standards for non-Federal flood control works, but to provide uniform 
procedures within the Corps for conducting required inspections. The 
results of these inspections determine Active status in the RIP, and 
thus determine eligibility for Rehabilitation Assistance. The contents 
of this section are applicable to both IEI's and CEI's.
    (b) Level of detail. Evaluations of non-Federal flood control works 
will be made through on site inspections and technical analyses by Corps 
technical personnel. The level of detail required in an inspection will 
be commensurate with the complexity of the inspected project, the 
potential for catastrophic failure to cause significant loss of life, 
the economic benefits of the area protected, and other special 
circumstances that may occur. Technical evaluation procedures are 
intended to establish the general capability of a non-Federal flood 
control work to provide reliable flood protection.
    (c) Purposes. The IEI assesses the integrity and reliability of the 
flood control work. In addition, other essential information required to 
help determine the Federal interest in future repairs/rehabilitation to 
the flood control work will be obtained. The IEI will establish the 
estimated level of protection and structural reliability of the existing 
flood control work. Subsequent CEI's will seek to detect changed project 
conditions that may have an impact on the reliability of the flood 
protection provided by the flood control work, to include the level of 
maintenance being performed on the flood control work.
    (d) Inspection components--(1) Hydrologic/hydraulic analyses. The 
level of protection provided by a non-Federal flood control work will be 
evaluated and expressed in terms of exceedence frequency (e.g., a 20% 
chance of a levee being overtopped in any given year). These analyses 
also include an evaluation of existing or needed erosion control 
features for portions of a project that may be threatened by stream 
flows, overland flows, or wind generated waves.
    (2) Geotechnical analyses. The Geotechnical evaluation will be based 
primarily on a detailed visual inspection. As a minimum, for levees, the 
IEI will identify critical sections where levee stability appears 
weakest and

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will document the location, reach, and cross-section at these points.
    (3) Maintenance. Project maintenance analysis will evaluate the 
maintenance performance of the non-Federal sponsor, and deficiencies of 
the project. This evaluation should reflect the level of maintenance 
needed to assure the intended degree of flood protection, and assess the 
performance of recent maintenance on the project. The effects of 
structures on, over, or under the flood control work, such as buried 
fiber optic cables, gas pipelines, etc., will be evaluated for impact on 
the stability of the structure.
    (4) Other structural features. Other features that may be present, 
such as pump stations, culverts, closure structures, etc., will be 
evaluated.
    (e) Ratings. Inspected flood control works will receive a rating in 
accordance with the table below. The table below provides the general 
assessment parameters used in assigning a rating to the inspected flood 
control work.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 Rating                             Assessment
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A--Acceptable..........................  No immediate work required,
                                          other than routine
                                          maintenance. The flood control
                                          project will function as
                                          designed and intended, and
                                          necessary cyclic maintenance
                                          is being adequately performed.
M--Minimally Acceptable................  One or more deficient
                                          conditions exist in the flood
                                          control project that need to
                                          be improved/corrected.
                                          However, the project will
                                          essentially function as
                                          designed and intended.
U--Unacceptable........................  One or more deficient
                                          conditions exist which can
                                          reasonably be foreseen to
                                          prevent the project from
                                          functioning as designed,
                                          intended, or required.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (f) Sponsor reclama. If the results of a Corps evaluation are not 
acceptable to the project sponsor, the sponsor may choose, at its own 
expense, to provide a detailed engineering study, preferably certified 
by a qualified Professional Engineer, as a reclama to attempt to change 
the Corps evaluation.