Today, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam R. Telle announced a major initiative, “Building Infrastructure, Not Paperwork,” for the Army’s Civil Works program.

“Building Infrastructure, Not Paperwork” will provide greater focus on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) core Civil Works missions, while minimizing non-core programs, direct funding to priority water resources projects that will provide the greatest benefits to the nation, shorten permitting timelines, and reduce or eliminate extraneous regulations and paperwork that slow USACE’s delivery of Civil Works projects and programs.

“President Trump has empowered his administration to work with lightspeed efficiency to make our government deliver more for all Americans. The Army Civil Works’ ‘Building Infrastructure, Not Paperwork’ initiative will enable the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to deliver critical projects and programs for the nation more efficiently, sooner, and at less cost than the current ways of doing business,” said Telle. “This will eliminate bureaucratic delays and provide fast, clear decisions needed to save lives and empower our economy.”

“Continuous Army transformation is about rapidly delivering war winning capabilities to the Army today, not years in the future. But that’s not all; we’re also transforming at home, too,” said Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll. “I’m incredibly proud of the ‘Building Infrastructure, Not Paperwork’ (BINP) transformation initiative the Army Civil Works and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers teams recently unveiled. BINP will build and strengthen American infrastructure across our nation, increasing resiliency and providing tangible, long-lasting value for the American people.”

“Building Infrastructure, Not Paperwork” will enable USACE district commanders around the nation to execute the Civil Works projects and programs that benefit the nation. USACE commanders will be empowered to take informed risks in advancing critical water resources projects and programs to completion faster and at less cost. The policy changes will also bring greater transparency and accountability for the program to the American public, project partners and sponsors, industry, and the elected leaders who make the annual funding decisions for the Civil Works program.

The plan consists of 27 initiatives grouped under five categories:

• Maximizing the Ability to Deliver National Infrastructure 
• Cutting Red Tape 
• Focus on Efficiency 
• Transparency & Accountability 
• Prioritization  

The initiatives do not affect USACE execution of its emergency response support to natural and manmade disasters.

"The U.S. Army’s Civil Works program has been an invaluable cornerstone for more than 200 years. ‘Building Infrastructure, Not Paperwork’ will return USACE to a focus on its core missions and ensure the enterprise continues to be the most trusted national resource delivering water resources solutions,” added Telle. “This is only possible with President Trump’s leadership that has enabled our team to maximize our ability to deliver national infrastructure and cut red tape for the American people.” 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District continues implementing procedures to cut red tape in the Federal permitting process as part of the Army’s Civil Works “Building Infrastructure, Not Paperwork” transformation initiative. To date, the district has finalized 23 actions between October 2025 and February 2026. These actions within the district’s Regulatory program are for projects that qualify under the Trump Administration’s Executive Orders 14153 – “Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential,” 14156 – “Declaring a National Energy Emergency,” and 14241 – “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production.”

“We are achieving new efficiencies in our ability to evaluate and complete permit decisions with examples such as the Alaska LNG project and Ambler Road,” said Col. Jeffrey Palazzini, district commander. “Prioritizing these permit actions under the ‘Building Infrastructure, Not Paperwork’ initiative will unleash Alaska’s resource potential and enhance our nation’s economic and national security for generations to come.”

Furthermore, the district is currently working on 25 pending permitting actions that qualify under these executive orders. For example, both the Graphite Creek Mining Project near Nome and the Nikolai Nickel Project near Glennallen were identified as emergency projects pursuant to EO 14156 and priority projects under EO 14241. These projects aim to deliver rare earth minerals to the nation’s economy.

“The Building Infrastructure, Not Paperwork” initiative will enable the Alaska District to find more efficient ways to deliver critically important permitting actions and many other missions the district is responsible for in the state.

The mission of the USACE Regulatory program is to protect the nation’s aquatic resources and navigation capacity, while allowing reasonable development through fair, flexible and balanced decisions. The program process gives applicants the opportunity to demonstrate that they have avoided and minimized impacts to waters of the United States as much as possible. The Alaska District has jurisdiction over waters of the U.S. that are distributed across the state.