This circular provides United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) guidance
for incorporating the direct and indirect physical effects of projected future sea-level change
across the project life cycle in managing, planning, engineering, designing, constructing,
operating, and maintaining USACE projects and systems of projects. Recent climate research by
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts continued or accelerated global
warming for the 21st Century and possibly beyond, which will cause a continued or accelerated
rise in global mean sea-level. Impacts to coastal and estuarine zones caused by sea-level change
must be considered in all phases of Civil Works programs.