Policy Statements
To promote the goals of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Board of Direction has adopted official policy statements on major technical, professional and educational issues of interest to the civil engineering community and the nation.
ASCE has members throughout the world. Many policy statements were created to address issues of particular interest in the United States. Other policy statements are pertinent throughout the world. So that ASCE members can easily identify the geographic coverage of each policy statement, those that have worldwide application are so identified.
Listed here are the complete texts of the Society's 176 current policy documents. These statements reflect the Board of Direction actions through July 18, 2024 and support ASCE's Public Policy Mission.
For more information about ASCE policy documents and the policy development program, contact Martin Hight, Senior Manager, Government Relations.
Coastal zones, off shore and waterways
- PS162 - Protection and development of coastal resources
- PS218 - Improvement and maintenance of ports harbors and waterways
- PS286 - Waste disposal in ocean and coastal waters
- PS330 - Coastal data collection program
- PS349 - Dredged management for erosion control channel maintenance and coastal protection
- PS498 - Coastal wetlands
- PS507 - Restoring and maintaining beaches
- PS533 - Offshore facilities development
Dams, flood control and levees
Disaster mitigation and response
Education
- PS140 - Civil engineering education: a shared responsibility
- PS377 - Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education
- PS463 - History and heritage
- PS555 - State support for higher education
- PS560 - Federal support for higher education
- PS561 - Historic American Engineering Record
- PS568 - Fulfilling the Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge for Responsible Charge of Civil Engineering
Engineering practice
- PS117 - Aesthetics
- PS333 - Engineering surveying definition
- PS437 - Risk management
- PS502 - Professional ethics and conflict of interest
- PS510 - Combating bribery, fraud, and corruption
- PS535 - Defining the civil engineering team
- PS569 - Risk-informed design
- PS573 - Artificial intelligence and engineering responsibility
Environmental
- PS285 - Acid rain
- PS360 - Climate change
- PS362 - Comprehensive pollution management
- PS378 - National wetlands regulatory policy
- PS403 - Consultation on environmental regulations
- PS438 - Endangered Species Act reauthorization
- PS482 - Harmful algal blooms and hypoxia program
- PS488 - Greenhouse gases
- PS527 - Recycling of electronic wastes
- PS562 - National Environmental Policy Act
- PS570 - Environmental justice
- PS575 - Nature-based solutions
Infrastructure
- PS131 - Growth and development
- PS299 - Infrastructure investment
- PS404 - Endorsement of infrastructure projects
- PS418 - The role of the civil engineer in sustainable development
- PS427 - Regulatory process for infrastructure development
- PS451 - Life-cycle cost analysis
- PS452 - Investing in America's schools
- PS453 - Federal capital budgeting
- PS493 - Infrastructure resilience research
- PS500 - Resilient infrastructure initiatives
- PS503 - Parks and recreation infrastructure
- PS518 - Unified definitions for critical infrastructure resilience
- PS526 - Public-Private Partnerships
- PS528 - High-performance buildings
- PS532 - National Infrastructure Bank
- PS541 - Post-disaster reconstruction of infrastructure
- PS543 - Performance-based ownership of infrastructure
- PS556 - Owners commitment to sustainability
- PS564 - Broadband
- PS565 - Cybersecurity and infrastructure security
- PS576 - Civil infrastructure and the water-energy-food nexus
Licensure
- PS130 - Professional licensure of engineers
- PS385 - Licensure requirements for government engineers
- PS425 - Continuing professional development for licensure
- PS432 - Licensure examinations
- PS450 - State licensure boards for professional engineers
- PS464 - Professional licensure mobility
- PS524 - Advanced credentialing within the civil engineering profession
- PS547 - Engineering experience for professional licensure
- PS559 - Licensure of civil engineering faculty
- PS574 - Educational requirements for licensure
Procurement & contracts
- PS138 - Engineering services for government agencies
- PS304 - Qualifications-based selection of professional engineers
- PS388 - Warranty and guarantee clauses for professional engineering service contracts
- PS400 - Design-build procurement
- PS439 - Design competition
- PS492 - Use of electronic signatures and seals
- PS509 - Provision of engineering services across state and international boundaries
- PS542 - Application of prevailing wages to professional survey crews
Research
- PS187 - Policy on research in civil engineering
- PS313 - Infrastructure research and innovations
- PS319 - National Institute of Standards and Technology
- PS336 - National Science Foundation
- PS444 - The role of the federal government in civil engineering research and development
- PS455 - Research and development tax credits
- PS456 - Incentives for implementing construction innovation
- PS471 - Aviation infrastructure research
- PS538 - Publication of publicly funded research
- PS550 - Role of science and engineering research in government
Transportation
- PS149 - Intermodal Transportation Systems
- PS208 - Bridge safety
- PS276 - Integrated truck and highway design
- PS367 - Highway safety
- PS382 - Transportation funding
- PS402 - High-speed and intercity passenger rail
- PS434 - Transportation trust funds
- PS436 - Incorporating bicycle facilities into transportation systems
- PS445 - Aviation transportation program
- PS454 - Intelligent transportation systems
- PS494 - Public transportation
- PS495 - Operations and management of transportation systems
- PS496 - Innovative financing for transportation projects
- PS497 - Surface transportation research funding
- PS504 - Rehabilitation of historic bridges
- PS521 - Rail infrastructure investment
- PS537 - Complete Streets
- PS546 - Freight mobility
- PS548 - Connected and autonomous vehicles
- PS549 - Unmanned aircraft systems
- PS552 - Vision Zero
- PS566 - Infrastructure facilities for electric vehicles
Water resources management
- PS243 - Groundwater management
- PS275 - Atmospheric water resources management
- PS302 - Financing and cost-sharing in water resources infrastructure programs
- PS337 - Water conservation
- PS348 - Emergency plans for water supply
- PS361 - Safe drinking water
- PS407 - Desalination
- PS408 - Planning and management for droughts
- PS409 - Weather data collection
- PS422 - Watershed management
- PS441 - Stormwater management
- PS447 - Hydrologic data collection
- PS480 - Water infrastructure and facilities construction funding
- PS522 - Regional sediment management