ESF #3 assists the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) by coordinating and organizing the capabilities and resources of the federal government to facilitate the delivery of services, technical assistance, engineering expertise, construction management, and other support to prepare for, respond to, and/or recover from a disaster or an incident requiring a coordinated federal response.

ESF #3 is structured to provide support from public works and engineering for the changing requirements of domestic incident management to include preparedness, response, and recovery actions. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the ESF coordinator and primary agency for response for ESF #3.