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Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act, as amended *
AN ACT
To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to cooperate with
States and local agencies in the planning and carrying out of
works of improvement for soil conservation, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled, That erosion,
floodwater, and sediment damages in the watersheds of the rivers
and streams of the United States, causing loss of life and damage
to property, constitute a menace to the national welfare; and
that it is the sense of Congress that the Federal Government
should cooperate with States and their political subdivisions,
soil or water conservation districts, flood prevention or control
districts, and other local public agencies for the purpose of
preventing such damages, of furthering the conservation,
development, utilization, and disposal of water, and the
conservation and utilization of land and thereby of preserving,
protecting, and improving the Nation's land and water resources
and the quality of the environment.
SEC. 2. For the purposes of this Act, the following terms
shall mean:
- The "Secretary"--the Secretary of Agriculture of the United
States.
- "Works of improvement"--any undertaking for--
- flood prevention (including structural and land-
treatment measures),
- the conservation, development, utilization, and
disposal of water, or
- the conservation and proper utilization of land in
watershed or subwatershed areas not exceeding two hundred and
fifty thousand acres and not including any single structure which
provides more than twelve thousand five hundred acre-feet of
floodwater detention capacity, and more than twenty-five thousand
acre-feet of total capacity. No appropriation shall be made for
any plan involving an estimated Federal contribution to
construction costs in excess of $5,000,000 or which includes any
structure which provides more than twenty-five hundred acre-feet
of total capacity unless such plan has been approved by
resolutions adopted by the appropriate committees of the Senate
and House of Representatives: Provided, That in the case of any
plan involving no single structure providing more than 4,000
acre-feet of total capacity the appropriate committees shall be
the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry of the Senate and the
Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and in
the case of any plan involving any single structure of more than
4,000 acre-feet of total capacity the appropriate committees
shall be the Committee on Public Works of the Senate and the
Committee on Public Works of the House of Representatives,
respectively. A number of such subwatersheds when they are
component parts of a larger watershed may be planned together
when the local sponsoring organizations so desire. Each project
must contain benefits directly related to agriculture, including
rural communities, that account for at least 20 percent of the
total benefits of the project.
- "Local organization"--any State, political subdivision
thereof, soil or water conservation district, flood prevention or
control district, or combinations thereof, or any other agency
having authority under State law to carry out, maintain and
operate the works of improvement; or any irrigation or reservoir
company, water users' association, or similar organization having
such authority and not being operated for profit that may be
approved by the Secretary; or any Indian tribe or tribal
organization, as defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b),
having authority under Federal, State, or Indian tribal law to
carry out, maintain, and operate works of improvement.
SEC. 3. In order to assist local organizations in preparing
and carrying out plans for works of improvement, the Secretary is
authorized, upon application of local organizations if such
application has been submitted to, and not disapproved within 45
days by, the State agency having supervisory responsibility over
programs provided for in this Act, or by the Governor if there is
no State agency having such responsibility--
- to conduct such investigations and surveys as may
be necessary to prepare plans for works of improvement;
- to prepare plans and estimates required for
adequate engineering evaluation;
- to make allocations of costs to the various
purposes to show the basis of such allocations and to determine
whether benefits exceed costs;
- to cooperate and enter into agreements with and to
furnish financial and other assistance to local organizations:
Provided: That, for the land-treatment measures, the Federal
assistance shall not exceed the rate of assistance for similar
practices under existing national programs;
- to obtain the cooperation and assistance of other
Federal agencies in carrying out the purposes of this section;
- to enter into agreements with landowners,
operators, and occupiers, individually or collectively, based on
conservation plans of such landowners, operators, and occupiers
which are developed in cooperation with and approved by the soil
and water conservation district in which the land described in
the agreement is situated, to be carried out on such land during
a period of not to exceed ten years, providing for changes in
cropping systems and land uses and for the installation of soil
and water conservation practices and measures needed to conserve
and develop the soil, water, woodland, wildlife, energy, and
recreation resources of, and enhance the water quality of, lands
within the area included in plans for works of improvement, as
provided for in such plans, including watershed or subwatershed
work plans in connection with the eleven watershed improvement
programs authorized by section 13 of the Act of December 22, 1944
(58 Stat. 887), as amended and supplemented. Applications for
assistance in developing such conservation plans shall be made in
writing to the soil and water conservation district involved, and
the proposed agreement shall be reviewed by such district. In
return for such agreements by landowners, operators, and
occupiers the Secretary shall agree to share the costs of
carrying out those practices and measures set forth in the
agreement for which he determines that cost sharing is
appropriate and in the public interest. The portion of such
costs, including labor, to be shared shall be that part which the
Secretary determines is appropriate and in the public interest
for the carrying out of the practices and measures set forth in
the agreement, except that the Federal assistance shall not
exceed the rate of assistance for similar practices and measures
under existing national programs. The Secretary may terminate
any agreement with a landowner, operator, or occupier by mutual
agreement if the Secretary determines that such termination would
be in the pubic interest, and may agree to such modifications of
agreements, previously entered into hereunder, as he deems
desirable to carry out the purposes of this paragraph or to
facilitate the practical administration of the agreements
provided for herein. Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
the Secretary, to the extent he deems it desirable to carry out
the purposes of this paragraph, may provide in any agreement
hereunder for (a) preservation for a period not to exceed the
period covered by the agreement and an equal period thereafter of
the cropland, crop acreage, and allotment history applicable to
land covered by the agreement for the purpose of any Federal
program under which such history is used as a basis for an
allotment or other limitation on the production of any crop; or
(b) surrender of any such history and allotments.
SEC. 3A. COST SHARE ASSISTANCE.
- Easements.- The Secretary may provide cost share
assistance to project sponsors to enable such sponsors to acquire
perpetual wetland or floodplain conservation easements to
perpetuate, restore and enhance the natural capability of
wetlands and floodplains to retain excessive floodwaters, improve
water quality and quantity, and provide habitat for fish and
wildlife.
- Amount.- The Secretary shall require that project
sponsors of watershed projects provide up to 50 percent of the
cost of acquiring easements under subsection (1).
SEC. 4. The Secretary shall require as a condition to
providing Federal assistance for the installation of works of
improvement that local organizations shall--
- acquire, or with respect to interests in land to
be acquired by condemnation provide assurances satisfactory to
the Secretary that they will acquire, without cost to the Federal
Government from funds appropriated for the purposes of this Act,
such land, easements, or rights-of-way as will be needed in
connection with works of improvement installed with Federal
assistance: Provided, That when a local organization agrees to
operate and maintain any reservoir or other area included in a
plan for public fish and wildlife or recreational development,
the Secretary shall be authorized to bear not to exceed one-half
of the costs of (a) the land, easements, or rights-of-way
acquired or to be acquired by the local organization for such
reservoir or other area, and (b) minimum basic facilities needed
for public health and safety, access to, and use of such
reservoir or other area for such purposes: Provided further, That the
Secretary shall be authorized to participate in recreational
development in any watershed project only to the extent that the
need therefor is demonstrated in accordance with standards
established by him, taking into account the anticipated man-days
of use of the projected recreational development and giving
consideration to the availability within the region of existing
water-based outdoor recreational developments: Provided further, That
the Secretary shall be authorized to participate in not more than
one recreational development in a watershed project containing
less than seventy-five thousand acres, or two such developments
in a project containing between seventy-five thousand and one
hundred and fifty thousand acres, or three such developments in
projects exceeding one hundred and fifty thousand acres: Provided
further, That when the Secretary and a local organization have
agreed that the immediate acquisition by the local organization
of land, easements, or rights-of-way is advisable for the
preservation of sites for works of improvement included in a plan
from encroachment by residential, commercial, industrial, or
other development, the Secretary shall be authorized to advance
to the local organization from funds appropriated for
construction of works of improvement the amounts required for the
acquisition of such land, easements or rights-of-way; and, except
where such costs are to be borne by the Secretary, such advance
shall be repaid by the local organization, with interest, prior
to construction of the works of improvement, for credit to such
construction funds: Provided further, That the Secretary shall be
authorized to bear an amount not to exceed one-half of the costs
of the land, easements, or rights-of-way acquired or to be
acquired by the local organization for mitigation of fish and
wildlife habitat losses, and that such acquisition is not limited
to the confines of the watershed project boundaries;
- assume (a) such proportionate share, as is
determined by the Secretary to be equitable in consideration of
national needs and assistance authorized for similar purpose
under other Federal programs, of the costs of installing any
works of improvement, involving Federal assistance (excluding
engineering costs), which is applicable to the agricultural
phases of the conservation, development, utilization, and
disposal of water or for fish and wildlife development,
recreational development, ground water recharge, water quality
management, or the conservation and proper utilization of land:
Provided, That works of improvement for water quality management
shall consist primarily of water storage capacity in reservoirs
for regulation of a streamflow, except that any such storage and
water releases shall not be provided as a substitute for adequate
treatment or other methods of controlling waste at the source,
and shall be consistent with standards and regulations adopted by
the Water Resources Council on Federal cost sharing for water
quality management, and (b) all of the cost of installing any
portion of such works applicable to other purposes except that
any part of the construction cost (including engineering costs)
applicable to flood prevention and features relating thereto
shall be borne by the Federal Government and paid for by the
Secretary out of funds appropriated for the purpose of this Act:
Provided, That, in addition to and without limitation on the
authority of Secretary to make loans or advancements under
section 8, the Secretary may pay for any storage of water for
present or anticipated future demands or needs for municipal or
industrial water included in any reservoir structure constructed
or modified under the provisions of this Act as hereinafter
provided: Provided further, That the cost of water storage to meet
future demands may not exceed 30 per centum of the total
estimated cost of such reservoir structure and the local
organization shall give reasonable assurances, and there is
evidence, that such demands for the use of such storage will be
made within a period of time which will permit repayment within
the life of the reservoir structure of the cost of such storage:
Provided further, That the Secretary shall determine prior to
initiation of construction or modification of any reservoir
structure including such water supply storage that there are
adequate assurances by the local organization or by an agency of
the State having authority to give such assurances, that the
Secretary will be reimbursed the cost of water supply storage for
anticipated future demands, and that the local organization will
pay not less than 50 per centum of the cost of storage for
present water supply demands: And provided further, That the cost to
be borne by the local organization for anticipated future demands
may be repaid within the life of the reservoir structure but in
no event to exceed fifty years after the reservoir structure is
first used for the storage of water for anticipated future water
supply demands, except that (a) no reimbursement of the cost of
such water supply storage for anticipated future demands need be
made until such supply is first used, and (b) no interest shall
be charged on the cost of such water supply storage for
anticipated future demands until such supply is first used but in
no case shall the interest-free period exceed ten years. The
interest rate used for purposes of computing the interest on the
unpaid balance shall be determined in accordance with the
provisions of section 8.
- make arrangements satisfactory to the Secretary
for defraying costs of operating and maintaining such works of
improvement, in accordance with regulations presented by the
Secretary of Agriculture.
- acquire, or provide assurance that landowners or
water users have acquired, such water rights, pursuant to State
law, as may be needed in the installation and operation of the
work of improvement.
- obtain agreements to carry out recommended soil
conservation measures and proper farm plans from owners of not
less than 50 per centum of the lands situated in the drainage
area above each retention reservoir to be installed with Federal
assistance; and
- submit a plan of repayment satisfactory to the
Secretary for any loan or advancement made under the provisions
of section 8.
SEC. 5.
- At such time as the Secretary and the interested
local organization have agreed on a plan for works of
improvement, and the Secretary has determined that the benefits
exceed the costs, and the local organization has met the
requirements for participation in carrying out the works of
improvement as set forth in section 4, the local organization may
secure engineering and other services, including the design,
preparation of contracts and specifications, awarding of
contracts, and supervision of construction, in connection with
such works of improvement, by retaining or employing a
professional engineer or engineers satisfactory to the Secretary
or may request the Secretary to provide such services: Provided,
That if the local organization elects to employ a professional
engineer or engineers, the Secretary shall reimburse the local
organization for the costs of such engineering and other services
secured by the local organization as are properly chargeable to
such works of improvement in an amount not to exceed the amount
agreed upon in the plan for works of improvement or any
modification thereof: Provided further, That the Secretary may
advance such amounts as may be necessary to pay for such
services, but such advances with respect to any works of
improvement shall not exceed 5 per centum of the estimated
installation cost of such works.
- Except as to the installation of works of
improvement on Federal lands, the Secretary shall not construct
or enter into any contract for the construction of any structure:
Provided, That if requested to do so by the local organization,
the Secretary may enter into contracts for the construction of
structures.
- Whenever the estimated Federal contribution to the
construction cost of works of improvement in the plan for any
watershed or subwatershed area shall exceed $5,000,000 or the
works of improvement include any structure having a total
capacity in excess of twenty-five hundred acre-feet, the
Secretary shall transmit a copy of the plan and the justification
therefor to the Congress through the President.
- Any plan for works of improvement involving an
estimated Federal contribution to construction costs in excess of
$5,000,000 or including any structure having a total capacity in
excess of twenty-five hundred acre-feet (a) which includes works
of improvement for reclamation or irrigation, or which affects
public or other lands or wildlife under the jurisdiction of the
Secretary of the Interior, (b) which includes Federal assistance
for floodwater detention structures, (c) which includes features
which may affect the public health, or (d) which includes
measures for control or abatement of water pollution, shall be
submitted to the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of the
Army, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, or the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency,
respectively, for his views and recommendations at least thirty
days prior to transmission of the plan to the Congress through
the President. The views and recommendations of the Secretary of
the Interior, the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of Health,
Education, and Welfare, and the Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency, if received by the Secretary
prior to the expiration of the above thirty-day period, shall
accompany the plan transmitted by the Secretary to the Congress
through the President.
- Prior to any Federal participation in the works of
improvement under this Act, the President shall issue such rules
and regulations as he deems necessary or desirable to carry out
the purposes of this Act, and to assure the coordination of the
work authorized under this Act and related work of other
agencies, including the Department of the Interior and the
Department of the Army.
SEC. 6.
The Secretary is authorized in cooperation with
other Federal and with States and local agencies to make
investigations and surveys of the watersheds of rivers and other
waterways as a basis for the development of coordinated programs.
In areas where the programs of the Secretary of Agriculture may
affect public or other lands under the jurisdiction of the
Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of the Interior is
authorized to cooperate with the Secretary of Agriculture in the
planning and development of works or programs for such lands.
SEC. 7.
The provisions of the Act of June 22, 1936 (49
Stat. 1570), as amended and supplemented, conferring authority
upon the Department of Agriculture under the direction of the
Secretary of Agriculture to make preliminary examinations and
surveys and to prosecute works of improvement for runoff and
waterflow retardation and soil erosion prevention in the
watersheds of rivers and other waterways are hereby repealed:
Provided, That (a) the authority of that Department of
Agriculture, under the direction of the Secretary, to prosecute
the works of improvement for runoff and waterflow retardation and
soil erosion prevention authorization to be carried out by the
Department by the Act of December 22, 1944 (58 Stat. 887), as
amended, and (b) the authority of the Secretary of Agriculture to
undertake emergency measures for runoff retardation and soil
erosion prevention authorized to be carried out by section 7 of
the Act of June 28, 1938 (52 Stat. 1215), as amended by section
216 of the Act of May 17, 1950 (64 Stat. 163), shall not be
affected by the provisions of this section: Provided further, That in
connection with the eleven watershed improvement programs
authorized by section 13 of the Act of December 22, 1944 (58
Stat. 887), as amended and supplemented, the Secretary of
Agriculture is authorized to prosecute additional works of
improvement for the conservation, development, utilization, and
disposal of water in accordance with the provisions of section 4
of this Act or any amendments hereafter made thereto.
SEC. 8.
The Secretary is authorized to make loans or
advancements (a) to local organizations to finance the local
share of costs of carrying out works of improvement provided for
in this Act, and (b) to State and local agencies to finance the
local share of costs of carrying out works of improvement (as
defined in section 2 of this Act) in connection with the eleven
watershed improvement programs authorized by section 13 of the
Act of December 22, 1944 (58 Stat. 887), as amended and
supplemented: Provided, That the works of improvement in connection
with said eleven watershed improvement programs shall be integral
parts of watershed or subwatershed work plans agreed upon by the
Secretary of Agriculture and the concerned State and local
agencies. Such loans or advancements shall be made under
contracts or agreements which will provide, under such terms and
conditions as the Secretary deems appropriate, for the repayment
thereof in not more than fifty years from the date when the
principal benefits of the works of improvement first become
available, with interest at the average rate, as determined by
the Secretary of the Treasury, payable by the Treasury upon its
marketable public obligations outstanding at the beginning of the
fiscal year in which the loan or advancement is made, which are
neither due nor callable for redemption for fifteen years from
date of issue. With respect to any single plan for works of
improvement, the amount of any such loan or advancement shall not
exceed $10,000,000.
SEC. 9.
The provisions of this Act shall be applicable to
Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
SEC. 10.
There are hereby authorized to be appropriated
such sums as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this
Act, such sums to remain available until expended. No
appropriation hereafter available for assisting local
organizations in preparing and carrying out plans for works of
improvement under the provisions of section 3 or clause (a) of
section 8 of this Act shall be available for any works of
improvement pursuant to this Act or otherwise in connection with
the eleven watershed improvement programs authorized by section
13 of the Act of December 22, 1944 (58 Stat. 887), as amended and
supplemented, or for making loans or advancements to State and
local agencies as authorized by clause (b) of section 8.
SEC. 11.
This Act may be cited as the "Watershed Protection
and Flood Prevention Act".
SEC. 12. When the Secretary approves the furnishing of
assistance to a local organization in preparing a plan for works
of improvement as provided for in section 3:
- The Secretary shall so notify the Secretary of the
Interior in order that the latter, as he desires, may make
surveys and investigations and prepare a report with
recommendations concerning the conservation and development of
wildlife resources and participate, under arrangements
satisfactory to the Secretary of Agriculture, in the preparation
of a plan for works of improvement that is acceptable to the
local organization and the Secretary of Agriculture.
- Full consideration shall be given to the
recommendations contained in any such report of the Secretary of
the Interior as he may submit to the Secretary of Agriculture
prior to the time the local organization and the Secretary of
Agriculture have agreed on a plan for works of improvement. The
plan shall include such of the technically and economically
feasible works of improvement for wildlife purposes recommended
in the report by the Secretary of the Interior as are acceptable
to, and agreed to, by the local organization and the Secretary of
Agriculture, and such report of the Secretary of the Interior
shall, if requested by the Secretary of the Interior, accompany
the plan for works of improvement when it is submitted to the
Secretary of Agriculture for approval or transmitted to the
Congress through the President.
- The cost of making surveys and investigations and
of preparing reports concerning the conservation and development
of wildlife resources shall be borne by the Secretary of the
Interior out of funds appropriated to his Department.
SEC. 13. DATA.
The Secretary shall collect and maintain data on a national
and State by State basis concerning --
- expenditures for the individual flood control and
conservation measures for which assistance is provided under this
Act; and
- the expected flood control or environmental
(including soil erosion) benefits that will result from the
implementation of such measures.
As amended November 1990.
*(Public Law 83-566, 83d Cong., 68 Stat. 666;
Public Law 84-1018, 84th Cong., 70 Stat. 1088;
Public Law 85-624, 85th Cong., 72 Stat. 563;
Public Law 85-865, 85th Cong., 72 Stat. 1605;
Public Law 86-468, 86th Cong., 74 Stat. 131, 132;
Public Law 86-545, 86th Cong., 74 Stat. 254;
Public Law 87-170, 87th Cong., 75 stat. 408;
Public Law 87-703, 87th Cong., 76 Stat. 608;
Public Law 89-337, 89th Cong., 79 Stat. 1300;
Public Law 90-361, 90th Cong., 82 Stat. 250;
Public Law 92-419, 92d Cong., 86 Stat. 667;
Public Law 95-113, 95th Cong., 91 Stat. 913;
Public Law 97-98, 97th Cong., 95 Stat. 1213;
Public Law 99-662, 99th Cong., 100 Stat. 4196;
Public Law 101-624, 101st Cong., 104 Stat. 3359.)
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