II

Calendar No. 798

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1762

[Report No. 106–408]

To amend the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act to authorize

the Secretary of Agriculture to provide cost share assistance for the

rehabilitation of structural measures constructed as part of water resource projects previously funded by the Secretary under such Act or

related laws.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 21, 1999

Mr. COVERDELL (for himself, Mrs. LINCOLN, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. CLELAND, Mr.

LUGAR, Mr. CONRAD, Mr. ROBB, Mr. BYRD, Mr. ALLARD, Mr. HARKIN,

Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. BREAUX, Mr. HOLLINGS, Mr. HUTCHINSON, Mr.

BOND, Mr. HATCH, Mr. KOHL, Mr. REID, Mr. DEWINE, and Ms.

LANDRIEU) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

SEPTEMBER 12, 2000

Reported by Mr. LUGAR, without amendment

A BILL

To amend the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention

Act to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide

cost share assistance for the rehabilitation of structural

measures constructed as part of water resource projects

previously funded by the Secretary under such Act or

related laws.
2

S 1762 RS

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Watershed Re5 habilitation Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. REHABILITATION OF WATER RESOURCE STRUC7 TURAL MEASURES CONSTRUCTED UNDER

8 CERTAIN DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

9 PROGRAMS.

10 The Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act

11 (16 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end

12 the following new section:

13 ‘‘SEC. 14. REHABILITATION OF STRUCTURAL MEASURES

14 NEAR, AT, OR PAST THEIR EVALUATED LIFE

15 EXPECTANCY.

16 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:

17 ‘‘(1) REHABILITATION.—The term ‘rehabilita18 tion’, with respect to a structural measure con19 structed as part of a covered water resource project,

20 means the completion of all work necessary to ex21 tend the service life of the structural measure and

22 meet applicable safety and performance standards.

23 This may include (A) protecting the integrity of the

24 structural measure, or prolonging the useful life of

25 the structural measure, beyond the original evalu-
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S 1762 RS

1 ated life expectancy, (B) correcting damage to the

2 structural measure from a catastrophic event, (C)

3 correcting the deterioration of structural components

4 that are deteriorating at an abnormal rate, (D) up5 grading the structural measure to meet changed

6 land use conditions in the watershed served by the

7 structural measure or changed safety criteria appli8 cable to the structural measure, or (E) decommis9 sioning the structural measure, including removal or

10 breaching.

11 ‘‘(2) COVERED WATER RESOURCE PROJECT.—

12 The term ‘covered water resource project’ means a

13 work of improvement carried out under any of the

14 following:

15 ‘‘(A) This Act.

16 ‘‘(B) Section 13 of the Act of December

17 22, 1944 (Public Law 78–534; 58 Stat. 905).

18 ‘‘(C) The pilot watershed program author19 ized under the heading ‘FLOOD PREVENTION’

20 of the Department of Agriculture Appropriation

21 Act, 1954 (Public Law 156; 67 Stat. 214).

22 ‘‘(D) Subtitle H of title XV of the Agri23 culture and Food Act of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3451

24 et seq.; commonly known as the Resource Con25 servation and Development Program).
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S 1762 RS

1 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE LOCAL ORGANIZATION.—The

2 term ‘eligible local organization’ means a local orga3 nization or appropriate State agency responsible for

4 the operation and maintenance of structural meas5 ures constructed as part of a covered water resource

6 project.

7 ‘‘(4) STRUCTURAL MEASURE.—The term ‘struc8 tural measure’ means a physical improvement that

9 impounds water, commonly known as a dam, which

10 was constructed as part of a covered water resource

11 project.

12 ‘‘(b) COST SHARE ASSISTANCE FOR REHABILITA13 TION.—

14 ‘‘(1) ASSISTANCE AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary

15 may provide financial assistance to an eligible local

16 organization to cover a portion of the total costs in17 curred for the rehabilitation of structural measures

18 originally constructed as part of a covered water re19 source project. The total costs of rehabilitation in20 clude the costs associated with all components of the

21 rehabilitation project, including acquisition of land,

22 easements, and rights-of-ways, rehabilitation project

23 administration, the provision of technical assistance,

24 contracting, and construction costs, except that the

25 local organization shall be responsible for securing
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1 all land, easements, or rights-of-ways necessary for

2 the project.

3 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE; LIMITATIONS.—

4 The amount of Federal funds that may be made

5 available under this subsection to an eligible local

6 organization for construction of a particular rehabili7 tation project shall be equal to 65 percent of the

8 total rehabilitation costs, but not to exceed 100 per9 cent of actual construction costs incurred in the re10 habilitation. However, the local organization shall be

11 responsible for the costs of water, mineral, and other

12 resource rights and all Federal, State, and local per13 mits.

14 ‘‘(3) RELATION TO LAND USE AND DEVELOP15 MENT REGULATIONS.—As a condition on entering

16 into an agreement to provide financial assistance

17 under this subsection, the Secretary, working in con18 cert with the eligible local organization, may require

19 that proper zoning or other developmental regula20 tions are in place in the watershed in which the

21 structural measures to be rehabilitated under the

22 agreement are located so that—

23 ‘‘(A) the completed rehabilitation project is

24 not quickly rendered inadequate by additional

25 development; and
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S 1762 RS

1 ‘‘(B) society can realize the full benefits of

2 the rehabilitation investment.

3 ‘‘(c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR WATERSHED

4 PROJECT REHABILITATION.—The Secretary, acting

5 through the Natural Resources Conservation Service, may

6 provide technical assistance in planning, designing, and

7 implementing rehabilitation projects should an eligible

8 local organization request such assistance. Such assistance

9 may consist of specialists in such fields as engineering,

10 geology, soils, agronomy, biology, hydraulics, hydrology,

11 economics, water quality, and contract administration.

12 ‘‘(d) PROHIBITED USE.—

13 ‘‘(1) PERFORMANCE OF OPERATION AND MAIN14 TENANCE.—Rehabilitation assistance provided under

15 this section may not be used to perform operation

16 and maintenance activities specified in the agree17 ment for the covered water resource project entered

18 into between the Secretary and the eligible local or19 ganization responsible for the works of improvement.

20 Such operation and maintenance activities shall re21 main the responsibility of the local organization, as

22 provided in the project work plan.

23 ‘‘(2) RENEGOTIATION.—Notwithstanding para24 graph (1), as part of the provision of financial as25 sistance under subsection (b), the Secretary may re-
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1 negotiate the original agreement for the covered

2 water resource project entered into between the Sec3 retary and the eligible local organization regarding

4 responsibility for the operation and maintenance of

5 the project when the rehabilitation is finished.

6 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION FOR REHABILITATION ASSIST7 ANCE.—An eligible local organization may apply to the

8 Secretary for technical and financial assistance under this

9 section if the application has also been submitted to and

10 approved by the State agency having supervisory responsi11 bility over the covered water resource project at issue or,

12 if there is no State agency having such responsibility, by

13 the Governor of the State. The Secretary shall request the

14 State dam safety officer (or equivalent State official) to

15 be involved in the application process if State permits or

16 approvals are required. The rehabilitation of structural

17 measures shall meet standards established by the Sec18 retary and address other dam safety issues. At the request

19 of the eligible local organization, personnel of the Natural

20 Resources Conservation Service of the Department of Ag21 riculture may assist in preparing applications for assist22 ance.

23 ‘‘(f) JUSTIFICATION FOR REHABILITATION ASSIST24 ANCE.—In order to qualify for technical or financial as25 sistance under this authority, the Secretary shall require
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S 1762 RS

1 the rehabilitation project to be performed in the most cost2 effective manner that accomplishes the rehabilitation ob3 jective. Since the requirements for accomplishing the reha4 bilitation are generally for public health and safety rea5 sons, in many instances being mandated by other State

6 or Federal laws, no benefit-cost analysis will be conducted

7 and no benefit-cost ratio greater than one will be required.

8 The benefits of and the requirements for the rehabilitation

9 project shall be documented to ensure the wise and respon10 sible use of Federal funds.

11 ‘‘(g) RANKING OF REQUESTS FOR REHABILITATION

12 ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall establish such system

13 of approving rehabilitation requests, recognizing that such

14 requests will be received throughout the fiscal year and

15 subject to the availability of funds to carry out this sec16 tion, as is necessary for proper administration by the De17 partment of Agriculture and equitable for all eligible local

18 organizations. The approval process shall be in writing,

19 and made known to all eligible local organizations and ap20 propriate State agencies.

21 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

22 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary

23 $60,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2000 through

24 2009 to provide financial and technical assistance under

25 this section.
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1 ‘‘(i) ASSESSMENT OF REHABILITATION NEEDS.—Of

2 the amount appropriated pursuant to subsection (h) for

3 fiscal years 2000 and 2001, $5,000,000 shall be used by

4 the Secretary, in concert with the responsible State agen5 cies, to conduct an assessment of the rehabilitation needs

6 of covered water resource projects in all States in which

7 such projects are located.

8 ‘‘(j) RECORDKEEPING AND REPORTS.—

9 ‘‘(1) SECRETARY.—The Secretary shall main10 tain a data base to track the benefits derived from

11 rehabilitation projects supported under this section

12 and the expenditures made under this section. On

13 the basis of such data and the reports submitted

14 under paragraph (2), the Secretary shall prepare

15 and submit to Congress an annual report providing

16 the status of activities conducted under this section.

17 ‘‘(2) GRANT RECIPIENTS.—Not later than 90

18 days after the completion of a specific rehabilitation

19 project for which assistance is provided under this

20 section, the eligible local organization that received

21 the assistance shall make a report to the Secretary

22 giving the status of any rehabilitation effort under23 taken using financial assistance provided under this

24 section.’’.
Calendar No. 798

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1762

[Report No. 106–408]

A BILL

To amend the Watershed Protection and Flood

Prevention Act to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide cost share assistance for therehabilitation of structural measures constructedas part of water resource projects previouslyfunded by the Secretary under such Act or related laws.

SEPTEMBER 12, 2000

Reported without amendment