II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2163 

To establish an emergency watershed protection disaster assistance fund to 

be available to the Secretary of Agriculture to provide assistance for 

any natural disaster. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 26, 2014 

Mr. UDALL of Colorado (for himself and Mr. BENNET) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To establish an emergency watershed protection disaster assistance fund to be available to the Secretary of Agriculture to provide assistance for any natural disaster. 

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

3 SECTION 1. EMERGENCY WATERSHED PROTECTION DIS4 ASTER ASSISTANCE FUND. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) EMERGENCY WATERSHED PROTECTION

7 PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘emergency watershed protec8 tion program’’ means the emergency watershed proVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:36 Mar 28, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2163.IS S2163

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1 tection program established under section 403 of the 

2 Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2203). 

3 (2) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the 

4 Emergency Watershed Protection Disaster Assist5 ance Fund established by subsection (b). 

6 (3) NATURAL DISASTER.—The term ‘‘natural 

7 disaster’’ means— 

8 (A) a natural disaster declared by the Sec9 retary under section 321(a) of the Consolidated 

10 Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 

11 1961(a)); or 

12 (B) a major disaster or emergency des13 ignated by the President under the Robert T. 

14 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist15 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.). 

16 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

17 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

18 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

19 Treasury of the United States a fund to be known as the 

20 ‘‘Emergency Watershed Protection Disaster Assistance 

21 Fund’’, to be administered by the Secretary to carry out 

22 activities under the emergency watershed protection pro23 gram. 

24 (c) PURPOSE AND AVAILABILITY OF FUND.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (d), 

2 amounts in the Fund shall be available to the Sec3 retary, until expended, to provide additional amounts 

4 for authorized activities described in subsection (b) 

5 in areas affected by a natural disaster. 

6 (2) MAINTENANCE OF FUNDING.—Amounts in 

7 the Fund shall supplement (and not supplant) other 

8 Federal funding for natural disasters. 

9 (d) DIRECTLY APPROPRIATED AMOUNTS.—Amounts 

10 appropriated directly to the Fund by this Act or any sub11 sequent Act for a specific purpose shall be available only 

12 for that purpose until such time as the transfer authority 

13 provided by subsection (f) takes effect with regard to the 

14 amounts. 

15 (e) TRANSFER OF PRIOR APPROPRIATIONS TO

16 FUND.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may transfer 

18 to the Fund, and merge with other amounts gen19 erally appropriated to the Fund, the available unob20 ligated balance of any amounts described in para21 graph (2) if, in advance of the transfer, the Sec22 retary— 

23 (A) determines that the unobligated 

24 amounts are no longer needed to respond to the 


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1 natural disaster for which the amounts were 

2 originally appropriated; and 

3 (B) provides a certification of that deter4 mination to the Committees on Appropriations 

5 of the House of Representatives and the Sen6 ate. 

7 (2) AMOUNTS.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Amounts described in 

9 this paragraph are amounts for the emergency 

10 watershed protection program that— 

11 (i) except in the case of funds de12 scribed in subparagraph (B), remain unob13 ligated as of the date of enactment of this 

14 Act; or 

15 (ii)(I) are made available under the 

16 Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013 

17 (division A of Public Law 113–2; 127 Stat. 

18 4); and 

19 (II) are not necessary to fulfill any el20 igible request for the funds made in ac21 cordance with that Act. 

22 (B) EMERGENCY DESIGNATIONS.— 

23 (i) EMERGENCY DESIGNATION FOR

24 STATUTORY PAYGO.—This subsection is 

25 designated as an emergency requirement 


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1 pursuant to section 4(g) of the Statutory 

2 Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (Public Law 

3 111–139; 2 U.S.C. 933(g)). 

4 (ii) EMERGENCY DESIGNATION FOR

5 CONGRESSIONAL ENFORCEMENT.—In the 

6 Senate, this subsection is designated as an 

7 emergency requirement pursuant to sec8 tions 403(a) and 423(b) of S. Con. Res. 13 

9 (111th Congress), the concurrent resolu10 tion on the budget for fiscal year 2010. 

11 (3) CERTAIN FUNDS.— 

12 (A) PRELIMINARY DEPOSIT.—Not later 

13 than 30 days after the date of enactment of 

14 this Act, the Secretary shall transfer to the 

15 Fund all amounts described in paragraph 

16 (2)(A)(ii) that are in excess of amounts re17 quested in applications received by the Sec18 retary on or before April 18, 2014, in accord19 ance with the Disaster Relief Appropriations 

20 Act, 2013 (division A of Public Law 113–2; 

21 127 Stat. 4). 

22 (B) FINAL DEPOSIT.—As soon as prac23 ticable after the Secretary has made final deter24 minations on all applications described in sub25 paragraph (A), the Secretary shall transfer to 


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1 the Fund all remaining unobligated amounts 

2 described in paragraph (2)(A)(ii). 

3 (f) TRANSFER OF OTHER APPROPRIATIONS TO

4 FUND.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Unless otherwise specifically 

6 provided in an appropriations Act, the Secretary 

7 may transfer to or within the Fund, and merge with 

8 other amounts generally appropriated to the Fund, 

9 the available unobligated balance of any amounts 

10 that are appropriated for fiscal year 2014 or any 

11 subsequent fiscal year for the emergency watershed 

12 protection program to respond to a natural disaster 

13 or are designated by the Congress as an emergency 

14 requirement if, in advance of the transfer, the Sec15 retary— 

16 (A) determines that the unobligated 

17 amounts are no longer needed to respond to the 

18 natural disaster for which the amounts were 

19 originally appropriated; and 

20 (B) provides a certification of that deter21 mination to the Committees on Appropriations 

22 of the House of Representatives and the Sen23 ate. 

24 (2) TIMING.—A transfer of unobligated 

25 amounts with respect to a natural disaster may not 


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1 be made under this subsection until after the end of 

2 the 2-year period beginning on the date on which the 

3 amounts were originally appropriated for that nat4 ural disaster. 

5 (g) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts transferred 

6 into the Fund under this section shall be available to the 

7 Secretary for obligation without further appropriation. 

8 (h) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—In addition to any 

9 other funds available to the Secretary to cover administra10 tive costs, the Secretary may use up to 3 percent of the 

11 amounts allocated from the Fund for a specific natural 

12 disaster to cover administrative costs of the State and 

13 local offices of the Department of Agriculture in the areas 

14 affected by the natural disaster to carry out disaster-re15 lated activities. 

16 (i) LIMITATION ON PER DISASTER OBLIGATIONS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts in the Fund, ex18 cept for amounts described in subsection (d) that 

19 are appropriated to the Fund and obligated in ac20 cordance with that subsection, may not be obligated 

21 in excess of $1,000,000 for a natural disaster until 

22 at least 15 days after the date on which the Sec23 retary notifies the Committees on Appropriations of 

24 the House of Representatives and the Senate of the 


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1 determination of the Secretary to obligate additional 

2 amounts and the reasons for the determination. 

3 (2) SPECIFIC AND EXTREME NEED.—The Sec4 retary may not obligate more than 50 percent of the 

5 amounts in the Fund for any 1 natural disaster un6 less the Secretary declares that there is a specific 

7 and extreme need for additional funds to be provided 

8 in response to that natural disaster at time of the 

9 obligation. 

10 (j) QUARTERLY REPORTS.—The Secretary shall sub11 mit, on a quarterly basis, to the Committees on Appropria12 tions of the House of Representatives and the Senate a 

13 report describing the status of the Fund and any trans14 actions that have affected the Fund since the previous re15 port. 

Æ 


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