To amend the Sikes Act to promote the use of cooperative agreements under such Act for land management related to Department of Defense readiness activities and to amend title 10, United States Code, to facilitate interagency cooperation in conservation programs to avoid or reduce adverse impacts on military readiness activities.

To amend the Sikes Act to promote the use of cooperative agreements under such Act for land management related to Department of Defense readiness activities and to amend title 10, United States Code, to facilitate interagency cooperation in conservation programs to avoid or reduce adverse impacts on military readiness activities. 1. Cooperative agreements under Sikes Act for land management related to Department of Defense readiness activities (a) Multiyear agreements To fund long-Term management Subsection (b) of section 103A of the Sikes Act ( 16 U.S.C. 670c–1 (1) by inserting (1) Funds (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (2) In the case of a cooperative agreement under subsection (a)(2), funds referred to in paragraph (1)— (A) may be paid in a lump sum and include an amount intended to cover the future costs of the natural resource maintenance and improvement activities provided for under the agreement; and (B) may be invested by the recipient in accordance with the recipient’s own guidelines for the management and investment of financial assets, and any interest or income derived from such investment may be applied for the same purposes as the principal. . (b) Availability of funds and relation to other laws Subsection (c) of such section is amended to read as follows: (c) Availability of funds and relation to other laws (1) Cooperative agreements and interagency agreements entered into under this section shall be subject to the availability of funds. (2) Notwithstanding chapter 63 of title 31, United States Code, a cooperative agreement under this section may be used to acquire property or services for the direct benefit or use of the United States Government. . 2. Facilitation of interagency cooperation in conservation programs of the Departments of Defense, Agriculture, and Interior to avoid or reduce adverse impacts on military readiness activities Section 2684a of title 10, United States Code, is amended— (1) by redesignating subsections (h) and (i) as subsections (i) and (j); and (2) by inserting after subsection (g) the following new subsection (h): (h) Interagency cooperation in conservation programs To avoid or reduce adverse impacts on military readiness activities In order to facilitate interagency cooperation and enhance the effectiveness of actions that will protect both the environment and military readiness, the recipient of funds provided pursuant an agreement under this section or under the Sikes Act (16 U.S.C. et seq.) may, with regard to the lands and waters within the scope of the agreement, use such funds to satisfy any matching funds or cost-sharing requirement of any conservation program of the Department of Agriculture or the Department of the Interior notwithstanding any limitation of such program on the source of matching or cost-sharing funds. .

Summary: (Sec. 1) Amends the Sikes Act (conservation programs on federal lands) to allow funds appropriated to the Department of Defense (DOD) that are obligated to cooperative agreements with states, local governments, Indian tribes, nongovernmental organizations, and individuals for maintenance and improvement of natural resources located off of military or state-owned National Guard installations (but that are related to current or anticipated military activities) to be: (1) paid in a lump sum and include an amount intended to cover the future costs of the activities under the agreement; and (2) invested by the recipient in accordance with the recipient's own investment management guidelines, with any investment interest or income permitted to be applied for the same purposes as the principal. Allows such cooperative agreements to be used to acquire property or services for the direct benefit or use of the U.S. government. Permits amounts available to the DOD that are provided to any federal, state, local, or nongovernmental entity for conservation and rehabilitation of natural resources in an area that is not on a military installation to be used only for payment of direct costs associated with the management of such area. Authorizes payment of up to 3% of total project administrative costs, fees, and management charges. Prohibits amounts available to the DOD from being used under such Act to acquire fee title interest in real property for such natural resources projects that are not on a military installation. Requires the DOD Inspector General to conduct annual audits of natural resources projects funded with amounts available to DOD under such Act that are not on a military installation. (Sec. 2) Allows the recipient of funds in agreements under the Sikes Act, or other specified agreements with states, political subdivisions, or private entities pursuant to military laws addressing the use or development of real property near or ecologically related to military installations or airspace, to use such funds to satisfy any matching funds or cost-sharing requirement of the Departments of Agriculture (USDA) or the Interior. (Sec. 3) Declares that this Act expires on October 1, 2019, except that cooperative agreements entered into before such date shall continue as if this Act has not expired.