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(d) FUNDING.—(1) Except as provided in paragraph
(2), during any fiscal year no money shall be obligated or
expended for the purposes of this section unless approved
in an Act making appropriations.
(2) If the Congress adjourns sine die without appro-
priating the full amount transferred for this section, 15
days after the date of such adjournment, the Secretary shall,
without further appropriation, obligate and expend the dif-
ference between the full amount transferred and the amount
appropriated in accordance with the priority list submitted
pursuant to subsection (c).
SEC. 602. INDIAN LANDS RESTORATION.
(a) AMOUNTS TRANSFERRED FROM THE CONSERVA-
TION AND REINVESTMENT ACT.—Of the amounts trans-
ferred to the Secretary of the Interior under section 2(b)(9)
of this Act, $25,000,000 shall be available for obligation and
expenditure in accordance with this section without further
appropriation and without fiscal year limitation.
(b) COMPETITIVE GRANTS TO INDIAN TRIBES.—(1)
The Secretary shall administer a competitive grant pro-
gram for Indian tribes to assist in the restoration of de-
graded lands, resource protection, or the protection of public
health and safety. Priority shall be given to projects based
upon the protection of significant resources, the severity of
damages or threats to resources, and the protection of public
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health or safety. The Secretary shall develop the competitive
grant program in consultation with Indian tribes.
(2) The amount received for a fiscal year by a single
Indian tribe in the form of grants under this subsection
may not exceed 10 percent of the total amount available
for that fiscal year for grants under this section.
(3) As used in this section, the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’,
means—
(A) an Indian tribe, band, nation, pueblo, vil-
lage, or community that the Secretary recognizes as
an Indian tribe under section 104 of the Federally
Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C.
479a–1); or
(B) in the case of Alaska, an Alaska Native Cor-
poration (as defined in section 3 of the Alaska Native
Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602)).
TITLE 
VII—CONSERVATION
EASEMENTS AND RURAL DE-
VELOPMENT
SEC.701. FARM AND RANCH LAND PROTECTION PROGRAM.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Agriculture
shall carry out a farm and ranch land protection program
for the purpose of protecting farm and ranch lands with
prime, unique, or other productive uses by limiting the non-
agricultural uses of the lands. Under the program, the Sec-
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retary may provide matching grants to eligible entities de-
scribed in subsection (d) to facilitate their purchase of—
(1) permanent conservation easements in such
lands; or
(2) conservation easements or other interests in
such lands when the lands are subject to a pending
offer from a State or local government.
(b) CONSERVATION PLAN.—Any highly erodible land
for which a conservation easement or other interest is pur-
chased using funds made available under this section shall
be subject to the requirements of a conservation plan that
requires, at the option of the Secretary of Agriculture, the
conversion of the cropland to less intensive uses.
(c) MAXIMUM FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of
the cost of purchasing a conservation easement described in
subsection (a)(1) may not exceed 50 percent of the total cost
of purchasing the easement.
(d) ELIGIBLE ENTITY DEFINED.—In this section, the
term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means any of the following:
(1) An agency of a State or local government.
(2) A Federally recognized Indian tribe.
(3) Any organization that is organized for, and
at all times since its formation has been operated
principally for, one or more of the conservation pur-
poses specified in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of section
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170(h)(4)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
and—
(A) is described in section 501(c)(3) of such
Code;
(B) is exempt from taxation under section
501(a) of such Code; or
(C) is described in paragraph (2) of section
509(a) of such Code, or paragraph (3) of such
section, but is controlled by an organization de-
scribed in paragraph (2) of such section.
(e) TITLE; ENFORCEMENT.—Any eligible entity may
hold title to a conservation easement purchased using grant
funds provided under subsection (a)(1) and enforce the con-
servation requirements of the easement.
(f) STATE CERTIFICATION.—As a condition of the re-
ceipt by an eligible entity of a grant under subsection
(a)(1), the attorney general of the State in which the con-
servation easement is to be purchased using the grant funds
shall certify that the conservation easement to be purchased
is in a form that is sufficient, under the laws of the State,
to achieve the purposes of the farmland protection program
and the terms and conditions of the grant.
(g) WILLING SELLER.—A conservation easement pur-
chased with funds provided under this section shall be ac-
quired only with the consent of the owner.
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(h) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—To provide technical
assistance to carry out this section, the Secretary of Agri-
culture may use not more than 10 percent of the amount
made available for any fiscal year under section 2(b)(10)
of the Conservation and Reinvestment Act.
(i) FUNDING.—Amounts transferred to the Secretary
of Agriculture under section 2(b)(10) of the Conservation
and Reinvestment Act shall be available for obligation and
expenditure for the purpose of this section, without further
appropriation and without fiscal year limitation.
SEC. 702. FOREST SERVICE RURAL DEVELOPMENT.
The Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 (16
U.S.C. 2101 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
‘‘SEC. 21. RURAL DEVELOPMENT.
‘‘(a) USES.—The Secretary shall conduct a Rural De-
velopment program to provide technical assistance to rural
communities for sustainable rural development purposes.
‘‘(b) FUNDING.—Amounts transferred to the Secretary
of Agriculture under section 2(b)(11) of the Conservation
and Reinvestment Act shall be available for obligation and
expenditure for the purpose of this section, without further
appropriation and without fiscal year limitation.’’.
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SEC. 703. NON—FEDERAL LANDS OF REGIONAL OR NA-
TIONAL INTEREST.
(a) COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM.—(1) The Sec-
retary of the Interior may make grants to States for the
conservation of non-Federal lands of clear regional or na-
tional interest.
(2) In making a grant under this section, the Secretary
shall consider the extent to which a proposed project de-
scribed in the grant application will conserve the natural,
historic, cultural, or recreational values of the non-Federal
lands.
(3) The Secretary shall give preference to proposed con-
servation projects—
(A) that seek to protect ecosystems;
(B) that are developed in collaboration with
other States;
(C) that are complementary to conservation or
restoration programs undertaken on Federal lands;
(D) that demonstrate public participation in the
development of the project proposal; or
(E) that are supported by communities and in-
dividuals in the immediate vicinity of the proposed
project or who would be directly affected by the pro-
posed project.
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(4) A grant awarded to a State under this subsection
shall cover not more than 50 percent of the total cost of
the conservation projects.
(b) AUTHORIZED PROJECTS.—The Secretary may not
award a grant for any project under this section where the
Federal contribution for such project exceeds $1 million, un-
less the project is authorized by an Act of Congress.
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is
authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec-
essary to carry out this section.
SEC. 704. MAPPING EXISTING CONSERVATION EASEMENTS.
(a) DEADLINE FOR COMPLETION.—The Secretary of
the Interior shall, not later than 48 months after the date
of enactment of this Act, complete the mapping of all exist-
ing conservation easements acquired by the United States
Fish and Wildlife Service before 1977 to protect wetlands.
(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are
authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec-
essary to carry out this section.
Calendar No. 804
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 701
[Report No. 106–413]
AN ACT
To provide Outer Continental Shelf Impact Assist-
ance to State and local governments, to amend
the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of
1965, the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery
Act of 1978, and the Federal Aid in Wildlife
Restoration Act (commonly referred to as the
Pittman-Robertson Act) to establish a fund to
meet the outdoor conservation and recreation
needs of the American people, and for other pur-
poses.
SEPTEMBER 14, 2000
Reported with an amendment