on which the river and associated watershed area
concerned were included on the national registry, or
‘‘(4) if the undertaking is a mandatory action
required to be undertaken pursuant to Federal or
state law.
For purposes of paragraph (3), the terms ‘repair’ and ‘re-
construction’ do not include the moving of a building or
facility to another location or any substantial enlargement
of a building or facility.
‘‘SEC. 307. WATERSHED PROTECTION AND RESTORATION
STANDARDS AND ASSISTANCE.
‘‘(a) STANDARDS
FOR WATERSHED PROTECTION
AND RESTORATION.—The Secretary is authorized and di-
rected to enter into an agreement with the National Acad-
emy of Sciences to develop and publish standards for the
protection and restoration of rivers and associated water-
shed areas, including the protection and restoration of
riverine and riparian resources. The National Academy
shall develop and publish such standards after appropriate
peer review and after opportunity for public comment. The
standards shall, at a minimum require compliance with all
Federal, State, and Tribal environmental laws, rules, and
regulations, including, but not limited to those relating to
water quality and groundwater protection.
‘‘(b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary, in co-
operation with other appropriate departments and agen-
cies of the United States, shall provide technical assistance
and advice to qualified watershed councils and to State,
Tribal and local governments, individuals, and private
nonprofit organizations—
‘‘(1) engaged in the restoration and conserva-
tion of rivers and associated watershed areas listed
on the National River and Watershed Registry, or
‘‘(2) proposing to nominate a river or associ-
ated watershed area, or both, for listing in accord-
ance with section 304.
Such assistance may include technical assistance and ad-
vice in the identification and documentation of the natu-
ral, biological, scenic, cultural, or recreational values of
any river and associated watershed area and in the prepa-
ration and implementation of a strategy for undertaking
restoration or conservation measures. All such assistance
shall be consistent with standards published under sub-
section (a). Except in the case of Indian tribes, such as-
sistance shall be coordinated through the designated State
agency.
‘‘(c) ASSISTANCE FROM OTHER AGENCIES.—The Ad-
ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and
other appropriate departments and agencies of the United
States, in consultation with the Secretary and in coordina-
tion with the designated State agency or affected Indian
tribe, are also authorized to provide technical assistance
described in subsection (b), consistent with standards pub-
lished under subsection (a).
‘‘(d) FEDERAL TRUST RESPONSIBILITY FOR TRIBAL
GOVERNMENTS.—The standards published under this sec-
tion shall take into account the Federal trust responsibil-
ity to Tribal governments.
‘‘SEC. 308. ADDITIONAL INCENTIVES.
‘‘(a) STATE REVOLVING FUNDS FOR WATERSHED
RESTORATION AND CONSERVATION.—
‘‘(1) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—(A) The Secretary
shall make capitalization grants to the States and
Indian tribes under this subsection to be deposited
in river and watershed restoration and conservation
revolving funds established by the State or by the
Tribal governing body.
‘‘(B) Amounts deposited in any such revolving
fund established by a State or Indian tribe, includ-
ing loan repayments and interest earned on such
amounts, shall be used by the designated State
agency for that State (or by the Indian tribe) only
for carrying out its responsibilities and authorities
under other provisions of this title and for—
‘‘(i) providing grants and loans to qualified
watershed councils, or
‘‘(ii) with the approval of a qualified water-
shed council, loans to other entities contributing
to the strategy applicable to the river and wa-
tershed under this title.
Grants and loans under this subparagraph shall be
used only for the purpose of carrying out projects
contributing to the protection or restoration of rivers
and associated watershed areas listed on the na-
tional registry. Not more than 20 percent of the
amounts in any such revolving fund may be used by
the designated State agency or by an Indian tribe
for purposes of carrying out its responsibilities and
authorities under other provisions of this title.
‘‘(C) Each such revolving fund shall be estab-
lished, maintained, and credited with repayments
and interest. The fund balance shall be available in
perpetuity for providing financial assistance under
this section. To the extent amounts in each such
fund are not required for current obligation or ex-
penditure, such amounts shall be invested by the
State in interest bearing obligations of the State or
of the United States.
‘‘(D) A percentage of the total amount of
grants made by the Secretary under this subsection
to States and Indian tribes in any fiscal year shall
be set aside only for allocation to Indian tribes. Such
percentage shall be determined by dividing the total
acreage of Indian lands in the United States by the
total acreage of lands in the United States.
‘‘(2) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary
shall enter into an agreement under this section with
a State or Indian tribal governing body only after
the State has established to the satisfaction of the
Secretary that—
‘‘(A) the State or tribe will deposit all cap-
italization grants received from the Secretary
under this subsection, together with all repay-
ments and interest on such grants, in a revolv-
ing fund established by the State or tribe in ac-
cordance with this subsection; and
‘‘(B) the State or tribe will deposit in the
fund from State or Tribal monies an amount
equal to at least 10 percent of the total amount
of all such capitalization grants on or before the
date on which each grant payment is made to
the State or tribe.
‘‘(3) FUND ADMINISTRATION.—(A) Each State
or tribe may use up to 4 percent of the monies in
a revolving fund established under this subsection to
cover the reasonable costs of administration of the
assistance program under this subsection.
‘‘(B) The Secretary shall promulgate such regu-
lations as may be necessary to carry out the provi-
sions of this section, including provisions to ensure
that each State or tribe commits and expends funds
from revolving funds established under this sub-
section in accordance with applicable laws and that
the State or tribe uses accounting, audit, and fiscal
procedures that conform to generally accepted ac-
counting standards.
‘‘(C) Each State or tribe administering a re-
volving fund and assistance program under this sub-
section shall publish and submit to the Secretary a
report every 2 years on its activities under this sub-
section, including the findings of the most recent
audit of the fund. The Secretary shall periodically
audit all revolving funds established under this sub-
section in accordance with procedures established by
the Comptroller General.
‘‘(4) STAMPS.—In addition to such amounts as
are made available for purposes of this subsection
pursuant to section 309, the Secretary is authorized
to arrange, by contract or otherwise, for the design,
printing, and sale of river and watershed restoration
stamps. Such stamps shall be issued and sold in the
same manner as provided for of stamps issued under
the Act of March 16, 1934 (48 Stat. 452), except
that such stamps shall be sold for such amount as
the Secretary may determine and the net proceeds of
all such sales shall be retained by the Secretary, not-
withstanding sections 3302 and 1511 and following
title 31 of the United States Code, and transferred
to the revolving fund for the State in which such
stamps are sold. In the case of stamps sold in any
State which has not established a revolving fund
under this subsection, the Secretary shall disburse
such net proceeds to other States which have estab-
lished such funds on a pro rata basis according to
the volume of stamps sold in such other States. The
provisions of subsections (b) and (c) of section 5 of
the Act of March 16, 1934 (48 Stat. 452) shall
apply to the stamps referred to in this section in the
same manner as to stamps described in that Act.
‘‘(b) PRIORITIES.—The Secretary shall establish pri-
orities for providing assistance under subsection (a). A
higher priority for assistance shall be accorded river and
watershed restoration and conservation projects to the ex-
tent that such projects meet the following criteria:
‘‘(1) Projects proposed to be monitored and su-
pervised by qualified watershed councils.
‘‘(2) Projects for river or associated watershed
areas which have a high potential for restoration or
conservation.
‘‘(3) Projects which have widespread local sup-
port in the affected communities.
‘‘(4) Projects which provide significant short—
and long—term economic benefits, including job cre-
ation in areas with chronic unemployment.
‘‘(5) Projects which provide for the participa-
tion of economically disadvantaged groups, including
minorities and low income individuals.
‘‘(6) Projects which contribute to the economic
revitalization of communities within the watershed
concerned.
‘‘(7) Projects which contribute to the conversion
of industrial, agricultural, or range practices in the
affected watershed to less energy and water—inten-
sive and more ecologically sound industrial, agricul-
tural, or range practices.
‘‘(8) Projects which provide for full participa-
tion by Indian tribes.
‘‘(c) ASSISTANCE PROVIDED UNDER CERTAIN RE-
LATED PROVISIONS OF LAW.—
‘‘(1) ASSISTANCE
FROM
BOR.—Whenever the
Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau
of Reclamation, provides assistance to State or local
agencies or to any other entities for any project af-
fecting a river or watershed, the Secretary shall give
a priority to assistance which will contribute to the
protection or restoration (in accordance with the
standards published under section 307) of a river or
associated watershed area which is listed on the na-
tional registry under this title.
‘‘(2) CONSERVATION
RESERVE
PROGRAM.—In
entering into contracts and making payments under
section 1234 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16
U.S.C. 3834), the Secretary of Agriculture shall
waive the 50 percent cost sharing requirements of
section 1234(b)(1) and (3) of that Act in the case
of any contract entered into with a person for the
purpose of carrying out any project which the Sec-
retary of Agriculture determines to contribute to the
protection and restoration of a river or associated
watershed area listed on the national registry in ac-
cordance with a strategy adopted under this title for
such river or associated watershed area.
‘‘(3) FORESTRY INCENTIVES PROGRAM.—In dis-
tributing funds for the forestry incentives program
under section 4 of the Cooperative Forestry Assist-
ance Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2103), whenever any
such funds are provided to a landowner to carrying
out measures specified in the strategy adopted under
this title for a registered river or associated water-
shed area, the term 95 percent shall be substituted
for the term 75 percent in the cost sharing provi-
sions of subsection (f) of such section 4.
‘‘(4) WETLANDS
RESERVE
PROGRAM.—In es-
tablishing priorities for including lands in the Wet-
lands Reserve Program established under subchapter
C of chapter 1 of title XII of the Food Security Act
of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3837 and following), the Sec-
retary of Agriculture shall, in addition to the prior-
ities listed in section 1237C(d) of such Act (16
U.S.C. 3837c(d)), accord a high priority to lands
within a watershed area listed on the registry under
this title.
‘‘(5) CONSERVATION EASEMENTS.—In carrying
out the program authorized under section 3 of the
Water Bank Act (16 U.S.C. 1302), the Secretary of
Agriculture shall have the authority to enter into
agreements with landowners and operators in areas
referred to in such section 3 which areas are covered
by a protection and restoration strategy adopted
under this title for any river or associated watershed
listed on the registry. In any such case such strategy
shall apply in lieu of the conservation plan referred
to in such section 3.
‘‘(6) AGRICULTURAL CREDIT ACT OF 1978.—As-
sistance under the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978
(16 U.S.C. 2201 and following) shall be available for
river and watershed restoration projects directly af-
fecting rivers and associated watershed areas listed
on the national registry under this title.
‘‘(7) 
AGRICULTURAL
CONSERVATION
PRO-
GRAM.—The policies and purposes of the agricul-
tural conservation program enumerated in section 7
of the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment
Act (16 U.S.C. 590g(a)) shall include the protection
and restoration of rivers and associated watershed
areas listed on the national registry under this title
and the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to
carry out such policies and purposes by providing fi-
nancial assistance under that Act for projects car-
ried for the protection and restoration of such rivers
and associated watershed areas in accordance with
the standards published under section 307 of this
title. In formulating the national program under sec-
tion 8 of the Act of April 27, 1935 (16 U.S.C.
590g), and in approving farming practices under
subsection (d) of such section 8, the Secretary of
Agriculture shall take such standards published
under section 307 of this title into account. No
farming practices shall be approved under such sub-
section (d) directly affecting a river or associated
watershed area listed on the registry unless such
practices are determined by the Secretary of Agri-
culture to be consistent with the strategy adopted
for such watershed under this title.
‘‘(8) ASSISTANCE
FROM
NPS.—Whenever the
Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Na-
tional Park Service or acting under section 6 of this
Act, provides assistance to State or local agencies or
to any other entities for any project affecting a river
or watershed, such Secretary shall give a priority to
assistance which will contribute to the protection or
restoration (in accordance with the standards pub-
lished under section 307) of a river or associated
watershed area which is listed on the national reg-
istry under this title.
‘‘SEC. 309. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
‘‘There is authorized to be appropriated such sums
as may be necessary to carry out this title but not more
than $13,000,000 for fiscal year 1995 and for each suc-
ceeding fiscal year.
‘‘SEC. 310. SAVINGS PROVISIONS.
‘‘Nothing in this Act shall be construed as establish-
ing or creating any Federal express or implied Federal
water right. Nothing in this section shall be construed as
affecting or intending to affect or in any way interfere
with the laws of the respective States relating to the con-
trol, appropriation, use, or distribution of water used in
irrigation or for municipal or other uses, or any vested
right acquired therein.
‘‘SEC. 311. DEFINITIONS
‘‘As used in this title:
‘‘(1) The term ‘associated watershed area’
means, with respect to any river, the riparian zone,
flood plain zone, and any other area within the wa-
tershed of such river.
‘‘(2) The term ‘designated State agency’ means
the State agency having jurisdiction over river and
watershed conservation and designated by the Gov-
ernor to review and submit nominations under this
title and to monitor implementation of conservation
and restoration plans adopted under this title.
‘‘(3) The term ‘Indian lands’ means Indian res-
ervations, public domain Indian allotments, former
Indian reservations in Oklahoma, land held by incor-
porated Native groups, regional corporations, and
village corporations under the provisions of the Alas-
ka Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et
seq.), and dependent Indian communities within the
borders of the United States whether within the
original or subsequently acquired territory thereof,
and whether within or without the limits of a State.
‘‘(4) The term ‘Indian tribe’ means any Indian
tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or com-
munity, including any Alaska Native village or re-
gional or village corporation as defined in or estab-
lished pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settle-
ment Act (85 Stat. 688; 43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.),
which is recognized as eligible for the special pro-
grams and services provided by the United States to
Indians because of their status as Indians.
‘‘(5) The term ‘National Registry’ means the
National Watershed Registry established under this
title.
‘‘(6) The term ‘qualified watershed council’
means a watershed council, watershed task force, or
other similar group or organization concerned with
river or watershed management which the Adminis-
tration has determined to be a qualified watershed
council under section 305.
‘‘(7) The term ‘restoration’, when used in con-
nection with a river, means any repairing of ecologi-
cal damage in order to return, to the extent feasible,
the river and the riverine—riparian ecosystem to its
predisturbance condition. Such term includes recon-
struction of physical hydrologic and morphologic
conditions, chemical cleanup or adjustment, and bio-
logical manipulation, including revegetation, and the
reintroduction of absent or currently nonviable na-
tive species.
‘‘(8) The term ‘restoration measure’ means any
identifiable action or sequence of actions contribut-
ing to the restoration of a river.
‘‘(9) The term ‘riparian lands’ means, for any
river, the portion of the terrestrial ecosystem that
directly affects, or is directly affected by, the wetted
zone adjacent to a river, including ground water and
wetland areas adjacent to a river.
‘‘(10) The term ‘river’ includes any stream,
brook, creek, or tributary of a river and any segment
of a river.
‘‘(11) The term ‘riverine and riparian re-
sources’ includes the natural, biological, scenic, cul-
tural, or recreational values of the river and associ-
ated watershed area.
‘‘(12) The term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary
of the Interior except as otherwise specifically pro-
vided.
‘‘(13) The term ‘strategy’ means a statement of
mission and objectives together with (A) an expla-
nation of the methods to be used (by the entity
nominating a river and watershed area for inclusion
on the National Registry) to achieve such mission
and objectives, and (B) a timetable for undertaking
action.
‘‘(14) The term ‘watershed’ means, for any
river or stream, the surface drainage area that con-
tributes water to that river or stream.’’.
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