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no State agency having such responsibility, by the Governor
of the State. The Secretary shall request the State dam safe-
ty officer (or equivalent State official) to be involved in the
application process if State permits or approvals are re-
quired. The rehabilitation of structural measures shall meet
standards established by the Secretary and address other
dam safety issues. At the request of the local organization,
personnel of the Natural Resources Conservation Service of
the Department of Agriculture may assist in preparing ap-
plications for assistance.
‘‘(f) RANKING OF REQUESTS FOR REHABILITATION
ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall establish such system of
approving rehabilitation requests, recognizing that such re-
quests will be received throughout the fiscal year and subject
to the availability of funds to carry out this section, as is
necessary for proper administration by the Department of
Agriculture and equitable for all local organizations. The
approval process shall be in writing, and made known to
all local organizations and appropriate State agencies.
‘‘(g) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN REHABILITATION AS-
SISTANCE.—The Secretary may not approve a rehabilita-
tion request if the need for rehabilitation of the structure
is the result of a lack of adequate maintenance by the party
responsible for the maintenance.
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‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary
$60,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2000 through 2009
to provide financial and technical assistance under this sec-
tion.
‘‘(i) ASSESSMENT OF REHABILITATION NEEDS.—Of
the amount appropriated pursuant to subsection (h) for fis-
cal years 2000 and 2001, $5,000,000 shall be used by the
Secretary, in concert with the responsible State agencies,
to conduct an assessment of the rehabilitation needs of cov-
ered water resource projects in all States in which such
projects are located.
‘‘(j) RECORDKEEPING AND REPORTS.—
‘‘(1) SECRETARY.—The Secretary shall maintain
a data base to track the benefits derived from reha-
bilitation projects supported under this section and
the expenditures made under this section. On the
basis of such data and the reports submitted under
paragraph (2), the Secretary shall prepare and sub-
mit to Congress an annual report providing the sta-
tus of activities conducted under this section.
‘‘(2) GRANT
RECIPIENTS.—Not later than 90
days after the completion of a specific rehabilitation
project for which assistance is provided under this
section, the local organization that received the assist-
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ance shall make a report to the Secretary giving the
status of any rehabilitation effort undertaken using
financial assistance provided under this section.’’.
TITLE II—DAM SAFETY
SEC. 201. DAM SAFETY.
(a) INVENTORY AND ASSESSMENT OF OTHER DAMS.—
(1) INVENTORY.—The Secretary of the Army (in
this section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall estab-
lish an inventory of dams constructed by and using
funds made available through the Works Progress Ad-
ministration, the Works Projects Administration, and
the Civilian Conservation Corps.
(2) ASSESSMENT OF REHABILITATION NEEDS.—
In establishing the inventory required under para-
graph (1), the Secretary shall also assess the condition
of the dams on such inventory and the need for reha-
bilitation or modification of the dams.
(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 years
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall
transmit to Congress a report containing the inventory and
assessment required by this section.
(c) INTERIM ACTIONS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary determines
that a dam referred to in subsection (a) presents an
imminent and substantial risk to public safety, the
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Secretary is authorized to carry out measures to pre-
vent or mitigate against such risk.
(2) EXCLUSION.—The assistance authorized in
paragraph (1) shall not be available to dams under
the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior.
(3) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the
cost of assistance provided under this subsection shall
be 65 percent of such cost.
(4) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—
There is authorized to be appropriated a total of
$30,000,000 for fiscal years beginning after Sep-
tember 30, 1999, of which not more than $5,000,000
may be expended on any 1 dam.
(d) COORDINATION.—In carrying out this section, the
Secretary shall coordinate with the appropriate State dam
safety officials and the Director of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency.
Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to amend the
Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act to au-
thorize 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,
and for other purposes.’’.
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Water-
shed Rehabilitation Amendments of 1999’’.
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SEC. 2. REHABILITATION OF WATER RESOURCE STRUC-
TURAL 
MEASURES 
CONSTRUCTED 
UNDER
CERTAIN DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
PROGRAMS.
The Watershed Protection and Flood Pre-
vention Act (16 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) is amended
by adding at the end the following new sec-
tion:
‘‘SEC. 14. REHABILITATION OF STRUCTURAL MEASURES
NEAR, AT, OR PAST THEIR EVALUATED LIFE
EXPECTANCY.
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this
section:
‘‘(1) REHABILITATION.—The term ‘reha-
bilitation’, with respect to a structural
measure constructed as part of a covered
water resource project, means the com-
pletion of all work necessary to extend
the service life of the structural measure
and meet applicable safety and perform-
ance standards. This may include (A) pro-
tecting the integrity of the structural
measure or prolonging the useful life of
the structural measure beyond the origi-
nal evaluated life expectancy, (B) cor-
recting damage to the structural measure
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from a catastrophic event, (C) correcting
the deterioration of structural compo-
nents that are deteriorating at an abnor-
mal rate, or (D) upgrading the structural
measure to meet changed land use condi-
tions in the watershed served by the
structural measure or changed safety cri-
teria applicable to the structural meas-
ure.
‘‘(2) 
COVERED
WATER
RESOURCE
PROJECT.—The term ‘covered water re-
source project’ means a work of improve-
ment carried out under any of the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(A) This Act.
‘‘(B) Section 13 of the Act of De-
cember 22, 1944 (Public Law 78–534;
58 Stat. 905).
‘‘(C) The pilot watershed program
authorized under the heading ‘FLOOD
PREVENTION’ of the Department of Ag-
riculture 
Appropriation 
Act, 
1954
(Public Law 156; 67 Stat. 214).
‘‘(D) Subtitle H of title XV of the
Agriculture and Food Act of 1981 (16
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U.S.C. 3451 et seq.; commonly known
as the Resource Conservation and De-
velopment Program).
‘‘(3) STRUCTURAL MEASURE.—The term
‘structural measure’ means a physical im-
provement that impounds water, com-
monly known as a dam, which was con-
structed as part of a covered water re-
source project. The term includes the re-
sulting immediate impoundment area
and the immediate flood pool of the phys-
ical improvement.
‘‘(b) COST SHARE ASSISTANCE FOR REHABILI-
TATION.—
‘‘(1) 
ASSISTANCE
AUTHORIZED.—The
Secretary may provide financial assist-
ance to a local organization to cover a
portion of the total costs incurred for the
rehabilitation 
of 
structural 
measures
originally constructed as part of a cov-
ered water resource project. The total
costs of rehabilitation include the costs
associated with all components of the re-
habilitation project, including acquisition
of land, easements, and rights-of-ways, re-
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habilitation project administration, the
provision of technical assistance, con-
tracting, and construction costs, except
that the local organization shall be re-
sponsible for securing all land, ease-
ments, or rights-of-ways necessary for the
project.
‘‘(2) AMOUNT
OF
ASSISTANCE; LIMITA-
TIONS.—The amount of Federal funds that
may be made available under this sub-
section to a local organization for con-
struction of a particular rehabilitation
project shall be equal to 65 percent of the
total rehabilitation costs, but not to ex-
ceed 100 percent of actual construction
costs incurred in the rehabilitation. How-
ever, the local organization shall be re-
sponsible for the costs of water, mineral,
and other resource rights and all Federal,
State, and local permits.
‘‘(3) RELATION TO LAND USE AND DEVEL-
OPMENT REGULATIONS.—As a condition on
entering into an agreement to provide fi-
nancial assistance under this subsection,
the Secretary, working in concert with
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the affected unit or units of general pur-
pose local government, may require that
proper zoning or other developmental
regulations are in place in the watershed
in which the structural measures to be
rehabilitated under the agreement are lo-
cated so that—
‘‘(A) the completed rehabilitation
project is not quickly rendered inad-
equate by additional development;
and
‘‘(B) society can realize the full
benefits of the rehabilitation invest-
ment.
‘‘(4) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN REHABILI-
TATION
ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall
not approve a rehabilitation request if
the Secretary determines that the need
for rehabilitation of the structure is the
result of a lack of adequate maintenance
by the party responsible for the mainte-
nance.
‘‘(c) TECHNICAL
ASSISTANCE
FOR
WATER-
SHED
PROJECT
REHABILITATION.—The 
Sec-
retary, acting through the Natural Resources
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Conservation Service, may provide technical
assistance in planning, designing, and imple-
menting rehabilitation projects should a local
organization request such assistance. Such
assistance may consist of specialists in such
fields as engineering, geology, soils, agron-
omy, biology, hydraulics, hydrology, econom-
ics, water quality, and contract administra-
tion.
‘‘(d) PROHIBITED USE.—
‘‘(1) PERFORMANCE OF OPERATION AND
MAINTENANCE.—Rehabilitation assistance
provided under this section may not be
used to perform operation and mainte-
nance activities specified in the agree-
ment for the covered water resource
project entered into between the Sec-
retary and the local organization respon-
sible for the works of improvement. Such
operation 
and 
maintenance 
activities
shall remain the responsibility of the
local organization, as provided in the
project work plan.
‘‘(2) 
RENEGOTIATION.—Notwithstand-
ing paragraph (1), as part of the provi-
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sion of financial assistance under sub-
section (b), the Secretary may renegotiate
the original agreement for the covered
water resource project entered into be-
tween the Secretary and the local organi-
zation regarding responsibility for the
operation and maintenance of the project
when the rehabilitation is finished.
‘‘(e) APPLICATION FOR REHABILITATION AS-
SISTANCE.—A local organization may apply to
the Secretary for technical and financial as-
sistance under this section if the application
has also been submitted to and approved by
the State agency having supervisory responsi-
bility over the covered water resource project
at issue or, if there is no State agency having
such responsibility, by the Governor of the
State. The Secretary shall request the State
dam safety officer (or equivalent State offi-
cial) to be involved in the application process
if State permits or approvals are required.
The rehabilitation of structural measures
shall meet standards established by the Sec-
retary and address other dam safety issues. At
the request of the local organization, per-
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sonnel of the Natural Resources Conservation
Service of the Department of Agriculture may
assist in preparing applications for assist-
ance.
‘‘(f) JUSTIFICATION FOR REHABILITATION AS-
SISTANCE.—In order to qualify for technical or
financial assistance under this authority, the
Secretary shall require the rehabilitation
project to be performed in the most cost-effec-
tive manner that accomplishes the rehabilita-
tion objective, however, the Secretary is not
required to develop a cost-benefit ratio anal-
ysis or a cost-benefit ratio. The benefits of,
and the requirements for, the rehabilitation
project shall be documented to ensure the
wise and responsible use of Federal funds.
‘‘(g) RANKING OF REQUESTS FOR REHABILITA-
TION ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall estab-
lish a system for the timely consideration and
approval of rehabilitation requests, recog-
nizing that such requests will be received
throughout the fiscal year and subject to the
availability of funds to carry out this section.
The Secretary shall ensure that the system
provides for proper administration by the De-
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partment of Agriculture and is equitable for
all local organizations. The approval process
shall be in writing and shall be made known
to all local organizations and appropriate
State agencies.
‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—
There are authorized to be appropriated to
the Secretary $60,000,000 for each of the fiscal
years 2000 through 2009 to provide financial
and technical assistance under this section.
‘‘(i) 
ASSESSMENT
OF
REHABILITATION
NEEDS.—Of the amount appropriated pursu-
ant to subsection (h) for fiscal years 2000 and
2001, $5,000,000 shall be used by the Sec-
retary, in concert with the responsible State
agencies, to conduct an assessment of the re-
habilitation needs of covered water resource
projects in all States in which such projects
are located.
‘‘(j) RECORDKEEPING AND REPORTS.—
‘‘(1) SECRETARY.—The Secretary shall
maintain a data base to track the benefits
derived from rehabilitation projects sup-
ported under this section and the ex-
penditures made under this section. On
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the basis of such data and the reports
submitted under paragraph (2), the Sec-
retary shall prepare and submit to Con-
gress an annual report providing the sta-
tus of activities conducted under this sec-
tion.
‘‘(2) 
GRANT
RECIPIENTS.—Not 
later
than 90 days after the completion of a
specific rehabilitation project for which
assistance is provided under this section,
the local organization that received the
assistance shall make a report to the Sec-
retary giving the status of any rehabilita-
tion effort undertaken using financial as-
sistance provided under this section.’’.
SEC. 3. NONINTERFERENCE WITH STATE AND LOCAL
FLOOD DEBRIS REMOVAL EFFORTS.
The Watershed Protection and Flood Pre-
vention Act (16 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) is amended
by inserting after section 14, as added by sec-
tion 2 of this Act, the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 15. NONINTERFERENCE WITH STATE AND LOCAL
FLOOD DEBRIS REMOVAL EFFORTS.
‘‘The Secretary of Agriculture and other
executive branch officials and employees may
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not prohibit or condition the ability of a State
or local government to remove from land or
waters any rocks, vegetation, soil, or other de-
bris deposited by flood waters when the pri-
mary purpose of the removal operation is to
reduce the risk and severity of subsequent
flooding.’’.
SEC. 4. PRIVACY OF PERSONAL DATA RECEIVED BY DE-
PARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND DATA
GATHERING LOCATIONS.
The Food Security Act of 1985 is amended
by inserting after section 1243 (16 U.S.C. 3843)
the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 1244. PRIVACY OF PERSONAL DATA RELATING TO
NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION PRO-
GRAMS.
‘‘(a) INFORMATION AND DATA RECEIVED FOR
TECHNICAL
AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—Not-
withstanding any other provision of law and
except as provided in paragraph (c), informa-
tion and data provided to, or developed by,
the Secretary of Agriculture (including a con-
tractor of the Secretary) for the purpose of
providing technical or financial assistance to
a landowner or operator with respect to any
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natural resources conservation program ad-
ministered by the Natural Resources Con-
servation Service or the Farm Service Agency
shall not be released or disclosed to any agen-
cy or person outside the Department of Agri-
culture.
‘‘(b) INVENTORY, MONITORING, AND SITE SPE-
CIFIC DATA.—Notwithstanding any other pro-
vision of law and except as provided in para-
graph (c), in order to maintain the personal
privacy, confidentiality, and cooperation of
landowners and operators, and to maintain
the integrity of sample sites, the specific geo-
graphic locations of the National Resources
Inventory of the Department of Agriculture
data gathering sites and the information and
data generated by such sites are not public in-
formation and shall not be subject to manda-
tory disclosure or released to any local, tribal,
State, or Federal agency outside the Depart-
ment of Agriculture.
‘‘(c) EXCEPTIONS.—
‘‘(1) RELEASE AND DISCLOSURE FOR EN-
FORCEMENT.—The 
Secretary 
of 
Agri-
culture may release or disclose informa-
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tion or data covered by subsection (a) or
(b) to the extent necessary to enforce the
natural resources conservation programs
referred to in subsection (a).
‘‘(2) LIMITED
DISCLOSURE
TO
COOPER-
ATING
PERSONS
AND
AGENCIES.—The Sec-
retary may release or disclose informa-
tion or data covered by subsection (a) or
(b) to a person or a local, tribal, State, or
Federal agency working in cooperation
with the Secretary of Agriculture in pro-
viding technical and financial assistance
described in subsection (a) or collecting
information and data from National Re-
sources Inventory data gathering sites.
However, the person or local, tribal,
State, or Federal agency that receives the
information or data may release the in-
formation or data only for the purpose of
assisting the Secretary in providing the
requested technical or financial assist-
ance or in collecting information and
data from National Resources Inventory
data gathering sites.
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‘‘(3) LIMITED
EXCEPTION
FOR
STATIS-
TICAL
AND
AGGREGATE
DATA.—The Sec-
retary may release information or data
covered by subsection (b), if the informa-
tion or data has been transformed into a
statistical or aggregate form that does
not allow identification of the individual
landowner, operator, or specific data
gathering site.
‘‘(d) VIOLATIONS.—Section 1770(c) of the
Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 2276) shall
apply to any person who releases or causes to
be released information or data in violation of
this section.’’.