†
HR 2744 EAS
Service, Wildlife Services; and (2) all parties will con-
tribute resources to the accomplishment of these objectives;
award of a cooperative agreement authorized by the Sec-
retary may be made for an initial term not to exceed 5
years.
SEC. 748. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise
made available by this or any other Act shall be used to
pay the salaries and expenses of personnel to carry out sec-
tion 9010 of Public Law 107–171 in excess of $60,000,000.
SEC. 749. Hereafter, agencies and offices of the Depart-
ment of Agriculture may utilize any available discretionary
funds to cover the costs of preparing, or contracting for the
preparation of, final agency decisions regarding complaints
of discrimination in employment or program activities
arising within such agencies and offices.
SEC. 750. Funds made available under section 1240I
and section 1241(a) of the Food Security Act of 1985 in
the current fiscal year shall remain available until ex-
pended to cover obligations made in the current fiscal year,
and are not available for new obligations.
SEC. 751. There is hereby appropriated $1,500,000, to
remain available until expended, for the Denali Commis-
sion to address deficiencies in solid waste disposal sites
which threaten to contaminate rural drinking water sup-
plies.
†
HR 2744 EAS
SEC. 752. Notwithstanding any other provision of
law—
(1)(A) the Alaska Department of Community
and Economic Development shall be eligible to receive
a water and waste disposal grant under section
306(a) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Develop-
ment Act (7 U.S.C. 1926(a)) in an amount that is
equal to not more than 75 percent of the total cost of
providing water and sewer service to the proposed
hospital in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska;
and
(B) the Alaska Department of Community and
Economic Development shall be allowed to pass the
grant funds through to the local government entity
that will provide water and sewer service to the hos-
pital;
(2) or any percentage of cost limitation in cur-
rent law or regulations, the construction projects
known as the Tri-Valley Community Center addition
in Healy, Alaska; the Cold Climate Housing Research
Center in Fairbanks, Alaska; and the University of
Alaska-Fairbanks Allied Health Learning Center skill
labs/classrooms shall be eligible to receive Community
Facilities grants in amounts that are equal to not
more than 75 percent of the total facility costs: Pro-
†
HR 2744 EAS
vided, That for the purposes of this paragraph, the
Cold Climate Housing Research Center is designated
an ‘‘essential community facility’’ for rural Alaska;
(3) for any fiscal year and hereafter, in the case
of a high cost isolated rural area in Alaska that is
not connected to a road system, the maximum level
for the single family housing assistance shall be 150
percent of the median household income level in the
nonmetropolitan areas of the State and 115 percent
of all other eligible areas of the State;
(4)(A) the Natural Resources Conservation Serv-
ice shall provide financial and technical assistance
through the Watershed and Flood Prevention Oper-
ations program to carry out the East Locust Creek
Watershed Plan Revision in Missouri; and
(B) the Natural Resources Conservation Service
is authorized to provide 100 percent of the engineer-
ing assistance and 75 percent cost share for construc-
tion cost of the project; and
(5) any former RUS borrower that has repaid or
prepaid an insured, direct or guaranteed loan under
the Rural Electrification Act, or any not-for-profit
utility that is eligible to receive an insured or direct
loan under such Act, shall be eligible for assistance
†
HR 2744 EAS
under Section 313(b)(2)(B) of such Act in the same
manner as a borrower under such Act.
SEC. 753. Hereafter, notwithstanding the provisions of
the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (in-
cluding the associated regulations) governing the Commu-
nity Facilities Program, the Secretary may allow all Com-
munity Facility Program facility borrowers and grantees
to enter into contracts with not-for-profit third parties for
services consistent with the requirements of the Program,
grant, and/or loan: Provided, That the contracts protect the
interests of the Government regarding cost, liability, main-
tenance, and administrative fees.
SEC. 754. Hereafter, notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to
make funding and other assistance available through the
emergency watershed protection program under section 403
of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2203) to
repair and prevent damage to non-Federal land in water-
sheds that have been impaired by fires initiated by the Fed-
eral Government and shall waive cost sharing requirements
for the funding and assistance.
SEC. 755. None of the funds provided in this Act may
be used for salaries and expenses to carry out any regula-
tion or rule insofar as it would make ineligible for enroll-
ment in the conservation reserve program established under
†
HR 2744 EAS
subchapter B of chapter 1 of subtitle D of title XII of the
Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831 et seq.) land
that is planted to hardwood trees as of the date of enactment
of this Act and was enrolled in the conservation reserve pro-
gram under a contract that expired prior to calendar year
2002.
SEC. 756. None of the funds made available under this
Act shall be available to pay the administrative expenses
of a State agency that, after the date of enactment of this
Act, authorizes any new for-profit vendor(s) to transact food
instruments under the Special Supplemental Nutrition
Program for Women, Infants, and Children if it is expected
that more than 50 percent of the annual revenue of the ven-
dor from the sale of food items will be derived from the sale
of supplemental foods that are obtained with WIC food in-
struments, except that the Secretary may approve the au-
thorization of such a vendor if the approval is necessary
to assure participant access to program benefits.
SEC. 757. The Secretary of Agriculture may use any
unobligated carryover funds made available for any pro-
gram administered by the Rural Utilities Service (not in-
cluding funds made available under the heading ‘‘Rural
Community Advancement Program’’ in any Act of appro-
priation) to carry out section 315 of the Rural Electrifica-
tion Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 940e).