which is supported by a majority of the mem-
bers of the interdisciplinary team, a determina-
tion on whether the project may receive assist-
ance under the program shall be made by the
Chief of the Soil Conservation Service. In mak-
ing a determination under this subparagraph,
the Chief shall consult with the Administrator
of the Environmental Protection Agency, the
Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, and,
in coastal areas, the Assistant Administrator of
the National Marine Fisheries Service. The Sec-
retary shall conduct such monitoring activities
as are necessary to ensure the success and ef-
fectiveness of project determinations made pur-
suant to this subparagraph.
‘‘(3) FINAL SELECTION.—The final determina-
tion on whether to provide assistance for a project
under the program shall be made by the program
administrator of the State and shall be based on the
recommendations of the interdisciplinary team of the
State transmitted pursuant to paragraph (2)(B).
‘‘(f) 
APPOINTMENT
OF
INTERDISCIPLINARY
TEAMS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be established
in each State an interdisciplinary team of specialists
to assist in reviewing project applications under the
program.
‘‘(2) 
APPOINTMENT.—The 
interdisciplinary
team of a State shall be composed of the following
members:
‘‘(A) APPOINTEES OF THE PROGRAM AD-
MINISTRATOR.—Individuals to be appointed on
an annual basis by the program administrator
of the State, including at least 1 representative
of each of the following specialties:
‘‘(i) Hydrologists.
‘‘(ii) Plant ecologists.
‘‘(iii) Aquatic biologists.
‘‘(iv) Biotechnical slope protection
experts.
‘‘(v) Landscape architect or planners.
‘‘(vi) Members of the agricultural
community.
‘‘(vii) Representatives of the fish and
wildlife agency of the State.
‘‘(viii) Representatives of the soil and
water conservation agency of the State.
‘‘(B) 
REPRESENTATIVES
OF
FEDERAL
AGENCIES.—One representative of each of the
following Federal agencies to be appointed on
an annual basis by the appropriate regional or
State director of the agency:
‘‘(i) The Soil Conservation Service.
‘‘(ii) The Environmental Protection
Agency.
‘‘(iii) The National Marine Fishery
Service (in coastal States).
‘‘(iv) The United States Fish and
Wildlife Service.
‘‘(3) AFFILIATION OF MEMBERS.—Members ap-
pointed pursuant to paragraph (2)(A) may be em-
ployees of Federal, State, tribal, or local agencies or
non-profit organizations.
‘‘(4) FEDERAL
ADVISORY
COMMITTEE
ACT.—
The requirements of the Federal Advisory Commit-
tee Act (5 U.S.C. App. 1 et seq.) shall not apply to
an interdisciplinary team established under this sub-
section.
‘‘(g) CONDITIONS FOR RECEIVING ASSISTANCE.—
‘‘(1) PROJECT SPONSORS AND COSPONSORS.—
‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—In order to be eligi-
ble for assistance under the program, a project
shall have as project participants both a citizens
organization and a State, regional, tribal, or
local governing body, agency, or district.
‘‘(B) PROJECT
SPONSOR.—One of the
project participants described in subparagraph
(A) shall be designated as the project sponsor.
The project sponsor shall act as the principal
party making the grant application and have
the primary responsibility for executing the
grant agreement, submitting invoices, and re-
ceiving reimbursements.
‘‘(C) PROJECT
COSPONSOR.—The other
project participant described in subparagraph
(A) shall be designated as the project cospon-
sor. The project cosponsor shall, jointly with
the project sponsor, support and actively par-
ticipate in the project. There may be more than
1 cosponsor for any project.
‘‘(2) USE
OF
GRANT
FUNDS.—Grant funds
made available under the program shall not supplant
other available funds for waterway restoration
projects, including developer fees, mitigation, or
compensation required as a permit condition or as a
result of a violation of the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act or any other law.
‘‘(3) MAINTENANCE REQUIREMENT.—At least 1
project sponsor or cosponsor shall be designated as
responsible for on-going maintenance of the project.
‘‘(h) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Except as provided by
paragraph (2), the non-Federal share of the cost of
a project under this section, including structural and
non-structural features, shall be 25 percent.
‘‘(2) 
ECONOMICALLY
DEPRESSED
COMMU-
NITIES.—The Secretary may waive all or part of the
non-Federal share of the cost of any project that is
to be carried out under the program in an economi-
cally depressed community.
‘‘(3) IN-KIND
CONTRIBUTIONS.—Non-Federal
interests may meet any portion of the non-Federal
share of the cost of a project under this section
through in-kind contributions, including contribu-
tions of labor, involvement of youth service and con-
servation corps program participants, materials,
equipment, consulting services, and land.
‘‘(4) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year
after the date of the enactment of this section, the
Secretary shall issue regulations to establish proce-
dures for granting waivers under paragraph (2).
‘‘(i) LIMITATIONS ON COSTS OF ADMINISTRATION
AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Of the total amount made
available in any fiscal year to carry out this section—
‘‘(1) not to exceed 15 percent may be used for
administrative expenses; and
‘‘(2) not to exceed 25 percent may be used for
providing technical assistance.
‘‘(j) CONSULTATION WITH FEDERAL AGENCIES.—In
establishing and carrying out the program under this sec-
tion, the Secretary shall consult with the heads of appro-
priate Federal departments and agencies, including the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency,
the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, the
Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service,
the Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, the Di-
rector of the Geological Survey, the Chief of the Forest
Service, and the Assistant Administrator for the National
Marine Fishery Service.
‘‘(k) CITIZENS OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE.—
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Governor of each
State shall establish a citizens oversight committee
to evaluate management of the program in the
State. The membership of a citizens oversight com-
mittee shall represent a diversity of regions, cul-
tures, and watershed management interests.
‘‘(2) COMPONENTS TO BE EVALUATED.—Pro-
gram components to be evaluated by a citizens over-
sight committee established under paragraph (1) are
as follows:
‘‘(A) Program outreach, accessibility, and
service to low income and minority ethnic com-
munities and displaced resource harvesters.
‘‘(B) The manageability of grant applica-
tion procedures, contracting transactions, and
invoicing for disbursement for small nonprofit
organizations.
‘‘(C) The success of the program in sup-
porting the range of the program objectives, in-
cluding evaluation of the environmental impacts
of the program as implemented.
‘‘(D) The number of jobs created for iden-
tified target groups.
‘‘(E) The diversity of job skills fostered for
long-term watershed related employment.
‘‘(F) The extent of involvement of youth
conservation and service corps programs.
‘‘(3) ANNUAL REPORT.—The program adminis-
trator of each State shall issue an annual report
summarizing the program evaluation under para-
graph (1). Such report shall be signed by each mem-
ber of the citizens oversight committee of the State
and shall be submitted to the Secretary.
‘‘(4) FEDERAL
ADVISORY
COMMITTEE
ACT.—
The requirements of the Federal Advisory Commit-
tee Act (5 U.S.C. App. 1 et seq.) shall not apply to
a citizens oversight committee established under this
subsection.
‘‘(l) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section,
the following definitions apply:
‘‘(1) BIOTECHNICAL SLOPE PROTECTION.—The
term ‘biotechnical slope protection’ means the use of
live and dead plant material to repair and fortify
watershed slopes, roadcuts, stream banks, and other
sites vulnerable to excessive erosion, using such sys-
tems as brush piling, brush layering, brush matting,
fascines, joint plantings, and wood cribwalls.
‘‘(2) CHANNELIZATION.—The term ‘channeliza-
tion’ means removing the meanders and vegetation
from rivers and streams for purposes of accelerating
storm flow velocities, filling habitat to accommodate
land development and existing structures, and sta-
bilizing banks with concrete or riprap.
‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en-
tity’ means—
‘‘(A) any tribal or local government, flood
control district, water district, conservation dis-
trict (as defined by section 1201(a)(2) of the
Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C.
3801(a)(2)), agricultural extension 4–H pro-
gram, nonprofit organization, or watershed
council; and
‘‘(B) any unincorporated neighborhood or-
ganization, watershed council, or small citizen
nongovernmental or nonprofessional organiza-
tion for which an incorporated nonprofit organi-
zation acts as a fiscal agent.
‘‘(4) FISCAL AGENT.—The term ‘fiscal agent’
means an incorporated nonprofit organization that—
‘‘(A) acts as a legal entity which can ac-
cept government or private funds and pass
them onto an unincorporated community, cul-
tural, or neighborhood organization; and
‘‘(B) has entered into a written agreement
with such an unincorporated organization that
specifies the funding, program, and working ar-
rangements for carrying out a project under the
program.
‘‘(5) NONPROFIT
ORGANIZATION.—The term
‘nonprofit organization’ means any organization with
tax exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the In-
ternal Revenue Code of 1986.
‘‘(6) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means
the Waterways Restoration Program established by
the Secretary under subsection (a).
‘‘(7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means
the Secretary of Agriculture acting through the
Chief of the Soil Conservation Service.
‘‘(8) STREAM CHANNEL QUASI-EQUILIBRIUM.—
The term ‘stream channel quasi-equilibrium’ means
restoring channel geometrics, meanders, and slopes
so that channel dimensions are appropriately sized
to the watershed and its slope, bankfull discharges,
and sediment sizes and transport rates for the pur-
pose of correcting excessive channel erosion and
deposition.
‘‘(9) WATERSHED COUNCIL.—The term ‘water-
shed council’ means a representative group of local
watershed residents (including the private, public,
government, and nonprofit sectors) organized to de-
velop and implement a consensus watershed restora-
tion plan that includes restoration, acquisition, and
other activities.
‘‘(10) 
WATERWAY.—The 
term 
‘waterway’
means any natural, degraded, seasonal, or created
wetland on private or public lands, including rivers,
streams, riparian areas, marshes, ponds, bogs,
mudflats, lakes, and estuaries. Such term includes
any natural or humanmade watercourse on public or
private lands which is culverted, channelized, or
vegetatively cleared, including canals, irrigation
ditches, drainage ways, and navigation, industrial,
flood control, and water supply channels.
‘‘(11) YOUTH
CONSERVATION
AND
SERVICE
CORPS.—The term ‘youth conservation and service
corps program’ means a full-time, year-round youth
corps program or a full-time summer youth corps
program described in section 122(a)(2) of the Na-
tional and Community Service Act of 1990 (42
U.S.C. 12572(a)(2)).
‘‘(m) FUNDING.—
‘‘(1) MINIMUM
AMOUNTS.—Not less than 20
percent of the total amount appropriated to carry
out this Act for any fiscal year beginning after Sep-
tember 30, 1994, shall be used by the Secretary to
carry out this section.
‘‘(2) TRANSFERRED
FUNDS.—The Secretary
may accept transfers of funds from other Federal
departments and agencies in order to carry out the
objectives of this section.
‘‘(3) APPLICABILITY
OF
REQUIREMENTS.—
Funds made available to carry out this section, and
financial assistance provided with such funds, shall
not be subject to any requirements of this Act other
than the requirements of this section.’’.
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HR 4289 IH——2