An Act to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to cooperate with States and local agencies in the planning and carrying out of works of improvement for soil conservation, and for other purposes
PL 83-566 (H.R.6788), enacted 08/04/1954

666 
PUBLIC LAW 566-AUG. 4, 1954 
[68 STAT. 
August 4, 1954 
[H. R. 6788] 
Public Law 566 
CHAPTER 656 
AN ACT 
To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to cooperate with States and local 
agencies in the planning and carrying out of works of improvement for soil 
conservation, and for other purposes. 
Watershed P r o -
tection and Flood 
Prevention Act. 
'Secretary, 
"Works of im-
provement." 
" L o c a l organi-
zation." 
Assis t anc e to 
local o r g a n i z a -
tions. 
Application. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assemhied, That erosion, flood-
water, and sediment damages in the watersheds of the rivers and 
streams of the United States, causing loss of life and damage to 
property, constitute a menace to the national welfare; and that it is 
the sense of Congress that the Federal Government should cooperate 
with States and their political subdivisions, soil or water conservation 
districts, flood prevention or control districts, and other local public 
agencies for the purpose of preventing such damages and of further-
ing the conservation, development, utilization, and disposal of water 
and thereby of preserving and protecting the Nation's land and water 
resources. 
SEC. 2. For the purposes of this Act, the following terms shall 
mean: 
The "Secretary"—the Secretary of Agriculture of the United 
States. 
"Works of improvement"—any undertaking for— 
(1) flood prevention (including structural and land-treatment 
measures) or 
(2) agricultural phases of the conservation, development, utili-
zation, and disposal of w^ater 
in watershed or subwatershed areas not exceeding two hundred and 
fifty thousand acres and not including any single structure which pro-
vides more than five thousand acre-feet of total capacity. No appro-
priation shall be made for any plan for works of improvement which 
includes any structure which provides more than twenty-five hundred 
acre-feet of total capacity unless such plan has been approved by reso-
lutions adopted by the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry of the 
Senate and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representa-
tives, respectively. A number of such subwatersheds w^hen they are 
component parts of a larger watershed may be planned together when 
the local sponsoring organizations so desire. 
"Local organization"—any State, political subdivision thereof, soil 
or water conservation district, flood prevention or control district, or 
combinations thereof, or any other agency having authority under 
State law to carry out, maintain and operate the works of 
improvement. 
SEC. 3. In order to assist local organizations in preparing and 
carrying out plans for works of improvement, the Secretary is author-
ized, upon application of local organizations if such application has 
been submitted to, and not disapproved w ithin 45 days by, the State 
agency having supervisory responsibility over programs provided for 
in this Act, or by the Governor if there is no State agency having such 
responsibility— 
(1) to conduct such investigations and surveys as may be neces-
sary to prepare plans for works of improvement; 
(2) to make such studies as may be necessary for determining 
the physical and economic soundness of plans for works of 
improvement, including a determination as to whether benefits 
exceed costs; 
(3) to cooperate and enter into agreements with and to furnish 
financial and other assistance to local organizations; Provided^ 
68 
S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 566-AUG. 4, 1954 
667 
That, for the land-treatment measures, the Federal assistance 
shall not exceed the rate of assistance for similar practices under 
existing national programs; 
(4) to obtain the cooperation and assistance of other Federal 
agencies in carrying out the purposes of this section. 
SEC. 4. The Secretary shall require as a condition to providing 
Federal assistance for the installation of works of improvement that 
local organizations shall— 
(1) acquire without cost to the Federal Government such land, 
easements, or rights-of-way as will be needed in connection with 
works of improvement installed with Federal assistance; 
(2) assume such proportionate share of the cost of installing 
any works of improvement involving Federal assistance as may 
be determined by the Secretary to be equitable in consideration of 
anticipated benefits from such improvements: Provided^ That 
no part of the construction cost for providing any capacity in 
structures for purposes other than flood prevention and features 
related thereto shall be borne by the Federal Government under 
the provisions of this Act; 
(3) make arrangements satisfactory to the Secretary for 
defraying costs of operating and maintaining such works of 
improvement, in accordance with regulations presented by the 
Secretary of Agriculture; 
(4) acquire, or provide assurance that landowners have 
acquired, such water rights, pursuant to State law, as may be 
needed in the installation and operation of the work of improve-
ment; and 
(5) obtain agreements to carry out recommended soil conserva-
tion measures and proper farm plans from owners of not less than 
50 per centum of the lands situated in the drainage area above 
each retention reservoir to be installed with Federal assistance. 
SEC. 5. At such time as the Secretary and the interested local organ-
ization have agreed on a plan for works of improvement, and the 
Secretary has determined that the benefits exceed the costs, and the 
local organization has met the requirements for participation in 
carrying out the works of improvement as set forth in section 4, the 
Secretary is authorized to assist such local organizations in developing 
specifications, in preparing contracts for construction, and to partici-
pate in the installation of such works of improvement in accordance 
with the plan: Provided^ That, except as to the installation of works 
of imj)rovement on Federal lands, the Secretary shall not construct or 
enter into any contract for the construction of any structure unless 
there is no local organization authorized by State law to undertake 
such construction or to enter into such contract, and in no event after 
July 1, 1956: Provided^ That in participating in the installation of 
such works of improvement the Secretary, as far as practicable and 
consistent with his responsibilities for administering the overall 
national agricultural program, shall utilize the authority conferred 
upon him by the provisions of this Act: Provided further^ That, at 
least forty-five days (counting only days occurring during any regular 
or special sessions of the Congress) before such installation involving 
Federal assistance is commenced, the Secretary shall transmit a copy 
of the plan and the justification therefor to the Congress through the 
President: Provided further^ That any such plan (a) w hich includes 
reclamation or irrigation works or which affects public or other lands 
under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior, or (b) which 
includes Federal assistance for floodwater detention structures, shall 
be submitted to the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of the 
Army, respectively, for his views and recommendations at least sixty 
Conditions 
for 
F e d e r a l 
assisl-
Wo rk s of 
im-
provement. 
Installation. 
F e d e r a l c on-
struction. 
Submis s i on of 
plan, etc., to Con-
gress. 
Prior 
s u b m i s -
s i o n to Secretary 
of Army or Interior. 
PUBLIC LAW 567-AUG. 5, 1954 
[68 S T A T . 
Regulations. 
Cooperative pro-
grams. 
Repeals. 
33 u s e 701b. 
Exception. 
33 u s e 701b-l. 
Appropriations. 
Short title. 
days prior to transmission of the plan to the Congress through the 
President. 
The views and recommendations of the Secretary of the 
Interior, and the Secretary of the Army, if received by the Secretary of 
Agriculture prior to the expiration of the above sixty-day period, shall 
accompany the plan transmitted by the Secretary of Agriculture to 
the Congress through the President: Provided further^ That, prior to 
any Federal participation in the works of improvement under this 
Act, the President shall issue such rules and regulations as he deems 
necessary or desirable to carry out the purposes of this Act, and to 
assure the coordination of the work authorized under this Act and 
related work of other agencies including the Department of the 
Interior and the Department of the Army. 
SEC. 6. The Secretary is authorized in cooperation with other 
Federal and with States and local agencies to make investigations and 
surveys of the watersheds of rivers and other waterways as a basis 
for the development of coordinated programs. 
In areas where the 
programs of the Secretary of Agriculture may affect public or other 
lands under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior, the 
Secretary of the Interior is authorized to cooperate with the Secre-
tary of Agriculture in the planning and development of works or 
programs for such lands. 
SEC. 7. The provisions of the Act of June 22, 1936 (49 Stat. 1570), 
as amended and supplemented, conferring authority upon the Depart-
ment of Agriculture under the direction of the Secretary of Agricul-
ture to make preliminary examinations and surveys and to prosecute 
works of improvement for runoff and waterflow retardation and soil 
erosion prevention on the watersheds of rivers and other waterways 
are hereby repealed: Provided^ That (a) the authority of that Depart-
ment of Agriculture, under the direction of the Secretary, to prosecute 
the works of improvement for runoff and waterflow retardation and 
soil erosion prevention authorized to be carried out by the Department 
by the Act of December 22, 1944 (58 Stat. 887), as amended, and (b) 
the authority of the Secretary of Agriculture to undertake emergency 
measures for runoff retardation and soil erosion prevention author-
ized to be carried out by section 7 of the Act of June 28,1938 (52 Stat. 
1215), as amended by section 216 of the Act of May 17,1950 (64 Stat. 
163), shall not be affected by the provisions of this section. 
SEC. 8. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums 
as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act, such sums 
to remain available until expended. 
SEC. 9. This Act may be cited as the "Watershed Protection and 
Flood Prevention Act". 
Approved August 4, 1954. 
August 5, 1954 
[H. R. 5173] 
Public Law 567 
CHAPTER 657 
AN ACT 
To provide that the excess of collections from the Federal unemployment tax 
over employment security administrative expenses shall be used to establish 
and maintain a $200,000,000 reserve in the Federal unemployment account 
which will be available for advances to the States, to provide that the remain-
der of such excess shall be returned to the States, and for other purposes. 
E mp 1 o y m e n t 
Security Adminis-
trative 
Financing 
Act of 1954. 
49 Stat. 639. 
42 u s e 1101. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assenribled^ That this Act may 
be cited as the "Employment Security Administrative Financing Act 
of 1954". 
SEC. 2. So much of title I X of the Social Security Act as precedes 
section 904 thereof is hereby amended to read as follows: