[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1331 Introduced in House (IH)]
1st Session
H. R. 1331
To amend the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act to establish
a Waterways Restoration Program, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 28, 1995
Ms. Furse (for herself, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Manton, Mr.
Richardson, Mr. Beilenson, Mr. Yates, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Dicks, Mr.
DeFazio, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Vento, Ms. Norton, Ms. McKinney, Mr. Hinchey,
Mr. Moran, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Studds, Mr. Barrett of Wisconsin, Mr.
Porter, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. Evans, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. Miller of California,
Mr. Serrano, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Gilchrest, Mr. Frost, Mr. Bryant of
Texas, Ms. Rivers, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Markey, Ms. Slaughter, Mr. English
of Pennsylvania, Mr. Dellums, Mr. Traficant, Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Gibbons,
Mr. Wise, Mrs. Meek of Florida, Mr. Rush, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Jacobs, Mr.
Taylor of Mississippi, Mr. Brown of California, Mrs. Morella, Mr. Rose,
Mr. Rangel, Mrs. Lowey, Mr. McDermott, Mr. Olver, Mr. Farr, Mr.
Pallone, Mr. Thompson, and Mr. Clyburn) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to
the Committees on Resources, and Transportation and Infrastructure, for
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act to establish
a Waterways Restoration Program, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Waterways Restoration Act of 1995''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND POLICY.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) restoring degraded streams, rivers, and other waterways
to their natural state is a cost effective means to control
flooding, excessive erosion, sedimentation, and nonpoint
pollution, including stormwater runoff;
(2) protecting and restoring watersheds provides critical
ecological benefits by restoring and maintaining biodiversity,
providing fish and wildlife habitat, filtering pollutants, and
performing other important ecological functions;
(3) waterway restoration and protection projects can
provide important economic and educational benefits by
rejuvenating waterfront areas, providing recreational
opportunities such as greenways, and creating community service
jobs and job training opportunities in waterway restoration for
disadvantaged youth, displaced resource harvesters, and other
unemployed residents;
(4) restoring waterways helps to increase the fishing
potential of waterways and restore diminished fisheries, which
are important to local and regional cultures and economies; and
(5) low income and minority communities frequently
experience disproportionately severe degradation of the
waterways in their communities but historically have had
difficulty in meeting eligibility requirements for Federal
watershed projects under the Watershed Protection and Flood
Prevention Act due to Federal policy obstacles such as local
cost share requirements and formulas for assessing costs and
benefits which favor high land values.
(b) Policy.--Therefore, Congress declares it in the national
interest to--
(1) protect and restore the chemical, biological, and
physical components of waterways and associated ecological
systems such that their biological and physical structures,
diversity, functions, and dynamics are restored;
(2) replace deteriorating stormwater structural
infrastructures and physical waterway alterations that are
ecologically damaging with cost effective, low maintenance, and
ecologically sensitive projects;
(3) promote the use of nonstructural means to manage and
convey streamflow, stormwater, and flood waters;
(4) increase the involvement of the public and youth
conservation and service corps in the monitoring, inventorying,
and restoration of watersheds in order to improve public
education, prevent pollution, and develop coordinated citizen
and governmental partnerships to restore damaged waterways; and
(5) benefit business districts, local economies, and
neighborhoods through the restoration of waterways and the
development of multiuse greenway corridors.
SEC. 3. WORKS OF IMPROVEMENT DEFINED.
The second paragraph of section 2 of the Watershed Protection and
Flood Prevention Act (16 U.S.C. 1002; relating to works of improvement)
is amended by striking the following: ``Each project must contain
benefits directly related to agriculture, including rural communities,
that account for at least 20 percent of the total benefits of the
project.''.
SEC. 4. WATERWAYS RESTORATION PROGRAM.
The Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act (16 U.S.C. 1001-
1008; 1010) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 14. WATERWAYS RESTORATION PROGRAM.
``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary, acting through the Chief of
the Natural Resources Conservation Service, shall establish and
implement a Waterways Restoration Program in accordance with the
requirements of this section. Under the program, the Secretary shall
provide technical assistance and grants, on a competitive basis, to
eligible entities to assist such entities in carrying out waterway
restoration projects.
``(b) Project Eligibility.--
``(1) Project objectives.--A project shall be eligible for
assistance under the program if the project is designed to
achieve ecological restoration or protection and 1 or more of
the following objectives:
``(A) Flood damage reduction.
``(B) Erosion control.
``(C) Stormwater management.
``(D) Water quality enhancement.
``(2) Location of projects.--A project may be carried out
under the program on Federal lands or on State or private lands
in any case in which the State or the private land owner is a
sponsor or cosponsor of the project.
``(3) Project descriptions.--Projects eligible for
assistance under the program shall include projects for any of
the following purposes:
``(A) Restoration and monitoring of degraded
waterways, including revegetation, restoration of
biological communities, and changes in land management
practices.
``(B) Restoration or establishment of wetland and
riparian environments as part of a multiobjective
stormwater management system in which the restored or
established areas provide stormwater storage,
detention, and retention; nutrient filtering; wildlife
habitat; and increased biological diversity.
``(C) Reduction of runoff.
``(D) Stream bank restoration using the principles
of biotechnical slope stabilization.
``(E) Establishment and acquisition of
multiobjective floodplain riparian and adjacent
floodprone lands, including greenways, for sediment
storage, floodwater storage and conveyance, wildlife
habitat, and recreation.
``(F) Removal of culverts and storm drains to
reestablish natural ecological conditions and reduce
flood damages.
``(G) Organization of local watershed councils in
conjunction with the implementation of on-the-ground
action education or restoration projects.
``(H) Training of participants, including youth
conservation and service corps program participants, in
restoration techniques in conjunction with the
implementation of on-the-ground action education or
restoration projects.
``(I) Development of waterway restoration or
watershed plans which are intended for use within the
grant agreement period to implement specific
restoration projects.
``(J) Restoration of any stream channel to
reestablish a meandering, bankfull flow channel,
riparian vegetation, and floodplain in order--
``(i) to restore the functions and dynamics
of a natural stream system to a previously
channelized waterway so that channel dimensions
and floodplain zones are appropriately sized to
the watershed and its slope, bankfull
discharges, and sediment sizes and transport
rates; or
``(ii) to convey larger flood flows as an
alternative to a channelization project.
``(K) Release of reservoir flows to restore
riparian and instream habitat.
``(L) Watershed or wetland projects that have
undergone planning pursuant to other Federal, State,
tribal, or local programs and laws and have received
necessary environmental review and permits.
``(M) Early action projects which a watershed
council wants to implement prior to the completion of
its required final consensus watershed plan, if the
project is determined to meet the council's watershed
management objectives and is useful in fostering
citizen involvement in the planning process.
``(4) Priority projects.--Projects which have the following
attributes shall be given priority by interdisciplinary teams
established under this section in determining funding
priorities:
``(A) Projects located in or directly benefiting
low-income or economically depressed areas adversely
impacted by poor watershed management.
``(B) Projects that will restore or create
businesses or occupations in the project area,
including development of public access opportunities
for waterfront greenways.
``(C) Projects providing opportunities for
participants in Federal, State, tribal, and local youth
conservation and service corps and provide training in
waterway restoration, monitoring, and inventory work.
``(D) Projects serving communities composed of
minorities or Native Americans, including the
development of outreach programs to facilitate the
participation by such groups in the program.
``(E) Projects identified as regional priorities
that have been planned within a regional context and
coordinated with Federal, State, tribal, and local
agencies.
``(F) Projects that will restore wildlife or
fisheries of commercial, recreational, subsistence, or
scientific concern.
``(G) Projects training and employing fishers and
other resource harvesters whose livelihoods have been
adversely impacted by habitat degradation.
``(H) Projects providing significant improvements
in ecological values and functions in the project area.
``(I) Projects previously approved under this Act
which meet or are redesigned to meet the requirements
of this section.
``(5) Cost-benefit analysis.--A project shall be eligible
for assistance under the program if an interdisciplinary team
established under this section determines that the local
social, economic, ecological, and community benefits of the
project based on local needs, problems, and conditions equal or
exceed the financial and social costs of the project.
``(6) Flood damage reduction.--Projects for which one of
the purposes is to reduce flood damages shall be designed for
the level of risk selected by the local cosponsors and sponsors
to best meet their needs for reducing flood risks, their
ability to pay project costs, and community objectives to
protect or restore environmental quality.
``(7) Ineligible projects.--Projects involving
channelization, stream bank stabilization using methods other
than biotechnical slope protection methods, construction of
reservoirs, or structures shall not be eligible for assistance
under the program unless they are necessary for the
reestablishment of the structure, function, and diversity of
the native ecosystem.
``(c) Program Administration.--
``(1) Designation of program administrators.--The Secretary
shall designate a program administrator for each State who
shall be responsible for administering the program in the
State. Except as provided by paragraph (2), the Secretary shall
designate the State Conservationist of the Natural Resources
Conservation Service of a State as the program administrator of
the State.
``(2) Approval of state agencies.--
``(A) In general.--A State may submit to the
Secretary an application for designation of a State
agency to serve as the program administrator of the
State.
``(B) Criteria.--The Secretary shall approve an
application of a State submitted under subparagraph (A)
if the application meets the following criteria:
``(i) Demonstration of the ability of the
State agency to solicit, select, and fund
projects within a 1-year grant administration
cycle.
``(ii) Demonstration of the responsiveness
of the State agency to the administrative needs
and limitations of small nonprofit
organizations and low income or minority
communities.
``(iii) Demonstration of the success of the
State agency in implementing State or local
programs with objectives similar to the
objectives of this section.
``(iv) Demonstration of the ability of the
State agency to jointly plan and implement with
Indian Tribes programs with objectives similar
to this section.
``(C) Redesignation.--Whenever the Secretary
determines, after a public hearing, that a State agency
with an approved application under this paragraph no
longer meets the criteria set forth in subparagraph
(B), the Secretary shall so notify the State and, if
appropriate corrective action has not been taken within
a reasonable time, withdraw the designation of the
State agency as the program administrator of the State
and designate the State Conservationist of the Natural
Resources Conservation Service of the State as the
program administrator of the State.
``(3) Technical assistance.--The State Conservationist of a
State shall continue to carry out the technical assistance
portion of the program in the State even if the State receives
approval of an application submitted under subparagraph (A).
``(d) Grant Application Cycle.--
``(1) In general.--Grants under the program shall be
awarded on an annual basis.
``(2) Grant agreements.--The program administrator of a
State may enter into a grant agreement with an eligible entity
to permit the entity to phase-in a project under the program
for a period of not to exceed 3 years; except that any such
project shall remain subject to reevaluation each year as part
of the annual funding cycle.
``(e) Selection of Projects.--
``(1) Applications.--In order to receive assistance to
carry out a project under the program in a State, an eligible
entity shall submit to the program administrator of the State
an application which is in such form and contains such
information as the Secretary may by regulation require.
``(2) Review of applications by interdisciplinary teams.--
``(A) Transmittal.--Each application for assistance
under the program received by the program administrator
of a State shall be transmitted to the
interdisciplinary team of the State established
pursuant to this section.
``(B) Review.--On an annual basis, the
interdisciplinary team of each State shall--
``(i) review applications transmitted to
the team pursuant to subparagraph (A);
``(ii) determine the eligibility of
proposed projects for funding under the
program;
``(iii) make recommendations concerning
funding priorities for such eligible projects;
and
``(iv) transmit its findings and
recommendations to the program administrator of
the State.
``(C) Project opposition by certain
representatives.--If 2 or more of the members of an
interdisciplinary team of a State appointed pursuant to
clause (vii) or (viii) of subsection (f)(2)(A) or
clause (ii), (iii), or (iv) of subsection (f)(2)(B) are
opposed to a project which is supported by a majority
of the members of the interdisciplinary team, a
determination on whether the project may receive
assistance under the program shall be made by the Chief
of the Natural Resources Conservation Service. In
making 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 Secretary shall conduct such
monitoring activities as are necessary to ensure the
success and effectiveness of project determinations
made pursuant to this subparagraph.
``(3) Final selection.--The final determination 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 submitted under the program.
``(2) Appointment.--The interdisciplinary team of a State
shall be composed of the following members:
``(A) Appointees of the program administrator.--
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 Natural Resources Conservation
Service.
``(ii) The Environmental Protection Agency.
``(iii) The National Marine Fishery Service
(in coastal States).
``(iv) The United States Fish and Wildlife
Service.
``(v) The Corps of Engineers.
``(3) Affiliation of members.--Members appointed pursuant
to paragraph (2)(A) may be employees of Federal, State, tribal,
or local agencies or non-profit organizations.
``(4) Federal advisory committee act.--The requirements of
sections 9, 10(a)(2), and 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee
Act shall not apply to an interdisciplinary team established
under this subsection.
``(5) Notice.--An interdisciplinary team shall provide
adequate public notice before conducting any meeting under this
section, including notification in the official State journal.
``(g) Conditions for Receiving Assistance.--
``(1) Project sponsors and cosponsors.--
``(A) Requirement.--In order to be eligible 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
receiving reimbursements.
``(C) Project cosponsor.--The other project
participant described in subparagraph (A) shall be
designated as the project cosponsor. The project
cosponsor shall, jointly with the project sponsor,
support and actively participate 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 communities.--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
economically 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 contributions of labor, involvement of youth service
and conservation 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 procedures 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 section, the Secretary shall
consult with the heads of appropriate 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 Director of the Geological Survey, the Chief of the
Forest Service, the Assistant Administrator for the National Marine
Fishery Service, and the Director of the National Park 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 committee shall represent a diversity of regions,
cultures, and watershed management interests.
``(2) Components to be evaluated.--Program components to be
evaluated by a citizens oversight committee established under
paragraph (1) are as follows:
``(A) Program outreach, accessibility, and service
to low income and minority ethnic communities and
displaced resource harvesters.
``(B) The manageability of grant application
procedures, contracting transactions, and invoicing for
disbursement for small nonprofit organizations.
``(C) The success of the program in supporting the
range of the program objectives, including evaluation
of the environmental impacts of the program as
implemented.
``(D) The number of jobs created for identified
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 administrator of each
State shall issue an annual report summarizing the program
evaluation under paragraph (1). Such report shall be signed by
each member of the citizens oversight committee of the State
and shall be submitted to the Secretary.
``(4) Federal advisory committee act.--The requirements of
sections 9, 10(a)(2), 10(e), 10(f), and 14 of the Federal
Advisory Committee Act shall not apply to a citizens oversight
committee established under this subsection.
``(5) Notice.--A citizens oversight committee shall provide
adequate public notice before conducting any meeting under this
section, including notification in the official State journal.
``(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, alone or in conjunction with inert materials,
to repair and fortify watershed slopes, roadcuts, stream banks,
and other sites vulnerable to excessive erosion, using such
systems as brush piling, brush layering, brush matting,
fascines, joint plantings, live stakes, seeding, stem cuttings,
and pole cuttings.
``(2) Channelization.--The term `channelization' 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 stabilizing banks with concrete or riprap.
``(3) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity' means--
``(A) any tribal or local government, flood control
district, water district, conservation district (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 program, nonprofit organization, or watershed
council; and
``(B) any unincorporated neighborhood organization,
watershed council, or small citizen nongovernmental or
nonprofessional organization for which an incorporated
nonprofit organization 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 accept
government or private funds and pass them onto an
unincorporated community, cultural, or neighborhood
organization; and
``(B) has entered into a written agreement with
such an unincorporated organization that specifies the
funding, program, and working arrangements for carrying
out a project under the program.
``(5) Greenway.--The term `greenway' means floodplain,
floodprone, or project rights-of-way which provide flood risk
reduction, floodwater conveyance, fish and wildlife habitat,
and ecological benefits, and which may provide public access,
including waterfronts.
``(6) Nonprofit organization.--The term `nonprofit
organization' means any organization with tax exempt status
under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
``(7) Program.--The term `program' means the Waterways
Restoration Program established by the Secretary under
subsection (a).
``(8) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary
of Agriculture acting through the Chief of the Natural
Resources Conservation Service.
``(9) Structure.--The term `structure' means physical
project components used to restore native ecosystems, including
rock, wood cribwalls, geotextile nettings, geogrids, dirt-
filled gabions, weirs, gully check dams, jacks, groins, and
fences.
``(10) Watershed council.--The term `watershed council'
means a representative group of local watershed residents
(including the private, public, government, and nonprofit
sectors) organized to develop and implement a consensus
watershed restoration plan that includes restoration,
acquisition, and other activities.
``(11) 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.
``(12) 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
National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C.
12572(a)(2)).
``(m) Funding.--
``(1) Funding priority.--The Secretary shall give a
priority to waterways restoration projects under this section
in making funding decisions under this Act.
``(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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