[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 135 (Wednesday, October 25, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1917]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               H.R. 4788: SMALL WATERSHED REHABILITATION

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. LARRY COMBEST

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 25, 2000

  Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, October 24, 2000, the other body 
adopted H.R. 4788, a bill that contained a number of provisions 
important to U.S. agriculture and the rural areas of our country.
  Among other items in this bill is legislative language contained in 
Title I of H.R. 728, the Small Watershed Rehabilitation Amendments, a 
bill Mr. Lucas of Oklahoma introduced early in this Congress. The House 
adopted this legislation on July 17, 2000, but it was not acted on in 
the other body until yesterday.
  The Small Watershed Rehabilitation Amendments of 2000 will authorize 
the Department of Agriculture to provide cost-share funding for local 
sponsors to rehabilitate dams that were built with USDA assistance. 
Under the Act, the Secretary of Agriculture will establish a system for 
approving requests for rehabilitation assistance, taking into account 
health, safety, environmental and cost considerations. Before approving 
a rehabilitation project for USDA funding, the Secretary will examine 
and consider all feasible options for rehabilitation, which under the 
bill may include correcting damage or deterioration of the structure, 
upgrading the structural measures to meet changed land use conditions 
or safety needs within the watershed, and decommissioning the 
structure.
  The legislation is clear that a local sponsor may not be required to 
engage in a particular form of rehabilitation, and a project may not 
commence unless the Secretary and the local sponsor agree on the form 
of rehabilitation. At the same time, the Secretary will not place any 
specific form of rehabilitation assistance at a disadvantage when 
evaluating applications for rehabilitation assistance. It is expected 
that NRCS will follow the normal procedures for Federal agencies for 
water resource planning.
  In closing, Mr. Speaker, the legislation contained in H.R. 4788 for 
dam rehabilitation under the small watershed program is important to 
rural areas, and I am pleased we have sent it on to the President for 
enactment. I commend the gentleman from Oklahoma, Congressman Frank 
Lucas, who is a valued member of the House Agriculture Committee, for 
his hard work and dedication to this issue.

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