“A bill to modify Department of Agriculture programs to improve flood protection and infrastructure resiliency, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture, under the Emergency Watershed Protection program (EWP), to undertake watershed restoration measures that exceed the level necessary to address immediate impairments from natural disasters (e.g., fire, flood) if the Secretary determines such measures are in the best interest of (1) the watershed's long-term health and (2) protection from repetitive impairments. (The EWP program enables emergency measures, including floodplain easements, to safeguard lives and property from floods, drought, and erosion following sudden watershed damage.)
This section revises federal cost-sharing for rehabilitation of structural measures (i.e., dams constructed as part of covered water resource projects under the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act) as follows: (1) sets the general federal share at 65 percent of total rehabilitation costs, not to exceed 100 percent of actual construction costs (from 75 percent of construction costs); (2) increases the maximum federal share to 90 percent of total rehabilitation costs for projects serving limited resource areas (as determined by the Secretary), not to exceed 100 percent of actual construction costs (from 90 percent of construction costs for small or disadvantaged communities); and (3) requires local organizations to cover costs of water, mineral, and other resource rights and all federal, state, and local permits. (As background, the program assists local organizations (e.g., soil and water conservation districts) in rehabilitating such dams to extend their service life and meet current safety standards.)
This section revises a purpose of the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP)—which coordinates USDA conservation assistance through partnerships to address regional or watershed-scale priorities on private agricultural and forest lands—by replacing the prior general directive to further the conservation, protection, restoration, and sustainable use of soil, water (including drinking water and groundwater), wildlife, agricultural land, and related natural resources with a new directive to address natural resource concerns on eligible land on a regional or watershed scale, including (A) the conservation, protection, restoration, and sustainable use of soil; (B) the conservation and protection of water, including sources of drinking water and groundwater; (C) the prevention and mitigation of flooding and drought effects and the improvement or expansion of flood resiliency; and (D) the conservation of wildlife, agricultural land, and related natural resources.