For the purposes of this chapter, 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),
(2) the conservation, development, utilization, and disposal of water, or
(3) the conservation and proper utilization of land,
Providedin watershed or subwatershed area not exceeding two hundred and fifty thousand acres and not including any single structure which provides more than twelve thousand five hundred acre-feet of floodwater detention capacity, and more than twenty-five thousand acre-feet of total capacity. No appropriation shall be made for any plan involving an estimated Federal contribution to construction costs in excess of $25,000,000, or which includes any structure which provides more than twenty-five hundred acre-feet of total capacity unless such plan has been approved by resolutions adopted by the appropriate committees of the Senate and House of Representatives: , That in the case of any plan involving no single structure providing more than 4,000 acre-feet of total capacity the appropriate committees shall be the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and in the case of any plan involving any single structure of more than 4,000 acre-feet of total capacity the appropriate committees shall be the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate and the Committee on Public Works and Transportation of the House of Representatives, respectively. 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. A number of such subwatersheds when they are component parts of a larger watershed may be planned together when the local sponsoring organizations so desire.
section 5304 of title 25“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; or any irrigation or reservoir company, water users’ association, or similar organization having such authority and not being operated for profit that may be approved by the Secretary; or any Indian tribe or tribal organization, as defined in , having authority under Federal, State, or Indian tribal law to carry out, maintain, and operate the works of improvement.
Aug. 4, 1954, ch. 656, § 268 Stat. 666Aug. 7, 1956, ch. 1027, § 1(a)70 Stat. 1088Pub. L. 87–17075 Stat. 408Pub. L. 89–33779 Stat. 1300Pub. L. 92–419, title II, § 201(b)86 Stat. 667Pub. L. 95–113, title XV, § 1506(a)91 Stat. 1022Pub. L. 97–98, title XV, § 1512(a)95 Stat. 1332Pub. L. 99–662, title IX, § 929100 Stat. 4196Pub. L. 101–624, title XIV, § 1461104 Stat. 3615Pub. L. 103–437, § 6(v)108 Stat. 4587Pub. L. 115–141, div. A, title VII, § 761(a)132 Stat. 396(, ; , ; , , ; , , ; , , ; , , ; , (b), , , 1333; , , ; , , ; , , ; , , .)
Editorial Notes
Amendments
Pub. L. 115–1412018— substituted “$25,000,000” for “$5,000,000” in concluding provisions relating to definition of “Works of improvement”.
Pub. L. 103–4371994— in concluding provisions relating to definition of “Works of improvement” substituted “Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry” for “Committee on Agriculture and Forestry” and “Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate and the Committee on Public Works and Transportation of the House” for “Committee on Public Works of the Senate and the Committee on Public Works of the House”.
Pub. L. 101–6241990—, which directed amendment of third sentence by substituting “Each project” for “Each such project submitted to the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate and the Committee on Public Works and Transportation of the House of Representatives after ,” and inserting “, including rural communities,” after “agriculture”, was executed to third sentence of par. defining “Works of improvement” to reflect the probable intent of Congress.
Pub. L. 99–6621986— inserted in definition of “Works of improvement” provision requiring that projects submitted after , contain benefits directly related to agriculture accounting for at least 20 percent of the total benefits of the project.
Pub. L. 97–981981— substituted “$5,000,000” for “$1,000,000” in definition of “Works of improvement” and expanded definition of “Local organization” to include any Indian tribe or tribal organization having authority under Federal, State, or Indian tribal law to carry out, maintain, and operate works of improvement.
Pub. L. 95–1131977— substituted “$1,000,000” for “$250,000”.
Pub. L. 92–4191972— defined “Works of improvement” to include any undertaking for the conservation and proper utilization of land.
Pub. L. 89–3371965— substituted “more than twelve thousand five hundred acre-feet of floodwater detention capacity” for “more than five thousand acre-feet of floodwater detention capacity”.
Pub. L. 87–1701961— included irrigation or reservoir companies, water users’ associations and similar organizations not operated for profit in the definition of local organization.
1956—Act , struck out provisions which limited works of improvement to agriculture phases of conservation, development, utilization, and disposal of water, increased the limits of total capacity of any single structure from 5,000 acre-feet to 25,000 acre-feet, exclude single structures which provide more than 5,000 acre-feet of floodwater detention capacity, required approval of plans involving an estimated Federal contribution to construction costs of more than $250,000, and specified the Congressional committees that must approve the plans where structures are under and over 4,000 acre-feet of total capacity.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Change of Name
section 1(a) of Pub. L. 104–14section 21 of Title 2Committee on Public Works and Transportation of House of Representatives treated as referring to Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of House of Representatives by , set out as a note preceding , The Congress.
Effective Date of 1981 Amendment
Pub. L. 97–98section 1801 of Pub. L. 97–98section 4301 of Title 7Amendment by effective , see , set out as an Effective Date note under , Agriculture.
Effective Date of 1977 Amendment
Pub. L. 95–113section 1901 of Pub. L. 95–113section 1307 of Title 7Amendment by effective , see , set out as a note under , Agriculture.
Extension of Benefits to Projects Authorized Before
section 1001 of this titleAmendment by act , as applicable to all works of improvements and plans for such works under the provisions of this chapter, see Extension of Benefits note set out under .
Executive Documents
Transfer of Functions
93 Stat. 1373section 3012(b) of Pub. L. 102–486section 719e of Title 15section 720d(f) of Title 15Enforcement functions of Secretary or other official in Department of Agriculture, insofar as they involve lands and programs under jurisdiction of that Department, related to compliance with this chapter with respect to pre-construction, construction, and initial operation of transportation system for Canadian and Alaskan natural gas transferred to Federal Inspector, Office of Federal Inspector for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation System, until first anniversary of date of initial operation of Alaska Natural Gas Transportation System, see Reorg. Plan No. 1 of 1979, §§ 102(f), 203(a), 44 F.R. 33663, 33666, , 1376, effective , set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. Office of Federal Inspector for the Alaska Natural Gas Transportation System abolished and functions and authority vested in Inspector transferred to Secretary of Energy by , set out as an Abolition of Office of Federal Inspector note under , Commerce and Trade. Functions and authority vested in Secretary of Energy subsequently transferred to Federal Coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects by .