16 U.S.C. § 1704: Grants to States

Summary

The Interior and Agriculture Departments must run a joint grant program that helps States pay for projects that hire young people to build, protect, and care for public lands and waters that are not owned by the federal government. "States" here includes the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and American Samoa. States must apply in the form the two Secretaries set and get both Secretaries’ approval. The application must promise that workers will be 15 but not yet 19 years old, be permanent U.S. residents (including the listed territories), be hired outside the applicant’s regular full‑time personnel rules, work no more than 90 days in a year, and be treated without discrimination by sex or social, economic, or racial class. The Secretaries can ask for other information, will approve projects that help non‑Federal public lands or waters in the applicant’s area, and will decide each grant amount. No grant can cover more than 80% of a project’s cost. Payments may be made in advance or by reimbursement. Thirty percent of the money appropriated under section 1706 each year must be set aside for these grants.

Title 16, §1704

Conservation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Projects for preservation of non-Federal public lands and waters; “States” defined

The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall jointly establish a program under which grants shall be made to States to assist them in meeting the cost of projects for the employment of young men and women to develop, preserve, and maintain non-Federal public lands and waters within the States. For purposes of this section, the term “States” includes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and American Samoa.

(b)Application requirements for grants; approval by Secretaries

(1)No grant may be made under this section unless an application therefor has been submitted to, and approved by, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture. Such application shall be in such form, and submitted in such manner, as the Secretaries shall jointly by regulation prescribe, and shall contain—

(A)assurances satisfactory to the Secretaries that individuals employed under the project for which the application is submitted shall (i) have attained the age of fifteen but not attained the age of nineteen, (ii) be permanent residents of the United States or its territories, possessions, or the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, (iii) be employed without regard to the personnel laws, rules, and regulations applicable to full-time employees of the applicant, (iv) be employed for a period of not more than ninety days in any calendar year, and (v) be employed without regard to their sex or social, economic, or racial classification; and

(B)such other information as the Secretaries may jointly by regulation prescribe.

(2)The Secretaries may approve applications which they determine (A) to meet the requirements of paragraph (1), and (B) are for projects which will further the development, preservation, or maintenance of non-Federal public lands or waters within the jurisdiction of the applicant.

(c)Limitation on the amount of grant

(1)The amount of any grant under this section shall be determined jointly by the Secretaries, except that no grant for any project may exceed 80 per centum of the cost (as determined by the Secretaries) of such project.

(2)Payments under grants under this section may be made in advance or by way of reimbursement and at such intervals and on such conditions as the Secretaries find necessary.

(d)Appropriation percentage

Thirty per centum of the sums appropriated under section 1706 of this title for any fiscal year shall be made available for grants under this section for such fiscal year.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1993—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 103–82, § 105(5), made technical amendment to reference to section 1706 of this title to reflect renumbering of corresponding section of original act. 1974—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 93–408 substituted “jointly establish a program” for “jointly establish a pilot grant program”. 1972—Pub. L. 92–579 substituted provisions relating to pilot grant program for State projects for provisions relating to Secretarial reports.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1993 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 103–82 effective Oct. 1, 1993, see section 123 of Pub. L. 103–82, set out as a note under section 1701 of this title.

Executive Documents

Termination of Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands For termination of Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, see note set out preceding section 1681 of Title 48, Territories and Insular Possessions.

§1704 Grants to States