PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

The Secretary can act in emergencies to protect watersheds. That includes buying floodplain easements and doing other work to slow runoff and stop soil erosion. The Secretary works with landowners when fire, flood, or another natural event suddenly damages a watershed and threatens lives or property from floods, drought, or erosion. The Secretary may change or end an easement only if the current owner agrees and the Secretary finds it meets a compelling public need with no workable alternative and is in the public interest. If an easement is ended, the Secretary must arrange fair compensation. If it is changed, the owner must cover change costs, and the Secretary must make sure floodplain functions are not harmed, that any harms are fixed by restoring other land at no extra federal cost, and that the change gives equal or greater environmental and economic value to the United States.

Title 16, §2203

Conservation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In general

The Secretary is authorized to undertake emergency watershed protection measures, including the purchase of floodplain easements, for runoff retardation and soil-erosion prevention, in cooperation with landowners and land users, as the Secretary deems necessary to safeguard lives and property from floods, drought, and the products of erosion on any watershed whenever fire, flood, or any other natural occurrence is causing or has caused a sudden impairment of that watershed.

(b)Floodplain easements

(1)Modification and termination

The Secretary may modify or terminate a floodplain easement administered by the Secretary under this section if—

(A)the current owner agrees to the modification or termination; and

(B)the Secretary determines that the modification or termination—

(i)will address a compelling public need for which there is no practicable alternative; and

(ii)is in the public interest.

(2)Consideration

(A)Termination

As consideration for termination of an easement and associated agreements under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall enter into compensatory arrangements as determined to be appropriate by the Secretary.

(B)Modification

In the case of a modification under paragraph (1)—

(i)as a condition of the modification, the current owner shall enter into a compensatory arrangement (as determined to be appropriate by the Secretary) to incur the costs of modification; and

(ii)the Secretary shall ensure that—

(I)the modification will not adversely affect the floodplain functions and values for which the easement was acquired;

(II)any adverse impacts will be mitigated by enrollment and restoration of other land that provides greater floodplain functions and values at no additional cost to the Federal Government; and

(III)the modification will result in equal or greater environmental and economic values to the United States.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2018—Pub. L. 115–334, § 2403(d)(1), substituted “Emergency watershed program” for “Emergency measures” in section catchline. Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 115–334, § 2403(d)(2), inserted “watershed protection” after “emergency”. Pub. L. 115–334, § 2403(a)(2)(A), substituted “The Secretary is” for “The Secretary of Agriculture is”. 2014—Pub. L. 113–79 inserted section catchline, designated existing provisions as subsec. (a) and inserted heading, and added subsec. (b). 1996—Pub. L. 104–127 inserted “, including the purchase of floodplain easements,” after “emergency measures”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Section effective Oct. 1, 1978, see section 406 of Pub. L. 95–334, set out as a note under section 2201 of this title. Disaster Assistance for Watershed Protection Activities Pub. L. 100–387, title IV, § 402, as added Pub. L. 101–82, title V, § 503, Aug. 14, 1989, 103 Stat. 586, authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to provide financial and technical disaster relief assistance in accordance with this section to repair damage caused by storms occurring in 1988 or 1989 to watersheds located in any county in any State, to the extent that funds authorized by this section remain available, with $25,000,000 appropriated for fiscal year 1990.

§2203 Emergency Watershed Program