What This Bill Does
This bill modifies the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 to allow sponsors to pay for emergency watershed protection measures (actions taken to protect water areas during emergencies) before signing an official agreement with the federal government. The bill requires the federal government to recognize these pre-agreement costs as part of a sponsor's financial contribution to the project.
Who It Affects
State governments, local governments, and Indian Tribes working on emergency watershed protection projects.
Key Provisions
• The Secretary must create a list of emergency watershed protection measures that sponsors can pay for before entering into an agreement (Sec. 2(c)(2)(A))
• The Secretary must develop a process allowing sponsors to request approval for additional emergency watershed protection measures for specific natural disasters, with appropriate deadlines set at the state level (Sec. 2(c)(2)(B))
• If the Secretary and sponsor reach an agreement, the Secretary must count any pre-agreement costs the sponsor already paid toward the sponsor's required financial share of the project (Sec. 2(c)(3))
• Sponsors who spend money on these measures before signing an agreement take on all financial risk if no agreement is reached later (Sec. 2(c)(4))
What Changes
The law previously did not address whether costs sponsors paid before signing an agreement could count toward their required contribution. This bill allows those pre-agreement costs to count.
Important Definitions
"Sponsor" means a state or local government, or an Indian Tribe as defined in the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act.
I
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. R. 1670
To amend the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 with respect to pre-agreement
costs of emergency watershed protection measures, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 21, 2023
Mr. CURTIS (for himself and Mr. GARAMENDI) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
A BILL
To amend the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 with respect
to pre-agreement costs of emergency watershed protec-
tion measures, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
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tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
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This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Making Access To
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Cleanup Happen Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘MATCH Act of
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2023’’.
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SEC. 2. EMERGENCY WATERSHED PROGRAM.
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Section 403 of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978
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(16 U.S.C. 2203) is amended by adding at the end the
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following:
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‘‘(c) PRE-AGREEMENT COSTS.—
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‘‘(1) SPONSOR.—For purposes of this sub-
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section, the term ‘sponsor’ means a State or local
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government, or an Indian Tribe (as defined in sec-
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tion 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu-
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cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b)).
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‘‘(2) PRE-AGREEMENT
PROJECT
COSTS.—Not
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later than 180 days after the date of enactment of
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this subsection, the Secretary shall—
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‘‘(A) identify a list of emergency watershed
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protection measures the cost of which may be
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incurred by a sponsor prior to entering into an
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agreement with the Secretary pursuant to this
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section; and
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‘‘(B) develop a procedure, including appro-
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priate deadlines, to be implemented at the State
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level, through which a sponsor may request, for
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a specified natural disaster, additional emer-
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gency watershed protection measures the cost of
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which may be incurred by a sponsor prior to en-
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tering into an agreement with the Secretary
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pursuant to this section.
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‘‘(3) AGREEMENT CONTRIBUTION.—If the Sec-
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retary and the sponsor enter into an agreement pur-
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suant to this section, the Secretary shall consider
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•HR 1670 IH
any applicable pre-agreement costs incurred by a
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sponsor for undertaking emergency watershed pro-
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tection measures identified pursuant to paragraph
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(2) as meeting part of the sponsor’s contribution to-
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wards the project costs.
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‘‘(4) ASSUMPTION OF RISK.—Nothing in this
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subsection requires the Secretary to enter into an
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agreement with a sponsor, and a sponsor under-
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taking emergency watershed protection measures
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prior to entering into an agreement with the Sec-
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retary pursuant to this section shall assume the risk
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of incurring any costs of undertaking such meas-
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ures.’’.
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Æ
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