This bill allows the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide for certain floodplain easement restoration and management activities under the Emergency Watershed Protection Program. This program offers technical and financial assistance, including the purchase of floodplain easements, to safeguard people and property from floods, drought, fires, windstorms, and other natural disasters that impair a watershed.
Under the bill, USDA may provide financial and technical assistance to restore the adapted vegetative cover and the hydrologic functions and values of wetlands on these purchased floodplain easements. USDA also has the sole discretion to enter into compatible-use agreements with landowners, and agreements with government agencies and nongovernmental organizations, to address the maintenance and management of the vegetative cover and wetlands restoration measures for these floodplain easements.