article: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``National Urban Watershed Model Restoration Act''. SEC. 2. ANACOSTIA RIVER WATERSHED RESTORATION AND PROTECTION PILOT PROGRAM. (a) In General.--The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall develop and carry out a pilot program to serve as a national model for the restoration of urban watersheds and community environments. The purposes of the program shall be to demonstrate methods to encourage urban communities to use their environmental resources as a catalyst for sustainable community redevelopment and to meet the objectives of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, including stormwater, combined sewer overflows, and other water quality objectives. The program shall have a dual function of restoration and protection of river resources and reduction of environmental human health risks in the surrounding communities. (b) Location.--The pilot program under this section shall be carried out in the Anacostia River watershed, District of Columbia and Maryland. (c) Activities.--In carrying out the program under this section, the Administrator shall-- (1) integrate on a community or geographic basis the regulatory and nonregulatory programs of the Environmental Protection Agency with other Federal, State, and local government programs and provide effective coordination among such programs; (2) support baseline monitoring efforts of State and local governments to determine key trends in ambient environmental conditions for the purpose of filling gaps in critical data about the environmental condition of the watershed; (3) develop and maintain environmental indicators in conjunction with interested public entities and ensure regular public reporting of these indicators; (4) provide grants in accordance with subsection (d) to local community groups and nonprofit organizations to foster community involvement in the decisionmaking process, environmental educational goals, and restoration strategies; (5) assist in the establishment of measurable goals for such restoration; (6) maintain annual program plans which provide for public input; (7) provide opportunities for the education of school children and community groups on local environmental resources and on what individuals can do to reduce environmental and health risks; (8) develop consensus strategies for the restoration and protection of the watershed in cooperation with other Federal, State, and local groups to address critical issues and needs; (9) maintain a biennial Federal work planning process for Federal landholders and programmatic agencies to identify specific opportunities and needs for Federal activities in support of the pilot program's goals; (10) demonstrate new technologies and approaches which are applicable nationally to stormwater management, combined sewer overflow control, floatables reduction, forest buffer restoration, and other activities being conducted under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act; (11) participate in urban habitat improvement projects in the watershed on a demonstration basis; (12) assist in the implementation of the regional action plan for toxics reduction and prevention in the watershed; (13) implement on the ground projects for restoration of the watershed to the extent they are unique or transferable to national audiences; and (14) maintain and enhance the Biennial Work Plan for the Anacostia River Watershed published by the United States Army Corp of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency on April 22, 1997, for the purpose of identifying specific opportunities for Federal landholders to contribute to the pilot program. (d) Challenge Grants.-- (1) Set-aside.--The Administrator may set aside no less than $400,000 of amounts appropriated to carry out this section for each fiscal year to make grants under subsection (c)(4). (2) Environmental protection agency share.--The Environmental Protection Agency's share of the costs of activities to be carried out with a grant under this section shall be not less than 75 percent. The remaining share of such costs may be provided through in-kind contributions and may be provided from Federal funds appropriated to carry out any law, other than this Act, if the Federal agency making such funds available agrees. (e) Coordination.--In carrying out the pilot program under this section, the Administrator shall work in coordination with other Federal agencies, particularly the Army Corps of Engineers, to identify projects and activities which are supportive of the goals of the pilot program. (f) Reports.--The Administrator shall transmit to Congress by January 1 of each fiscal years 2000 through 2004 a report on the activities carried out under, and results of, the pilot program during the preceding fiscal year, including a report on the technical, managerial, and public involvement aspects of the pilot program which are transferable to other urban areas. (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $750,000 for each of fiscal years 2000 through 2004. Such sums shall remain available until expended.
summary: Authorizes the Administrator to set aside amounts for grants to local community groups and nonprofit organizations to foster community involvement in the decision making process, environmental educational goals, and restoration strategies. Authorizes appropriations.