A bill to reauthorize the Cooperative Watershed Management Program, and for other purposes.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4041 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4041

 To reauthorize the Cooperative Watershed Management Program, and for
                            other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 10, 2026

Mr. Daines (for himself and Mr. Hickenlooper) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 To reauthorize the Cooperative Watershed Management Program, and for
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Cooperative Watershed Management
Program Reauthorization Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. COOPERATIVE WATERSHED MANAGEMENT PROGRAM.

    (a) Definitions.--Section 6001 of the Omnibus Public Land
Management Act of 2009 (16 U.S.C. 1015) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through (7) as
        paragraphs (5) through (8), respectively;
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
            ``(4) Indian tribe.--The term `Indian tribe' has the
        meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self-
        Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304).'';
        and
            (3) in paragraph (7) (as so redesignated), in subparagraph
        (B)(v)--
                    (A) in subclause (I), by striking ``or'' at the
                end;
                    (B) in subclause (II), by inserting ``or'' after
                the semicolon; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                                    ``(III) has ancestral lands within
                                the watershed;''.
    (b) Program.--Section 6002 of the Omnibus Public Land Management
Act of 2009 (16 U.S.C. 1015a) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)(B)--
                            (i) in clause (i), by striking ``interests;
                        or'' and inserting ``interests, including
                        Indian tribes;'';
                            (ii) by redesignating clause (ii) as clause
                        (iii); and
                            (iii) by inserting after clause (i) the
                        following:
                            ``(ii) demonstrate significant need due to
                        drought, wildfire, or other natural disaster;
                        or'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking
                        ``$100,000'' and all that follows through the
                        period at the end and inserting ``$150,000 each
                        year for a period of not less than 3 years,
                        subject to the sufficiency of applications
                        submitted and the availability of
                        appropriations.'';
                            (ii) by striking clause (iii);
                            (iii) by redesignating clauses (iv) and (v)
                        as clauses (iii) and (iv), respectively; and
                            (iv) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(v) Continuation and extension.--
                                    ``(I) In general.--The Secretary
                                may, at the discretion of the
                                Secretary, issue a continuation of the
                                first-phase grant for not more than 2
                                additional years if the recipient of
                                the first-phase grant has demonstrated
                                satisfactory performance with
                                implementation of the proposal under
                                the initial grant, as determined by the
                                Secretary.
                                    ``(II) Amounts.--A grant continued
                                pursuant to subclause (I) shall be in
                                an amount not greater than $150,000
                                each year, as determined to be
                                appropriate by the Secretary.'';
                    (C) in paragraph (3)(B)(ii), by striking
                ``quantity.'' and inserting the following: ``quantity,
                including--
                                    ``(I) grant writing;
                                    ``(II) project management; and
                                    ``(III) technical assistance, such
                                as feasibility, design, preliminary
                                environmental review, and
                                engineering.''; and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) Continuous enrollment.--The Secretary shall--
                    ``(A) make funding opportunities for the program
                available on a regular basis; and
                    ``(B) allow applications for grants under the
                program to be submitted and evaluated multiple times
                during a calendar year.'';
            (2) in subsection (f), in the matter preceding paragraph
        (1), by inserting ``, and make available to the public,'' after
        ``House of Representatives''; and
            (3) by striking subsection (g) and inserting the following:
    ``(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section $40,000,000 for each of fiscal
years 2027 through 2031.''.
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