Division G — Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2018

The mineral estate identified in Bureau of Land Management contracts number CA 20139 and CA 22901 is hereby withdrawn from all forms of mineral entry authority of the Secretary, subject to valid existing rights.

$1,393,887,000 shall be for making capitalization grants for the Clean Water State Revolving Funds under title VI of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act; and of which $863,233,000 shall be for making capitalization grants for the Drinking Water State Revolving Funds under section 1452 of the Safe Drinking Water Act: Provided, That for fiscal year 2018, to the extent there are sufficient eligible project applications and projects are consistent with State Intended Use Plans, not less than 10 percent of the funds made available under this title to each State for Clean Water State Revolving Fund capitalization grants shall be used by the State for projects to address green infrastructure, water or energy efficiency improvements, or other environmentally innovative activities: Provided further, That for fiscal year 2018, funds made available under this title to each State for Drinking Water State Revolving Fund capitalization grants may, at the discretion of each State, be used for projects to address green infrastructure, water or energy efficiency improvements, or other environmentally innovative activities: Provided further, That notwithstanding section 603(d)(7) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the limitation on the amounts in a State water pollution control revolving fund that may be used by a State to administer the fund shall not apply to amounts included as principal in loans made by such fund in fiscal year 2018 and prior years where such amounts represent costs of administering the fund to the extent that such amounts are or were deemed reasonable by the Administrator, accounted for separately from other assets in the fund, and used for eligible purposes of the fund, including administration: Provided further, That for fiscal year 2018, notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (g)(1), (h), and (l) of section 201 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, grants made under title II of such Act for American Samoa, Guam, the commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, the United States Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia may also be made for the purpose of providing assistance: (1) solely for facility plans, design activities, or plans, specifications, and estimates for any proposed project for the construction of treatment works; and (2) for the construction, repair, or replacement of privately owned treatment works serving one or more principal residences or small commercial establishments: Provided further, That for fiscal year 2018, notwithstanding the provisions of such subsections (g)(1), (h), and (l) of section 201 and section 518(c) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, funds reserved by the Administrator for grants under section 518(c) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act may also be used to provide assistance: (1) solely for facility plans, design activities, or plans, specifications, and estimates for any proposed project for the construction of treatment works; and (2) for the construction, repair, or replacement of privately owned treatment works serving one or more principal residences or small commercial establishments: Provided further, That for fiscal year 2018, notwithstanding any provision of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and regulations issued pursuant thereof, up to a total of $2,000,000 of the funds reserved by the Administrator for grants under section 518(c) of such Act may also be used for grants for training, technical assistance, and educational programs relating to the operation and management of the treatment works specified in section 518(c) of such Act: Provided further, That for fiscal year 2018, funds reserved under section 518(c) of such Act shall be available for grants only to Indian tribes, as defined in section 518(h) of such Act and former Indian reservations in Oklahoma (as determined by the Secretary of the Interior) and Native Villages as defined in Public Law 92–203: Provided further, That for fiscal year 2018, notwithstanding the limitation on amounts in section 518(c) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, up to a total of 2 percent of the funds appropriated, or $30,000,000, whichever is greater, and notwithstanding the limitation on amounts in section 1452(i) of the Safe Drinking Water Act, up to a total of 2 percent of the funds appropriated, or $20,000,000, whichever is greater, for State Revolving Funds under such Acts may be reserved by the Administrator for grants under section 518(c) and section 1452(i) of such Acts: Provided further, That for fiscal year 2018, notwithstanding the amounts specified in section 205(c) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, up to 1.5 percent of the aggregate funds appropriated for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund program under the Act less any sums reserved under section 518(c) of the Act, may be reserved by the Administrator for grants made under title II of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act for American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, and United States Virgin Islands: Provided further, That for fiscal year 2018, notwithstanding the limitations on amounts specified in section 1452(j) of the Safe Drinking Water Act, up to 1.5 percent of the funds appropriated for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund programs under the Safe Drinking Water Act may be reserved by the Administrator for grants made under section 1452(j) of the Safe Drinking Water Act: Provided further, That 10 percent of the funds made available under this title to each State for Clean Water State Revolving Fund capitalization grants and 20 percent of the funds made available under this title to each State for Drinking Water State Revolving Fund capitalization grants shall be used by the State to provide additional subsidy to eligible recipients in the form of forgiveness of principal, negative interest loans, or grants (or any combination of these), and shall be so used by the State only where such funds are provided as initial financing for an eligible recipient or to buy, refinance, or restructure the debt obligations of eligible recipients only where such debt was incurred on or after the date of enactment of this Act, or where such debt was incurred prior to the date of enactment of this Act if the State, with concurrence from the Administrator, determines that such funds could be used to help address a threat to public health from heightened exposure to lead in drinking water or if a Federal or State emergency declaration has been issued due to a threat to public health from heightened exposure to lead in a municipal drinking water supply before the date of enactment of this Act: Provided further, That in a State in which such an emergency declaration has been issued, the State may use more than 20 percent of the funds made available under this title to the State for Drinking Water State Revolving Fund capitalization grants to provide additional subsidy to eligible recipients;

$10,000,000 shall be for architectural, engineering, planning, design, construction and related activities in connection with the construction of high priority water and wastewater facilities in the area of the United States-Mexico Border, after consultation with the appropriate border commission: Provided, That no funds provided by this appropriations Act to address the water, wastewater and other critical infrastructure needs of the colonias in the United States along the United States-Mexico border shall be made available to a county or municipal government unless that government has established an enforceable local ordinance, or other zoning rule, which prevents in that jurisdiction the development or construction of any additional colonia areas, or the development within an existing colonia the construction of any new home, business, or other structure which lacks water, wastewater, or other necessary infrastructure;

$20,000,000 shall be for grants to the State of Alaska to address drinking water and wastewater infrastructure needs of rural and Alaska Native Villages: Provided, That of these funds: (A) the State of Alaska shall provide a match of 25 percent; (B) no more than 5 percent of the funds may be used for administrative and overhead expenses; and (C) the State of Alaska shall make awards consistent with the Statewide priority list established in conjunction with the Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture for all water, sewer, waste disposal, and similar projects carried out by the State of Alaska that are funded under section 221 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1301) or the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1921 et seq.) which shall allocate not less than 25 percent of the funds provided for projects in regional hub communities;

$80,000,000 shall be to carry out section 104(k) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), including grants, interagency agreements, and associated program support costs: Provided, That not more than 25 percent of the amount appropriated to carry out section 104(k) of CERCLA shall be used for site characterization, assessment, and remediation of facilities described in section 101(39)(D)(ii)(II) of CERCLA: Provided further, That at least 10 percent shall be allocated for assistance in persistent poverty counties: Provided further, That for purposes of this section, the term “persistent poverty counties” means any county that has had 20 percent or more of its population living in poverty over the past 30 years, as measured by the 1990 and 2000 decennial censuses and the most recent Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates;

$75,000,000 shall be for grants under title VII, subtitle G of the Energy Policy Act of 2005;

$40,000,000 shall be for targeted airshed grants in accordance with the terms and conditions in the explanatory statement described in section 4 (in the matter preceding division A of this consolidated Act);

$4,000,000 shall be to carry out the water quality program authorized in section 5004(d) of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (Public Law 114–322); and

$1,076,041,000 shall be for grants, including associated program support costs, to States, federally recognized tribes, interstate agencies, tribal consortia, and air pollution control agencies for multi-media or single media pollution prevention, control and abatement and related activities, including activities pursuant to the provisions set forth under this heading in Public Law 104–134, and for making grants under section 103 of the Clean Air Act for particulate matter monitoring and data collection activities subject to terms and conditions specified by the Administrator, of which: $47,745,000 shall be for carrying out section 128 of CERCLA; $9,646,000 shall be for Environmental Information Exchange Network grants, including associated program support costs; $1,498,000 shall be for grants to States under section 2007(f)(2) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act, which shall be in addition to funds appropriated under the heading “Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund Program” to carry out the provisions of the Solid Waste Disposal Act specified in section 9508(c) of the Internal Revenue Code other than section 9003(h) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act; $17,848,000 of the funds available for grants under section 106 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act shall be for State participation in national- and State-level statistical surveys of water resources and enhancements to State monitoring programs; $10,000,000 shall be for multipurpose grants, including interagency agreements: Provided, That hereafter, notwithstanding other applicable provisions of law, the funds appropriated for the Indian Environmental General Assistance Program shall be available to federally recognized tribes for solid waste and recovered materials collection, transportation, backhaul, and disposal services.

Limitation of Funds.— None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available pursuant to this Act shall be obligated or expended to accept or process applications for a patent for any mining or mill site claim located under the general mining laws.

Exceptions.— Subsection (a) shall not apply if the Secretary of the Interior determines that, for the claim concerned (1) a patent application was filed with the Secretary on or before September 30, 1994; and (2) all requirements established under sections 2325 and 2326 of the Revised Statutes (30 U.S.C. 29 and 30) for vein or lode claims, sections 2329, 2330, 2331, and 2333 of the Revised Statutes (30 U.S.C. 35, 36, and 37) for placer claims, and section 2337 of the Revised Statutes (30 U.S.C. 42) for mill site claims, as the case may be, were fully complied with by the applicant by that date.

Report.— On September 30, 2019, the Secretary of the Interior shall file with the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report on actions taken by the Department under the plan submitted pursuant to section 314(c) of the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 (Public Law 104–208).

Mineral Examinations.— In order to process patent applications in a timely and responsible manner, upon the request of a patent applicant, the Secretary of the Interior shall allow the applicant to fund a qualified third-party contractor to be selected by the Director of the Bureau of Land Management to conduct a mineral examination of the mining claims or mill sites contained in a patent application as set forth in subsection (b). The Bureau of Land Management shall have the sole responsibility to choose and pay the third-party contractor in accordance with the standard procedures employed by the Bureau of Land Management in the retention of third-party contractors.

Federal law specifically authorizes a contract to be entered into without regard for these requirements, including formula grants for States, or federally recognized Indian tribes; or

such contract is authorized by the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (Public Law 93–638, 25 U.S.C. 450 et seq.) or by any other Federal laws that specifically authorize a contract within an Indian tribe as defined in section 4(e) of that Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(e)); or

such contract was awarded prior to the date of enactment of this Act.

Any agency receiving funds made available in this Act, shall, subject to subsections (b) and (c), post on the public website of that agency any report required to be submitted by the Congress in this or any other Act, upon the determination by the head of the agency that it shall serve the national interest.

Subsection (a) shall not apply to a report if—

The head of the agency posting such report shall do so only after such report has been made available to the requesting Committee or Committees of Congress for no less than 45 days.

The Chairperson shall only award a grant to an individual if such grant is awarded to such individual for a literature fellowship, National Heritage Fellowship, or American Jazz Masters Fellowship.

The Chairperson shall establish procedures to ensure that no funding provided through a grant, except a grant made to a State or local arts agency, or regional group, may be used to make a grant to any other organization or individual to conduct activity independent of the direct grant recipient. Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit payments made in exchange for goods and services.

No grant shall be used for seasonal support to a group, unless the application is specific to the contents of the season, including identified programs or projects.

In providing services or awarding financial assistance under the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 from funds appropriated under this Act, the Chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts shall ensure that priority is given to providing services or awarding financial assistance for projects, productions, workshops, or programs that serve underserved populations.

In this section:

In providing services and awarding financial assistance under the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act of 1965 with funds appropriated by this Act, the Chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts shall ensure that priority is given to providing services or awarding financial assistance for projects, productions, workshops, or programs that will encourage public knowledge, education, understanding, and appreciation of the arts.

With funds appropriated by this Act to carry out section 5 of the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act of 1965—

None of the funds made available in this Act may be used to maintain or establish a computer network unless such network is designed to block access to pornography websites.

Nothing in subsection (a) shall limit the use of funds necessary for any Federal, State, tribal, or local law enforcement agency or any other entity carrying out criminal investigations, prosecution, or adjudication activities.

Subsection (a) shall not apply in any case or category of cases in which the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (in this section referred to as the “Administrator”) finds that—

If the Administrator receives a request for a waiver under this section, the Administrator shall make available to the public on an informal basis a copy of the request and information available to the Administrator concerning the request, and shall allow for informal public input on the request for at least 15 days prior to making a finding based on the request. The Administrator shall make the request and accompanying information available by electronic means, including on the official public Internet Web site of the Environmental Protection Agency.

This section shall be applied in a manner consistent with United States obligations under international agreements.

The Administrator may retain up to 0.25 percent of the funds appropriated in this Act for the Clean and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds for carrying out the provisions described in subsection (a)(1) for management and oversight of the requirements of this section.

For an additional amount for “Environmental Protection Agency—Hazardous Substance Superfund”, $63,000,000, of which $54,389,000 shall be for the Superfund Remedial program and $8,611,000 shall be for the Superfund Emergency Response and Removal program, to remain available until expended, consisting of such sums as are available in the Trust Fund on September 30, 2017, as authorized by section 517(a) of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA) and up to $63,000,000 as a payment from general revenues to the Hazardous Substance Superfund for purposes as authorized by section 517(b) of SARA.

For an additional amount for “Environmental Protection Agency—State and Tribal Assistance Grants,” for environmental programs and infrastructure assistance, including capitalization grants for State revolving funds and performance partnership grants, $650,000,000 to remain available until expended, of which—

For an additional amount for “Environmental Protection Agency—Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Program Account”, $53,000,000, to remain available until expended, for the cost of direct loans, for the cost of guaranteed loans, and for administrative expenses to carry out the direct and guaranteed loan programs, of which $3,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2019, may be used for such administrative expenses: Provided, That these additional funds are available to subsidize gross obligations for the principal amount of direct loans, including capitalized interest, and total loan principal, including capitalized interest, any part of which is to be guaranteed, not to exceed $6,100,000,000.

ensure that Federal policy relating to forest bioenergy—

establish clear and simple policies for the use of forest biomass as an energy solution, including policies that—