authorized to assist in the construction of an Appalachian development highway system and local access roads serving the Appalachian region. The provisions of sections 106 (a) and 118 of title 23, United States Code, relating to the obligation, period of availability, and expenditure of Federal-aid highway funds, shall apply to the development highway system and the local access roads, and all other provisions of such title 23 that are applicable to the construction and maintenance of Federal-aid primary and secondary highways and which the Secretary determines are not inconsistent with this Act shall apply, respectively, to such system and roads. Construction on the development highway system shall not exceed two thousand seven hundred miles. Construction of local access roads shall not exceed one thousand six hundred miles that will serve specific recreational, residential, educational, commercial, industrial, or other like facilities or will facilitate a school consolidation program.

(b) The Commission shall transmit to the Secretary its designations of (1) the general corridor location and termini of the development highways, (2) local access roads to be constructed, (3) priorities for the construction of segments of the development highways, and (4) other criteria for the program authorized by this section. Before any State member participates in or votes on such designations, he shall have obtained the recommendations of the State highway department of the State which he represents.

(c) In no event shall the Secretary assist in any construction (including right-of-way acquisition) which would require for its completion the expenditure of Federal funds (other than funds available under title 23, United States Code) in excess of the appropriations authorization in subsection (g). On its completion each development highway not already on the Federal- aid primary system shall be added to such system and each development highway and local access road shall be required to be maintained by the State as provided for Federalaid highways in title 23, United States Code.

(d) In the construction of highways and roads authorized under this section, the States may give special preference to the use of materials and products indigenous to the Appalachian region.

(e) For the purposes of research and development in the use of coal and coal products in highway construction and maintenance, the Secretary is authorized to require each participating State, to the maximum extent possible, to use coal derivatives in the construction of not to exceed 10 per centum of the roads authorized under this Act.

(f) Federal assistance to any construction project under this section shall not exceed 50 per centum of the costs of such project, unless the Commission determines that assistance in excess of such percentage is required in furtherance of the purposes of this Act, but in no event shall such Federal assistance exceed 70 per centum of such costs.

(g) To carry out this section there is hereby authorized to be appropriated to the President, to be available until expended, $175,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1970; $175,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1971; $175,000,00 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1972; and $170,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1973.

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(h) (1) When a participating State proceeds to construct a segment of a development highway without the aid of Federal funds, in accordance with all procedures and requirements applicable to the construction of segments of Applachian development highways with such funds, except insofar as such procedures and requirements limit a State to the construction of projects for which Federal funds have previously been appropriated, the Secretary, upon application by the State and with the approval of the Commission, is authorized to pay to the State the Federal share not to exceed 70 per centum of the costs of the construction of such segment, from any sums appropriated and allocated to such State to carry out this section.

(2) This subsection shall not be construed as a commitment or obligation on the part of the United States to provide funds for segments of development highways constructed under this subsection, and shall not increase the limitation on construction in subsection (c).

DEMONSTRATION HEALTH PROJECTS

SEC. 202(a). In order to demonstrate the value of adequate health facilities and services to the economic development of the region, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare is authorized to make grants for the planning, construction, equipment, and operation of multicounty demonstration health, nutrition, and child care projects, including hospitals, regional health diagnostic and treatment centers and other facilities and services necessary for the purposes of this section. Grants for such construction (including the acquisition of privately owned facilities not operated for profit and initial equipment) shall be made in accordance with the applicable provisions of title VI of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 291-2910), the Mental Retardation Facilities and Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act of 1963 (77 Stat. 282), and other laws authorizing grants for the construction of health-related facilities, without regard to any provisions therein relating to appropriation authorization ceilings or to allotments among the States. Grants under this section shall be made solely out of funds specifically appropriated for the purpose of carrying out this Act and shall not be taken into account in the computation of the allotments among the States made pursuant to any other provision of law.

(b) No grant for the construction or equipment of any component of a demonstration health project shall exceed 80 per centum of such costs. The Federal contribution may be provided entirely from funds authorized under this section or in combination with funds provided under other Federal grant-in-aid programs for the construction or equipment of health-related facilities. Notwithstanding any provision of law limiting the Federal share in such other programs, funds authorized under this section may be used to increase Federal grants for component facilities of a demonstration health project to a maximum of 80 per centum of the costs of such facilities.

(c) Grants under this section for operation (including initial operating funds and operating deficits comprising among other items the costs of attracting, training, and retaining qualified personnel) of a demonstration health project, whether or not constructed with funds.

authorized by this section, may be made for up to 100 per centum of the costs thereof for the two-year period beginning, for each component facility or service assisted under any such operating grant, on the first day that such facility or service is in operation as a part of the project. For the next three years of operations such grants shall not exceed 75 per centum of such costs. The Federal contribution may be provided entirely from funds appropriated to carry out this section or in combination with funds provided under other Federal grant-in-aid programs for the operation of health related facilities and the provision of health services. Notwithstanding any provision of law limiting the Federal share in such other programs, funds appropriated to carry out this section may be used to increase Federal grants for operating components of a demonstration health project to the maximum percentage cost thereof authorized by this subsection.

No grant for operation of a demonstration health project shall be made unless the facility is publicly owned, or owned by a public or private nonprofit organization, and is not operated for profit. No grants for operation of a demonstration health project shall be made after five years following the commencement of the initial grant for operation of the project. No such grants shall be made unless the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare is satisfied that the operation of the project will be conducted under efficient management practices designed to obviate operating deficits. Notwithstanding section 104 of the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (79 Stat. 554), a health-related facility constructed under title I of that Act may be a component of a demonstration health project eligible for operating grant assistance under this section.

(d) The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare is authorized to provide funds to the Commission for the support of its Health Advisory Committee and to make grants for expenses of planning necessary for the development and operation of demonstration health projects for the region. The amount of any such grant shall not exceed 75 per centum of such expenses.

(e) In order to provide for the further development of the Appalachian region's human resources, grants under this section shall give special emphasis to programs and research for the early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of occupational diseases arising from coal mining, such as black lung.

LAND STABILIZATION, CONSERVATION, AND EROSION CONTROL

SEC. 203. (a) In order to provide for the control and prevention of erosion and sediment damages in the Appalachian region and to promote the conservation and development of the soil and water resources of the region the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to enter into agreements of not more than ten years with landowners, operators, and occupiers, individually or collectively, in the Appalachian region determined by him to have control for the period of the agreement of the lands described therein providing for land stabilization, erosion and sediment control, and reclamation through changes in land use, and conservation treatment including the establishment of practices and measures for the conservation and development of soil, water, woodland, wildlife, and recreation resources.

(b) The landowner, operator, or occupier shall furnish to the Secretary of Agriculture a conservation and development plan setting forth the appropriate and safe land uses and conservation treatment mutually agreed by the Secretary and the landowner, operator, or occupier to be needed on the lands for which the plan was prepared.

(c) Such plan shall be incorporated in an agreement under which the landowner, operator, or occupier shall agree with the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out the land uses and conservation treatment provided for in such plan on the lands described in the agreement in accordance with the terms and conditions thereof.

(d) In return for such agreement by the landowner, operator, or occupier the Secretary of Agriculture shall be authorized to furnish financial and other assistance to such landowner, operator, or occupier in such amounts and subject to such conditions as the Secretary determines are appropriate and in the public interest for the carrying out of the land uses and conservation treatment set forth in the agreement: Provided, That grants hereunder shall not exceed 80 per centum of the cost of carrying out such land uses and conservation treatment on fifty acres of land occupied by such owner, operator, or occupier.

(e) The Secretary of Agriculture may terminate any agreement with a landowner, operator, or occupier by mutual agreement if the Secretary determines that such termination would be in the public interest, and may agree to such modification of agreements previously entered into hereunder as he deems desirable to carry out the purposes of this section or to facilitate the practical administration of the program authorized herein.

(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of Agriculture, to the extent he deems it desirable to carry out the purposes of this section, may provide in any agreement hereunder for (1) preservation for a period not to exceed the period covered by the agreement and an equal period thereafter of the cropland, crop acreage, and allotment history applicable to land covered by the agreement for the purpose of any Federal program under which such history is used as a basis for an allotment or other limitation on the production of such crop; or (2) surrender of any such history and allotments.

(g) The Secretary of Agriculture shall be authorized to issue such rules and regulations as he determines are necessary to carry out the provisions of this section.

(h) In carrying out the provisions of this section, the Secretary of Agriculture shall utilize the services of the Soil Conservation Service, and the State and local committees provided for in section 8(b) of the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act (16 U.S.C. 590 (b)), and is authorized to utilize the facilities, services, and authorities of the Commodity Credit Corporation. The Corporation shall not make any expenditures to carry out the provisions of this subsection unless funds specifically appropriated for such purpose has been transferred to it.

(i) Not to exceed $19,000,000 of the funds authorized in section 401 of this Act for the two-fiscal-year period ending June 30, 1969, shall be available to carry out this section.

TIMBER DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS

SEC. 204. (a) In order that the region shall more fully benefit from the timber stands that are one of its prime assets, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to

(1) provide technical assistance in the organization and operation, under State law, of private timber development organizations having as their objective the carrying out of timber development programs to improve timber productivity and quality, and increase returns to landowners through establishment of private nonprofit corporations, which on a self-supporting basis may provide (A) continuity of management, good cutting practices, and marketing services, (B) physical consolidation of small holdings or administrative consolidation for efficient management under long-term agreement, (C) management of forest lands, donated to the timber development organizations for demonstrating good forest management, on a profitable and taxpaying basis, and (D) establishment of a permanent fund for perpetuation of the work of the corporations to be composed of donations, real or personal, for educational purposes.

(2) provide not more than one-half of the initial capital requirements of such timber development organizations through loans under the applicable provisions of the Consolidated Farmers Home Administration Act of 1961 (7 U.S.C. 1926 et seq.). Such loans shall not be used for the construction or acquisition of facilities for manufacturing, processing, or marketing forest products, or for physical consolidation of small timber holdings authorized by (1) (B) above except for the establishment of

demonstration units.

(b) The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to provide technical assistance, make grants, enter into contracts, or otherwise provide funds, first to colleges, universities and other institutions of higher education (with priority to land grant schools), and thereafter to forest products research institutions in the region and other appropriate public and private organizations, which schools, institutions and organizations have the demonstrated capability to perform such research, for Appalachian hardwood products research, including investigations, studies, and demonstrations, which will further the purposes of this Act. Funds shall be provided only for programs and projects which will contribute significantly to the development of (1) Appalachian hardwood technology, (2) new or improved uses of Appalachian hardwood resources, (3) new or improved processes or methods for producing hardwood products, or (4) new or improved markets for such products. Funds under this section shall be provided solely out of sums specifically appropriated for the purpose of carrying out this Act, and shall not be taken into account in the allocation or distribution of funds pursuant to any other provision of law.

(c) Not to exceed $2,000,000 of the funds authorized in section 401 of this Act for the two-fiscal-year period ending June 30, 1969, shall be available to carry out the purposes of subsection (b) of this section.