TITLE I-THE APPALACHIAN REGIONAL COMMISSION

MEMBERSHIP AND VOTING

SEC. 101. (a) There is hereby established an Appalachian Regional Commission (hereinafter referred to as the "Commission") which shall be composed of one Federal member, hereinafter referred to as the "Federal Cochairman", appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and one member from each participating State in the Appalachian region. The Federal Cochairman shall be one of the two Cochairmen of the Commission. Each State member may be the Governor, or his designee, or such other person as may be provided by the law of the State which he represents. The State members of the Commission shall elect a Cochairman of the Commission from among their number.

(b) Except as provided in section 105, decisions by the Commission shall require the affirmative vote of the Federal Cochairman and of a majority of the State members (exclusive of members representing States delinquent under section 105). In matters coming before the Commission, the Federal Cochairman shall, to the extent practicable, consult with the Federal departments and agencies having an interest in the subject matter.

(c) Each State member shall have an alternate, appointed by the Governor or as otherwise may be provided by the law of the State which he represents. The President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint an alternate for the Federal Cochairman. An alternate shall vote in the event of the absence, death, disability, removal, or resignation of the State or Federal representative for which he is an alternate.

(d) The Federal Cochairman shall be compensated by the Federal Government at level IV of the Federal Executive Salary Schedule of the Federal Executive Salary Act of 1964. His alternate shall be compensated by the Federal Government at not to exceed the maximum scheduled rate for grade GS-18 of the Classification Act of 1949, as amended, and when not actively serving as an alternate for the Federal Cochairman shall perform such functions and duties as are delegated to him by the Federal Cochairman. Each State member and his alternate shall be compensated by the State which they represent at the rate established by the law of such State.

FUNCTIONS OF THE COMMISSION

SEC. 102. In carrying out the purposes of this Act, the Commission shall— (1) develop, on a continuing basis, comprehensive and coordinated plans and programs and establish priorities thereunder, giving due consideration to other Federal, State, and local planning in the region;

(2) conduct and sponsor investigations, research, and studies, including an inventory and analysis of the resources of the region, and, in cooperation with Federal, State, and local agencies, sponsor demonstration projects designed to foster regional productivity and growth;

(3) review and study, in cooperation with the agency involved, Federal, State, and local public and private programs and, where appropriate, recommend modifications or additions which will increase their effectiveness in the region;

(4) formulate and recommend, where appropriate, interstate compacts and other forms of interstate cooperation, and work with State and local agencies in developing appropriate model legislation;

(5) encourage the formation of local development districts;

(6) encourage private investment in industrial, commercial, and recreational projects;

(7) serve as a focal point and coordinating unit for Appalachian programs; (8) provide a forum for consideration of problems of the region and proposed solutions and establish and utilize, as appropriate, citizens and special advisory councils and public conferences; and

(9) advise the Secretary of Commerce on applications for grants for administrative expenses to local development districts.

RECOMMENDATIONS

SEC. 103. The Commission may, from time to time, make recommendations to the President and to the State Governors and appropriate local officials with respect to

(1) the expenditure of funds by Federal, State, and local departments and agencies in the region in the fields of natural resources, agriculture, education, training, health and welfare, and other fields related to the purposes of this Act; and

(2) such additional Federal, State, and local legislation or administrative actions as the Commission deems necessary to further the purposes of this Act.

LIAISON BETWEEN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND THE COMMISSION

SEC. 104. The President shall provide effective and continuing liaison between the Federal Government and the Commission and a coordinated review within the Federal Government of the plans and recommendations submitted by the Commission pursuant to sections 102 and 103.

ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES OF THE COMMISSION

SEC. 105. (a) For the period ending on June 30 of the second full Federal fiscal year following the date of enactment of this Act, the administrative expenses of the Commission shall be paid by the Federal Government. Thereafter, such expenses shall be paid equally by the Federal Government and the States in the region. The share to be paid by each State shall be determined by the Commission. The Federal Cochairman shall not participate or vote in such determination. No assistance authorized by this Act shall be furnished to any State or to any political subdivision or any resident of any State, nor shall the State member of the Commission participate or vote in any determination by the Commission while such State is delinquent in payment of its share of such expenses.

(b) Not to exceed $2,200,000 of the funds authorized in section 401 of this Act shall be available to carry out this section.

ADMINISTRATIVE POWERS OF COMMISSION

SEC. 106. To carry out its duties under this Act, the Commission is authorized to(1) adopt, amend, and repeal bylaws, rules, and regulations governing the conduct of its business and the performance of its functions.

(2) appoint and fix the compensation of an executive director and such other personnel as may be necessary to enable the Commission to carry out its functions, except that such compensation shall not exceed the salary of the alternate to the Federal Cochairman on the Commission as provided in section 101. No member, alternate, officer, or employee of the Commission, other than the Federal Cochairman on the Commission and his alternate and Federal employees detailed to the Commission under paragraph (3) shall be deemed a Federal employee for any purpose.

(3) request the head of any Federal department or agency (who is hereby so authorized) to detail to temporary duty with the Commission such personnel within his administrative jurisdiction as the Commission may need for carrying out its functions, each such detail to be without loss of seniority, pay, or other employee status.

(4) arrange for the services of personnel from any State or local government or any subdivision or agency thereof, or any intergovernmental agency. (5) make arrangements, including contracts, with any participating State government for inclusion in a suitable retirement and employee benefit system of such of its personnel as may not be eligible for, or continue in, another governmental retirement or employee benefit system, or otherwise provide for such coverage of its personnel. The Civil Service Commission of the United States is authorized to contract with the Commission for continued coverage of Commission employees, who at date of Commission employment are Federal employees, in the retirement program and other employee benefit programs of the Federal Government.

(6) accept, use, and dispose of gifts or donations of services or property, real, personal, or mixed, tangible or intangible.

(7) enter into and perform such contracts, leases, cooperative agreements, or other transactions as may be necessary in carrying out its functions and on such terms as it may deem appropriate, with any department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States or with any State, or any political subdivision, agency, or instrumentality thereof, or with any person, firm, association, or corporation.

(8) maintain a temporary office in the District of Columbia and establish a permanent office at such location as it may select and field offices at such other places as it may deem appropriate.

(9) take such other actions and incur such other expenses as may be necessary or appropriate.

INFORMATION

SEC. 107. In order to obtain information needed to carry out its duties, the Commission shall

(1) hold such hearings, sit and act at such times and places, take such testimony, receive such evidence, and print or otherwise reproduce and distribute so much of its proceedings and reports thereon as it may deem advisable, a Cochairman of the Commission, or any member of the Commission designated by the Commission for the purpose, being hereby authorized to administer oaths when it is determined by the Commission that testimony shall be taken or evidence received under oath;

(2) arrange for the head of any Federal, State, or local department or agency (who is hereby so authorized, to the extent not otherwise prohibited by law) to furnish to the Commission such information as may be available to or procurable by such department or agency; and

(3) keep accurate and complete records of its doings and transactions which shall be made available for public inspection.

PERSONAL FINANCIAL INTERESTS

SEC. 108. (a) Except as permitted by subsection (b) hereof, no State member or alternate and no officer or employee of the Commission shall participate personally and substantially as member, alternate, officer, or employee, through decision, approval, disapproval, recommendation, the rendering of advice, investigation, or otherwise, in any proceeding, application, request for a ruling or other determination, contract, claim, controversy, or other particular matter in which, to his knowledge, he, his spouse, minor child, partner, organization (other than a State or political subdivision thereof) in which he is serving as officer, director, trustee, partner, or employee, or any person or organization with whom he is serving as officer, director, trustee, partner, or employee, or any person or organization with whom he is negotiating or has any arrangement concerning prospective employment, has a financial interest. Any person who shall violate the provisions of this subsection shall be fined not more than $10,000, or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

(b) Subsection (a) hereof shall not apply if the State member, alternate, officer, or employee first advises the Commission of the nature and circumstances of the proceeding, application, request for a ruling or other determination, contract, claim, controversy, or other particular matter and makes full disclosure of the financial interest and receives in advance a written determination made by the Commission that the interest is not so substantial as to be deemed likely to affect the integrity of the services which the Commission may expect from such State member, alternate, officer, or employee.

(c) No State member or alternate shall receive any salary, or any contribution to or supplementation of salary for his services on the Commission from any source other than his State. No person detailed to serve the Commission under authority of paragraph (4) of section 106 shall receive any salary or any contribution to or supplementation of salary for his services on the Commission from any source other than the State, local, or intergovernmental department or agency from which he was detailed or from the Commission. Any person who shall violate the provisions of this subsection shall be fined not more than $5,000, or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

(d) Notwithstanding any other subsection of this section, the Federal Cochairman and his alternate on the Commission and any Federal officers or employees detailed to duty with it pursuant to paragraph (3) of section 106 shall not be subject to any such subsection but shall remain subject to sections 202 through 209 of title 18, United States Code.

(e) The Commission may, in its discretion, declare void and rescind any contract, loan, or grant of or by the Commission in relation to which it finds that there has been a violation of subsection (a) or (c) of this section, or any of the provisions of sections 202 through 209, title 18, United States Code.

TITLE II-SPECIAL APPALACHIAN PROGRAMS

PART A-NEW PROGRAMS

APPALACHIAN DEVELOPMENT HIGHWAY SYSTEM

SEC. 201. (a) The Secretary of Commerce (hereafter in this section referred to as the "Secretary") is authorized to assist in the construction of an Appalachian development highway system serving the Appalachian region (not to exceed a total of three thousand three hundred and fifty miles in length of which total not to exceed one thousand miles shall be local access roads that will serve specific recreational, residential, commercial, industrial, or other like facilities or will facilitate a school consolidation program). The system, in conjunction with the Interstate System and other Federal-aid highways in the region will provide a highway system which will open up an area or areas with a developmental potential where commerce and communication have been inhibited by lack of adequate access. The provisions of title 23, United States Code, that are applicable to Federal-aid primary highways, and which the Secretary determines are not inconsistent with this Act, shall apply to the Appalachian development highway system.

(b) As soon as feasible, the Commission shall submit to the Secretary its recommendations with respect to (1) the general corridor location and termini of the development highways, (2) the designation of local access roads to be constructed, (3) priorities for construction of the local access roads and of the major 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 recommendations, he shall have obtained the recommendations of the State highway department of the State which he represents.

(c) The Secretary shall have authority to approve in whole or in part such recommendations or to require modifications or revisions thereof. In no event shall the Secretary approve any recommendations for any construction 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 appropriation authorizations in subsection (g). On its completion each development highway not already on the Federal-aid primary system shall be added to such system and shall be required to be maintained by the State.

(d) In the construction of highways and roads authorized under this section, the States may give special preference to the use of mineral resource materials 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 Secretary determines, pursuant to the recommendation of the Commission, 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 $840,000,000.

DEMONSTRATION HEALTH FACILITIES

SEC. 202. (a) In order to demonstrate the value of adequate health and medical facilities to the economic development of the region, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare is authorized to make grants for the construction, equipment, and operation of multicounty demonstration health facilities, including hospitals, regional health diagnostic and treatment centers, and other facilities necessary to health. Grants for such construction (including initial equipment) shall be made in accordance with the applicable provisions of title VI of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 291-291z) and the Mental Retardation Facilities and Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act of 1963 (77 Stat. 282), without regard to any provisions therein relating to appropriation authorization ceiling 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 under this section for construction (including initial equipment) shall exceed 80 per centum of the cost of the project. Not to exceed $41,000,000 of the funds authorized in section 401 shall be available for construction grants under this section.

(c) Grants under this section for operation (including equipment other than initial equipment) of a project may be made up to 100 per centum of the costs thereof for the two-year period beginning on the first day such project is in operation as a health facility. For the next three years of operations such grants shall not exceed 50 per centum of such costs. No grants for operation of a project shall be made after five years following the commencement of such operations. Not to exceed $28,000,000 of the funds authorized in section 401 of this Act shall be available for operating grants under this section.

LAND IMPROVEMENT AND EROSION CONTROL

SEC. 203. (a) In order to promote the conservation and fuller utilization of the region's important land and water resources, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to make grants to landowners to assist in the improvement and development of land for pasture and erosion control in the region. Grants to any landowner under this section shall not exceed 80 per centum of the cost of improving and developing twenty-five acres of land owned by such landowner. Such improvement and development of land shall be carried out under the provisions of an agreement to be entered into by the landowner and the Secretary of Agriculture, for such period not to exceed ten years as the Secretary may determine, which shall include such terms and conditions as the Secretary may deem necessary to effectuate the purposes of this section and to assure that such improvement and development of land will be properly established, and adequately maintained during the period of agreement, in accordance with technically sound standards and procedures.

(b) 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 have been transferred to it.

(c) Not to exceed $17,000,000 of the funds authorized in section 401 of this Act 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