16 U.S.C. § 3871d - U.S. Code - Unannotated Title 16. Conservation § 3871d. Funding

(1) 50 percent of the funds to projects based on a State or multistate competitive process administered by the Secretary at the local level with the advice of the applicable State technical committees established under subchapter VI; and

(2) 50 percent of the funds to projects for critical conservation areas designated under section 3871f of this title.

(1)In general

Except as provided in paragraph (2), none of the funds made available for the program, including for a partnership agreement funded through an alternative funding arrangement or grant agreement under section 3871c(d) of this title, may be used to pay for the administrative expenses of eligible partners.

(2)Project development and outreach

Under a partnership agreement that is not funded through an alternative funding arrangement or grant agreement under section 3871c(d) of this title, the Secretary may advance reasonable amounts of funding for not longer than 90 days for technical assistance to eligible partners to conduct project development and outreach activities in a project area, including--

(1)In general

At the time of project selection, the Secretary shall identify and make publicly available the amount that the Secretary shall use to provide technical assistance under the terms of the partnership agreement.

(2)Limitation

The Secretary shall limit costs of the Secretary for technical assistance to costs specific and necessary to carry out the objectives of the program.

(3)Third-party providers

The Secretary shall develop and implement strategies to encourage third-party technical service providers to provide technical assistance to eligible partners pursuant to a partnership agreement.