37-906.

Land and Water Conservation Fund; federal funds; allocation; reallocation; manner; restriction.

Federal funds advanced to the State of Nebraska through grants-in-aid under the provisions of Public Law 88-578, 88th Congress, for approved projects shall be deposited in the Land and Water Conservation Fund and used for financing such approved projects. Federal funds paid to the state in reimbursement of expenditures previously made by the state or its political subdivisions shall be returned to the fund from which such expenditures were made, except that after July 1, 1971, no funds shall be expended for projects which will not qualify for federal reimbursement under the provisions of Public Law 88-578, 88th Congress. Forty percent of the federal funds annually allocated to the State of Nebraska are hereby reallocated to state projects and sixty percent to the projects of political subdivisions. Funds reallocated to state projects may be made available to political subdivisions prior to the end of any fiscal year if such funds are not allocated for use in state projects. The Game and Parks Commission shall have discretionary authority to reallocate funds to the political subdivisions. If political subdivisions have submitted approved projects in excess of available funds during any fiscal year, the commission shall consider all such approved projects and use the factors of equity, population, and need in determining allocations thereto of available funds. If any project allocation exceeds actual project cost, the overage shall be returned to the Land and Water Conservation Fund for reallocation under the provisions of this section.