A district board, and the directors thereof, elected to serve a district organized under this Chapter shall have the following powers:

(a) to provide for and encourage surveys, investigations and research relating to soil and water conservation, and to publish and disseminate information concerning such subjects;

(b) to provide for and encourage demonstrations relative to the control and prevention of erosion, and the conservation of soil and water resources; and to carry out preventive control measures on publicly owned land within the district with the consent of the land occupier;

(c) to cooperate, or enter into agreements with, and to furnish aid to any agency or land occupier within a district insofar as it is feasible to do so, for specific soil and water conservation activities not in conflict with or duplicating other activities of the University of Guam or cooperating agencies. Such agreements shall be subject to such conditions as the district board may deem necessary;

(d) to review conservation plans prepared by farm land owners and land occupiers, which are a precondition for a contract between the farm land owners and land occupiers and the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture; to provide to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, or his designee, a recommendation concerning the acceptability of farm land owners’ and land occupiers’ plans, such recommendation to be based upon the district’s conservation plan; and to provide, when requested by the Secretary, or his designee, recommendations on the contract;

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(e) to acquire property, such as equipment or machinery, to introduce soil conservation practices to the agricultural community, and to dispose of such property when appropriate;

(f) to acquire private land or land rights in full compliance with all requirements set forth in Guam law, and in consultation with I Maga’lahen Guåhan and I Liheslaturan Guåhan, as needed for the implementation of watershed projects for purposes such as flood control, irrigation, or soil conservation.

(1) Disposition of Unused Land. Any land or land rights acquired by a district board and not used for the purposes justifying the acquisition, within the term of the district directors who requested the acquisition, shall be returned to the original owners for the price paid by the government when such property was originally acquired;

(g) to construct, improve, and maintain structures, such as sediment ponds or earthen dams, following all requirements set forth in Guam law and any pertinent rules and regulations and proper engineering standards and specifications, when these structures are found necessary for carrying out the purposes of soil and water conservation;

(h) to have a seal which can be affixed to certificates issued to cooperators of the district, and to any contract or other instruments requiring certification;

(i) as a condition to the extending of benefits, or the performance of work upon land, the district board may require contributions of services, materials or otherwise, to any operation conferring such benefits, and may impose any other reasonable condition, such as contributions of labor for the planting of trees and payment for specific erosion control materials secured by the district board for the benefit of its cooperators. All such contributions would necessarily be determined by the district as a whole, and must not be in violation of the laws of Guam or common practice;

(j) to hire personnel, under a restricted employment status, to support their mandates as the district board deems appropriate.

(1) Restricted Employment Status. Restricted employees hired pursuant to this Chapter shall not be in the classified service of the government of Guam. Restricted employees are ineligible for medical, dental or life insurance benefits, but shall be entitled to

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government of Guam Workmen’s Compensation. They may not join the Government of Guam Retirement Plan, but FICA must be paid on such employees, with the district board responsible for the employer’s share of FICA. Annuitants of the Government of Guam Retirement Fund may serve as Restricted Employees for the district board without losing their annuities. Restricted employees are not eligible to accrue annual or sick leave. Working hours shall be determined by the district board.

(2) Selection of Employees. Restricted employees shall be selected by majority vote of the district board, which selection shall be evidenced by a memorandum from the district chairperson to the President of the University of Guam.

(3) Dismissal of Employees. Unless otherwise specified by law, the dismissal of a restricted employee of a district shall be with a majority vote of the district board.

(4) Working Hours. Restricted employees who work at irregular hours at the direction of the district board, shall be deemed to work the complete assigned and designated hours per week, and their work records shall so indicate, but such employees shall receive neither overtime nor night-time differential, but shall receive compensatory time off for hours worked in excess of forty (40) hours per week.

(k) Soil and Water Conservation District Funds, Created. There is hereby created, separate and apart from other funds of the government of Guam, two (2) funds to be known as the “”Northern Soil and Water Conservation District Fund”” and the “”Southern Soil and Water Conservation District Fund”” (Funds) which shall not be commingled with the General Fund. All payments shall be made payable to the appropriate Fund and monies shall be kept in separate bank accounts established by the Chairperson of each District Board. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any funds appropriated to the University of Guam for the Districts shall be administered by the Chairperson of each District Board. The Chairperson of the District Board shall be the certifying officer of such Fund. Neither Fund shall be used as a pledge of security or as collateral for government loans. The Chairperson of the District Board shall make an annual report to I Maga’lahen Guåhan and I Liheslaturan Guahan of the condition of, and activity within, the Fund.