[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 493 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 493

   To require the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of 
   Engineers, to evaluate, develop, and implement pilot projects in 
 Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina to address problems associated 
  with toxic microorganisms in tidal and nontidal wetlands and waters.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 2, 1999

 Mr. Sarbanes (for himself, Ms. Mikulski, and Mr. Edwards) introduced 
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 
                    on Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To require the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of 
   Engineers, to evaluate, develop, and implement pilot projects in 
 Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina to address problems associated 
  with toxic microorganisms in tidal and nontidal wetlands and waters.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Toxic Microorganism Abatement Pilot 
Project Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) effective protection of tidal and nontidal wetlands and 
        waters of the United States is essential to sustain and protect 
        ecosystems, as well as recreational, subsistence, and economic 
        activities dependent on those ecosystems;
            (2) the effects of increasing occurrences of toxic 
        microorganism outbreaks can adversely affect those ecosystems 
        and their dependent activities;
            (3) the Corps of Engineers is uniquely qualified to develop 
        and implement engineering solutions to abate the flow of 
        nutrients;
            (4) because nutrient flow abatement is a new challenge, it 
        is desirable to have the Corps of Engineers conduct a series of 
        pilot projects to test technologies and refine techniques 
        appropriate to nutrient flow abatement; and
            (5) since the States of Maryland, North Carolina, and 
        Virginia have recently experienced serious outbreaks of 
        waterborne microorganisms and there is a large store of 
        scientific data about outbreaks in those States, pilot projects 
        in those States can be effectively evaluated.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers.
            (2) State.--The term ``State'' means Maryland, North 
        Carolina, and Virginia.
            (3) Toxic microorganism.--The term ``toxic microorganism'' 
        means Pfiesteria piscicida and any other potentially harmful 
        aquatic dinoflagellate.

SEC. 4. PILOT PROJECTS FOR AQUATIC HABITAT REMEDIATION.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary shall evaluate, develop, and implement a 
pilot project in each State (on a watershed basis) to address and 
control problems associated with the degradation of ecosystems and 
their dependent activities resulting from toxic microorganisms in tidal 
and nontidal wetlands and waters.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the completion of the 
pilot project under subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to 
Congress a report describing--
            (1) the pilot project; and
            (2) the findings of the pilot project, including a 
        description of the relationship between the findings and the 
        applications of the tools and techniques developed under the 
        pilot project.
    (c) Federal and Non-Federal Shares.--
            (1) Federal share.--The Federal share of the cost of 
        evaluating, developing, and implementing a pilot project under 
        subsection (a) shall be 75 percent.
            (2) Non-federal share.--The non-Federal share of the cost 
        of evaluating, developing, and implementing a pilot project 
        under subsection (a) shall be provided in the form of--
                    (A) cash;
                    (B) in-kind services;
                    (C) materials; or
                    (D) the value of--
                            (i) land;
                            (ii) easements;
                            (iii) rights-of-way; or
                            (iv) relocations.
    (d) Local Cooperation Agreements.--Subject to subsection (c), in 
carrying out this section, the Secretary shall enter into local 
cooperation agreements with non-Federal entities under which the 
Secretary shall provide financial assistance to implement actions taken 
to carry out pilot projects under this section.
    (e) Implementation.--The Secretary shall carry out this section in 
cooperation with--
            (1) the Secretary of the Interior;
            (2) the Secretary of Agriculture;
            (3) the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
        Agency;
            (4) the Administrator of the National Oceanic and 
        Atmospheric Administration;
            (5) the heads of other appropriate Federal, State, and 
        local government agencies; and
            (6) affected local landowners, businesses, and commercial 
        entities.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $5,000,000.
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