[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1880 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1880

   To establish the Special Blue Ribbon Commission on Chesapeake Bay 
                 Nutrient Pollution Control Financing.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 18, 2003

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To establish the Special Blue Ribbon Commission on Chesapeake Bay 
                 Nutrient Pollution Control Financing.

    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 ``Special Blue Ribbon Commission on 
Chesapeake Bay Nutrient Pollution Control Financing Act''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to establish a commission to oversee 
development of a comprehensive plan to--
            (1) remove the Chesapeake Bay from the Environmental 
        Protection Agency listing of impaired waterways by the year 
        2010;
            (2) reduce the sediment and nutrient loadings to the 
        Chesapeake Bay to meet the water quality goals of the 
        Chesapeake 2000 Agreement;
            (3)(A) identify the availability of Federal, state, and 
        local financial resources to achieve the reduction of sediment 
        and nutrient loadings to the Chesapeake Bay; and
            (B) recommend the allocation of those financial resources; 
        and
            (4) identify the private and public partnerships that may 
        be established to provide resources to the effort to reduce 
        sediment and nutrient loadings to the Chesapeake Bay.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.

    (a) Establishment.--Not later than 60 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Environmental 
Protection Agency shall establish a commission to be known as the 
``Special Blue Ribbon Commission on Chesapeake Bay Nutrient Pollution 
Control Financing'' (referred to in this Act as the ``Commission'').
    (b) Membership.--
            (1) Members.--The Commission shall be composed of 21 
        members, including--
                    (A) each of the signatories to the Chesapeake Bay 
                Agreement;
                    (B) each of the governors of the States of 
                Delaware, New York, and West Virginia or their 
                designees; and
                    (C) not later than 60 days after the date of 
                enactment of this Act, 12 members appointed by the 
                Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, 
                in consultation with the other members of the Executive 
                Council of the Chesapeake Bay program, that--
                            (i) include at least 3 members representing 
                        local governments in Maryland, Pennsylvania, 
                        and Virginia;
                            (ii) include, from the Chesapeake Bay 
                        watershed, at least--
                                    (I) 1 member from an academic, 
                                technical, or scientific institution;
                                    (II) 1 member from the business 
                                community;
                                    (III) 1 member from the 
                                agricultural community; and
                                    (IV) 1 member from environmental 
                                organizations; and
                            (iii) are balanced by area of expertise and 
                        balanced geographically, to the extent 
                        consistent with maintaining the highest level 
                        of expertise on the Commission.
            (2) Chairperson.--The members of the Commission shall elect 
        a chairperson from among the members of the Commission.
    (c) Meetings.--
            (1) In general.--The Commission shall meet at the call of 
        the Chairperson.
            (2) Public meetings.--Any meetings of the Commission shall 
        be open to the public.
            (3) Notice.--Notice of each meeting of the Commission shall 
        be published in media outlets of the Chesapeake Bay watershed 
        area in advance of the meeting.
            (4) Recordkeeping.--Minutes of any meetings of the 
        Commission shall be kept by the Commission.
            (5) Initial meeting.--Not later than 30 days after the date 
        on which all members of the Commission have been appointed, the 
        Commission shall hold the initial meeting of the Commission.
            (6) Required meetings.--The Commission shall hold not less 
        than 1 meeting in each of--
                    (A) Virginia;
                    (B) Maryland; and
                    (C) Pennsylvania.

SEC. 4. DUTIES.

    (a) In General.--The Commission shall oversee development of a 
comprehensive implementation plan to address--
            (1) the funding needs for reducing, by not later than 2010, 
        nutrient pollution loads in the Chesapeake Bay to a level 
        sufficient to comply with the nutrient and sediment reduction 
        goals of the Chesapeake 2000 Agreement;
            (2) the appropriate responsibilities of the Federal 
        Government and State and local governments--
                    (A) in financing--
                            (i) sewage treatment plant upgrades;
                            (ii) agricultural and other nonpoint source 
                        runoff controls; and
                            (iii) urban stormwater management; and
                    (B) in adopting, or facilitating the adoption of, 
                an appropriate variety of financial incentives and 
                regulatory measures to achieve that goal; and
            (3) opportunities for enhancing the role of the private 
        sector in financial support for the restoration of the 
        Chesapeake Bay, either directly or through public-private 
        partnerships.
    (b) Report.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date on 
        which the Commission is established, the Commission shall 
        submit to the President and Congress a report that contains--
                    (A) a detailed statement of the findings and 
                conclusions of the Commission, including 
                recommendations of the Commission for administrative or 
                legislative actions at the Federal, State, and local 
                levels that are necessary and expedient to implement 
                the comprehensive plan described in section 4(a) to 
                restore the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay; and
                    (B) a summary of the public comments received in 
                accordance with the notice in paragraph (2).
            (2) Notice and public comment.--Before submitting the 
        report in paragraph (1), the Commission shall publish in 
        appropriate publications a notice that a draft report is 
        available for public review and comment.

SEC. 5. POWERS.

    (a) Information From Federal Agencies.--
            (1) In general.--The Commission may secure directly from a 
        Federal agency such information as the Commission considers 
        necessary to carry out this Act.
            (2) Provision of information.--On request of the 
        Chairperson of the Commission, the head of the agency shall 
        provide the information to the Commission.
    (b) Multidisciplinary Science and Technical Advisory Panel.--
            (1) In general.--To assist the Commission in carrying out 
        the duties of the Commission under section 4, the Commission 
        may establish a multidisciplinary science and technical 
        advisory panel composed of members appointed by the Commission 
        that are experts in--
                    (A) the science and technology of--
                            (i) water quality improvement; or
                            (ii) sediment and nutrient removal; and
                    (B) public financing.
            (2) Use of best available data.--The science advisory panel 
        shall ensure that the scientific information considered by the 
        Commission is based on the best available scientific, 
        technical, and public financing data.
    (c) Contracts.--The Commission may, subject to the availability of 
appropriations, enter into such contracts as are necessary to carry out 
the duties of the Commission.
    (d) Staff.--
            (1) In general.--The Chairperson of the Commission may, 
        without regard to the civil service laws (including 
        regulations), appoint and terminate an executive director and 
        such other additional personnel as are necessary to enable the 
        Commission to perform the duties of the Commission.
            (2) Confirmation of executive director.--The employment of 
        an executive director shall be subject to confirmation by the 
        Commission.

SEC. 6. TERMINATION OF COMMISSION.

    The Commission shall terminate 30 days after the date on which the 
Commission submits the final report of the Commission under section 
4(b)(1).
                                 <all>