[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1962 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1962

 To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to authorize a regional water 
  enhancement program in the environmental quality incentives program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 2, 2007

 Mr. Sessions introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to authorize a regional water 
  enhancement program in the environmental quality incentives program.

    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 ``Regional Ground and Surface Water 
Enhancement Program Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE AND GOALS.

    (a) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to authorize a regional 
water enhancement program, within the environmental quality incentives 
program, to enhance performance-based, cost-effective conservation 
carried out through cooperative agreements entered into by the 
Secretary of Agriculture with producers, governmental entities, and 
Indian tribes.
    (b) Goal.--
            (1) In general.--The goal of the regional water enhancement 
        program is to improve water quality or ground and surface water 
        quantity through coordinated program activities on agricultural 
        land.
            (2) Secretarial responsibility.--The Secretary shall 
        develop goals and provide coordinated program assistance for 
        water quality or water quantity improvement projects.

SEC. 3. REGIONAL GROUND AND SURFACE WATER ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM.

    Section 1240I of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa-9) 
is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 1240I. REGIONAL GROUND AND SURFACE WATER ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Regional water enhancement activity.--The term 
        `regional water enhancement activity' means an activity that 
        improves water quality or ground and surface water quantity, 
        including--
                    ``(A) resource condition assessment and modeling;
                    ``(B) water quality, water quantity, or water 
                conservation plan development;
                    ``(C) management system and environmental 
                monitoring and evaluation;
                    ``(D) the provision of a cost-share for a 
                restoration or enhancement project;
                    ``(E) the provision of an incentive payment for 
                land management practices;
                    ``(F) the execution of a conservation contract with 
                a landowner;
                    ``(G) the improvement of an irrigation system;
                    ``(H) water banking and other forms of water 
                transactions;
                    ``(I) groundwater recharge; and
                    ``(J) other conservation-related activities that 
                the Secretary determines would help to achieve the 
                water quality or water quantity benefits on 
                agricultural land identified in a partnership 
                agreement.
            ``(2) Partnership agreement.--The term `partnership 
        agreement' means an agreement between the Secretary and a 
        partner under subsection (d).
            ``(3) Partner.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `partner' means an 
                entity that enters into a partnership agreement with 
                the Secretary to carry out regional water enhancement 
                activities.
                    ``(B) Inclusions.--The term includes--
                            ``(i) an agricultural producer, 
                        agricultural or silvicultural producer 
                        association, or other group of such producers;
                            ``(ii) a State or unit of local government; 
                        or
                            ``(iii) a federally recognized Indian 
                        tribe.
    ``(b) Establishment of Program.--
            ``(1) Identification of water quality and water quantity 
        priority areas.--The Secretary shall identify areas in which 
        protecting or improving water quality or water quantity, or 
        both, is a priority.
            ``(2) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish a 
        regional water enhancement program in accordance with this 
        section to improve water quality or water quantity on a 
        regional scale to benefit working agricultural land and other 
        land surrounding agricultural land.
            ``(3) Implementation.--The Secretary, acting through the 
        Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, shall 
        carry out the program established under paragraph (2).
    ``(c) Selection of Partners.--
            ``(1) Solicitation of partnership proposals.--Not later 
        than 90 days after the date of the enactment of the Regional 
        Ground and Surface Water Enhancement Program Act of 2007, the 
        Secretary shall invite prospective partners to submit 
        competitive grant proposals for regional water enhancement 
        partnerships.
            ``(2) Elements.--To be eligible for consideration for 
        participation in the program, a proposal submitted by a partner 
        shall include--
                    ``(A) identification of the exact geographical area 
                for which the partnership is proposed, which may be 
                based on--
                            ``(i) a watershed (or portion of a 
                        watershed);
                            ``(ii) an irrigation, water, or drainage 
                        district, including a service area; or
                            ``(iii) any other geographical area with 
                        characteristics that make the area suitable for 
                        landscape-wide program implementation, as 
                        determined by the Secretary;
                    ``(B) identification of the water quality or water 
                quantity issues that are of concern in the area;
                    ``(C) a method for determining a baseline 
                assessment of water quality, water quantity, and other 
                resource conditions in the region;
                    ``(D) a detailed description of the proposed 
                regional water enhancement activities to be undertaken 
                in the area, including an estimated timeline and budget 
                for each activity;
                    ``(E) a description of the performance measures to 
                be used to gauge the effectiveness of the regional 
                water enhancement activities;
                    ``(F) a description of other regional water 
                enhancement activities carried out by the Secretary; 
                and
                    ``(G) a description of regional water enhancement 
                activities carried out by partners through other means.
            ``(3) Selection of proposals.--The Secretary shall award 
        grants competitively, based on the following criteria, as 
        determined by the Secretary:
                    ``(A) The extent to which the proposed project 
                would result in the inclusion of the highest percentage 
                of agricultural land in the area.
                    ``(B) The extent to which the proposed project 
                would result in the highest percentage of on-the-ground 
                activities as compared to administrative costs.
                    ``(C) The extent to which the proposed project 
                would provide the greatest contribution to sustaining 
                or enhancing agricultural production in the area or 
                rural economic development.
                    ``(D) The extent to which the proposed project 
                includes performance measures that would allow post-
                activity conditions to be satisfactorily measured to 
                gauge overall effectiveness.
                    ``(E) The extent to which the proposed project 
                would increase water availability for irrigated 
                assisted rain-fed systems to improve land use 
                efficiency, reduce unused applied nitrogen in the soil, 
                and increase pesticide and herbicide application 
                efficiency and energy efficiency.
                    ``(F) The extent to which the proposed project 
                would store surface water runoff or rechargeable 
                groundwater for use during the agricultural growing 
                season through the construction, improvement, or 
                maintenance of irrigation ponds, including associated 
                water transport infrastructure to and from the ponds.
            ``(4) Priority.--The Secretary shall give priority to 
        proposals that, as determined by the Secretary, would 
        facilitate a conservation measure that would result in a net 
        savings in groundwater or surface water in the agricultural 
        operation of a producer.
            ``(5) Requirement.--The requirements of the environmental 
        quality incentives program shall apply to regional water 
        enhancement activities carried out under this section, as 
        determined by the Secretary.
            ``(6) Duration.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), a 
                grant under this subsection shall be made on a 
                multiyear basis, not to exceed a total of 5 years.
                    ``(B) Early termination.--The Secretary may 
                terminate a grant earlier than the term determined 
                under subparagraph (A) if the Secretary determines that 
                the performance measures for the grant are not being 
                met.
    ``(d) Partnership Agreements.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 30 days after the date on 
        which a partner receives a grant under subsection (c), the 
        Secretary shall enter into a partnership agreement with the 
        grant recipient.
            ``(2) Requirements.--At a minimum, a partnership agreement 
        shall contain--
                    ``(A) a description of the respective duties and 
                responsibilities of the Secretary and the partner in 
                carrying out regional water enhancement activities; and
                    ``(B) the criteria that the Secretary will use to 
                measure the overall effectiveness of the regional water 
                enhancement activities funded by the grant in improving 
                the water quality or quantity conditions of the region 
                relative to the performance measures in the grant 
                proposal.
            ``(3) Acceptance of contributions.--The Secretary may 
        accept and use contributions of non-Federal funds to carry out 
        the program under this section.
    ``(e) Modification of Secretarial Authority.--To the extent that 
the Secretary will be carrying out regional water enhancement 
activities in an area, the Secretary may use the general authorities 
provided in this subtitle to ensure that all producers and landowners 
in the region have the opportunity to participate in the regional water 
enhancement activities.
    ``(f) Relationship With Other Programs.--The Secretary shall ensure 
that, to the extent producers and landowners are individually 
participating in other programs under this subtitle in a region in 
which the regional water enhancement program is in effect, any 
improvements to water quality or water quantity attributable to the 
individual participation are included in the evaluation criteria 
developed under subparagraph (d)(2)(B).
    ``(g) Consistency With State Law.--Any regional water enhancement 
activity conducted under this section shall be consistent with State 
water laws.
    ``(h) Funding.--
            ``(1) Availability of funds.--In addition to funds made 
        available to carry out this chapter under section 1241(a)(6), 
        of the funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation, the Secretary 
        shall use, to the maximum extent practicable, to carry out this 
        section $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 
        2012, to remain available until expended.
            ``(2) Limitation on administrative expenses.--Not more than 
        3 percent of the funds made available under paragraph (1) for a 
        fiscal year may be used for administrative expenses of the 
        Secretary.''.
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