1.Short title; table of
contents
(a)This Act may be cited as the Upper Mississippi River Basin Protection
Act
.
(b)The table of contents of this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
Sec. 3. Reliance on scientific knowledge.
Title I—SEDIMENT AND NUTRIENT MONITORING NETWORK
Sec. 101. Establishment of monitoring network.
Sec. 102. Data collection and storage
responsibilities.
Sec. 103. Relationship to existing sediment and nutrient
monitoring and assessment.
Sec. 104. Collaboration with other public and private
monitoring efforts.
Sec. 105. Reporting requirements.
Sec. 106. National research council assessment.
Title II—COMPUTER MODELING AND RESEARCH
Sec. 201. Computer modeling and research of sediment and
nutrient sources.
Sec. 202. Communication plan to distribute
information.
Sec. 203. Reporting requirements.
Title III—AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS AND RELATED
MATTERS
Sec. 301. Authorization of appropriations.
Sec. 302. Cost-sharing requirements.
2.In this Act:
(1)The terms
Upper Mississippi River Basin and Basin mean the
watershed portion of the Upper Mississippi River and Illinois River basins,
from Cairo, Illinois, to the headwaters of the Mississippi River, in the States
of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri. The designation includes
the Kaskaskia watershed along the Illinois River and the Meramec watershed
along the Missouri River.
(2)The terms
Upper Mississippi River Stewardship Initiative and
Initiative mean the activities authorized or required by this Act
to monitor nutrients and sediment in the Upper Mississippi River Basin.
3.Reliance on
scientific knowledgeFederal
investments in the Upper Mississippi River Basin shall be guided by accepted
and documented scientific methods, including the use of documented protocols
for data collection and data analysis, and peer review of data, results, and
findings, and shall take into account the results of studies using accepted and
documented scientific methods to identify and quantify the sources, transport,
and fate of nutrients and sediment and to quantify the effect of various
treatment methods or conservation measures on nutrient and sediment
management.
<enum>I</enum><header>SEDIMENT AND
NUTRIENT MONITORING NETWORK</header>
<section id="H6FE430ED18274A40A784D345ECA79DDD"><enum>101.</enum><header>Establishment
of monitoring network</header>
<subsection id="H1E766D9083AD4B6996F1A962125507E3"><enum>(a)</enum><header>Establishment</header><text>As
part of the Upper Mississippi River Stewardship Initiative, the Secretary of
the Interior shall establish a sediment and nutrient monitoring network for the
Upper Mississippi River Basin for the purposes of—</text>
<paragraph id="H28752929FBAA40F5975575C9F964DE8F"><enum>(1)</enum><text>identifying and
quantifying significant sources of sediment and nutrients in the Upper
Mississippi River Basin;</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="H95D5067624754848AEF8CE84D504A89E"><enum>(2)</enum><text>quantifying the
processes affecting mobilization, transport, and fate of those sediments and
nutrients on land and in water;</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="H5B3FB005A6FE4511B670ED56367D347D"><enum>(3)</enum><text>quantifying the
transport of those sediments and nutrients to and through the Upper Mississippi
River Basin;</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="H74A905585D2E438C803CE4534FA95C8D"><enum>(4)</enum><text>quantifying
changes to sediment and nutrient concentrations and loads over time; and</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="H169927A3CE91426BB66F56CDBA447C36"><enum>(5)</enum><text>coordinating with
other Federal, State, tribal, and local agencies on the acquisition of data to
be used in computer modeling of the Basin, pursuant to section 201.</text>
</paragraph></subsection><subsection id="H43F25670B77C4A83848A9EAE111B35F9"><enum>(b)</enum><header>Role of united
states geological survey</header><text>The Secretary of the Interior shall
carry out this title acting through the office of the Director of the United
States Geological Survey.</text>
</subsection></section><section id="H1814D859AAA34ECC8592E702E5608ECB"><enum>102.</enum><header>Data collection
and storage responsibilities</header>
<subsection id="HD79872485191428691935BDB170218F6"><enum>(a)</enum><header>Guidelines for
data collection and storage</header><text>The Secretary of the Interior shall
establish guidelines for the effective design of data collection activities
regarding sediment and nutrient monitoring, for the use of suitable and
consistent methods for data collection, and for consistent reporting, data
storage, and archiving practices.</text>
</subsection><subsection id="HDA7E76D3018D4C04BD73202A34174696"><enum>(b)</enum><header>Release of
data</header><text>Data resulting from sediment and nutrient monitoring and the
compilation of ancillary information in the Upper Mississippi River Basin shall
be released to the public using generic station identifiers and hydrologic unit
codes. In the case of a monitoring station located on private lands,
information regarding the location of the station shall not be disseminated
without the landowner’s permission.</text>
</subsection></section><section id="H3D1689DD76C442B68BECBB4AF57E19C5"><enum>103.</enum><header>Relationship to
existing sediment and nutrient monitoring and assessment</header>
<subsection id="H9EDB39C1DE8F47988C56BEA6C9B426FB"><enum>(a)</enum><header>Inventory</header><text>To
the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary of the Interior shall inventory
the sediment and nutrient monitoring efforts in existence as of the date of the
enactment of this Act of Federal, State, tribal, local, and nongovernmental
entities for the purpose of creating a baseline understanding of overlap, data
gaps and redundancies.</text>
</subsection><subsection id="H28A7276B1805434C99522CBDFE79DF2D"><enum>(b)</enum><header>Integration</header><text>On
the basis of the inventory, the Secretary of the Interior shall integrate the
existing sediment and nutrient monitoring efforts, to the maximum extent
practicable, into the sediment and nutrient monitoring network required by
section 101.</text>
</subsection><subsection id="HAA3C7235643A443C8A44D52C3B05219A"><enum>(c)</enum><header>Consultation and
use of existing data</header><text>In carrying out this section, the Secretary
of the Interior shall make maximum use of data in existence as of the date of
the enactment of this Act and of ongoing programs and efforts of Federal,
State, tribal, local, and nongovernmental entities in developing the sediment
and nutrient monitoring network required by section 101.</text>
</subsection><subsection id="H92E98D33951F43CCA959F6AC0B9B2620"><enum>(d)</enum><header>Coordination
with long-Term estuary assessment project</header><text>The Secretary of the
Interior shall carry out this section in coordination with the long-term
estuary assessment project authorized by section 902 of the Estuaries and Clean
Waters Act of 2000 (Public Law 106–457; 33 U.S.C. 2901 note).</text>
</subsection></section><section id="H594C2D0FC97645A4ADE3AA9346E4768E"><enum>104.</enum><header>Collaboration
with other public and private monitoring efforts</header><text display-inline="no-display-inline">To establish the sediment and nutrient
monitoring network, the Secretary of the Interior shall collaborate, to the
maximum extent practicable, with other Federal, State, tribal, local and
private sediment and nutrient monitoring and assessment programs that meet
guidelines prescribed under section 102(a), as determined by the
Secretary.</text>
</section><section id="HC9922592154C45FF97BFD25D7AD2034E"><enum>105.</enum><header>Reporting
requirements</header><text display-inline="no-display-inline">The Secretary of
the Interior shall report to Congress not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act on the development of the sediment and nutrient
monitoring network.</text>
</section><section id="H663530D6A13D4ED692FDA616ED107B14"><enum>106.</enum><header>National
research council assessment</header><text display-inline="no-display-inline">The National Research Council of the
National Academy of Sciences shall conduct a comprehensive water resources
assessment of the Upper Mississippi River Basin within 3 years after the date
of the enactment of this Act.</text>
</section><enum>II</enum><header>COMPUTER MODELING
AND RESEARCH</header>
<section id="H3588454F717B4D718E31CD80354E3296"><enum>201.</enum><header>Computer
modeling and research of sediment and nutrient sources</header>
<subsection id="H88855F4219F44FF19A14E49BF928C35A"><enum>(a)</enum><header>Modeling program
required</header><text>As part of the Upper Mississippi River Stewardship
Initiative, the Director of the United States Geological Survey shall develop
and implement a plan to improve existing water-quality models to identify and
quantify significant sources of sediment and nutrients in the Upper Mississippi
River Basin at the subwatershed (12-digit Hydrologic Unit Code) scale.</text>
</subsection><subsection id="H7D8DE6A8076347F9BF91BCBC7E40208C"><enum>(b)</enum><header>Role</header><text>Computer
modeling shall be used to identify subwatersheds which are significant sources
of sediment and nutrients and shall be made available for the purposes of
targeting public and private sediment and nutrient management efforts.</text>
</subsection><subsection id="HC26AA1D98CDA4E7D8EF55E6303F2451C"><enum>(c)</enum><header>Components</header><text>Sediment
and nutrient models for the Upper Mississippi River Basin shall—</text>
<paragraph id="H07968C8C109F4F4BB3EB0E363EFB5D9F"><enum>(1)</enum><text>relate nutrient
sources to landscape, land use, and land management practices;</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="H49847ABCC39F414EAB2BC1D62B7F6334"><enum>(2)</enum><text>relate sediment
sources to landscape, land use, and land management practices; and</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="H9B59A0607D594D3C9E7FD3F6A3B96D20"><enum>(3)</enum><text>quantify river
channel nutrient and sediment transport and transformation processes.</text>
</paragraph></subsection><subsection id="H8B76F195A4A64C6083D29254768EDED4"><enum>(d)</enum><header>Collection of
ancillary information</header><text>Ancillary information shall be collected,
by remote sensing or other appropriate means, in a GIS format to support
modeling and management use of modeling results, including the
following:</text>
<paragraph id="HA116436F6F6D40E9A6351A933A83C88F"><enum>(1)</enum><text>Land use
data.</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="H5880169D8463461B8CB539A0DD242DA8"><enum>(2)</enum><text>Soils data.</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="HA880FFC899C64167B9FADBF3DDFA3542"><enum>(3)</enum><text>Elevation
data.</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="H3FFF5369E7234870A3360072F69737BB"><enum>(4)</enum><text>Hydrologic
modifications.</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="H2C6797122C7C48FDABA8A2669A56EBBF"><enum>(5)</enum><text>Information on
sediment and nutrient management actions including conservation tillage
practices and other Best Management Practices.</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="H5089C65B730D458CA7528437C9AB64B5"><enum>(6)</enum><text>Estimates of loads
of nutrients from point sources and key nonpoint sources, including commercial
fertilizer, applications of manure, geologic sources, and atmospheric
deposition.</text>
</paragraph></subsection></section><section id="H6F9507A5925E4B81A6F06B298435943D"><enum>202.</enum><header>Communication
plan to distribute information</header><text display-inline="no-display-inline">Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Director of the United States Geological Survey
shall establish a communication plan that includes use of the Internet to
provide information including the following:</text>
<paragraph id="HD4A9303335CE455B8261B328A47FFB33"><enum>(1)</enum><text>Accomplishments of
public and private programs designed to manage sediment and nutrients in the
Upper Mississippi River Basin.</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="HD93A5730561A4AC9B0F893CB238C6900"><enum>(2)</enum><text>Seasonal and
annual concentrations and loads of sediment and nutrients in the Upper
Mississippi River and its tributaries.</text>
</paragraph></section><section id="H3BA9BA4A7F604067A92BF4F7B526C650"><enum>203.</enum><header>Reporting
requirements</header>
<subsection id="H2F3CAD2E0F624F6D80B575C8BA860E42"><enum>(a)</enum><header>Monitoring
activities</header><text>Commencing one year after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the Director of the United States Geological Survey shall provide to
Congress and make available to the public an annual report that includes data
and information on concentrations and loads of nutrients and sediment derived
from monitoring activities conducted in the Upper Mississippi River
Basin.</text>
</subsection><subsection id="H94CFF0A3B90841629BB72CD49A0AB345"><enum>(b)</enum><header>Modeling
activities</header><text>Every five years, the Director of the United States
Geological Survey shall provide to Congress and make available to the public a
progress report assessing changes in nutrient and sediment concentrations and
loads in relation to such factors as climate variability and changes in land
and water management practices.</text>
</subsection></section><enum>III</enum><header>AUTHORIZATION OF
APPROPRIATIONS AND RELATED MATTERS</header>
<section id="H350546EBE4DF4890903618B9530E37FB"><enum>301.</enum><header>Authorization
of appropriations</header>
<subsection id="HA4FFE8AEEAA74D92B9D8F1BBE9700291"><enum>(a)</enum><header>United states
geological survey activities</header><text>There is authorized to be
appropriated to the United States Geological Survey $6,250,000 each fiscal year
to carry out this Act (other than section 106).</text>
</subsection><subsection id="H8ABD4E1BDDC8404FBB95C4A88FFE6B62"><enum>(b)</enum><header>Water resource
and water quality management assessment</header><text>There is authorized to be
appropriated $650,000 to allow the National Research Council to perform the
assessment required by section 106.</text>
</subsection></section><section id="HF3FB2A2F30814A29B430AC0A3CA0EC82"><enum>302.</enum><header>Cost-sharing
requirements</header><text display-inline="no-display-inline">Funds made
available for the United States Geological Survey Cooperative Water Program
under section 301(a) shall be subject to the same cost-sharing requirements as
specified in the last proviso under the heading <quote><header-in-text level="subsection">United States Geological
Survey—</header-in-text><header-in-text level="paragraph" style="OLC">surveys,
investigations, and research</header-in-text></quote> of the Department of the
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006 (Public
Law 109–54; 119 Stat. 510; 43 U.S.C. 50).</text>
</section>