[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6068 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6068

  To provide for continued conservation efforts in the Chesapeake Bay 
                               watershed.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 29, 2012

 Mr. Van Hollen (for himself, Mr. Wittman, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Mr. 
 Harris, Mr. Hoyer, Mr. Bartlett, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Ruppersberger, Mr. 
 Sarbanes, Ms. Edwards, Mr. Wolf, Mr. Moran, Mr. Connolly of Virginia, 
  Mr. Rigell, Mr. Platts, Mr. Hinchey, and Ms. Norton) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide for continued conservation efforts in the Chesapeake Bay 
                               watershed.

    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 ``Chesapeake Bay Watershed Fairness 
Act of 2012''.

SEC. 2. CHESAPEAKE BAY WATERSHED PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Section 1240Q of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 
U.S.C. 3839bb-4) is amended--
            (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the following:
    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Chesapeake bay state; state.--The terms `Chesapeake 
        Bay State' and `State' means any of--
                    ``(A) the States of Delaware, Maryland, New York, 
                Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia; and
                    ``(B) the District of Columbia.
            ``(2) Chesapeake bay watershed.--The term `Chesapeake Bay 
        watershed' means all tributaries, backwaters, and side 
        channels, including their watersheds, draining into the 
        Chesapeake Bay in a Chesapeake Bay State.
            ``(3) Owner.--The term `owner' means an owner of 
        nonindustrial private forest land.
            ``(4) Technical service provider.--The term `technical 
        service provider' means a third-party provider who is eligible 
        to be approved pursuant to section 1242(e).'';
            (2) by inserting ``and owners'' after ``producers'' each 
        place it appears in subsections (b), (c), (d)(1)(A), (d)(2), 
        and (e)(1);
            (3) in subsection (b), in the matter preceding paragraph 
        (1), by inserting ``and nonindustrial private forest lands'' 
        after ``agricultural lands'';
            (4) in subsection (c), in the matter preceding paragraph 
        (1), by striking ``The Secretary'' and inserting ``Except as 
        provided in subsection (d)(1)(B)(ii), the Secretary'';
            (5) in subsection (d)(1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``section to 
                cover the costs of the program involved with each 
                agreement.'' and inserting ``section--''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(i) to cover the costs of the program 
                        involved with each agreement; or
                            ``(ii) to provide technical assistance 
                        directly or through technical service 
                        providers.'';
            (6) by redesignating subsections (e) through (h) as 
        subsections (f) through (i), respectively;
            (7) by inserting after subsection (d) the following:
    ``(e) Technical Assistance.--
            ``(1) Technical assistance to chesapeake bay states.--
                    ``(A) State water quality goals.--The Secretary may 
                provide technical assistance to a Chesapeake Bay State 
                to assist in developing the water quality goals of the 
                State to result in reductions in losses of nitrogen, 
                phosphorus, and sediment from agricultural or 
                nonindustrial private forest land in the Chesapeake Bay 
                watershed to improve water quality in the Chesapeake 
                Bay watershed.
                    ``(B) Targeted assistance to chesapeake bay 
                states.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The Secretary may enter 
                        into an agreement with a Chesapeake Bay State 
                        (including any political subdivision or agency 
                        of the Chesapeake Bay State) to provide 
                        financial and technical assistance to the 
                        Chesapeake Bay State.
                            ``(ii) Purpose of assistance.--Assistance 
                        provided by the Secretary under this 
                        subparagraph shall be used by the Chesapeake 
                        Bay State to provide, through a technical 
                        service provider, the technical assistance 
                        needed by an agricultural producer or owner in 
                        the Chesapeake Bay watershed to promote water 
                        quality goals of the Chesapeake Bay State.
            ``(2) Technical assistance to agricultural producers and 
        owners of certain nonindustrial private forest land.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary may provide 
                technical assistance to producers and owners in the 
                Chesapeake Bay watershed directly or through--
                            ``(i) a technical service provider;
                            ``(ii) an agricultural or silvicultural 
                        producer association;
                            ``(iii) a State or unit of local 
                        government;
                            ``(iv) an Indian tribe;
                            ``(v) a farmer cooperative;
                            ``(vi) an institution of higher education; 
                        or
                            ``(vii) an organization with an established 
                        history of working with producers on 
                        agricultural land, as determined by the 
                        Secretary, to address--
                                    ``(I) local conservation priorities 
                                related to agricultural production, 
                                wildlife habitat development, and 
                                nonindustrial private forest land 
                                management; or
                                    ``(II) critical watershed-scale 
                                soil erosion, water quality, sediment 
                                reduction, or other natural resource 
                                concerns.
                    ``(B) Purpose of assistance.--Technical assistance 
                may be provided under this paragraph for--
                            ``(i) conservation services to reduce 
                        losses of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment 
                        from agricultural and nonindustrial private 
                        forest land in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, 
                        including--
                                    ``(I) education regarding 
                                activities such producers and owners 
                                can undertake to reduce such losses; or
                                    ``(II) conservation planning, 
                                implementation, and maintenance to 
                                reduce such losses;
                            ``(ii) identifying best management 
                        practices and assessing practices required to 
                        achieve compliance with State and Federal water 
                        quality laws, including through--
                                    ``(I) outreach to, and education 
                                of, producers and owners regarding 
                                available assistance; or
                                    ``(II) adoption and use of tools 
                                and technology capable of assessing 
                                practices that may be used to achieve 
                                compliance with State and Federal water 
                                quality laws; or
                            ``(iii) other purposes as the Secretary may 
                        determine appropriate.''; and
            (8) in paragraph (2) of subsection (f) (as redesignated by 
        paragraph (6)), by inserting ``or owner'' after ``producer''.
    (b) Funding.--Subsection (i) of section 1240Q of the Food Security 
Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839bb-4) (as redesignated by subsection (a)(6)) 
is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``and'' after the 
        semicolon at the end;
            (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(E) $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2013 
                through 2018.''.
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