I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4162 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a Great Lakes basin initiative for agricultural 

nonpoint source pollution prevention. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 7, 2012 

Mrs. MILLER of Michigan introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to require the 

Secretary of Agriculture to establish a Great Lakes basin 

initiative for agricultural nonpoint source pollution prevention. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Great Lakes Assurance 

5 Program Verification Act of 2012’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GREAT LAKES BASIN INITIATIVE FOR AGRICUL2 TURAL NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION PRE3 VENTION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Food Security Act of 1985 

5 is amended by inserting after section 1240I the following 

6 new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 1240J. GREAT LAKES BASIN INITIATIVE FOR AGRI8 CULTURAL NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION 

9 PREVENTION. 

10 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, in consulta11 tion with the Great Lakes States, shall establish a Great 

12 Lakes basin initiative for agricultural nonpoint source pol13 lution prevention in accordance with this section. 

14 ‘‘(b) INITIATIVE ELEMENTS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) GRANTS TO STATES.—In implementing the 

16 initiative, the Secretary shall provide grants to Great 

17 Lakes States to fund the following: 

18 ‘‘(A) Education and outreach, for pro19 ducers in the Great Lakes basin, regarding— 

20 ‘‘(i) nonpoint pollution of ground and 

21 surface water from agricultural activities; 

22 ‘‘(ii) State verification programs; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) the initiative. 

24 ‘‘(B) Technical assistance, including train25 ing, to producers in the Great Lakes basin for 

26 the implementation of activities that reduce or 


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1 prevent nonpoint pollution of ground and sur2 face water from agricultural activities. 

3 ‘‘(C) Development and implementation of 

4 voluntary State verification programs, with a 

5 funding priority for voluntary State verification 

6 programs that incorporate Department of Agri7 culture conservation planning and practice 

8 standards. 

9 ‘‘(2) FUNDING PRIORITY FOR CERTAIN PRO10 DUCERS.—In implementing the initiative, the Sec11 retary shall establish a funding priority within the 

12 Great Lakes basin for payments to producers under 

13 this chapter for producers that participate in the ini14 tiative with the purpose of achieving verification 

15 through a State verification program. 

16 ‘‘(c) USE OF EXISTING DATA.—In establishing the 

17 initiative, the Secretary shall, where available, use existing 

18 plans, models, and assessments. 

19 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 ‘‘(1) GREAT LAKES STATE.—The term ‘Great 

21 Lakes State’ means any one of the States of Illinois, 

22 Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, 

23 Pennsylvania, or Wisconsin. 

24 ‘‘(2) INITIATIVE.—The term ‘initiative’ means 

25 the Great Lakes basin initiative for agricultural 


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1 nonpoint source pollution prevention established 

2 under subsection (a). 

3 ‘‘(3) NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION.—The 

4 term ‘nonpoint source pollution’ is used within the 

5 meaning of that term under the Federal Water Pol6 lution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.). 

7 ‘‘(4) STATE VERIFICATION PROGRAM.—The 

8 term ‘State verification program’ means a program 

9 established by a Great Lakes State to verify pro10 ducer implementation of practices approved by the 

11 State to reduce nonpoint pollution of ground and 

12 surface water from agricultural activities, which may 

13 include verification by a third party approved by the 

14 State or the Secretary. 

15 ‘‘(e) FUNDING.—Of the funds of the Commodity 

16 Credit Corporation, to carry out this section the Secretary 

17 shall use, to the maximum extent practicable— 

18 ‘‘(1) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2013; 

19 ‘‘(2) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2014; 

20 ‘‘(3) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2015; and 

21 ‘‘(4) $7,000,000 for fiscal year 2016.’’. 

22 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1240C of 

23 the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–3) is 

24 amended by adding at the end the following new sub25 section: 


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1 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULE FOR GREAT LAKES BASIN.—In 

2 evaluating applications of producers in the Great Lakes 

3 basin under this chapter, the Secretary shall prioritize ap4 plications in accordance with section 1240J(b)(2).’’. 

Æ 


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