II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2294 

To provide for continued conservation efforts in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, increase energy production from animal waste, improve transparency of Federal restoration efforts, and expand agricultural opportunities to participate in State voluntary water quality credit trading programs. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 18, 2012 

Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. WARNER, and Mr. 

WEBB) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To provide for continued conservation efforts in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, increase energy production from 

animal waste, improve transparency of Federal restoration efforts, and expand agricultural opportunities to participate in State voluntary water quality credit trading 

programs. 

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 ‘‘Chesapeake Bay Wa5 tershed Fairness Act of 2012’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CHESAPEAKE BAY WATERSHED PROGRAM. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1240Q of the Food Secu3 rity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839bb–4) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 ‘‘(1) CHESAPEAKE BAY STATE; STATE.—The 

8 terms ‘Chesapeake Bay State’ and ‘State’ means 

9 any of— 

10 ‘‘(A) the States of Delaware, Maryland, 

11 New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West 

12 Virginia; and 

13 ‘‘(B) the District of Columbia. 

14 ‘‘(2) CHESAPEAKE BAY WATERSHED.—The 

15 term ‘Chesapeake Bay watershed’ means all tribu16 taries, backwaters, and side channels, including their 

17 watersheds, draining into the Chesapeake Bay in a 

18 Chesapeake Bay State. 

19 ‘‘(3) TECHNICAL SERVICE PROVIDER.—The 

20 term ‘technical service provider’ may include any 

21 provider who— 

22 ‘‘(A) has experience working with individ23 uals who, due to religious tenets, do not accept 

24 government assistance; and 

25 ‘‘(B) meets the requirements of section 

26 1242(e). 


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1 ‘‘(4) WATER QUALITY TRADING PREPARATION

2 ACTIVITY.—The term ‘water quality trading prepa3 ration activity’ includes the following activities car4 ried out with respect to agricultural land or non5 industrial private forest land: 

6 ‘‘(A) Identification of existing and addi7 tional best management practices required for 

8 eligibility to participate in water quality trad9 ing. 

10 ‘‘(B) Related activities that the Secretary 

11 determines will help agricultural producers or 

12 owners achieve eligibility to participate in water 

13 quality markets.’’; 

14 (2) by inserting ‘‘and owners’’ after ‘‘pro15 ducers’’ each place it appears in subsections (b), (c), 

16 (d)(1)(A), (d)(2), and (e)(1); 

17 (3) in subsection (b), in the matter preceding 

18 paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘and nonindustrial pri19 vate forest lands’’ after ‘‘agricultural lands’’; 

20 (4) by redesignating subsections (d), (e), (f), 

21 (g), and (h) as subsections (e), (f), (j), (k), and (l), 

22 respectively; 

23 (5) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol24 lowing: 

25 ‘‘(d) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO CHESAPEAKE

2 BAY STATES.— 

3 ‘‘(A) STATE WATER QUALITY GOALS.—The 

4 Secretary may provide technical assistance to a 

5 Chesapeake Bay State to assist in developing 

6 the water quality goals of the State to result in 

7 reductions in losses of nitrogen, phosphorus, 

8 and sediment from agricultural or nonindustrial 

9 private forest land in the Chesapeake Bay wa10 tershed to improve water quality in the Chesa11 peake Bay watershed. 

12 ‘‘(B) CERTAINTY.—The Secretary may 

13 provide technical assistance to a Chesapeake 

14 Bay State to assist in developing protocols to 

15 confirm producer or owner achievement of com16 pliance with State water quality laws and pro17 vide a reduced level of scrutiny if the producer 

18 or owner maintains compliance. 

19 ‘‘(C) INTERSTATE TRADING.—The Sec20 retary may provide technical assistance to a 

21 Chesapeake Bay State to harmonize State 

22 water quality trading technical guidelines with 

23 other Chesapeake Bay States in preparation for 

24 interstate trading. 


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1 ‘‘(D) TARGETED ASSISTANCE TO CHESA2 PEAKE BAY STATES.— 

3 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

4 may enter into an agreement with a Chesa5 peake Bay State (including any political 

6 subdivision and agency of the Chesapeake 

7 Bay State) to provide financial and tech8 nical assistance to the Chesapeake Bay 

9 State. 

10 ‘‘(ii) PURPOSE OF ASSISTANCE.—As11 sistance provided by the Secretary under 

12 this subparagraph shall be used by the 

13 Chesapeake Bay State to provide, through 

14 a technical service provider, the technical 

15 assistance needed by an agricultural pro16 ducer or owner in the Chesapeake Bay wa17 tershed— 

18 ‘‘(I) to promote water quality 

19 goals of the Chesapeake Bay State; 

20 ‘‘(II) to obtain certainty under 

21 subparagraph (B); or 

22 ‘‘(III) to conduct a water quality 

23 trading preparation activity. 

24 ‘‘(2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO AGRICUL25 TURAL PRODUCERS AND OWNERS OF CERTAIN NONVerDate Mar 15 2010 05:49 Apr 19, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2294.IS S2294

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1 INDUSTRIAL PRIVATE FOREST LAND.—The Sec2 retary may provide technical assistance to agricul3 tural producers and owners of nonindustrial private 

4 forest land in the Chesapeake Bay watershed di5 rectly or through third-party providers— 

6 ‘‘(A) for conservation services, including— 

7 ‘‘(i) education regarding activities the 

8 producers and owners can undertake to re9 duce losses of nitrogen, phosphorus, and 

10 sediment from agricultural and nonindus11 trial private forest land in the Chesapeake 

12 Bay watershed; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) conservation planning, implemen14 tation, and maintenance to reduce losses of 

15 nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment from 

16 agricultural and nonindustrial private for17 est land in the Chesapeake Bay watershed; 

18 ‘‘(B) in identifying existing best manage19 ment practices and assessing practices required 

20 to achieve compliance with State and Federal 

21 water quality laws, including through— 

22 ‘‘(i) outreach to producers and owners 

23 to determine interest in receiving assist24 ance; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) adoption and use of tools and 

2 technology capable of assessing practices 

3 required to achieve compliance with State 

4 and Federal water quality laws; and 

5 ‘‘(C) in attaining eligibility to participate 

6 in water quality trading markets, including 

7 preparation activities.’’; 

8 (6) in subsection (e) (as redesignated by para9 graph (4))— 

10 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

11 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

12 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

13 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

14 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

15 and’’; and 

16 (iii) by adding at the end the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(C) provide technical assistance directly 

19 or through technical service providers in car20 rying out this section.’’; and 

21 (B) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end 

22 the following: 

23 ‘‘(E) The James River.’’; 


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1 (7) in paragraph (2) of subsection (f) (as redes2 ignated by paragraph (4)), by inserting ‘‘or owner’’ 

3 after ‘‘producer’’; and 

4 (8) by inserting after subsection (f) (as redesig5 nated by paragraph (4)) the following: 

6 ‘‘(g) COST-EFFECTIVENESS.—In providing assist7 ance under this section, the Secretary may consider the 

8 cost-effectiveness of the conservation practices that may 

9 be needed to reduce losses of nitrogen, phosphorus, and 

10 sediment from agricultural or nonindustrial private forest 

11 land in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to improve water 

12 quality in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. 

13 ‘‘(h) CROSSCUT BUDGET.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta15 tion with the Chesapeake Executive Council, the 

16 chief executive of each Chesapeake Bay State, and 

17 the Chesapeake Bay Commission, shall annually sub18 mit to Congress a financial report containing— 

19 ‘‘(A) an interagency crosscut budget that 

20 displays— 

21 ‘‘(i) the proposed funding for any 

22 Federal restoration activity to be carried 

23 out in the succeeding fiscal year, including 

24 any planned interagency or intraagency 


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1 transfer, for each Federal agency that car2 ries out restoration activities; 

3 ‘‘(ii) to the extent that information is 

4 available, the estimated funding for any 

5 State restoration activity to be carried out 

6 in the succeeding fiscal year; 

7 ‘‘(iii) all expenditures for Federal res8 toration activities from the preceding 3 fis9 cal years, the current fiscal year, and the 

10 succeeding fiscal year; and 

11 ‘‘(iv) all expenditures, to the extent 

12 that information is available, for State res13 toration activities during the equivalent 

14 time period described in clause (iii); 

15 ‘‘(B) a detailed accounting of all amounts 

16 received and obligated by each Federal agency 

17 for restoration activities during the current and 

18 preceding fiscal years, including the identifica19 tion of amounts that were transferred to a 

20 Chesapeake Bay State for restoration activities; 

21 ‘‘(C) to the extent that information is 

22 available, a detailed accounting from each State 

23 of all amounts received and obligated from a 

24 Federal agency for restoration activities during 

25 the current and preceding fiscal years; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) a description of each of the proposed 

2 Federal and State restoration activities to be 

3 carried out in the succeeding fiscal year (cor4 responding to those activities listed in clauses 

5 (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (A)), including— 

6 ‘‘(i) the project description; 

7 ‘‘(ii) the current status of the project; 

8 ‘‘(iii) the Federal or State statutory 

9 or regulatory authority, program, or re10 sponsible agency; 

11 ‘‘(iv) the authorization level for appro12 priations; 

13 ‘‘(v) a timeline for the project, includ14 ing benchmarks; 

15 ‘‘(vi) references to project documents; 

16 ‘‘(vii) descriptions of risks and uncer17 tainties of project implementation; 

18 ‘‘(viii) a description of the applicable 

19 adaptive management actions or frame20 work; 

21 ‘‘(ix) a list of coordinating entities; 

22 ‘‘(x) a description of funding history 

23 for the project; 

24 ‘‘(xi) cost-sharing, if any, for the 

25 project; and 


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1 ‘‘(xii) alignment with existing Chesa2 peake Bay Agreement and Chesapeake Ex3 ecutive Council goals and priorities. 

4 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM FUNDING LEVELS.—The Sec5 retary shall only describe restoration activities in the 

6 report required under paragraph (1) that— 

7 ‘‘(A) for Federal restoration activities, 

8 have funding amounts greater than or equal to 

9 $100,000; and 

10 ‘‘(B) for State restoration activities, have 

11 funding amounts greater than or equal to 

12 $50,000. 

13 ‘‘(3) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 30 days 

14 after the date on which the President submits the 

15 annual budget to Congress under section 1105 of 

16 title 31, United States Code, the Secretary shall 

17 submit the report required by paragraph (1) to— 

18 ‘‘(A) the Committees on Appropriations, 

19 Agriculture, Natural Resources, Energy and 

20 Commerce, and Transportation and Infrastruc21 ture of the House of Representatives; and 

22 ‘‘(B) the Committees on Appropriations, 

23 Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, Environ24 ment and Public Works, and Commerce, 

25 Science, and Transportation of the Senate. 


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1 ‘‘(4) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall 

2 apply beginning with the first fiscal year after the 

3 date of enactment of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 

4 Fairness Act of 2012 for which the President sub5 mits a budget to Congress under section 1105 of 

6 title 31, United States Code. 

7 ‘‘(i) WEBSITES.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

9 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 

10 Secretary shall establish and maintain— 

11 ‘‘(A) a user-friendly, publicly available 

12 website to promote greater accountability and 

13 transparency regarding the crosscut budget de14 scribed in subsection (h); and 

15 ‘‘(B) a user-friendly, publicly available 

16 website to provide information on Federal, 

17 State, local and private resources available to 

18 those interested in implementing conservation 

19 practices. 

20 ‘‘(2) CROSSCUT BUDGET WEBSITE.—The 

21 website established under paragraph (1)(A) shall 

22 provide— 

23 ‘‘(A) accountability information, including 

24 findings from audits, inspectors general, and 

25 the Government Accountability Office; 


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1 ‘‘(B) data on relevant economic, financial, 

2 grant, and contract information in user-friendly 

3 visual presentations to enhance public aware4 ness of the use of covered funds; 

5 ‘‘(C) links to other government websites at 

6 which key information relating to efforts to im7 prove the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay 

8 watershed may be found; 

9 ‘‘(D) printable reports on covered funds 

10 obligated by month to each State and congres11 sional district; and 

12 ‘‘(E) links to other government websites 

13 providing information concerning covered funds, 

14 including Federal agency and State websites. 

15 ‘‘(3) WEBSITE FOCUSED ON RESOURCES.—The 

16 website established under paragraph (1)(B) shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) provide— 

18 ‘‘(i) user-friendly access for agricul19 tural producers, owners of nonindustrial 

20 private forest land, Federal, State, and 

21 local governments, academic and non22 governmental organizations, industry asso23 ciations, and other interested parties to in24 dustry-specific regulatory compliance and 

25 conservation program information that the 


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1 Secretary considers potentially useful to 

2 agricultural producers and owners of non3 industrial private forest land located in the 

4 Chesapeake Bay watershed; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) detailed examples of successful 

6 conservation projects; and 

7 ‘‘(B) be arranged in industry-specific cat8 egories. 

9 ‘‘(4) REVISIONS.—The Secretary shall enhance 

10 and update the websites established under para11 graph (1) as necessary.’’. 

12 (b) FUNDING.—Subsection (l) of section 1240Q of 

13 the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839bb–4) (as 

14 redesignated by subsection (a)(4)) is amended— 

15 (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

16 after the semicolon at the end; 

17 (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period 

18 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

19 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(E) $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

21 2013 through 2018.’’. 

22 SEC. 3. WATER QUALITY TRADING ELIGIBILITY PLANNING. 

23 Section 1240A(5)(B) of the Food Security Act of 

24 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–1(5)(B)) is amended— 

25 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 


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1 (2) by redesignating clause (ii) as clause (iii); 

2 and 

3 (3) by inserting after clause (i) the following: 

4 ‘‘(ii) water quality trading eligibility 

5 planning; and’’. 

6 SEC. 4. ENERGY PRODUCTION FROM AGRICULTURAL 

7 SOURCES IN THE CHESAPEAKE BAY. 

8 (a) RURAL ENERGY FOR AMERICA PROGRAM.—Sec9 tion 9007 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act 

10 of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8107) is amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (c)(2)— 

12 (A) in subparagraph (F), by striking 

13 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

14 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (G) as 

15 subparagraph (H); and 

16 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (F) 

17 the following: 

18 ‘‘(G) in the case of a manure-to-energy 

19 system or improvement, whether the system or 

20 improvement includes an integrative approach 

21 to water quality issues; and’’; and 

22 (2) in subsection (g), by adding at the end the 

23 following: 

24 ‘‘(4) WATERSHED PROJECTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Of the funds made 

2 available for each fiscal year to carry out this 

3 section, 10 percent shall be used to carry out 

4 projects located within the watershed of any 

5 water for which the Federal Government has 

6 established a multistate total maximum daily 

7 load for pollutants under section 303(d)(2) of 

8 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 

9 U.S.C. 1313(d)(2)), with priority given to 

10 projects that address agricultural and silvicul11 tural sources. 

12 ‘‘(B) INSUFFICIENT APPLICATIONS.—If 

13 funds described in subparagraph (A) remain 

14 available by April 1 of the fiscal year due to in15 sufficient applications for projects described in 

16 that subparagraph, the funds shall be available 

17 to carry out other purposes under this sec18 tion.’’. 

19 (b) ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY INCENTIVES PRO20 GRAM.—Section 1240C(b) of the Food Security Act of 

21 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–3(b)) is amended— 

22 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

23 end; 

24 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at 

25 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 


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1 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(5) in the case of applications involving ma3 nure-to-energy projects, whether the projects include 

4 an integrative approach to water quality issues.’’. 

5 SEC. 5. FOREST COVER AT FEDERAL FACILITIES. 

6 Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 

7 of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture, with the advice 

8 of the Chief of the Forest Service and the appropriate 

9 Chesapeake Basin State forester, shall coordinate with the 

10 head of each Federal agency that owns or operates a facil11 ity within the Chesapeake Basin (as determined by the 

12 Secretary) to develop plans to maximize forest cover at 

13 the facility through— 

14 (1) the preservation of existing forest cover; or 

15 (2) with respect to a facility that has been pre16 viously disturbed or developed, the development of a 

17 reforestation plan, as appropriate. 

Æ 


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