II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 565 

To provide for the safe and reliable navigation of the Mississippi River, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 14, 2013 

Mr. DURBIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To provide for the safe and reliable navigation of the 

Mississippi River, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Mississippi River Navi5 gation Sustainment Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the Mississippi River is the largest, most fa9 mous river in the United States and a vital natural 

10 resource; 


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1 (2) the Mississippi River Basin is the third 

2 largest watershed in the world, covering more than 

3 1,000,000 square miles and approximately 40 per4 cent of the continental United States; 

5 (3) the rivers, tributaries, and reservoirs that 

6 make up the Mississippi River Basin operate natu7 rally as a system and any attempt to operate 

8 projects within the Mississippi River Basin by man9 kind should take this fact into consideration; 

10 (4) the Mississippi River is the backbone of the 

11 inland waterway system of the United States and a 

12 crucial artery for the movement of goods; 

13 (5) each year millions of tons of commodities, 

14 including grain, coal, petroleum, and chemicals, rep15 resenting billions of dollars are transported on the 

16 Mississippi River by barge; 

17 (6) the Mississippi River is home to some of the 

18 busiest commercial ports in the United States, in19 cluding the Port of New Orleans and the Port of St. 

20 Louis; 

21 (7) safe and reliable navigation of the Mis22 sissippi River is vital to the national economy; 

23 (8) extreme weather events pose challenges to 

24 navigation and life along the Mississippi River and 

25 are likely to become more severe and more frequent 


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1 in the coming years, as evidenced by the devastating 

2 floods along the Mississippi River in 2011 and the 

3 near historic low water levels seen on the same 

4 stretch of the Mississippi River in the winter of 

5 2012–2013; 

6 (9) the American Waterways Operators and the 

7 Waterways Council, Incorporated have estimated 

8 that a disruption of navigation on the Mississippi 

9 River due to low water levels between December 

10 2012 and January 2013 would have negatively im11 pacted 20,000 jobs and $7,000,000,000 in cargo; 

12 (10) the Regulating Works Program of the St. 

13 Louis District of the Corps of Engineers is critical 

14 to maintaining navigation on the middle Mississippi 

15 River during extreme weather events and should re16 ceive continued Federal financial assistance and sup17 port; and 

18 (11) the Federal Government, commercial 

19 users, and others have a shared responsibility to 

20 take steps to maintain the critical flow of goods on 

21 the Mississippi River during extreme weather events. 

22 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

23 (a) EXTREME WEATHER.—The term ‘‘extreme 

24 weather’’ means— 


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1 (1) severe flooding and drought conditions that 

2 lead to above or below average water levels; or 

3 (2) other severe weather events that threaten 

4 personal safety, property, and navigation on the in5 land waterways of the United States. 

6 (b) GREATER MISSISSIPPI RIVER BASIN.—The term 

7 ‘‘greater Mississippi River Basin’’ means the area covered 

8 by hydrologic units 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, and 11, as identified 

9 by the United States Geological Survey as of the date of 

10 enactment of this Act. 

11 (c) LOWER MISSISSIPPI RIVER.—The term ‘‘lower 

12 Mississippi River’’ means the portion of the Mississippi 

13 River that begins at the confluence of the Ohio River and 

14 flows to the Gulf of Mexico. 

15 (d) MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.—The term ‘‘middle 

16 Mississippi River’’ means the portion of the Mississippi 

17 River that begins at the confluence of the Missouri River 

18 and flows to the lower Mississippi River. 

19 (e) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the 

20 Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engi21 neers. 

22 SEC. 4. GREATER MISSISSIPPI RIVER BASIN EXTREME 

23 WEATHER MANAGEMENT STUDY. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a 

25 study of the Mississippi River Basin— 


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1 (1) to improve the coordinated and comprehen2 sive management of water resource projects in the 

3 greater Mississippi River Basin relating to extreme 

4 weather conditions; and 

5 (2) to evaluate the feasibility of any modifica6 tions to those water resource projects and develop 

7 new water resource projects to improve the reliability 

8 of navigation and more effectively reduce flood risk. 

9 (b) CONTENTS.—The study shall— 

10 (1) identify any Federal actions necessary to 

11 prevent and mitigate the impacts of extreme weath12 er, including changes to authorized channel dimen13 sions, operational procedures of locks and dams, and 

14 reservoir management within the Mississippi River 

15 Basin; 

16 (2) evaluate the effect on navigation and flood 

17 risk management to the Mississippi River of all up18 stream rivers and tributaries, especially the con19 fluence of the Illinois River, Missouri River, and 

20 Ohio River; 

21 (3) identify and make recommendations to rem22 edy challenges to the Corps of Engineers presented 

23 by extreme weather, including river access, in car24 rying out its mission to maintain safe, reliable navi25 gation; and 


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1 (4) identify and locate natural or other poten2 tial impediments to maintaining navigation on the 

3 middle and lower Mississippi River during periods of 

4 low water, including existing industrial pipeline 

5 crossings. 

6 (c) CONSULTATION AND USE OF EXISTING DATA.— 

7 In carrying out the study, the Secretary shall— 

8 (1) consult with appropriate committees of Con9 gress, Federal, State, tribal, and local agencies, envi10 ronmental interests, river navigation industry rep11 resentatives, other shipping and business interests, 

12 organized labor, and nongovernmental organizations; 

13 (2) to the maximum extent practicable, use 

14 data in existence on the date of enactment of this 

15 Act; and 

16 (3) incorporate lessons learned and best prac17 tices developed as a result of past extreme weather 

18 events, including major floods and the successful ef19 fort to maintain navigation during the near historic 

20 low water levels on the Mississippi River during the 

21 winter of 2012–2013. 

22 (d) COST-SHARING.—The Federal share of the cost 

23 of carrying out the study under this section shall be 100 

24 percent. 


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1 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date 

2 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to 

3 Congress a report on the study carried out under this sec4 tion. 

5 SEC. 5. MISSISSIPPI RIVER FORECASTING IMPROVEMENTS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 

7 with the Secretary of the department in which the Coast 

8 Guard is operating, the Director of the United States Geo9 logical Survey, the Administrator of the National Oceanic 

10 and Atmospheric Administration, and the Director of the 

11 National Weather Service, as applicable, shall improve 

12 forecasting on the Mississippi River by— 

13 (1) updating forecasting technology deployed on 

14 the Mississippi River and its tributaries through— 

15 (A) the construction of additional auto16 mated river gages; 

17 (B) the rehabilitation of existing auto18 mated and manual river gages; and 

19 (C) the replacement of manual river gages 

20 with automated gages, as the Secretary deter21 mines to be necessary; 

22 (2) constructing additional sedimentation 

23 ranges on the Mississippi River and its tributaries; 

24 and 


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1 (3) deploying additional automatic identification 

2 system base stations at river gage sites. 

3 (b) PRIORITIZATION.—In carrying out this section, 

4 the Secretary shall prioritize the sections of the Mis5 sissippi River on which additional and more reliable infor6 mation would have the greatest impact on maintaining 

7 navigation on the Mississippi River. 

8 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

9 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to 

10 Congress a report on the activities carried out by the Sec11 retary under this section. 

12 SEC. 6. CORPS OF ENGINEERS FLEXIBILITY IN MAINTAIN13 ING NAVIGATION. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary determines it to 

15 be critical to maintaining safe and reliable navigation, the 

16 Secretary— 

17 (1) in consultation with the department in 

18 which the Coast Guard is operating, may construct 

19 ingress and egress paths to docks, loading facilities, 

20 fleeting areas, and other critical locations outside of 

21 the authorized navigation channel on the Mississippi 

22 River; and 

23 (2) operate and maintain, through dredging and 

24 construction of river training structures, ingress and 

25 egress paths to loading docks and fleeting areas outVerDate Mar 14 2013 05:05 Mar 20, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S565.IS S565

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1 side of the authorized navigation channel on the 

2 Mississippi River. 

3 (b) MITIGATION.—The Secretary may mitigate 

4 through dredging any incidental impacts to loading or 

5 fleeting areas outside of the authorized navigation channel 

6 on the Mississippi River that result from operation and 

7 maintenance of the authorized channel. 

8 SEC. 7. MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI RIVER ENVIRONMENTAL 

9 PILOT PROGRAM. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with the project for 

11 navigation, Mississippi River between the Ohio and Mis12 souri Rivers (Regulating Works), Missouri and Illinois, 

13 authorized by the Act of June 25, 1910 (36 Stat. 631, 

14 chapter 382) (commonly known as the ‘‘River and Harbor 

15 Act of 1910’’), the Act of January 1, 1927 (44 Stat. 1010, 

16 chapter 47) (commonly known as the ‘‘River and Harbor 

17 Act of 1927’’), and the Act of July 3, 1930 (46 Stat. 918, 

18 chapter 847), the Secretary shall carry out for a period 

19 of not less than 10 years, a pilot program to restore and 

20 protect fish and wildlife habitat in the middle Mississippi 

21 River. 

22 (b) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—As part of the pilot program 

24 carried out under subsection (a), the Secretary shall 

25 conduct any activities that are necessary to improve 


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1 navigation through the project while restoring and 

2 protecting fish and wildlife habitat in the middle 

3 Mississippi River. 

4 (2) INCLUSIONS.—Activities authorized under 

5 paragraph (1) shall include— 

6 (A) the modification of navigation training 

7 structures; 

8 (B) the modification and creation of side 

9 channels; 

10 (C) the modification and creation of is11 lands; 

12 (D) any studies and analyses necessary to 

13 develop adaptive management principles; and 

14 (E) the acquisition from willing sellers of 

15 any land associated with a riparian corridor 

16 needed to carry out the goals of the pilot pro17 gram. 

18 (c) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.—The cost-shar19 ing requirements under the provisions of law described in 

20 subsection (a) for the project described in that subsection 

21 shall apply to any activities carried out under this section. 

22 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

23 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

24 this Act such sums as are necessary. 

Æ 


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