I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3120 

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 

JULY 21, 2015 

Mrs. MILLER of Michigan (for herself and Mr. WALBERG) 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 2015’’. 


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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 1240H the following 

6 new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 1240I. GREAT LAKES BASIN INITIATIVE FOR AGRICUL8 TURAL NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION PRE9 VENTION. 

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) COLLABORATION.—In carrying out activities 

20 under the initiative, a State may collaborate with entities 

21 that have agricultural or environmental expertise, includ22 ing academic or nonprofit organizations. 

23 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

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


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1 Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, 

2 Pennsylvania, or Wisconsin. 

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

4 the Great Lakes basin initiative for agricultural 

5 nonpoint source pollution prevention established 

6 under subsection (a). 

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

8 term ‘nonpoint source pollution’ is used within the 

9 meaning of that term under the Federal Water Pol10 lution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.). 

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

12 term ‘State verification program’ means a program 

13 established by a Great Lakes State to verify pro14 ducer implementation of practices approved by the 

15 State to reduce nonpoint pollution of ground and 

16 surface water from agricultural activities, which may 

17 include verification by a third party approved by the 

18 State or the Secretary. 

19 ‘‘(f) FUNDING.—Of the funds made available to carry 

20 out this chapter, the Secretary shall carry out this section 

21 using— 

22 ‘‘(1) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2017; 

23 ‘‘(2) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2018; 

24 ‘‘(3) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2019; and 

25 ‘‘(4) $7,000,000 for fiscal year 2020.’’. 


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

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

3 amended by adding at the end the following new sub4 section: 

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

6 evaluating applications of producers in the Great Lakes 

7 basin under this chapter, the Secretary shall prioritize ap8 plications in accordance with section 1240I(b)(2).’’. 

Æ 


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