II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 760 

To require the Office of Management and Budget to prepare a crosscut 

budget for restoration activities in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, to 

require the Environmental Protection Agency to develop and implement 

an adaptive management plan, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 7 (legislative day, APRIL 5), 2011 

Mr. WARNER (for himself and Mr. WEBB) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public 

Works 

A BILL 

To require the Office of Management and Budget to prepare 

a crosscut budget for restoration activities in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, to require the Environmental Protection Agency to develop and implement an adaptive 

management plan, 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 ‘‘Chesapeake Bay Ac5 countability and Recovery Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT.—The term 

2 ‘‘adaptive management’’ means a type of natural re3 source management in which project and program 

4 decisions are made as part of an ongoing, science5 based process that— 

6 (A) includes testing, monitoring, and eval7 uating applied strategies and incorporating new 

8 knowledge into programs and restoration activi9 ties that are based on scientific findings and 

10 the needs of society; and 

11 (B) uses the results of the activities de12 scribed in subparagraph (A) to modify manage13 ment policies, strategies, practices, programs, 

14 and restoration activities. 

15 (2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis16 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ17 mental Protection Agency. 

18 (3) CHESAPEAKE BAY STATE.—The term 

19 ‘‘Chesapeake Bay State’’ or ‘‘State’’ means the 

20 States of Maryland, West Virginia, Delaware, and 

21 New York, the Commonwealths of Virginia and 

22 Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia. 

23 (4) CHESAPEAKE BAY WATERSHED.—The term 

24 ‘‘Chesapeake Bay watershed’’ means the Chesapeake 

25 Bay and the geographic area within the Chesapeake 


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1 Bay States, consisting of 36 tributary basins, 

2 through which precipitation drains into the Chesa3 peake Bay, as determined by the Secretary of the 

4 Interior. 

5 (5) CHESAPEAKE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL.—The 

6 term ‘‘Chesapeake Executive Council’’ has the mean7 ing given the term by section 307 of the National 

8 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Authoriza9 tion Act of 1992 (15 U.S.C. 1511d). 

10 (6) CHIEF EXECUTIVE.—The term ‘‘chief exec11 utive’’ means, in the case of a State or Common12 wealth, the Governor of each State or Common13 wealth and, in the case of the District of Columbia, 

14 the Mayor of the District of Columbia. 

15 (7) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

16 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg17 et. 

18 (8) RESTORATION ACTIVITY.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘restoration 

20 activity’’ means any Federal or State program 

21 or project that directly or indirectly protects, 

22 conserves, or restores living resources, habitat, 

23 water resources, or water quality in the Chesa24 peake Bay watershed, including programs or 

25 projects that promote responsible land use, 


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1 stewardship, and community engagement in the 

2 Chesapeake Bay watershed. 

3 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘restoration 

4 activity’’ includes any 1 or more of the fol5 lowing: 

6 (i) Physical restoration. 

7 (ii) Planning. 

8 (iii) Feasibility studies. 

9 (iv) Scientific research. 

10 (v) Monitoring. 

11 (vi) Education. 

12 (vii) Infrastructure Development. 

13 SEC. 3. CHESAPEAKE BAY CROSSCUT BUDGET. 

14 (a) CROSSCUT BUDGET.—The Director, in consulta15 tion with the Chesapeake Executive Council, the chief ex16 ecutive of each Chesapeake Bay State, and the Chesa17 peake Bay Commission, shall annually submit to Congress 

18 a financial report containing— 

19 (1) an interagency crosscut budget that dis20 plays— 

21 (A) the proposed funding for any Federal 

22 restoration activity to be carried out in the suc23 ceeding fiscal year, including any planned inter24 agency or intraagency transfer, for each FedVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:41 Apr 09, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S760.IS S760

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1 eral agency that carries out restoration activi2 ties; 

3 (B) to the extent that information is avail4 able, the estimated funding for any State res5 toration activity to be carried out in the suc6 ceeding fiscal year; 

7 (C) all expenditures for Federal restoration 

8 activities from the preceding 3 fiscal years, the 

9 current fiscal year, and the succeeding fiscal 

10 year; and 

11 (D) all expenditures, to the extent that in12 formation is available, for State restoration ac13 tivities during the equivalent time period de14 scribed in subparagraph (C); 

15 (2) a detailed accounting of all amounts re16 ceived and obligated by each Federal agency for res17 toration activities during the current and preceding 

18 fiscal years, including the identification of amounts 

19 that were transferred to a Chesapeake Bay State for 

20 restoration activities; 

21 (3) to the extent that information is available, 

22 a detailed accounting from each State of all amounts 

23 received and obligated from a Federal agency for 

24 restoration activities during the current and pre25 ceding fiscal years; and 


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1 (4) a description of each of the proposed Fed2 eral and State restoration activities to be carried out 

3 in the succeeding fiscal year (corresponding to those 

4 activities listed in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of 

5 paragraph (1)), including the— 

6 (A) project description; 

7 (B) current status of the project; 

8 (C) Federal or State statutory or regu9 latory authority, program, or responsible agen10 cy; 

11 (D) authorization level for appropriations; 

12 (E) project timeline, including benchmarks; 

13 (F) references to project documents; 

14 (G) descriptions of risks and uncertainties 

15 of project implementation; 

16 (H) adaptive management actions or 

17 framework; 

18 (I) coordinating entities; 

19 (J) funding history; 

20 (K) cost-sharing, if any; and 

21 (L) alignment with existing Chesapeake 

22 Bay Agreement and Chesapeake Executive 

23 Council goals and priorities. 


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1 (b) MINIMUM FUNDING LEVELS.—The Director shall 

2 only describe restoration activities in the report required 

3 under subsection (a) that— 

4 (1) for Federal restoration activities, have fund5 ing amounts greater than or equal to $100,000; and 

6 (2) for State restoration activities, have funding 

7 amounts greater than or equal to $50,000. 

8 (c) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 30 days after the 

9 date on which the President submits the annual budget 

10 to Congress under section 1105 of title 31, United States 

11 Code, the Director shall submit the report required by 

12 subsection (a) to— 

13 (1) the Committees on Appropriations, Natural 

14 Resources, Energy and Commerce, and Transpor15 tation and Infrastructure of the House of Represent16 atives; and 

17 (2) the Committees on Appropriations, Environ18 ment and Public Works, and Commerce, Science, 

19 and Transportation of the Senate. 

20 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply be21 ginning with the first fiscal year after the date of enact22 ment of this Act for which the President submits a budget 

23 to Congress under section 1105 of title 31, United States 

24 Code. 


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1 SEC. 4. ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT PLAN. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

3 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in con4 sultation with appropriate Federal and State agencies, 

5 shall develop and implement an adaptive management 

6 plan for restoration activities in the Chesapeake Bay wa7 tershed that includes— 

8 (1) a description of specific and measurable ob9 jectives to improve water quality, habitat, and fish10 eries; 

11 (2) a process for stakeholder participation; 

12 (3) monitoring, modeling, experimentation, and 

13 other research and evaluation practices; 

14 (4) a process for modification of restoration ac15 tivities that have not attained or will not attain the 

16 specific and measurable objectives set forth under 

17 paragraph (1); and 

18 (5) a process for prioritizing restoration activi19 ties and programs to which adaptive management 

20 shall be applied. 

21 (b) UPDATES.—The Administrator shall update the 

22 adaptive management plan developed under subsection (a) 

23 every 3 years. 

24 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

25 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

26 the end of each fiscal year, the Administrator shall 


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1 submit to Congress a report describing the imple2 mentation of the adaptive management plan required 

3 under this section for that fiscal year. 

4 (2) CONTENTS.—The report required under 

5 paragraph (1) shall contain information about the 

6 application of adaptive management to restoration 

7 activities and programs, including programmatic and 

8 project level changes implemented through the proc9 ess of adaptive management. 

10 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Paragraph (1) shall 

11 apply to the first fiscal year that begins after the 

12 date of enactment of this Act. 

13 SEC. 5. INDEPENDENT EVALUATOR FOR THE CHESAPEAKE 

14 BAY PROGRAM. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—There shall be an Independent 

16 Evaluator for restoration activities in the Chesapeake Bay 

17 watershed, who shall review and report on— 

18 (1) restoration activities and the use of adaptive 

19 management in restoration activities; and 

20 (2) any related topics that are suggested by the 

21 Chesapeake Executive Council. 

22 (b) APPOINTMENT.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Independent Evaluator 

24 shall be appointed by the Administrator from among 


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1 nominees submitted by the Chesapeake Executive 

2 Council. 

3 (2) NOMINATIONS.—The Chesapeake Executive 

4 Council may submit to the Administrator 4 nomi5 nees for appointment to any vacancy in the office of 

6 the Independent Evaluator. 

7 (c) REPORTS.—The Independent Evaluator shall sub8 mit a report to Congress describing the findings and rec9 ommendations of the Independent Evaluator under sub10 section (a) every 3 years. 

Æ 


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