I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2141 

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 

APRIL 8, 2019 

Mr. WALBERG (for himself and Mr. RYAN) 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 Agricul5 tural Stewardship Act’’. 


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

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 4 of sub5 title D of title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

6 U.S.C. 3839aa et seq.) is amended by inserting after sec7 tion 1240H the following new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 1240H–1. GREAT LAKES BASIN INITIATIVE FOR AGRI9 CULTURAL NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION 

10 PREVENTION. 

11 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, in consulta12 tion with the Great Lakes States, shall establish a Great 

13 Lakes basin initiative for agricultural nonpoint source pol14 lution prevention in accordance with this section. 

15 ‘‘(b) INITIATIVE ELEMENTS.— 

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

17 initiative, the Secretary shall provide grants to Great 

18 Lakes States to fund the following: 

19 ‘‘(A) Education and outreach, for pro20 ducers in the Great Lakes basin, regarding— 

21 ‘‘(i) nonpoint pollution of ground and 

22 surface water from agricultural activities; 

23 ‘‘(ii) State verification programs; and 

24 ‘‘(iii) the initiative. 

25 ‘‘(B) Technical assistance, including train26 ing, to producers in the Great Lakes basin for 


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1 the implementation of activities that reduce or 

2 prevent nonpoint pollution of ground and sur3 face water from agricultural activities. 

4 ‘‘(C) Development and implementation of 

5 voluntary State verification programs, with a 

6 funding priority for voluntary State verification 

7 programs that incorporate Department of Agri8 culture conservation planning and practice 

9 standards. 

10 ‘‘(2) FUNDING PRIORITY FOR CERTAIN PRO11 DUCERS.—In implementing the initiative, the Sec12 retary shall establish a funding priority within the 

13 Great Lakes basin for payments to producers under 

14 this chapter for producers that participate in the ini15 tiative with the purpose of achieving verification 

16 through a State verification program. 

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

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

19 plans, models, and assessments. 

20 ‘‘(d) COLLABORATION.—In carrying out activities 

21 under the initiative, a State may collaborate with entities 

22 that have agricultural or environmental expertise, includ23 ing academic or nonprofit organizations. 

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


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

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

3 Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, 

4 Pennsylvania, or Wisconsin. 

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

6 the Great Lakes basin initiative for agricultural 

7 nonpoint source pollution prevention established 

8 under subsection (a). 

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

10 term ‘nonpoint source pollution’ is used within the 

11 meaning of that term under the Federal Water Pol12 lution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.). 

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

14 term ‘State verification program’ means a program 

15 established by a Great Lakes State to verify pro16 ducer implementation of practices approved by the 

17 State to reduce nonpoint pollution of ground and 

18 surface water from agricultural activities, which may 

19 include verification by a third party approved by the 

20 State or the Secretary. 

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

22 out this subchapter, the Secretary shall carry out this sec23 tion using— 

24 ‘‘(1) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2020; 

25 ‘‘(2) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; 


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1 ‘‘(3) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; and 

2 ‘‘(4) $7,000,000 for fiscal year 2023.’’. 

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

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

5 amended by adding at the end the following new sub6 section: 

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

8 evaluating applications of producers in the Great Lakes 

9 basin under this subchapter, the Secretary shall prioritize 

10 applications in accordance with section 1240H–1(b)(2).’’. 

Æ 


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