I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 961
To promote Department of the Interior efforts to provide a scientific basis 
for the management of sediment and nutrient loss in the Upper Mis-
sissippi River Basin, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 27, 2003
Mr. KIND (for himself, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. LEACH, Mr. 
KILDEE, and Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Resources 
A BILL 
To promote Department of the Interior efforts to provide 
a scientific basis for the management of sediment and 
nutrient loss in the Upper Mississippi River Basin, and 
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Upper Mississippi River Basin Protection Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions. 
Sec. 3. Reliance on sound science. 
TITLE I—SEDIMENT AND NUTRIENT MONITORING NETWORK 
Sec. 101. Establishment of monitoring network. 
Sec. 102. Data collection and storage responsibilities. 
Sec. 103. Relationship to existing sediment and nutrient monitoring. 
Sec. 104. Collaboration with other public and private monitoring efforts. 
Sec. 105. Reporting requirements. 
Sec. 106. National Research Council assessment. 
TITLE II—COMPUTER MODELING AND RESEARCH 
Sec. 201. Computer modeling and research of sediment and nutrient sources. 
Sec. 202. Use of electronic means to distribute information. 
Sec. 203. Reporting requirements. 
TITLE III—AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS AND RELATED 
MATTERS 
Sec. 301. Authorization of appropriations. 
Sec. 302. Cost-sharing requirements.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) The terms ‘‘Upper Mississippi River Basin’’ 
and ‘‘Basin’’ mean the watershed portion of the 
Upper Mississippi River and Illinois River basins, 
from Cairo, Illinois, to the headwaters of the Mis-
sissippi River, in the States of Minnesota, Wis-
consin, Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri. The designation 
includes the Kaskaskia watershed along the Illinois 
River and the Meramec watershed along the Mis-
souri River. 
(2) The terms ‘‘Upper Mississippi River Stew-
ardship Initiative’’ and ‘‘Initiative’’ mean the activi-
ties authorized or required by this Act to monitor
nutrient and sediment loss in the Upper Mississippi 
River Basin. 
(3) The term ‘‘sound science’’ refers to the use 
of accepted and documented scientific methods to 
identify and quantify the sources, transport, and 
fate of nutrients and sediment and to quantify the 
effect of various treatment methods or conservation 
measures on nutrient and sediment loss. Sound 
science requires the use of documented protocols for 
data collection and data analysis, and peer review of 
the data, results, and findings. 
SEC. 3. RELIANCE ON SOUND SCIENCE. 
It is the policy of Congress that Federal investments 
in the Upper Mississippi River Basin must be guided by 
sound science. 
TITLE I—SEDIMENT AND NUTRI-
ENT MONITORING NETWORK 
SEC. 101. ESTABLISHMENT OF MONITORING NETWORK. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—As part of the Upper Mis-
sissippi River Stewardship Initiative, the Secretary of the 
Interior shall establish a sediment and nutrient moni-
toring network for the Upper Mississippi River Basin for 
the purposes of—
(1) 
identifying 
and 
evaluating 
significant 
sources of sediment and nutrients in the Upper Mis-
sissippi River Basin; 
(2) quantifying the processes affecting mobiliza-
tion, transport, and fate of those sediments and nu-
trients on land and in water; 
(3) quantifying the transport of those sediments 
and nutrients to and through the Upper Mississippi 
River Basin; 
(4) recording changes to sediment and nutrient 
loss over time; 
(5) providing coordinated data to be used in 
computer modeling of the Basin, pursuant to section 
201; and 
(6) identifying major sources of sediment and 
nutrients within the Basin for the purpose of tar-
geting resources to reduce sediment and nutrient 
loss. 
(b) ROLE OF UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SUR-
VEY.—The Secretary of the Interior shall carry out this 
title acting through the office of the Director of the United 
States Geological Survey.
SEC. 102. DATA COLLECTION AND STORAGE RESPONSIBIL-
ITIES. 
(a) GUIDELINES FOR DATA COLLECTION AND STOR-
AGE.—The Secretary of the Interior shall establish guide-
lines for the effective design of data collection activities 
regarding sediment and nutrient monitoring, for the use 
of suitable and consistent methods for data collection, and 
for consistent reporting, data storage, and archiving prac-
tices. 
(b) RELEASE OF DATA.—Data resulting from sedi-
ment and nutrient monitoring in the Upper Mississippi 
River Basin shall be released to the public using generic 
station identifiers and hydrologic unit codes. In the case 
of a monitoring station located on private lands, informa-
tion regarding the location of the station shall not be dis-
seminated without the landowner’s permission. 
(c) PROTECTION OF PRIVACY.—Data resulting from 
sediment and nutrient monitoring in the Upper Mis-
sissippi River Basin is not subject to the mandatory disclo-
sure provisions of section 552 of title 5, United States 
Code, but may be released only as provided in subsection 
(b).
SEC. 103. RELATIONSHIP TO EXISTING SEDIMENT AND NU-
TRIENT MONITORING. 
(a) INVENTORY.—To the maximum extent prac-
ticable, the Secretary of the Interior shall inventory the
sediment and nutrient monitoring efforts, in existence as 
of the date of the enactment of this Act, of Federal, State, 
local, and nongovernmental entities for the purpose of cre-
ating a baseline understanding of overlap, data gaps and 
redundancies.
(b) INTEGRATION.—On the basis of the inventory, 
the Secretary of the Interior shall integrate the existing 
sediment and nutrient monitoring efforts, to the maximum 
extent practicable, into the sediment and nutrient moni-
toring network required by section 101. 
(c) CONSULTATION AND USE OF EXISTING DATA.—
In carrying out this section, the Secretary of the Interior 
shall make maximum use of data in existence as of the 
date of the enactment of this Act and of ongoing programs 
and efforts of Federal, State, tribal, local, and nongovern-
mental entities in developing the sediment and nutrient 
monitoring network required by section 101. 
(d) COORDINATION WITH LONG-TERM ESTUARY AS-
SESSMENT PROJECT.—The Secretary of the Interior shall 
carry out this section in coordination with the long-term 
estuary assessment project authorized by section 902 of 
the Estuaries and Clean Waters Act of 2000 (Public Law 
106–457; 33 U.S.C. 2901 note).
SEC. 104. COLLABORATION WITH OTHER PUBLIC AND PRI-
VATE MONITORING EFFORTS. 
To establish the sediment and nutrient monitoring 
network, the Secretary of the Interior shall collaborate, 
to the maximum extent practicable, with other Federal, 
State, tribal, local and private sediment and nutrient mon-
itoring programs that meet guidelines prescribed under 
section 102(a), as determined by the Secretary. 
SEC. 105. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 
The Secretary of the Interior shall report to Congress 
not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act on the development of the sediment and nutri-
ent monitoring network. 
SEC. 106. NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL ASSESSMENT. 
The National Research Council of the National Acad-
emy of Sciences shall conduct a comprehensive water re-
sources assessment of the Upper Mississippi River Basin. 
TITLE II—COMPUTER MODELING 
AND RESEARCH 
SEC. 201. COMPUTER MODELING AND RESEARCH OF SEDI-
MENT AND NUTRIENT SOURCES. 
(a) MODELING PROGRAM REQUIRED.—As part of the 
Upper Mississippi River Stewardship Initiative, the Direc-
tor of the United States Geological Survey shall establish 
a modeling program to identify significant sources of sedi-
ment and nutrients in the Upper Mississippi River Basin.
(b) ROLE.—Computer modeling shall be used to iden-
tify subwatersheds which are significant sources of sedi-
ment and nutrient loss and shall be made available for 
the purposes of targeting public and private sediment and 
nutrient reduction efforts. 
(c) COMPONENTS.—Sediment and nutrient models 
for the Upper Mississippi River Basin shall include the 
following: 
(1) Models to relate nutrient loss to landscape, 
land use, and land management practices. 
(2) Models to relate sediment loss to landscape, 
land use, and land management practices. 
(3) Models to define river channel nutrient 
transformation processes. 
(d) COLLECTION
OF ANCILLARY INFORMATION.—
Ancillary information shall be collected in a GIS format 
to support modeling and management use of modeling re-
sults, including the following: 
(1) Land use data. 
(2) Soils data. 
(3) Elevation data. 
(4) Information on sediment and nutrient re-
duction improvement actions. 
(5) Remotely sense data.
TITLE III—AUTHORIZATION OF 
APPROPRIATIONS 
AND 
RE-
LATED MATTERS 
SEC. 301. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY ACTIVI-
TIES.—There is authorized to be appropriated to the 
United States Geological Survey $6,250,000 each fiscal 
year to carry out this Act (other than section 106). Of 
the amounts appropriated for a fiscal year pursuant to 
this authorization of appropriations, one-third shall be 
made available for the United States Geological Survey 
Cooperative Water Program and the remainder shall be 
made available for the United States Geological Survey 
Hydrologic Networks and Analysis Program. 
(b) WATER RESOURCE AND WATER QUALITY MAN-
AGEMENT ASSESSMENT.—There is authorized to be ap-
propriated $650,000 to allow the National Research Coun-
cil to perform the assessment required by section 106. 
SEC. 302. COST-SHARING REQUIREMENTS. 
Funds made available for the United States Geologi-
cal Survey Cooperative Water Program under section 
301(a) shall be subject to the same cost sharing require-
ments as specified in the last proviso under the heading 
‘‘UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-SURVEYS, INVES-
TIGATIONS, AND RESEARCH’’ of the Department of the In-
terior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2002 
(Public Law 107–63; 115 Stat. 427; 43 U.S.C. 50).
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