I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4729 
To amend the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 to 
allow the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the 
Secretary of the Department of the Interior and other agencies to provide 
grants, assistance, studies, Federal coordination, and essential restoration 
and protection of the Mississippi River Corridor for the purpose of 
sustaining critical environmental services and the major U.S. economies 
that depend on them and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 27, 2021 
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To amend the Water Resources Reform and Development 
Act of 2014 to allow the Administrator of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency, the Secretary of the Depart-
ment of the Interior and other agencies to provide 
grants, assistance, studies, Federal coordination, and es-
sential restoration and protection of the Mississippi River 
Corridor for the purpose of sustaining critical environ-
mental services and the major U.S. economies that de-
pend on them and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
16:48 Aug 31, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4729.IH
H4729
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Andrew J. Young Safe-
guarding the Mississippi River Together Act’’ or the ‘‘An-
drew J. Young SMRT Act’’ or ‘‘Andy’s Mississippi River 
Bill’’ or ‘‘Andy’s Bill’’. 
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHING A COMPREHENSIVE MISSISSIPPI 
RIVER PROGRAM TO PROTECT AND SUSTAIN 
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER MAIN STEM. 
Title IV of the Water Resources Reform and Develop-
ment Act of 2014 (128 Stat. 1308; Public Law 113–121; 
33 U.S.C. 605a) is amended, after section 4002, by insert-
ing at the following: 
‘‘SEC. 4002A. NATIONAL MISSISSIPPI RIVER PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in close co-
ordination and cooperation with the Secretary of the 
Department of Interior (Interior), and in consulta-
tion with the Department of Transportation, the De-
partment of Agriculture, and the U.S. Army Corps 
of Engineers may enter into agreements with an eli-
gible State or division of local government to develop 
a National Mississippi River Program Office, provide 
grants, assistance, studies, coordination, and essen-
tial restoration and protection of the Mississippi 
River Corridor for the purposes of— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
16:48 Aug 31, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4729.IH
H4729
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
‘‘(A) sustaining essential environmental 
services; 
‘‘(B) maintaining the ecological integrity, 
health, and biodiversity of Federal land as well 
as lands managed under Federal programs; 
‘‘(C) protecting critical national infrastruc-
ture, habitat, fish and wildlife resources; and 
‘‘(D) supporting the major US economies 
that depend on the Mississippi River. 
‘‘(2) DISPOSITION.— 
‘‘(A) FINDINGS.—The Administrator in 
close coordination with the Secretary of Interior 
may carry out any project identified pursuant 
to this act in accordance with the priorities set- 
forth in the findings identified by Congress as 
the following: 
‘‘(i) In 1986, Congress designated the 
Mississippi River System as both a nation-
ally significant ecosystem and navigation 
system—the only inland river system to re-
ceive such a designation. 
‘‘(ii) The Mississippi River moves 47 
percent of the nation’s inland waterway 
commerce totaling approximately 500 mil-
lion tons of cargo each year making pos-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
16:48 Aug 31, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4729.IH
H4729
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
sible America’s only trade surplus in agri-
cultural commodities. 
‘‘(iii) The Mississippi River’s fresh-
water economy generates nearly $500 bil-
lion in annual revenue directly employing 
over 1.5 million people throughout the cor-
ridor providing drinking water supply to 
more than 20 million people in 50 cities. 
‘‘(iv) One in twelve people on Earth 
ingest commodities grown within the Mis-
sissippi River Basin. 
‘‘(v) The cities along the Mississippi 
River have a combined gross municipal 
product of nearly half a trillion U.S. dol-
lars generated from major economic sec-
tors including manufacturing, tourism, ag-
riculture, energy production, commercial 
navigation, mineral extraction, commercial 
harvest of natural resources, biotechnology, 
and telecommunication services. 
‘‘(vi) The Mississippi River has the 
largest global trade footprint of any inland 
waterway in the western hemisphere giving 
it a significant stake in maintaining access 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
16:48 Aug 31, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4729.IH
H4729
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
to global commodity markets for the 
United States. 
‘‘(vii) Waterways and ports in the 
Mississippi River ten-State corridor move 
$164.6 billion in agricultural products to 
U.S. and foreign markets. 55 to 70 percent 
of all U.S. exported corn, soy, and wheat 
as well as 60 percent of America’s corn 
and soybean exports (40 percent of the na-
tion’s total agricultural output) move on 
the Mississippi River. 
‘‘(viii) The Corridor has sustained 
over $50 billion in natural disaster impacts 
within the Mississippi River Valley since 
2011 ($200 billion since 2005). On aver-
age over the last five years, disasters are 
costing the Mississippi River economy as a 
whole close to 3 percent annually. 
‘‘(ix) The Mississippi River Corridor 
has sustained over $50 billion in natural 
disaster impacts within the Mississippi 
River Valley since 2011 ($210 billion since 
2005). On average over the last five years, 
disasters are costing the Mississippi River 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
16:48 Aug 31, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4729.IH
H4729
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
economy as a whole close to 3 percent an-
nually. 
‘‘(x) Congress finds that recent disas-
ters only exacerbate issues of equity, ac-
cess, poverty, and disadvantage already 
uniquely acute through portions of the 
Mississippi River Corridor above and be-
yond other regions of the United States. 
Rural cities are more likely to be disadvan-
taged. Disadvantage is clustered and driv-
en by historical context that requires overt 
and purposeful solutions. Disparities in the 
Mississippi River Corridor carry significant 
economic outcomes in terms of health, lon-
gevity, quality of life, and generational 
prosperity. 
‘‘(xi) Natural infrastructure can play 
a heightened role in cleaning and regu-
lating water. Nature can move and manage 
more water more efficiently, to more ben-
efit than built infrastructure; across the 
nation, inland wetlands provide an esti-
mated $237 billion in water flow regulation 
services annually. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
16:48 Aug 31, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4729.IH
H4729
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
‘‘(B) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator in 
close coordination with the Secretary of Interior 
may carry out any project identified pursuant 
to paragraph (1) through subsection (e) in ac-
cordance with the criteria for projects carried 
out under one of the following authorities: 
‘‘(i) Section 206 of the Water Re-
sources Development Act of 1996 (33 
U.S.C. 2330). 
‘‘(ii) 33 U.S.C. 2201 et seq. Water 
Resources Development Act of 1990. 
‘‘(iii) Section 1135 of the Water Re-
sources Development Act of 1986 (33 
U.S.C. 2309a). 
‘‘(iv) Section 107 of the River and 
Harbor Act of 1960 (33 U.S.C. 577). 
‘‘(v) Section 104(a) of the River and 
Harbor Act of 1958 (33 U.S.C. 610(a)). 
‘‘(vi) Public Law 100–460; 42 U.S.C. 
3121 note. 
‘‘(C) 
FEDERAL
LEADERSHIP
COM-
MITTEE.—In order to begin a new era of shared 
Federal leadership with respect to the protec-
tion and restoration of the Mississippi River, a 
Federal Leadership Committee (Committee) for 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
16:48 Aug 31, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4729.IH
H4729
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
the Mississippi River shall be established under 
this section to oversee the development and co-
ordination of programs and activities, including 
data management and reporting, of agencies 
participating in protection and restoration of 
the Mississippi River through the work of the 
National Mississippi River Program Office. 
‘‘(i) The Committee shall advise the 
development of strategies and program 
plans for the watershed and ecosystem of 
the Mississippi River and their implemen-
tation at a broad level as investigated, con-
structed, and implemented in detail by the 
National Mississippi River Program Office. 
‘‘(ii) The Committee shall be co- 
chaired by the Administrator of the EPA 
and the Secretary of the Interior or the 
Director of the U.S. Geological Survey 
(USGS), and vice chaired by the President 
of 
the 
Mississippi 
River 
Commission 
(MRC), or the President’s designee, and 
include senior representatives of the De-
partment of Transportation, the Depart-
ment of Agriculture, the U.S. Army Corps 
of Engineers, and such other agencies as 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
16:48 Aug 31, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4729.IH
H4729
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
determined by the Committee including the 
Chief of the Natural Resources Conserva-
tion Service and the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency. The Committee shall 
also include one member of the U.S. House 
of Representatives and the U.S. Senate 
who are Co-Chairs of the Mississippi River 
Caucus in their respective chambers, one 
additional member of the Congressional 
Black Caucus from a Mississippi River 
State (if CBC member is not available for 
a Mississippi River State, than a CBC 
member shall be chosen from a State with-
in the Mississippi River Basin), one gov-
ernor from a Mississippi River State and 
one of the Mayoral Co-Chairs of the Mis-
sissippi River Cities & Towns Initiative 
(MRCTI). Representatives serving on the 
Committee shall be officers of the United 
States with the exception of one governor 
and one mayor as afore mentioned. 
‘‘(iii) Within 9 months of enactment 
of this Act, the Committee shall prepare 
and publish a broad strategy for coordi-
nated implementation of existing programs 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
16:48 Aug 31, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4729.IH
H4729
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
and projects to guide efforts to protect and 
restore the Mississippi River Main Stem 
Corridor for the purposes of— 
‘‘(I) reducing exposure to and 
impacts from disasters to critical na-
tional infrastructure and vulnerable 
and economically disadvantaged popu-
lations; 
‘‘(II) protecting sensitive and 
complex ecosystems, wildlife, habitat, 
and natural resources; and 
‘‘(III) sustaining and augmenting 
environmental services vital to the 
global commodity supply chain includ-
ing reliable and stable flow levels, soil 
health, reduced erosion, sedimenta-
tion, and nutrient loading. 
‘‘(iv) The Committee’s broad strategy 
shall inform and create the basis for devel-
opment of a Comprehensive Mississippi 
River Restoration Plan that will be assem-
bled by the National Mississippi River Pro-
gram Office. 
‘‘(b) ESTABLISHING A NATIONAL MISSISSIPPI RIVER 
PROGRAM OFFICE.— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
16:48 Aug 31, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4729.IH
H4729
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS