I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1800
To establish the Upper Mississippi River Stewardship Initiative to monitor
and reduce sediment and nutrient loss in the Upper Mississippi River.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 10, 2001
Mr. KIND (for himself, Mr. LEACH, Mr. GILCHREST, Mr. EVANS, Mr.
NUSSLE, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. BLUMENAUER,
Mr. KILDEE, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. PALLONE,
Mr. LUTHER, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Ms.
MCCOLLUM, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. TANNER, Mr. PETRI,
and Mr. FORD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Re-
sources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned
A BILL
To establish the Upper Mississippi River Stewardship Initia-
tive to monitor and reduce sediment and nutrient loss
in the Upper Mississippi River.
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 Conservation Act of
2001’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings, purposes, and reliance on sound science.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
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. Cost share requirements.
Sec. 106. Reporting requirements.
Sec. 107. Assessment of water resource and water quality management.
TITLE II—INITIATIVE GRANT, DEMONSTRATION, AND OUTREACH
PROGRAMS
Sec. 201. Computer modeling of sediment and nutrient sources.
Sec. 202. Research regarding best management practices and sediment and nu-
trient loss.
Sec. 203. Demonstration projects regarding new best management practices to
reduce sediment and nutrient loss.
Sec. 204. Use of electronic means to distribute information.
Sec. 205. Reporting requirements.
TITLE III—PROTECTION OF PERSONAL DATA
Sec. 301. Privacy of personal data received by Department of Agriculture and
data gathering locations.
TITLE IV—ADVISORY COUNCIL ON THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI
RIVER STEWARDSHIP INITIATIVE
Sec. 401. Establishment of Advisory Council.
Sec. 402. Responsibilities of Advisory Council.
Sec. 403. Advisory nature of Council.
TITLE V—FEDERAL INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP
Sec. 501. Establishment of Interagency Working Group.
TITLE VI—AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS
Sec. 601. Authorization of appropriations.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS, PURPOSES, AND RELIANCE ON SOUND
SCIENCE.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
(1) The Upper Mississippi River and its tribu-
taries are an important source of municipal and in-
dustrial water supplies for many of the region’s
more than 24,000,000 residents.
(2) The Upper Mississippi River Basin supports
many economic activities of regional and national
importance and is an important element of the na-
tional transportation infrastructure, enabling ship-
ment of agricultural, petroleum, coal, and many
other products.
(3) Millions of tourists annually visit the Upper
Mississippi River Basin to fish, hunt, swim, boat,
and camp, as well as to visit the region’s many his-
toric towns and archaeological sites.
(4) The sediments and nutrients that inadvert-
ently enter streams, and ultimately the Mississippi
River, result in—
(A) a reduction in the quality and quantity
of farm crops and thereby a reduction in farm
income;
(B) an increase in channel maintenance
costs;
(C) a threat to drinking water supplies;
and
(D) the filling of side channels used by
river wildlife.
(5) The public and private costs associated with
sediment and nutrient loss in the Upper Mississippi
River Basin are significant:
(A) Farmers lose more than $300,000,000
worth of applied nitrogen annually.
(B) Dredging costs exceed $100,000,000
annually.
(C) The cost of habitat restoration efforts
along the main stem of the Upper Mississippi
River will soon reach $33,000,000 annually.
(6) Although there are more than 75 local,
State, tribal, and Federal public and private pro-
grams designed to address sediment and nutrient
loss in the Upper Mississippi River Basin, there is
a lack of collaboration by resource managers to iden-
tify and address significant sources of sediment and
nutrient loss, monitor results, share information, or
set priorities. Consequently, programs often overlap,
gaps are left unfilled, and scarce resources are not
used efficiently.
(7) Results of research conducted in the Mis-
sissippi River Basin by the Mississippi River Basin/
Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force call
for a cooperative, interagency, adaptive management
approach to natural resource management at the
basin level.
(8) Congress and the executive branch recog-
nize the need to focus Federal investment in natural
resources management and stewardship in the
Upper Mississippi River Basin in a manner that is
coordinated, efficient, and effective to meet local,
State, tribal, Basin-wide, and national goals for agri-
culture and environmental health and sustainability.
(9) An approach to natural resource manage-
ment at the basin level, which is region-specific and
coordinates existing Federal, State and local pro-
grams, is essential to attain common water quality
goals while reducing duplication. Involving advisory
groups of local, State, and tribal residents, in con-
cert with Federal agencies with appropriate natural
resource authorities, is the most effective means to
ensure that Federal investments accomplish desired
results at the local, State, tribal, and Basin-wide lev-
els. This would ensure that conservation activities
would contribute to similar national goals.
(10) A public-private approach to natural re-
source management in the Upper Mississippi River
Basin would ensure that all voices would be heard
and all interested persons would be able to con-
tribute to a process of meeting complimentary and
overlapping resource management and environmental
goals.
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to adopt a coordinated public-private ap-
proach in the Upper Mississippi River Basin to take
action to control nutrient and sediment loss, to mon-
itor the results of such actions, share information,
and make adjustments to further reduce nutrient
and sediment loss;
(2) to identify major sources of sediment and
nutrients that wash into rivers and streams of the
Upper Mississippi River Basin;
(3) to use computer models in conjunction with
monitoring data to track, over the short- and long-
term, the quantity, transport, and fate of sediments
and nutrients that enter the Upper Mississippi River
Basin;
(4) to increase and target technical and finan-
cial assistance to reduce nutrient and sediment loss
in the Upper Mississippi River Basin;
(5) to develop innovative ways to reduce sedi-
ment and nutrient loss;
(6) to expand efforts to share information; and
(7) to coordinate public and private programs
to collaboratively set and meet priorities.
(c) RELIANCE ON SOUND SCIENCE AND ADAPTIVE
MANAGEMENT.—It is the policy of Congress that Federal
investments in the Upper Mississippi River Basin must
be guided by sound science and management actions
should be guided by an adaptive management framework.
(d) DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE USE OF COL-
LECTED DATA.—The Secretary of Agriculture may use
the scientific data collected from the monitoring and mod-
eling network established pursuant to section 101 to tar-
get conservation programs, including, but not limited to,
the following:
(1) The Environmental Quality Incentives Pro-
gram.
(2) The Wetland Reserve Program.
(3) The Conservation Reserve Program.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) The term ‘‘Advisory Council’’ means the
Advisory Council on the Upper Mississippi River
Stewardship Initiative established by title IV.
(2) 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. 
The 
designation 
includes 
the
Kaskaskia watershed along the Illinois River, and
the Meramec watershed along the Missouri River.
(3) The terms ‘‘Upper Mississippi River Stew-
ardship Initiative’’ and ‘‘Initiative’’ mean the activi-
ties authorized or required by this Act to monitor
and reduce nutrient and sediment loss in the Upper
Mississippi River Basin.
(4) The term ‘‘sound science’’ means a sci-
entific method that uses the best available technical
and scientific information and techniques to identify
and understand natural resource management needs
and appropriate treatments, to implement conserva-
tion measures, and to assess the results of treat-
ments on natural resource health and sustainability
in the Upper Mississippi River Basin.
(5) The term ‘‘adaptive management frame-
work’’ refers to a comprehensive management pro-
gram that combines planning, monitoring, modeling,
and research to improve scientific knowledge, make
adjustments in management practices based upon
new information, and target actions within water-
sheds where the actions will be most effective.
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 purpose of—
(1) monitoring sediment and nutrient loss into
Upper Mississippi River Basin;
(2) recording changes to sediment and nutrient
loss over time;
(3) providing coordinated data to be used in
computer modeling of the Basin, pursuant to section
201; and
(4) 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.
(c) HEADQUARTERS.—Sediment and nutrient moni-
toring information shall be headquartered at the Upper
Midwest Environmental Sciences Center in La Crosse,
Wisconsin.
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 location coordinates. In the case of
a monitoring station located on private lands, information
regarding the location of the station shall not be dissemi-
nated without the landowner’s permission.
(c) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary of the Interior
shall establish the guidelines under subsection (a) in con-
sultation with the Secretary of Agriculture and all entities
known to be conducting sediment and nutrient monitoring
in the Upper Mississippi River Basin.
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.
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 of the Inte-
rior.
SEC. 105. COST SHARE REQUIREMENTS.
(a) REQUIRED COST SHARING.—The non-Federal
sponsors of the sediment and nutrient monitoring network
shall be responsible for not less than 25 percent of the
costs of maintaining the network.
(b) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—Up to 80 percent of
the non-Federal share may be provided through in-kind
contributions.
(c) TREATMENT OF EXISTING EFFORTS.—A State or
local monitoring effort, in existence as of the date of the
enactment of this Act, that the Secretary of the Interior
finds adheres to the guidelines prescribed under section
102(a) shall be deemed to satisfy the cost share require-
ments of this section.
SEC. 106. 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. 107. ASSESSMENT OF WATER RESOURCE AND WATER
QUALITY MANAGEMENT.
The National Research Council of the National Acad-
emy of Sciences shall conduct a comprehensive assessment
of the water resource and water quality management with-
in the Upper Mississippi River Basin for the purpose of
reviewing nonpoint source water quality issues and pro-
viding scientific and policy advice for addressing water
quality and associated watershed problems.
TITLE 
II—INITIATIVE 
GRANT,
DEMONSTRATION, AND OUT-
REACH PROGRAMS
SEC. 201. COMPUTER MODELING OF SEDIMENT AND NUTRI-
ENT SOURCES.
(a) MODELING PROGRAM REQUIRED.—As part of the
Upper Mississippi River Stewardship Initiative, the Direc-
tor of the United States Geological Survey, in collabora-
tion with the Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation
Service, shall establish a modeling program to identify sig-
nificant sources of sediment 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 of processes affecting field sediment
and nutrient losses.
(2) Models of watersheds.
(3) Models of main river channels.
(4) Models that relate sediment and nutrient
yields from large basins to sources, land uses, and
management practices.
(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.
(e) HEADQUARTERS.—Information developed by
computer modeling shall be headquartered at the Upper
Midwest Environmental Sciences Center in La Crosse,
Wisconsin.
SEC. 204. USE OF ELECTRONIC MEANS TO DISTRIBUTE IN-
FORMATION.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF SYSTEM.—Not later than 90
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Direc-
tor of the United States Geological Survey shall establish
a system that uses the telecommunications medium known
as the Internet to provide information regarding the fol-
lowing:
(1) Public and private programs designed to re-
duce sediment and nutrient loss in the Upper Mis-
sissippi River Basin.
(2) Information on sediment and nutrient levels
in the Upper Mississippi River and its tributaries.
(3) Successful sediment and nutrient reduction
projects.
(b) COOPERATION.—The Director of the United
States Geological Survey shall establish the system in co-
operation with the Natural Resources Conservation Serv-
ice.
SEC. 205. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.
(a) MONITORING
ACTIVITIES.—Commencing one
year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Direc-
tor of the United States Geological Survey shall provide
to Congress and make available to the public an annual
report regarding monitoring activities conducted in the
Upper Mississippi River Basin.
(b) MODELING ACTIVITIES.—Every three years, the
Director of the United States Geological Survey shall pro-
vide to Congress and make available to the public a
progress report regarding modeling activities.
TITLE III—PROTECTION OF
PERSONAL DATA
SEC. 301. PRIVACY OF PERSONAL DATA RECEIVED BY DE-
PARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND DATA
GATHERING LOCATIONS.
The Food Security Act of 1985 is amended by insert-
ing after section 1243 (16 U.S.C. 3843) the following new
section:
‘‘SEC. 1244. PRIVACY OF PERSONAL DATA RELATING TO
NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION PRO-
GRAMS.
‘‘(a) INFORMATION AND DATA RECEIVED FOR TECH-
NICAL
AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—Notwithstanding
any other provision of law and except as provided in sub-
section (c), information and data provided to, or developed
by, the Secretary of Agriculture (including a contractor
of the Secretary) for the purpose of providing technical
or financial assistance to a landowner or operator with re-
spect to any natural resources conservation program ad-
ministered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service
or the Farm Service Agency shall not be released or dis-
closed (including release or disclosure pursuant to section
552 of title 5, United States Code) to any agency or per-
son outside the Department of Agriculture.
‘‘(b) INVENTORY, MONITORING, AND SITE SPECIFIC
DATA.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law and
except as provided in subsection (c), in order to maintain
the personal privacy, confidentiality, and cooperation of
landowners and operators, and to maintain the integrity
of sample sites, the specific geographic locations of the
National Resources Inventory of the Department of Agri-
culture data gathering sites and the information and data
generated by such sites are not public information and
shall not be subject to the mandatory disclosure provisions
of section 552 of title 5, United States Code, or released
to any local, tribal, State, or Federal agency outside the
Department of Agriculture.
‘‘(c) EXCEPTIONS.—
‘‘(1) RELEASE AND DISCLOSURE FOR ENFORCE-
MENT.—The Secretary of Agriculture may release or
disclose information or data covered by subsection
(a) or (b) to the extent necessary to enforce the nat-
ural resources conservation programs referred to in
subsection (a).
‘‘(2) LIMITED
DISCLOSURE
TO
COOPERATING
PERSONS AND AGENCIES.—The Secretary may re-
lease or disclose information or data covered by sub-
section (a) or (b) to a person or a local, tribal,
State, or Federal agency working in cooperation
with the Secretary of Agriculture in providing tech-
nical and financial assistance described in subsection
(a) or collecting information and data from National
Resources Inventory data gathering sites. However,
the person or local, tribal, State, or Federal agency
that receives the information or data may release the
information or data only for the purpose of assisting
the Secretary in providing the requested technical or
financial assistance or in collecting information and
data from National Resources Inventory data gath-
ering sites.
‘‘(3) LIMITED
EXCEPTION
FOR
STATISTICAL
AND AGGREGATE DATA.—The Secretary may release
information or data covered by subsection (b), if the
information or data has been transformed into a sta-
tistical or aggregate form that does not allow identi-
fication of the individual landowner, operator, or
specific data gathering site.
‘‘(d) VIOLATIONS.—Section 1770(c) of the Food Se-
curity Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 2276) shall apply to any
person who releases or causes to be released information
or data in violation of this section.’’.
TITLE IV—ADVISORY COUNCIL
ON THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI
RIVER STEWARDSHIP INITIA-
TIVE
SEC. 401. ESTABLISHMENT OF ADVISORY COUNCIL.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Agriculture,
in consultation with the governors specified in subsection
(c), shall establish an advisory body, to be known as the
Advisory Council on the Upper Mississippi River Steward-
ship Initiative, to provide guidance regarding the Initia-
tive.
(b) MEMBERSHIP.—
(1) VOTING MEMBERS.—The Advisory Council
shall consist of a total of 15 voting members.
(2) CHAIRPERSON.—Voting members shall elect
one member appointed under subparagraph (c) to
serve as chairperson for the Advisory Council. The
chairperson shall serve for a term lasting no more
than one year.
(c) APPOINTMENT.—The governors of the States of
Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri shall
each appoint two voting members of the Advisory Council,
to be selected from nongovernmental agriculture, natural
resources, recreational, and environmental groups and
other persons with interests in the sustainability and
health of the natural resources of the Upper Mississippi
River Basin.
(d) STATE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE REPRESENTA-
TION.—The five remaining voting members of the Advi-
sory Council shall be drawn from the State Technical
Committees established by the Secretary of Agriculture
under section 1261 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16
U.S.C. 3861) for the States of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illi-
nois, Iowa, and Missouri. The Secretary of Agriculture
shall select one member from each of these State Tech-
nical Committees.
(e) NONVOTING MEMBERS.—The governors referred
to in subsection (c) shall also each appoint one nonvoting
member for the Advisory Council who will serve as rep-
resentatives of the governors.
(f) PER DIEM.—Members of the Advisory Council,
including members appointed pursuant to subsection (e),
shall receive the Federal per diem for transportation and
lodging associated with meetings and other activities of
the Advisory Council.
SEC. 402. RESPONSIBILITIES OF ADVISORY COUNCIL.
(a) COORDINATION AND COMMUNICATION.—The Ad-
visory Council shall serve as a means for coordination,
communication, and information sharing regarding such
issues in the Upper Mississippi River Basin as follows:
(1) Science and technology concerning conserva-
tion practices.
(2) Monitoring and modeling needs.
(3) Strategies for implementing conservation
assistance and programs.
(4) Performance assessment.
(5) Evaluation and reporting.
(b) ANNUAL REPORT ON REDUCTION EFFORTS.—
(1) PREPARATION.—The Advisory Council shall
prepare an annual report regarding publicly-financed
efforts to reduce sediment and nutrient loss in the
Upper Mississippi River Basin. In the case of any
such report, output data shall conform to the stand-
ards established pursuant to section 1244 of the
Food Security Act of 1985, as added by section 301.
(2) SUBMISSION.—The annual report shall be
submitted—
(A) to the State legislatures of the States
of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Mis-
souri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Lou-
isiana, and Mississippi;
(B) to the Upper Mississippi River Basin
Association; and
(C) to the Congress.
(c) SPECIAL TASK FORCES.—For the purpose of
maximizing and diversifying the involvement of people in
the activities of the Advisory Council and addressing spe-
cific issues referred to in subsection (a), the Advisory
Council shall create issue specific task forces as necessary
to effectively carry out the responsibilities of the Advisory
Council. The Advisory Council shall consult with the Inter-
agency Working Group and appropriate State agencies in
establishing any such task force and before dissolving any
such task force when it becomes obsolete.
(d) PUBLIC MEETINGS.—As part of its responsibil-
ities under this section, the Advisory Council shall hold
annual public meetings in each of the States of Wisconsin,
Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri to formulate rec-
ommendations and seek public input regarding methods
and priorities to reduce sediment and nutrient loss in the
Upper Mississippi River Basin. To qualify as the annual
meeting in a State, at least two of the three members of
the Advisory Council from that State must be present at
the meeting.
(e) STAFF DIRECTOR.—The Secretary of Agriculture
shall appoint an employee of the Natural Resources Con-
servation Service of the Department of Agriculture to act
as staff director for the Advisory Council. The staff direc-
tor shall work in conjunction with the chairperson of the
Advisory Council to assist in coordinating the activities of
the Advisory Council.
SEC. 403. ADVISORY NATURE OF COUNCIL.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Advisory Council is purely
advisory and shall have no implementation or enforcement
authority. However, the Secretary of Agriculture and the
heads of the other Federal agencies in the Interagency
Working Group established under section 501 shall give
strong consideration to the recommendations of the Advi-
sory Council in administering natural resources programs
of the Upper Mississippi River Basin.
(b) PUBLIC OUTREACH.—The Secretary of Agri-
culture shall work with the Advisory Council to coordinate
outreach activities in the Upper Mississippi River Basin
related to technologies and other methods to reduce sedi-
ment and nutrient loss.
TITLE V—FEDERAL
INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP
SEC. 501. ESTABLISHMENT OF INTERAGENCY WORKING
GROUP.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Agriculture
and the Secretary of the Department of the Interior shall
establish an Interagency Working Group to coordinate
Federal nutrient and sediment reduction efforts in the
Upper Mississippi River Basin under the Initiative.
(b) PARTICIPATION.—The Interagency Working
Group shall include the following:
(1) The Secretary of Agriculture, or the des-
ignee of the Secretary.
(2) The Secretary of the Interior, or the des-
ignee of the Secretary.
(c) CHAIRPERSON; ADDITIONAL INPUT AND PARTICI-
PATION.—The Secretary of Agriculture (or the designee
of the Secretary) shall serve as chairperson of the Inter-
agency Working Group and may solicit input and partici-
pation by other Federal agencies engaged in sediment and
nutrient reduction efforts in the Upper Mississippi River
Basin.
(d) ANNUAL WORK PLAN AND BUDGET.—The Inter-
agency Working Group shall annually develop a coordi-
nated work plan and budget for the Federal agencies par-
ticipating in the Initiative—
(1) to better coordinate Federal efforts to ad-
dress sediment and nutrient reduction in the Upper
Mississippi River Basin;
(2) to encourage Federal agencies responsible
for sediment and nutrient reduction efforts to lever-
age local, State, and Federal resources;
(3) to identify gaps and overlapping programs;
and
(4) to better prioritize existing Federal spend-
ing to address major sources of sediment and nutri-
ent loss.
(e) 
COORDINATION.—The 
Interagency 
Working
Group shall coordinate its recommendations to be included
in the work plan and budget with those of individual agen-
cies.
(f) SUBMISSION OF WORK PLAN AND BUDGET.—Not
later than September 15 of each year, the Interagency
Working Group shall submit to the Office of Management
and Budget the work plan and budget required by sub-
section (d).
TITLE VI—AUTHORIZATION OF
APPROPRIATIONS
SEC. 601. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro-
priated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this
Act.
(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 of water resource and water
quality management within the Upper Mississippi River
Basin required by section 107.
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