TITLE VII—AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS
Sec. 701. Authorization of appropriations.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS, PURPOSES, AND 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 supports many
economic activities of regional and national impor-
tance and is an important element of the national
transportation infrastructure, enabling shipment of
agricultural, petroleum, coal, and many other prod-
ucts.
(3) Millions of tourists annually visit the Upper
Mississippi River to fish, hunt, swim, boat, and
camp, as well as to visit the region’s many historic
towns and archeological sites.
(4) The sediments and nutrients that inadvert-
ently wash off of farmland into streams and ulti-
mately into 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 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) Habitat preservation efforts 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) 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 con-
sistent with efficiency and effectiveness in meeting
local, State, Tribal, Basin, and national goals for ag-
riculture and environmental health and sustain-
ability.
(8) A Basin-wide approach to natural resource
management involving advisory groups of local,
State, and Tribal stakeholders in concert with Fed-
eral agencies with appropriate natural resource au-
thorities is the most effective means to ensure that
Federal investments would accomplish desired re-
sults at the local, State, Tribal, and Basin levels.
This would ensure that conservation activities would
contribute to similar national goals.
(9) 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 stakeholders would be able to contribute 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 increase and target technical and finan-
cial assistance to reduce nutrient and sediment loss
in the Upper Mississippi River Basin;
(4) to develop and demonstrate new solutions;
(5) to use monitoring and computer models to
set goals and measure success;
(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.—It is the policy
of Congress that Federal investments in the Upper Mis-
sissippi River Basin must be guided by sound science.
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 V.
(2) The term ‘‘Upper Mississippi River Basin’’
means the watershed portion of the Mississippi River
extending from Lake Itasca downstream to its con-
fluence with the Illinois River and all of the tribu-
taries upstream of that confluence, including those
tributaries of the Illinois River.
(3) The terms ‘‘Upper Mississippi River Stew-
ardship Initiative’’ and ‘‘Initiative’’ mean the activi-
ties authorized or required by this Act and the
amendments made by this Act to 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.
TITLE I—SEDIMENT AND NUTRI-
ENT MONITORING NETWORK
SEC. 101. ESTABLISHMENT OF MONITORING NETWORK.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of the Interior
shall establish a sediment and nutrient monitoring net-
work for the Upper Mississippi River Basin for the pur-
pose of reducing 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.
ernmental and nongovernmental entities to the maximum
extent practicable.
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.
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.
TITLE 
II—INITIATIVE 
GRANT,
DEMONSTRATION, AND OUT-
REACH PROGRAMS
SEC. 201. COMPUTER MODELING OF SEDIMENT AND NUTRI-
ENT SOURCES IN UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER
BASIN.
(a) MODELING PROGRAM REQUIRED.—The Director
of the United States Geological Survey, in collaboration
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. 202. RESEARCH REGARDING BEST MANAGEMENT
PRACTICES AND SEDIMENT AND NUTRIENT
LOSS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall
evaluate the benefits and costs of best management prac-
tices designed to reduce sediment and nutrient loss.
(b) EVALUATION PRACTICES.—The Secretary of Ag-
riculture shall work with other partnering agencies, wheth-
er Federal, State, Tribal, and local, and with other public
and nonpublic agencies to evaluate the benefits of best
management practices designed to reduce nutrient and
sediment loss.
(c) ECONOMIC RISK ASSESSMENT.—The Secretary of
Agriculture shall assess the economic risks associated with
new best management practices designed to reduce sedi-
ment and nutrient loss.
SEC. 203. DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS REGARDING NEW
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES TO REDUCE
SEDIMENT AND NUTRIENT LOSS.
The Secretary of Agriculture shall administer a grant
program to supplement non-Federal funds being used by
State, Tribal, local, and private projects to demonstrate
new best management practices designed to reduce sedi-
ment and nutrient loss in the Upper Mississippi River
Basin.
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 United States Geological Survey shall provide
to Congress and make available to the public a progress
report regarding modeling activities.
TITLE 
III—FINANCIAL 
AND
TECHNICAL 
ASSISTANCE
UNDER DEPARTMENT OF AG-
RICULTURE 
CONSERVATION
PROGRAMS
SEC. 301. INCREASED ASSISTANCE TO REDUCE SEDIMENT
AND NUTRIENT LOSS.
The Secretary of Agriculture shall increase financial
and technical assistance, consistent with the funding pro-
vided pursuant to the authorization of appropriations in
section 701, to reduce sediment and nutrient loss in the
Upper Mississippi River Basin, and shall work with public
and private partners to target new assistance to subwater-
sheds in the Upper Mississippi River Basin that are sig-
nificant sources of sediment and nutrients.
SEC. 302. DESIGNATION OF UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER
BASIN AS A CONSERVATION PRIORITY AREA.
Section 1230(c) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16
U.S.C. 3830(c)) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new paragraph:
‘‘(4) UPPER
MISSISSIPPI
RIVER
BASIN.—The
Upper Mississippi River Basin (as defined in section
3 of the Upper Mississippi River Basin Conservation
Act of 2000) is a conservation priority area for the
purposes of this chapter and chapter 4.’’.
SEC. 303. INCREASED ENROLLMENT AUTHORITY UNDER
CONSERVATION 
AND 
WETLAND 
RESERVE
PROGRAMS.
(a) CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM.—Section
1231(d) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C.
3831(d)) is amended by striking ‘‘36,400,000 acres’’ and
inserting ‘‘45,000,000 acres’’.
(b) 
WETLANDS
RESERVE
PROGRAM.—Section
1237(b) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 3837(b)) is amended by
striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following new
paragraph:
(1) the objectives of the agreement will serve a
mutual interest of the parties to the agreement in
carrying out the programs administered by the De-
partment of Agriculture; and
(2) all parties to the agreement will contribute
resources to the accomplishment of these objectives.
(b) TYPES OF AGREEMENTS.—A cooperative agree-
ment under this section may include an agreement for the
acquisition of goods and services, including personal serv-
ices.
TITLE IV—PROTECTION OF
PERSONAL DATA
SEC. 401. 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 para-
graph (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 paragraph (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 
V—ADVISORY 
COUNCIL
ON THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI
RIVER STEWARDSHIP INITIA-
TIVE
SEC. 501. 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. 502. 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 401.
(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.—The Advisory Council
may establish and provide guidance to public-private task
groups, including the following:
(1) A Sediment and Nutrient Monitoring Task
Group.
(2) A Computer Modeling Task Group.
(3) An Outreach Task Group.
(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. 503. 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 601 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 VI—INTERAGENCY WORK-
ING GROUP ON UPPER MIS-
SISSIPPI RIVER BASIN INITIA-
TIVE
SEC. 601. 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) CHAIR.—The Secretary of Agriculture (or the
designee of the Secretary) shall serve as chairperson of
the Interagency Working Group and may solicit input and
participation by other Federal agencies engaged in sedi-
ment and nutrient reduction efforts in the Upper Mis-
sissippi 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 VII—AUTHORIZATION OF
APPROPRIATIONS
SEC. 701. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as
may be necessary to carry out this Act.
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