Mississippi River Protection and Restoration Act of 2004

Bill: 108-hr-4686
Sponsor: Rep. Kind, Ron [D-WI-3]
Introduced: 2004-06-24 in the House
Policy area: Water Resources Development
Subjects: Agricultural pollution
Animals
Aquatic ecology
Army Corps of Engineers
Authorization
Barges
Charities
Commerce
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Dams
Department of the Interior
Dikes (Engineering)
Disaster relief
Dredging
Economics and Public Finance
Emergency Management
Environmental Protection
Environmental assessment
Environmental monitoring
Environmental research
Eutrophication
Federal advisory bodies
Federal aid to water pollution control
Federal aid to water resources development
Fishery management
Fishes
Flood control
Flood damage prevention
Floodplains
Forest management
Gifts
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Government trust funds
Governmental investigations
Greenways
Gulf of Mexico
Habitat conservation
Hazardous wastes
Infrastructure
Inland water transportation
Intergovernmental fiscal relations
Land transfers
Law
Maintenance and repair
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Marine pollution
Mississippi River
Navigation
Nonpoint source pollution
Nonprofit organizations
Outdoor recreation
Parks
Pollution measurement
Presidential appointments
Public Lands and Natural Resources
Real estate development
Refuse and refuse disposal
Restoration ecology
Riparian ecology
Rivers
Science, Technology, Communications
Sedimentation
Social Welfare
Sports and Recreation
Tourism
Trails
Transportation and Public Works
Trusts and trustees
Water supply
Waterfronts
Watersheds
Wetlands
Wildlife conservation

Summary:
action_date: 2004-06-24
text: 
Mississippi River Protection and Restoration Act of 2004 - Amends the Upper Mississippi River Management Act of 1986 to: (1) allow interagency agreements under such Act between the Secretary of the Army (the Secretary) and the Secretary of the Interior to provide for maintenance of completed projects on Federal lands; (2) direct the Secretary to establish an independent science (currently, technical) advisory committee; (3) require such committee to include scientists, hydrologists, and engineers and to review and provide public comment on project criteria, selection, and sequencing; and (4) direct the Secretary to develop a system to rank proposed projects.
 
Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 to: (1) increase the authorization of appropriations; (2) make project costs a Federal responsibility; (3) require a non-Federal sponsor to share 35 percent of the cost of projects constructed on private land; and (4) authorize the Secretary to share the cost of riverfront projects. 
 
Establishes the Upper Mississippi Trust Fund and a charitable and nonprofit corporation to administer funds and gifts. Authorizes the use of Trust funds for aquatic and floodplain habitat restoration, riverfront revitalization, and administrative costs. Directs the Science Advisory Board to annually review projects proposed by the Board of Trustees.
 
Directs the Secretary to establish: (1) at the Waterways Experiment Station in Vicksburg, Mississippi, a program to coordinate monitoring and research in the Mississippi River Basin; and (2) a consortium of universities to demonstrate the full range of wetland values and functions, to reduce nutrient loadings to the Gulf of Mexico, and to sequester carbon.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2004-07-06
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans.
action_date: 2004-06-25
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
action_date: 2004-06-24
text: Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2004-06-24
text: Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2004-06-24
text: Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2004-06-24
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2004-06-24
text: Introduced in House