[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4729 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
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 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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Andrew J. Young Safeguarding the
Mississippi River Together Act'' or the ``Andrew 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 Development Act of 2014
(128 Stat. 1308; Public Law 113-121; 33 U.S.C. 605a) is amended, after
section 4002, by inserting 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 coordination and cooperation
with the Secretary of the Department of Interior (Interior),
and in consultation with the Department of Transportation, the
Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
may enter into agreements with an eligible State or division of
local government to develop a National Mississippi River
Program Office, provide grants, assistance, studies,
coordination, and essential restoration and protection of the
Mississippi River Corridor for the purposes of--
``(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 infrastructure,
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 nationally
significant ecosystem and navigation system--
the only inland river system to receive such a
designation.
``(ii) The Mississippi River moves 47
percent of the nation's inland waterway
commerce totaling approximately 500 million
tons of cargo each year making possible
America's only trade surplus in agricultural
commodities.
``(iii) The Mississippi River's freshwater
economy generates nearly $500 billion in annual
revenue directly employing over 1.5 million
people throughout the corridor 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 Mississippi River
Basin.
``(v) The cities along the Mississippi
River have a combined gross municipal product
of nearly half a trillion U.S. dollars
generated from major economic sectors including
manufacturing, tourism, agriculture, 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 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 nation'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 average 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 economy as a
whole close to 3 percent annually.
``(x) Congress finds that recent disasters
only exacerbate issues of equity, access,
poverty, and disadvantage already uniquely
acute through portions of the Mississippi River
Corridor above and beyond other regions of the
United States. Rural cities are more likely to
be disadvantaged. Disadvantage is clustered and
driven by historical context that requires
overt and purposeful solutions. Disparities in
the Mississippi River Corridor carry
significant economic outcomes in terms of
health, longevity, quality of life, and
generational prosperity.
``(xi) Natural infrastructure can play a
heightened role in cleaning and regulating
water. Nature can move and manage more water
more efficiently, to more benefit than built
infrastructure; across the nation, inland
wetlands provide an estimated $237 billion in
water flow regulation services annually.
``(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 accordance with the criteria
for projects carried out under one of the following
authorities:
``(i) Section 206 of the Water Resources
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 Resources
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 committee.--In order to
begin a new era of shared Federal leadership with
respect to the protection and restoration of the
Mississippi River, a Federal Leadership Committee
(Committee) for the Mississippi River shall be
established under this section to oversee the
development and coordination 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 implementation at a broad level
as investigated, constructed, 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
Department of Transportation, the Department of
Agriculture, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
and such other agencies as determined by the
Committee including the Chief of the Natural
Resources Conservation 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 within
the Mississippi River Basin), one governor from
a Mississippi River State and one of the
Mayoral Co-Chairs of the Mississippi 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 coordinated
implementation of existing programs 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
national infrastructure and vulnerable
and economically disadvantaged
populations;
``(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 including
reliable and stable flow levels, soil
health, reduced erosion, sedimentation,
and nutrient loading.
``(iv) The Committee's broad strategy shall
inform and create the basis for development of
a Comprehensive Mississippi River Restoration
Plan that will be assembled by the National
Mississippi River Program Office.
``(b) Establishing a National Mississippi River Program Office.--
``(1) Authority.--The Administrator in close coordination
with the Secretary of Interior shall plan, develop, and
implement a central coordinating and organizing apparatus for
the purposes of carrying out this Section. The Administrator in
agreement and allowance with the Secretary of Interior shall
carryout this section through close consultation with the
Federal Leadership Committee of the Mississippi River as
established in subsection (a)(2)(C).
``(2) Purpose.--The National Mississippi River Program
Office shall be established to construct a Comprehensive
Mississippi River Restoration Plan outlined by the Federal
Leadership Committee through the Committee's broad strategy
report as carried out by subsection (a)(2)(C); organize and
manage the restoration, deployment, and sustainment of natural
infrastructure at a massive scale throughout the Mississippi
River Corridor in order to--
``(A) protect critical national infrastructure;
``(B) safeguard near-water communities;
``(C) reestablish the biodiversity of the North
American mid-continent region;
``(D) increase the resilience and overall integrity
of the environmental and hydrological services within
the Mississippi River Corridor that make possible major
economic activities such as manufacturing, tourism,
outdoor recreation, agriculture, navigation, and
disaster security; and
``(E) make more sustainable the critical economies
that depend on the environmental services of the
Mississippi River including but not limited to--
``(i) manufacturing--including drinking
water production;
``(ii) tourism;
``(iii) outdoor recreation;
``(iv) agriculture;
``(v) navigation--integrity of the global
commodity supply chain.
``(3) Organization.--The National Mississippi River Program
Office shall be managed by the Environmental Protection Agency
through active and on-going advice and concurrence from the
U.S. Department of Interior and be funded through the
appropriations authorized under this Act obligated through a
joint agreement between the U.S. EPA and the U.S. Department of
Interior annual budgets respectively where applicable funds
shall be allocated to Interior to carry-out scientific support
of the Program Office and for other cooperative activities with
the EPA in managing mandates included in this Act.
``(A) The National Mississippi River Program Office
(Program Office) shall be organized into three broad
divisions with appropriate expertise and staff assigned
to each division including but not necessarily limited
to--
``(i) Infrastructure Repair, Resilience and
Adaptation (IRRA);
``(ii) Ecological Restoration and
Environmental Service Integrity (ERESI); and
``(iii) Data Analysis and Subject Matter
Investigations Directorate (DASMID).
``(B) The Program Office shall be led by a Chief
Executive Officer with appropriate deputy officers as
needed; and each Program Office division shall have a
director appointed in close consultation with the
Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of
Transportation, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
``(4) Prioritization.--The Administrator in close
coordination with the Secretary of Interior shall prioritize
the activities of the Program Office in participating States
for projects that--
``(A) deploy, restore, expand, and/or augment
natural infrastructure assets such as wetlands,
marshes, forests, streams, natural catchment basins,
freshwater estuaries, and riparian areas;
``(B) restore and/or increase the biodiversity and
habitat of wildlife throughout the Mississippi River
Corridor;
``(C) increase the disaster resilience of
environmental services, critical national
infrastructure, near-water communities, and the major
economies dependent on the Mississippi River Corridor;
``(D) seek to monitor, study, understand, and
expand knowledge of how the environmental assets of the
Mississippi River Corridor function, support economic
development, protect population centers, and sustain
impacts from climate changes, nutrient loading, human-
caused toxification, major storm events both in tear-
term and long-term scales;
``(E) improve the water quality of the main stem
Mississippi River including a decrease in errand
nutrient load; and
``(F) ensure communities disproportionately
vulnerable to disaster impacts, abject poverty, and
historic lack of access including Native American
Tribes and much of the Mississippi River Delta are
given priority consideration and benefit of the
services, resources, and capacity provided through this
Act; and such consideration be made systemic throughout
all operations and divisions of the National
Mississippi River Program Office.
``(5) Procedure.--In carrying out subsection (b), the
Administrator in close coordination with the Secretary of
Interior shall engage in the following procedure to locate and
develop the Program Office.
``(A) One hundred and twenty days after enactment
of this Act, the Administrator shall establish a
narrowly tailored temporary version of the Program
Office in order to immediately assist and coordinate
the early activities of the Administrator and the
Federal Leadership Committee prescribed by subsection
(d) until a more permanent version may be developed in
the Mississippi River region.
``(B) The temporary Program Office shall continue
to operate, develop, and expand as needed in the
location specified by the Administrator while a more
permanent regional location is established.
``(C) Six months after enactment of this Act, the
Administrator shall invite proposals from the ten
States bordering the Main Stem Mississippi River
describing how each State would be best suited to host
the Program Office.
``(D) The Administrator shall request details from
each eligible State on what resources that State can
provide to the development of the Program Office and
how that State hosting the Program Office is in the
best interest of carrying out the intent of this Act.
Eligible States shall also include the following
details:
``(i) State match of funding available to
develop the Program Office up to the first five
years of its operation.
``(ii) How the Mississippi River fits into
that State's plan(s) for the following:
``(I) Sustainable economic
development.
``(II) Disaster resilience and
mitigation.
``(III) Water quality monitoring
strategy.
``(IV) Drought resilience.
``(V) Climate change reduction and
adaptation.
``(VI) Natural resource protection
and conservation.
``(VII) Habitat restoration and
preservation.
``(VIII) Nutrient reduction
strategy.
``(IX) Infrastructure renewal and
replacement.
``(X) Land use and development in
and around flood plain and backwater
areas.
``(iii) Partnerships with the non-profit
and private sectors that can assist the State,
EPA, and Department of Interior in developing
the Program Office and carrying out its mandate
under this Act.
``(E) Multi-state proposals.--Because the
Mississippi River is a border for eight out of the ten
eligible States, eligible States may partner in
answering the Administrator's request under the
following provisions:
``(i) There shall be no limit to the number
of States partnering in reply to this
subsection.
``(ii) The physical location of the Program
Office may reside in two or more States but
sites must be positioned no more than two (2.0)
lateral miles apart unless a majority of the
space between sites is river and/or unoccupied
floodplain, than the maximum distance shall be
no more than five-and-a-half (5.5) lateral
miles between any two sites of the office.
``(iii) State jurisdiction and matching
funds must be coordinated and an ultimate State
authority over the office coordinating
resources and communication must be established
in the proposal. A special services vehicle or
other multi-State body may be assembled to
provide this authority for the Administrator.
``(F) Priority.--The Administrator shall submit all
State proposals to the Federal Leadership Committee to
evaluate State proposals to host the Program Office
using the following priorities in decreasing order of
importance:
``(i) Mississippi River inclusion and
jurisdiction in the State plans delineated in
subsection (b)(5)(B)(ii).
``(ii) The inclusion of additional
sustainability capacities including but not
limited to affirmative answers to the following
inquiries:
``(I) Is the proposed site(s)
located within or directly accessible
to a Mississippi River City's downtown
area, or contained within city limits
in whole or in part?
``(II) Is the proposed facility or
facilities for the Program Office a
`green building' that is LEED certified
at `gold' level or above?
``(III) Does the State proposal and
site situation take into account
adjacent or nearby Federal property?
``(IV) Is the proposed location
adjacent to or near areas that can be
used as demonstration sites for various
Mississippi River Program activities
involving resilience, adaptation,
conservation, restoration, and/or
natural infrastructure applications?
``(V) Does the State proposal
stress priorities around low impact
development strategies such as
restoration of gray or brownfield
sites, emphasis of alternative forms of
transportation, proposed site is
outside floodplain?
``(iii) A plan to work with Federal
partners ensuring objectives of diversity,
equity, and inclusion are achieved;
specifically, plans to employ local and
regional residents from historically
disadvantaged groups, plans to support local
businesses near the program office site, plans
to create permeable spaces between the Federal
facility and the community it occupies, and
plans to provide ongoing and cumulative
learning opportunities so residents of regional
disadvantaged communities may contribute
meaningfully to the program office.
``(iv) Multi-State proposal.
``(v) Partnerships especially with
environmental justice organizations,
historically Black colleges and universities,
as well as minority opportunity and prosperity
organizations.
``(G) States shall be given 6 months from
publication of the request for proposals to submit a
reply to the Administrator. In the event that no
eligible State submits a reply timely under this
section, then the Administrator shall select a State
and site unilaterally using applicable portions of the
above procedure.
``(H) The Program Office established 120 days after
enactment of this Act shall continue to operate and
develop where designated by the Administrator until
such time a new office may be established within the
Mississippi River Corridor.
``(6) Oversight.--In conducting oversight with respect to
managing the Program Office established under this section, the
Administrator--
``(A) shall--
``(i) periodically audit the funds and
activities in accordance with procedures
established by the Comptroller General of the
United States; and
``(ii) not less frequently than once every
two (2) years, review the projects and
activities of the Program Office to determine
its effectiveness in carrying out this Act; and
``(B) may, at any time--
``(i) make recommendations to the Program
Office division directors and host State with
respect to the administration of the Program
Office; or
``(ii) require specific changes with
respect to the Program Office in order to
improve the effectiveness of activities
established under this Act.
``(7) Any specific changes the Administrator deems a
requirement must be coordinated and advised by the Department
of Interior, U.S. Department of Transportation, and the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers where the subject matter duly falls
under that agencies authority and/or expertise.
``(c) In General.--There shall be established a suite of grants and
ongoing projects through this section to sustain the Mississippi River
Corridor and carryout the intent created under this Act.
``(d) Comprehensive Mississippi River Restoration Plan.--Not later
than two and a half (2.5) years after enactment of this Act, the
Program Office in coordination with the Federal Leadership Committee
shall develop a comprehensive Mississippi River restoration plan (Plan)
to guide implementation of several projects under this subsection and
subsection (c).
``(1) Coordination.--The restoration plan described in
paragraph (d) shall, to the maximum extent practicable,
consider and avoid duplication of any ongoing or planned
actions of other Federal, State, and local agencies and
nongovernmental organizations but instead seek to support,
compliment, improve, and where appropriate absorb other efforts
with specific reference to the Navigation and Ecosystem
Sustainability Program (NESP), the Upper Mississippi River
Restoration Program (UMRR), the Mississippi River and
Tributaries Program (MR&T), the Wetland Reserve Program, the
Resilience Revolving Loan Fund or STORM Act, and the private
carbon reforestation program(s).
``(2) Strategic interstate coordination.--Recognizing the
Mississippi River acts as a border along eight of the ten
State-corridor, to the maximum extent possible, projects under
this subsection shall be carried-out through interstate
cooperation and coordination with States, localities, and
organizations partnering on both sides of the Mississippi River
in carrying-out all activities permitted through this
subsection.
``(3) Prioritization.--The restoration plan described in
subsection (d) shall give priority to projects eligible under
subsections (c) and (d) that will also improve water quality or
quantity or use natural hydrological features and systems as
well as non-structural solutions toward the following benefits:
``(A) sediment, erosion, and errand nutrient
control;
``(B) protection of eroding shorelines;
``(C) ecosystem restoration, including restoration
of submerged aquatic vegetation for the primary purpose
of disaster resilience and environmental service
restoration and augmentation;
``(D) protection of essential public works,
critical national infrastructure, and the major
economies that depend on the River;
``(E) restore the biodiversity of the Mississippi
River Corridor;
``(F) sustain wildlife, habitat, and natural
resource integrity;
``(G) set-back and reconfiguration of levees and
floodwalls as well as pursuance of non-structural
solutions;
``(H) increase and improvement of water quality
monitoring capacity;
``(I) beneficial uses of dredged material;
``(J) protection of near-water communities
especially those in historically disadvantaged
neighborhoods and regions such as the delta; and
``(K) other related projects that may enhance the
living resources of the Mississippi River Corridor.
``(4) Procedure.--Once completed the Program Office shall
submit the Plan to the Federal Leadership Committee, EPA
Administrator, and the Secretary of the Department of Interior
to be released for public comment. The public comment period
shall last no more than ninety (90) days in line with standard
Department of Interior policies and procedures. Once the public
comment period has elapsed, the Plan will enter final review
and approval. No later than thirty days (30) after the public
comment period has completed the Plan shall be placed into its
final form and published. Once the Plan is approved, it shall
be given to the Program Office to carry-out in accordance with
the aims and priorities of this Act under the recommended
timeline set-forth in the Plan itself for both implementation
and scheduled updates with advice and coordination from the
Federal Leadership Committee.
``(e) Projects.--The Program Office shall establish, to the maximum
extent possible, projects under this section throughout the Mississippi
River Corridor that implement the Comprehensive Mississippi River
Restoration Plan as well as projects that proceed apart and outside the
Plan but meet the priorities and aims laid-out in subsections (a)(1)
and (b)(4) of this section.
``(1) Projects on federal land.--A project carried out
pursuant to the Plan described in subsection (d) that is
located on Federal land shall be carried out at the expense of
the Federal agency that owns the land on which the project will
be a carried out.
``(2) Non-federal contributions.--A Federal agency carrying
out a project described in subsection (c) may accept
contributions of funds from non-Federal entities to carry out
that project.
``(3) Projects within the comprehensive mississippi river
corridor restoration plan.--The Program Office shall identify
and carry-out projects that implement and satisfy the aims of
the Plan in such a manner that involves States, local
governments, institutions of higher learning, non-profit
organizations, and private sector stakeholders through the
holding of annual or biannual (two instances a year) regional
conferences. These conferences may be held in conjunction with
other germane gatherings within the region such as those
conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the UMRBA, or
the MRCTI.
``(A) During these conferences, the Program Office
shall share planned project designs and priority
geographic sites of repetitive loss where a severe
compelling human need exists. The Program Office shall
elicit from participants official testimony on how to
structure, prioritize, and implement projects in an
efficient and timely manner.
``(B) The Program Office shall begin at least one
new project a year for the first five years from the
publishing of the Comprehensive Mississippi River
Restoration Plan that works to implement the Plan as
approved by the Committee.
``(4) Projects outside the comprehensive mississippi river
corridor restoration plan.--
``(A) Congress recognizes there will be an on-going
need for projects that cannot be planned for, may arise
out of emergency circumstances or developments, and/or
may meet compelling needs congruent to this Act, but
are best carried-out under the auspices of other organs
of government or the private sector in part or
entirely.
``(B) Grants.--In providing grants under this
subsection, the Program Office shall conduct a
transparent and competitive regional solicitation
process to select eligible projects to receive grants
under this subsection. This Act shall provide for
extra-provisional projects through the following
schedule of grants to States, local governments and
non-profit organizations whom have a State or local
government partner--
``(i) Infrastructure repair, resilience and
adaptation grant.--Communities who have vital
built and/or natural infrastructure assets that
require repair, restoration, and/or replacement
due to repetitive loss events may apply to the
Program Office for this grant.
``(I) Purpose.--The purpose of the
grant is to provide funds for
resilience improvements through--
``(aa) competitive planning
grants to enable communities to
assess vulnerabilities to
current and future weather
events and natural disasters
and changing conditions,
including drought, and plan
infrastructure improvements and
emergency response strategies
to address those
vulnerabilities so that
infrastructure can be built
back more resilient and
sustainable;
``(bb) competitive
resilience improvement grants
to protect infrastructure
assets by making the assets
more resilient to current and
future weather events and
natural disasters, such as
severe storms, flooding,
drought, levee and dam
failures, wildfire, extreme
weather, including extreme
temperature, and earthquakes;
``(cc) natural
infrastructure including
regenerative agricultural lands
designed to provide co-benefits
such as natural flood storage
that protect and enhance built
assets while improving
ecosystem conditions, including
culverts that ensure adequate
flows in rivers and estuarine
systems;
``(dd) using build-back-
better practices, this grant
may used toward the acquisition
of better or best technology as
well as the installation and
deployment of new
infrastructure assets to
improve older ones or their
entire systems. This subsection
also allows for the acquisition
of property to expand natural
infrastructure assets allowing
them to perform at higher
capacity providing protection
for more severe events over a
larger service area. Expansion
of natural infrastructure for
the purposes of this subsection
may include the removal
outdated built infrastructure
such as dams that pose risk;
and
``(ee) this grant is also
designed to address both
minority and disadvantaged
community inclusion, access,
and equity. Applicants under
this subsection should provide
structural guarantees that
minority communities will be
made part of the decision
process through which grant
funds are obligated and
expended toward infrastructure.
``(II) Eligibility.--Project area
must reside within a State or federally
designated disaster area within the
last 5 years of the time of
application; Infrastructure asset or
assets must have sustained a minimum of
30 percent loss from at least one of
the disaster events stipulated in this
subsection; in the event that an
infrastructure system is the subject of
the application than this subsection
applies to the entire system in
question.
``(III) Distribution.--Grant awards
under subsection (e)(4)(B)(i) are
direct allocations to States or local
governments. Non-profit organizations
may apply for grants under this
subsection if their application
includes a State or local government
partner. All funds will be distributed
directly to State or local governments
who may then suballocate to non-profit
partners. Sixty percent of all grants
under this subsection must be allocated
directly to local governments.
``(IV) Cost share.--The Federal
share of the cost of a project carried
out using funds made available under
paragraph (i) shall not exceed 80
percent of the total project cost. A
locality may use Federal funds other
than Federal funds made available under
this subsection to meet the non-Federal
cost share requirement for a project
under this subsection.
``(ii) Sustainable economic development
grant.--Communities and regions that have
sustained significant repetitive loss over the
past ten years from the date of application for
this grant may seek relief through the Program
Office pursuant to this subsection.
``(I) Purpose.--The purpose of the
grant is to provide funds for economic
revitalization through--
``(aa) competitive economic
planning grants to enable
communities and regions to
shift and/or expand their
economies from environmentally
costly industrial to clean
manufacturing, service, global
commodity supply chain movement
and/or tourism as well as other
low-impact economic
development; and
``(bb) competitive economic
improvement grants that include
strategies to make a region's
economies more resilient and
adaptive to increased and more
persistent disaster events as
well as shocks due to
degradation of essential
environmental services;
``(cc) the off-loading of
major infrastructure assets
from local governments to
special service vehicles or
private sector entities in such
a way that ensures continued
environmental health, natural
resource protection, and
ecological health of the
region;
``(II) Eligibility.--Applying
locality must have sustained an
economic loss of at least 30 percent
over the last ten years at the time of
application to this grant.
``(III) Distribution.--Grant awards
under subsection (e)(4)(B)(i) are
direct allocations to States or local
governments. Non-profit organizations
may apply for grants under this
subsection if their application
includes a State or local government
partner. All funds will be distributed
directly to State or local governments
who may then suballocate to non-profit
partners. All grants under this
subsection must be allocated directly
to local governments.
``(IV) Cost share.--The Federal
share of the cost of a project carried
out using funds made available under
paragraph (ii) shall not exceed 50
percent of the total project cost. A
locality may use Federal funds other
than Federal funds made available under
this subsection to meet the non-Federal
cost share requirement for a project
under this subsection.
``(V) Structure.--A community
seeking relief under this subsection
must demonstrate a restructuring of
their economy through a pivot from a
`funding' model to a `financing' model
by providing the following structure to
their application.
``(aa) Communities shall
provide a strategic financing
plan for their economy
assessing their development
needs demonstrating allocation
of capital prioritized to fit
those needs.
``(bb) Localities must
strategically mobilize private
capital by aligning the
allocation processes to their
development goals and gaps of
their current economy in many
sectors including, but not
limited to infrastructure,
health, education, and energy;
this requires a critical
collaboration effort.
``(cc) Local governments
must demonstrate a priority for
minority inclusion, access, and
equity in applying for funds
made available under subsection
(e)(4)(B)(ii) and provide
structural guarantees that
minority communities will be
made part of the decision
process through grant funds are
obligated and expended.
``(iii) State sedimentation, errand
nutrient & regenerative agriculture assistance
grant (ssenraag).--States that wish to pursue
their nutrient reduction strategies more
aggressively and have determined a compelling
need to do so in compliment to and beyond what
is called for through the Comprehensive
Mississippi River Restoration Plan may apply to
the Program Office for assistance.
``(I) Purpose.--The purpose of the
grant is to provide funds for States to
achieve their nutrient reduction
strategies through a truncated timeline
with greater activity and urgency due
to an emergency event such as a
disaster, crisis, or unique
opportunity/discovery through--
``(aa) competitive planning
grants to enable States to
achieve their enacted goals and
timelines for reductions in
phosphorus and nitrogen at a
more impactful level and at a
faster pace;
``(bb) competitive water
quality improvement grants to
protect the States' fresh water
resources that flow into the
Mississippi River;
``(cc) innovative approach
grants that implement new ways
of achieving nutrient reduction
goals such as, but not limited
to nutrient trading regimes,
establishment of investment
funds to assist in the
capitalization of best
technology acquisition for
water treatment facilities,
deployment of on-field
regenerative agriculture
practices, and/or the
capitalization of a new market
credit to incentivize the
production and sales of cover
crops; and
``(dd) minority and
disadvantaged farmers shall to
receive priority consideration
under this subsection where
certain agricultural
communities of color were
purposefully positioned in
places of significant disaster
impact.
``(II) Eligibility.--Only
participating States may apply for this
assistance and must do so in direct
coordination with local governments
that are included in the proposed
service area of the grant.
``(III) Distribution.--Grant awards
under subsection (e)(4)(B)(iii) are
direct allocations to States with a
minimum set-aside allocation for local
governments included in the service
area of the grant of not less than 20
percent.
``(IV) Cost share.--The Federal
share of the cost of a project carried
out using funds made available under
paragraph (i) shall not exceed 80
percent of the total project cost. A
State may use Federal funds other than
Federal funds made available under this
subsection to meet the non-Federal cost
share requirement for a project under
this subsection.
``(5) Allocation, administration of funds.--Funds
distributed under subsection (e) must be used by States, local
governments, and their partners for the purposes designated in
subsection (d)(4)(B) with the stipulations and limitations
contained in subsection (g) and subsection (h).
``(A) Allowances for small communities.--Those
communities directly adjacent to the Mississippi River
Main Stem with populations below 10,000 shall be given
administrative allowances in submitting their
application(s) for assistance under this Act such that
the Program Office shall offer technical assistance and
guidance to communities implicated in this subsection
in submitting a credible application. Minority and
historically disadvantaged communities shall be given
additional priority through this subsection especially
those facing disproportionate impacts from
environmental injustices committed by industrial
processes.
``(B) Small community set-aside.--The Program
Office shall set aside 5 percent of all available grant
funds under subsection (e) for the sole purpose of
awarding grants to small community applicants that fit
the description stipulated in subsection (e)(5)(A).
``(f) In General.--In order to support the Comprehensive
Mississippi River Restoration Plan and for other purposes, there shall
be established a series of ongoing studies and investigations through
this section to sustain the Mississippi River Corridor and carryout the
intent created under this Act.
``(1) Mississippi river corridor economic profile.--Once
every 5 years after enactment of this Act, the Program Office
shall complete an updated economic profile (profile) of the
Mississippi River Corridor.
``(A) Purpose.--This study is to develop a profile
of the regional economic activity dependent upon the
Mississippi Corridor from the headwaters region to the
Gulf of Mexico.
``(B) Form.--This report shall be an analysis of
present economic activity including a treatment of
recent economic trends. The ultimate objective of this
report is to enhance understanding among government
agencies, legislative bodies, private organizations,
and individual citizens of the relative significance of
key economic sectors in the Mississippi River Corridor,
providing an information source for future river
management decisions and an economic guiding document
for the Comprehensive Mississippi River Restoration
Plan.
``(i) The profile described in this
subsection shall use the Lower Mississippi
River Economic Profile developed by the Lower
Mississippi River Conservation Committee
(LMRCC) as a template including the economic
sectors and degree of analysis mustered for the
LMRCC document.
``(ii) The Program Office shall have the
latitude to alter the LMRCC template as it sees
fit in updating the profile including the
addition and subtraction of major economic
categories as well as geographic scope.
``(iii) The Program Office shall include a
new category to track the economic impacts of
the Comprehensive Mississippi River Restoration
Plan and the subsequent project grants
implemented through subsection (e) as they are
implemented throughout the corridor. The
Program Office shall decide the most
appropriate time to institute this category.
``(iv) The Program Office shall pursue to
the maximum extent possible an economic
analysis of the environmental services and
ecosystem valuation of the Mississippi River
Corridor creating a compare-and-contrast
analysis of those areas instituting sustainable
design and resilience projects and those that
do not with particular emphasis on climate
mitigation strategies and deployment,
restoration, expansion of natural
infrastructure.
``(C) Procedure.--The Data Analysis and Subject
Matter Investigations Directorate (DASMID) within the
Program Office shall lead and manage the development,
review, and release of the Profile. The DASMID shall
determine the appropriate timeline to carry-out this
procedure and shall--
``(i) present the profile in draft form to
the Federal Leadership Committee for advice and
review leading up to the five-year increment of
updated publication of the Profile;
``(ii) create a reasonable opportunity for
States, local governments, organizations, and
institutions of higher learning to officially
submit review and comment on drafts or final
publication of the Profile;
``(iii) determine the most effective manner
in which to organize the Profile within the
priority of providing break-out economic
analysis for each State so the profile can be
of maximum utility to Congress in setting
policy for the nation's resources and
waterways.
``(2) Watershed monitoring network.--Using the USGS-
developed MRCTI Mississippi River disaster information portal
as an example and working directly with the U.S. Geological
Survey Water Resources Program and the Natural Resources
Conservation Service, the Program Office shall establish a
water quality and flow monitoring network for the Mississippi
River Corridor for the purposes of quantifying and evaluating
the sources, transport, and trends of sediment, nutrients, as
well as to determine the effectiveness of nutrient reduction
practices corridor-wide, and for other water quality parameters
such as river color(s) obtained from NASA images. In developing
the monitoring network described in this subsection shall--
``(A) be advised and consulted by interstate water
quality monitoring strategies for nutrient, sediment,
and other water quality parameters where they exist as
well as Mississippi River States' monitoring of the
implementation and performance of best management
practices for reducing nutrient and sediment loading
from nonpoint sources where such best practices can be
determined from the 31 States of the Mississippi River
Basin; and
``(B) expand from the Mississippi River Corridor to
the entire Mississippi River Basin over time as
resources and capacity allows in order to capture the
major tributaries and their contribution of impacts to
the Mississippi River Main Stem.
``(3) Disaster resilience and environmental services
valuation.--Working in close coordination and collaboration
with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mississippi Valley
Division (Division), the Program Office shall provide data,
research and investigation that offers valuation and economic
impact of all the Division's ecosystem restoration work in
terms of disaster resilience and enhanced environmental
services and such activity described in this subsection shall
be made part of the Corps' official project cost-benefit-
analysis for all ecosystem restoration projects. Particular
attention of the valuation shall be allocated to track and
measure impacts and solutions for minority and historically
disadvantaged communities throughout the study in such a manner
as to determine how these vulnerable communities may garner
more urgent and systemic benefits from ecosystem restoration
and enhanced environmental services deployment.
``(4) Trust fund feasibility study.--In close cooperation
with the White House Office of Management and Budget, the
Program Office shall conduct a study to determine the
feasibility of establishing a multi-user-fee-supported trust
fund for the Mississippi River's ecological sustainability and
built infrastructure integrity and repair. The study shall be
reported to Congress three years after enactment of this Act.
It is envisioned this Trust Fund would ensure the continued
funding of Mississippi River Corridor environmental services
that support the global commodity supply chain, navigation,
manufacturing, drinking water supply, disaster resilience, and
outdoor tourism and recreation.
``(A) Purpose.--The Feasibility Study shall
determine if a multi-user-fee-structure could be
established for an impactful majority of private and
public sector entities using the Mississippi River
including but not limited to:
``(i) Agricultural commodity producers,
distributors, and manufacturers.
``(ii) Navigation industry members.
``(iii) Outdoor recreation and tourism
industry members.
``(iv) Food and beverage manufacturers.
``(v) Private entities using one hundred
thousand or more gallons per day of Mississippi
River surface water including public and quasi-
government utilities.
``(vi) State governments that border the
main stem Mississippi River from headwaters to
the Gulf of Mexico.
``(B) Form.--The study mandated in this subsection
shall be structured to pursue the pervasive use of the
Mississippi River and how the myriad of end-user
interests may be accumulated and organized into a
system through which the Mississippi River as one of
the Nation's most treasured and relied upon resources
as well as all the activities of the Program Office are
sustained into the future with less and less dependency
on annual Federal appropriations.
``(C) Procedure.--The Program Office, upon
completion of the study, shall co-present with the
White House Office of Management and Budget, findings
to the Federal Leadership Committee for advice and
review before final publication and submission to
Congress.
``(g) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
``(1) Mississippi river corridor.--The term `Mississippi
River Corridor' shall mean the 246-county region along the
Mississippi River Main Stem as delineated in the 2016 U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service Upper Mississippi River Economic Profile
and the 2014 Lower Mississippi River Conservation Committee
Lower Mississippi River Economic Profile.
``(2) Mississippi river state.--The term `Mississippi River
State' shall mean any of the ten States that touch the main
stem Mississippi River which includes from north to south
Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas,
Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
``(3) Mississippi river main stem.--The term `Mississippi
River Main Stem' shall mean the primary water channel that
comprises the geographic norm of the Mississippi River flowing
north to south from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico.
``(4) Mississippi river basin.--The term `Mississippi River
Basin' shall mean the vast region of North America encompassing
31 States and two Canadian Provinces that drain in whole or in
part into the Mississippi River Main Stem and subsequently into
the Gulf of Mexico.
``(5) Eligible state.--The term `eligible State' shall mean
the same as `Mississippi River State' for purposes of this Act.
``(6) Participating state.--The term `Participating State'
shall mean any State within the Mississippi River Basin that
has been licensed to enter into agreements under the provisions
of this Act;
``(7) Local government.--The term `Local Government' shall
mean a subdivision of government within the United States that
is either a county or mayor-led municipality as recognized
under the laws of the State such a locality resides.
``(8) Critical national infrastructure.--The term `Critical
National Infrastructure' shall mean built assets that make
possible or contribute to interstate commerce, energy
production, drinking water supply, the global commodity supply
chain, downtown city centers or cores of counties or mayor-led
municipalities.
``(9) Major economies.--The term `Major Economies' shall
mean the top ten economic sectors in terms of revenue generated
and jobs supported as averaged over the five-year period under
study for an update to the Mississippi River Economic Profile
as described in subsection (f)(1).
``(10) Extra-provisional projects.--The term `Extra-
Provisional Projects' shall mean those projects not called for
within the Comprehensive Mississippi River Restoration Plan as
described in subsection (e)(4)(B).
``(11) Disadvantaged community.--The term `Disadvantaged
Community' shall mean those jurisdictions where not less than
15 percent of the population lives below the poverty line upon
enactment of this Act and/or has met this threshold for at
least half of the jurisdiction's existence.
``(h) Program Administration.--The Mississippi River Program shall
be administered under the following provisions:
``(1) Audit and report.--
``(A) Audit requirement.--Not less frequently than
every two years, each participating State shall conduct
an audit of the grant funds and/or resources
distributed to that State through provisions and relief
offered under this Act.
``(B) Report.--Each participating State shall
submit to the Program Office a biennial report
regarding the activities of the State under this
section during the period covered by the report,
including--
``(i) the result of any audit conducted by
the State under subparagraph (A); and
``(ii) a review of the effectiveness of the
grant funds allocated to the State with respect
to--
``(I) the intended use of grant(s)
allocated within the State; and
``(II) meeting the objectives
described in subsection (e)(4).
``(2) Regulations.--The Program Office shall promulgate
such guidance or regulations as may be necessary to carry out
this section, including guidance or regulations that--
``(A) ensure that each participating State to which
funds are allocated under subsections (b), (d), and (f)
uses the funds as efficiently as possible;
``(B) reduce, to the maximum extent practicable,
waste, fraud, and abuse with respect to the
implementation of this Act;
``(C) ensure that subsection (e) is adhered in
terms of projects awarded; and
``(D) require any party that receives funds
directly or indirectly under this Act, including a
participating State and a recipient of amounts from a
grant, to use procedures with respect to the management
of the funds that conform to generally accepted
accounting standards.
``(3) Noncompliance.--Except as otherwise provided, if a
participating State local government, or partner does not
comply with subsection (e)(5), with respect to a grant, the
Administrator shall reallocate the grant in accordance with
this subsection. Reallocation of grant funds shall begin with a
return of unspent grant funds due to noncompliance to the
Program Office accompanied by an audit and report as directed
in subsection (h)(1).
``(4) Exception.--The Program Office may not reallocate any
funds under subparagraph (A) to a participating State that
triggered subsection (3) with respect to a grant made during
the same fiscal year in which the funds to be reallocated were
originally made available.
``(5) Allocation of remaining funds.--After allocating
amounts made available to carry out this section for a fiscal
year in accordance with paragraph (3), the Administrator shall
allocate any remaining amounts in the form of grants to the
mayor-led municipality directly adjacent to the Mississippi
River Main Stem with the smallest population in each of the ten
eligible States.
``(6) Reservation of funds.--The Program Office shall
reserve not more than 1.5 percent of the amount made available
to carry out subsection (e) in a fiscal year--
``(A) for administrative costs incurred in carrying
out this section;
``(B) to provide technical assistance to recipients
of grants under this subsection (e); and
``(C) to enter into grant agreements with States,
with the grant funds to be distributed--
``(i) according to criteria established by
the Program Office; and
``(ii) for a purpose described in
subsection (f).
``(7) Use of funds.--Amounts deposited in a State through
this Act, shall be used--
``(A) consistent with subsections (e) and (f), to
provide financial assistance for an eligible State,
local government, and non-profit organization partner;
``(B) as a source of revenue and security for
activities designated under this Act, the proceeds of
which shall be placed toward performance as stated in
an applicable grant agreement; or
``(C) for the sale of bonds as security for payment
of the principal and interest on revenue or general
obligation bonds issued by the participating State to
provide matching funds under subsection (e), if the
proceeds from the sale of the bonds are deposited with
the participating State.
``(8) Publication.--Each participating State shall publish
and periodically update a list of all projects receiving
funding under this Act, which shall include--
``(A) the location of each project;
``(B) the type and amount of assistance provided
for each project; and
``(C) the expected funding schedule and date of
completion of each project.
``(i) Administrative and Technical Costs.--For each fiscal year, a
participating State may use the amount described in subparagraph (6)
to--
``(1) pay the reasonable costs of administration of the
programs under this section, including the recovery of
reasonable costs incurred in establishing a project(s) funded
through this Act;
``(2) provide appropriate oversight of projects authorized
under this Act; and
``(3) provide technical assistance and outreach to
recipients in the State of amounts under this section,
including with respect to updating hazard mitigation plans and
participating in the Community Rating System, in an amount that
is not more than 5 percent of the funds made available to the
State under this section.
``(j) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated $500,000,000 for each fiscal year beginning in 2022 and
ending in 2027 toward the carrying out of this Act with the possibility
of further authorizations beyond 2027.''.
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