Great Lakes Agricultural Stewardship Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2141 To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to require the Secretary of Agri- culture to establish a Great Lakes basin initiative for agricultural nonpoint source pollution prevention. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 8, 2019 Mr. WALBERG (for himself and Mr. RYAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a Great Lakes basin initiative for agricultural nonpoint source pollution pre- vention. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Great Lakes Agricul- 4 tural Stewardship Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:39 Apr 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2141.IH H2141 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2141 IH SEC. 2. GREAT LAKES BASIN INITIATIVE FOR AGRICUL- 1 TURAL NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION PRE- 2 VENTION. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 4 of sub- 4 title D of title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 5 U.S.C. 3839aa et seq.) is amended by inserting after sec- 6 tion 1240H the following new section: 7 ‘‘SEC. 1240H–1. GREAT LAKES BASIN INITIATIVE FOR AGRI- 8 CULTURAL NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION 9 PREVENTION. 10 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, in consulta- 11 tion with the Great Lakes States, shall establish a Great 12 Lakes basin initiative for agricultural nonpoint source pol- 13 lution prevention in accordance with this section. 14 ‘‘(b) INITIATIVE ELEMENTS.— 15 ‘‘(1) GRANTS TO STATES.—In implementing the 16 initiative, the Secretary shall provide grants to Great 17 Lakes States to fund the following: 18 ‘‘(A) Education and outreach, for pro- 19 ducers in the Great Lakes basin, regarding— 20 ‘‘(i) nonpoint pollution of ground and 21 surface water from agricultural activities; 22 ‘‘(ii) State verification programs; and 23 ‘‘(iii) the initiative. 24 ‘‘(B) Technical assistance, including train- 25 ing, to producers in the Great Lakes basin for 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:39 Apr 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2141.IH H2141 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2141 IH the implementation of activities that reduce or 1 prevent nonpoint pollution of ground and sur- 2 face water from agricultural activities. 3 ‘‘(C) Development and implementation of 4 voluntary State verification programs, with a 5 funding priority for voluntary State verification 6 programs that incorporate Department of Agri- 7 culture conservation planning and practice 8 standards. 9 ‘‘(2) FUNDING PRIORITY FOR CERTAIN PRO- 10 DUCERS.—In implementing the initiative, the Sec- 11 retary shall establish a funding priority within the 12 Great Lakes basin for payments to producers under 13 this chapter for producers that participate in the ini- 14 tiative with the purpose of achieving verification 15 through a State verification program. 16 ‘‘(c) USE OF EXISTING DATA.—In establishing the 17 initiative, the Secretary shall, where available, use existing 18 plans, models, and assessments. 19 ‘‘(d) COLLABORATION.—In carrying out activities 20 under the initiative, a State may collaborate with entities 21 that have agricultural or environmental expertise, includ- 22 ing academic or nonprofit organizations. 23 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:39 Apr 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2141.IH H2141 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2141 IH ‘‘(1) GREAT LAKES STATE.—The term ‘Great 1 Lakes State’ means any one of the States of Illinois, 2 Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, 3 Pennsylvania, or Wisconsin. 4 ‘‘(2) INITIATIVE.—The term ‘initiative’ means 5 the Great Lakes basin initiative for agricultural 6 nonpoint source pollution prevention established 7 under subsection (a). 8 ‘‘(3) NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION.—The 9 term ‘nonpoint source pollution’ is used within the 10 meaning of that term under the Federal Water Pol- 11 lution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.). 12 ‘‘(4) STATE VERIFICATION PROGRAM.—The 13 term ‘State verification program’ means a program 14 established by a Great Lakes State to verify pro- 15 ducer implementation of practices approved by the 16 State to reduce nonpoint pollution of ground and 17 surface water from agricultural activities, which may 18 include verification by a third party approved by the 19 State or the Secretary. 20 ‘‘(f) FUNDING.—Of the funds made available to carry 21 out this subchapter, the Secretary shall carry out this sec- 22 tion using— 23 ‘‘(1) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2020; 24 ‘‘(2) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:39 Apr 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2141.IH H2141 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2141 IH ‘‘(3) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; and 1 ‘‘(4) $7,000,000 for fiscal year 2023.’’. 2 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1240C of 3 the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–3) is 4 amended by adding at the end the following new sub- 5 section: 6 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULE FOR GREAT LAKES BASIN.—In 7 evaluating applications of producers in the Great Lakes 8 basin under this subchapter, the Secretary shall prioritize 9 applications in accordance with section 1240H–1(b)(2).’’. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:39 Apr 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2141.IH H2141 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS