SA 3706. Mr. GREGG submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill H.R. 2419, to provide for the continuation of agricultural programs through fiscal year 2012, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:


On page 444, after line 22, insert the following:
SEC. 2__X. DISCOVERY WATERSHED-ESTUARY ECOSYSTEM PROTECTION DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM.
Chapter 5 of subtitle D of title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839bb et seq.) (as amended by section 2399) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 1240T. DISCOVERY WATERSHED-ESTUARY ECOSYSTEM PROTECTION DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM.
``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary of Commerce and the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shall establish and carry out a demonstration program in not less than 30 coastal watersheds throughout the United States to achieve the purposes described in subsection (b).
``(b) Purposes.--The purposes of the demonstration program under this section are--
``(1) to prevent the impacts of nutrients, soil pollutants, anthropogenic airborne contaminants, and agricultural products on sensitive estuarine ecosystems located downstream in coastal watersheds;
``(2) to monitor the effect of waterborne and airborne agents on the watersheds of estuarine ecosystems;
``(3) to model the impacts on watersheds of estuarine ecosystems using information made available to managers, decisionmakers, and related stakeholders;
``(4) to mitigate those impacts using innovative environmental technologies; and
``(5) to assess the cost-effectiveness and performance of those technologies to provide guidance with respect to the implementation of best practices.
``(c) Interagency Agreements.--
``(1) IN GENERAL.--The Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall enter into an agreement with the Secretary of Commerce and the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to carry out this section.
``(2) CONTENTS.--The agreement entered into under paragraph (1) shall, to the maximum extent practicable--
``(A) facilitate coordination among research programs within agencies to ensure the success of the demonstration program under this section;
``(B) ensure the use of the best efforts of each applicable department and agency to integrate the sharing of information and best practices;
``(C) require the provision of timely, evaluated information to assist the Secretary in assessing the cost-effectiveness and performance of the demonstration program under this section;
``(D) provide for specific connectivity for research programs within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and
``(E) facilitate the leveraging of resources in support of the demonstration program under this section.
``(d) Selection of Coastal Watersheds.--
``(1) IN GENERAL.--In selecting the 30 coastal watersheds for purposes of subsection (a), the Secretary shall take into consideration the extent to which--
``(A) reducing impacts on an estuarine ecosystem of a coastal watershed is possible;
``(B) a project carried out at a coastal watershed under the demonstration program--
``(i) would use innovative approaches to attract a high level of participation in the watershed to ensure success;
``(ii) could be implemented through a third party, including--
``(I) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;
``(II) a unit of State or local government;
``(III) a conservation organization; or
``(IV) another organization with appropriate expertise;
``(iii) would leverage funding from Federal, State, local, and private sources; and
``(iv) would demonstrate best practices to manage--
``(I) pollutant impact and habitat restoration;
``(II) coastal and estuarine environmental technology evaluations and adoption;
``(III) watershed modeling from whitewater to bluewater; and
``(IV) air mass contaminant monitoring;
``(C) baseline data relating to water quality and agricultural practices and contributions from nonagricultural sources relevant to the watershed has been collected or could be readily collected; and
``(D) water and air quality monitoring infrastructure is in place or could reasonably be put in place in a small watershed.
``(2) REQUIREMENT.--The Secretary shall select to participate in the demonstration program under this section each coastal watershed that is challenged with an anthropogenic input, including the coastal watersheds of--
``(A) the Gulf of Maine;
``(B) Long Island Sound;
``(C) Chesapeake Bay; and
``(D) coastal Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina.
``(e) Use of Funds.--The Secretary shall use funds made available to carry out this section in each coastal watershed selected for purposes of subsection (a)--
``(1) to support demonstration projects in the coastal watershed;
``(2) to provide and assess financial incentives for leveraging the demonstration projects;
``(3) to monitor the performance and costs of best practices; and
``(4) to provide the Federal share of the cost of data collection, monitoring, and analysis.
``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this section, of which not less than $30,000,000 shall be made available to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for each fiscal year to support the demonstration program under this section.''.


(As printed in the Congressional Record for the Senate on Nov 15, 2007.)