Pub. L. 95-502, tit. I, sec. 101

Sec. 101. (a) The Upper Mississippi River Basin Commission (referred to in this section as the “Commission”) shall prepare a comprehensive master plan for the management of the Upper Mississippi River System in cooperation with the appropriate Federal, State, and local officials. The Commission shall publish a preliminary plan not later than January 1, 1981. The Commission shall hold public hearings on the preliminary plan in each State which would be affected by the plan, shall review all comments presented at such hearings or submitted in writing to the Commission, and, after making any revisions in the plan it decides are necessary, submit to Congress a final master plan not later than January 1, 1982. All decisions of the Commission related to the master plan shall be made by a two-thirds majority vote of the Commission. (b) The Commission shall provide for public participation in the development, revision, and implementation of said plan and shall encourage and assist such participation. The Commission shall, within 150 days after the date of enactment of this Act, publish guidelines in the Federal Register for public participation in the development, revision, and implementation of the plan. The final master plan shall not be implemented without the express approval of the plan by an Act of Congress enacted after the date of enactment of this Act. After such approval, no change may be made in the master plan except as may be provided by an Act of Congress enacted after the date of enactment of the Act approving the master plan. No person shall engage in any activity which violates any provision of the plan or which is inconsistent (as determined under regulations promulgated by the Commission) with the plan. (c) The Commission, in developing the plan, shall identify the various economic, recreational, and environmental objectives of the Upper Mississippi River System, recommend guidelines to achieve such objectives, and propose methods to assure compliance with such guidelines and coordination of future management decisions affecting the Upper Mississippi River System, and include with the proposed master plan any legislative proposals which may be necessary to carry out such recommendations and achieve such objectives. (d) For the purposes of developing the plan, the Commission shall conduct such studies as it deems necessary to carry out its responsibilities under this section, utilizing, to the fullest extent possible, 92 STAT. 1694the resources and results of the Upper Mississippi River resources management (GREAT) study conducted pursuant to section 117 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1976 (Public Law 94–587) and of other ongoing or past studies. The Commission may request appropriate Federal, State, or local agencies to prepare such studies. Any Federal agency to which such a request is submitted may conduct any such study for the purpose of this section. (e) Studies conducted pursuant to this section shall include, but not be limited to, the following: (1) The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of the Army, working through the Commission, shall undertake a study to determine the carrying capacity of the Upper Mississippi River System, and the long- and short-term systematic ecological impacts of (A) present and any projected expansion of navigation capacity on the fish and wildlife, water quality, wilderness, and public recreational opportunities of said rivers, (B) present operation and maintenance programs, (C) the means and measures that should be adopted to prevent or minimize loss of or damage to fish and wildlife, and (D) a specific analysis of the immediate and systematic environmental effects of any second lock at Alton, Illinois, and provide for the mitigation of any adverse impact on, and the enhancement of, such resources. (2) The Commission shall undertake studies to determine— (A) the relationship of any expansion of navigational capacity on the Upper Mississippi River System to national transportation policy, (B) the direct and indirect effects of any expansion of navigational capacity on the Nation’s railroads and on shippers dependent upon rail service, and (C) transportation costs and benefits to the Nation to be derived from any expansion of navigational capacity on said River System. The Commission is directed to immediately initiate a specific evaluation of the economic need for a second lock at Alton, Illinois, and the direct and indirect systematic effects and needs for such a second lock at Alton, Illinois. (3) The Commission shall undertake a program of studies, including a demonstration program to evaluate the benefits and costs of disposing of dredge spoil material in contained areas located out of the floodplain. The program shall include, but shall not be limited to, the evaluation of possible uses in the marketplace for the dredge spoil studies and demonstration programs to minimize the environmental effects of channel operation and maintenance activities. (4) The development by the Commission of a computerized analytical inventory and system analysis for the Upper Mississippi River System to facilitate evaluation of the comparative environmental effects of alternative management proposals. (f) Any Secretary responsible for conducting a study under subsection (e) of this section, and other studies conducted under this section, shall produce one or more draft reports containing study conclusions and appropriate appendix materials and shall present the reports to the Commission for approval and inclusion in the master plan process. 92 STAT. 1695 (g) To carry out the provisions of this section, there are authorized to be appropriated to the Commission, through the United States Water Resources Council, $12,000,000. The Commission is authorized to transfer funds to such Federal, State, or local government agencies as it deems necessary to carry out the studies and analysis authorized by this section. (h) For purposes of this section, the Lipper Mississippi River System consists of those river reaches containing commercial navigation channels on the Mississippi River main stem north of Cairo, Illinois, the Minnesota River, Minnesota; Black River, Wisconsin; Saint Croix River, Minnesota and Wisconsin; Illinois River and Waterway, Illinois; and Kaskaskia River, Illinois. (i) No replacement, construction, or rehabilitation that expands the navigation capacity of locks, dams, and channels shall be undertaken by the Secretary of the Army to increase the navigation capacity of the Upper Mississippi River System, until the master plan prepared pursuant to this section has been approved by the Congress except as provided in section 102 and except for necessary operating and maintenance activities. (j) The lock and dam authorized pursuant to section 102 shall be designed and constructed to provide for possible future expansion. All other construction activities initiated by the Secretary of the Army on the Upper Mississippi River north of Cairo, Illinois, and on the Illinois River north of Grafton, Illinois, shall be initiated only in accordance with the guidelines set forth in the master plan.