LOWER MISSISSIPPI RIVER RESOURCE ASSESSMENT.

SEC. 402. LOWER MISSISSIPPI RIVER RESOURCE ASSESSMENT. (a) Assessments.—The Secretary, in cooperation with the Secretary of the Interior and the States of Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee, shall undertake for the Lower Mississippi River system— (1) an assessment of information needed for river-related management; (2) an assessment of natural resource habitat needs; and (3) an assessment of the need for river-related recreation and access. (b) Period.—Each assessment referred to in subsection (a) shall be carried out for 2 years. (c) Reports.—Before the last day of the second year of an assessment under subsection (a), the Secretary, in cooperation with the Secretary of the Interior and the States of Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee, shall transmit to Congress a report on the results of the assessment to Congress. The report shall contain recommendations for— (1) the collection, availability, and use of information needed for river-related management;114 STAT. 2634 (2) the planning, construction, and evaluation of potential restoration, protection, and enhancement measures to meet identified habitat needs; and (3) potential projects to meet identified river access and recreation needs. (d) Lower Mississippi River System Defined.—In this section, the term “Lower Mississippi River system” means those river reaches and adjacent floodplains within the Lower Mississippi River alluvial valley having commercial navigation channels on the Mississippi mainstem and tributaries south of Cairo, Illinois, and the Atchafalaya basin floodway system. (e) Authorization of Appropriations.—There is authorized to be appropriated $1,750,000 to carry out this section.