National Ocean and Coastal Security Improvements Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3892 To direct the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to provide for ocean-based climate solutions to reduce carbon emissions and global warming; to make coastal communities more resilient; and to provide for the conservation and restoration of ocean and coastal habitats, bio- diversity, and marine mammal and fish populations; and for other pur- poses. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 15, 2021 Mr. BEYER (for himself and Mr. MAST) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be sub- sequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To direct the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to provide for ocean-based climate solu- tions to reduce carbon emissions and global warming; to make coastal communities more resilient; and to pro- vide for the conservation and restoration of ocean and coastal habitats, biodiversity, and marine mammal and fish populations; and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:07 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3892.IH H3892 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3892 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Ocean and 2 Coastal Security Improvements Act of 2021’’. 3 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO THE NATIONAL OCEANS AND 4 COASTAL SECURITY ACT. 5 (a) DEFINITION OF TIDAL SHORELINE REFINED.— 6 Section 902 of the National Oceans and Coastal Security 7 Act (16 U.S.C. 7501) is amended— 8 (1) by amending paragraph (7) to read as fol- 9 lows: 10 ‘‘(7) TIDAL SHORELINE.—The term ‘tidal 11 shoreline’ means a ‘tidal shoreline’ or a ‘Great Lake 12 shoreline’ as such terms are used in section 13 923.110(c)(2)(i) of title 15, Code of Federal Regula- 14 tions, or a similar successor regulation.’’; and 15 (2) by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(8) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian Tribe’ 17 has the meaning given such in section 4 of the In- 18 dian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 19 Act. 20 ‘‘(9) BLUE CARBON.—The term ‘blue carbon’ 21 means the ability of an ocean or coastal ecosystem, 22 habitat, or other natural resource to absorb, capture, 23 and contain atmospheric carbon dioxide.’’. 24 (b) EXPENDITURES.—Section 904(d) of such Act (16 25 U.S.C. 7503(d)) is amended to read as follows: 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:07 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3892.IH H3892 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3892 IH ‘‘(d) EXPENDITURE.— 1 ‘‘(1) AMOUNTS TO REMAIN AVAILABLE.— 2 Amounts in the Fund shall remain available until 3 extended to carry out the purposes of the Fund. 4 ‘‘(2) DISTRIBUTION.—Of the amounts in the 5 Fund, in each fiscal year— 6 ‘‘(A) not less than $150,000,000 shall be 7 used for the award of grants under section 8 906(b); 9 ‘‘(B) not less than $50,000,000 shall be 10 used for the award of grants under section 11 906(c); 12 ‘‘(C) any amounts in excess of 13 $200,000,000 shall be distributed such that— 14 ‘‘(i) 80 percent of such amounts shall 15 be used for the award of grants under sec- 16 tion 906(b); and 17 ‘‘(ii) 20 percent of such amounts shall 18 be used for the award of grants under sec- 19 tion 906(c). 20 ‘‘(D) Of amounts provided in this sub- 21 section, not more than 4 percent may be used 22 by the Administrator and the National Fish 23 and Wildlife Foundation for direct costs to 24 carry out this chapter.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:07 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3892.IH H3892 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3892 IH (c) ELIGIBLE USES OF THE FUND.—Section 905 of 1 such Act (16 U.S.C. 7504) is amended to read as follows: 2 ‘‘SEC. 905. ELIGIBLE USES. 3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Amounts in the Fund may be 4 allocated by the Administrator and the Foundation for 5 grants under section 906(c) to support programs and ac- 6 tivities intended to protect, conserve, restore, better under- 7 stand, and use ocean and coastal resources and coastal 8 infrastructure, including, if appropriate, scientific re- 9 search, resiliency planning, implementation, and moni- 10 toring and spatial planning, data-sharing, and other pro- 11 grams and activities carried out in coordination with Fed- 12 eral and State departments or agencies, including the fol- 13 lowing: 14 ‘‘(1) Ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes restora- 15 tion and protection, including efforts to address po- 16 tential impacts of sea level change, sedimentation, 17 erosion, changes in ocean chemistry, hurricanes and 18 other extreme weather, flooding, and changes in 19 ocean temperature to natural resources, commu- 20 nities, and coastal economies. 21 ‘‘(2) Restoration, protection, or maintenance of 22 living ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources and 23 their habitats, including habitats and ecosystems 24 that provide blue carbon benefits. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:07 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3892.IH H3892 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3892 IH ‘‘(3) Planning for and managing coastal devel- 1 opment to enhance ecosystem and community integ- 2 rity, or to minimize impacts from sea level change, 3 hurricanes and other extreme weather, flooding, and 4 coastal erosion. 5 ‘‘(4) Projects to address management, planning, 6 or resiliency and readiness issues which are regional 7 or interstate in scope, such as regional ocean part- 8 nerships or similar bodies. 9 ‘‘(5) Efforts that contribute to the under- 10 standing of ecological, economic, societal, and na- 11 tional security threats driven by changes to the 12 oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes. 13 ‘‘(6) Efforts to preserve, protect, and collect 14 data, including public ocean and coastal data por- 15 tals, that would support sustainable water-dependent 16 commercial activities including commercial fishing, 17 recreational fishing businesses, aquaculture, boat 18 building, or other coastal-related businesses. 19 ‘‘(7) Efforts to assist coastal States in repo- 20 sitioning, relocating or deploying natural or nature- 21 based features to enhance the resiliency of critical 22 coastal transportation, emergency response, water, 23 electrical, and other infrastructure, that are already 24 subject to or face increased future risks of hurri- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:07 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3892.IH H3892 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3892 IH canes, coastal flooding, coastal erosion, or sea level 1 change to ensure the economic security, safety, and 2 ecological well-being of the coasts of the United 3 States. 4 ‘‘(8) Acquiring property or interests in property 5 if— 6 ‘‘(A) the area is located within a coastal 7 county or adjacent county; 8 ‘‘(B) the funds made available under this 9 subtitle are used to acquire land or interest in 10 land by purchase, exchange, or donation from a 11 willing seller; 12 ‘‘(C) the Governor of the State in which 13 the property or interests in property are ac- 14 quired approves of the acquisition; and 15 ‘‘(D) such property or interest is acquired 16 in a manner that will ensure such property or 17 interest will be administered to support the pur- 18 poses of this Act. 19 ‘‘(9) Protection and modification of critical 20 coastal public infrastructure affected by erosion, 21 hurricanes or other extreme weather, flooding, or sea 22 level change. 23 ‘‘(10) Assistance for small businesses and com- 24 munities that are dependent on coastal tourism as 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:07 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3892.IH H3892 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3892 IH eligible efforts that help coastal economies minimize 1 impacts from sea level rise and disasters. 2 ‘‘(11) Projects that use natural and nature- 3 based approaches for enhancing the resiliency of 4 wastewater and stormwater infrastructure as eligible 5 critical infrastructure projects (as compared to just 6 general water infrastructure, which can also include 7 drinking water systems). 8 ‘‘(12) Technical assistance to help develop com- 9 prehensive resilience and mitigation plans as an eli- 10 gible funding effort. 11 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR LITIGA- 12 TION.—No funds made available under this Act may be 13 used to fund litigation against the Federal Government.’’. 14 (d) GRANTS.— 15 (1) ADMINISTRATION.—Section 906(a)(1) of 16 such Act (16 U.S.C. 7505(a)(1)) is amended— 17 (A) by amending subparagraph (B) to read 18 as follows: 19 ‘‘(B) Selection procedures and criteria for 20 the awarding of grants under this section that 21 require consultation with the Administrator and 22 the Secretary of the Interior.’’; 23 (B) by amending subparagraph (C)(ii) to 24 read as follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:07 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3892.IH H3892 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3892 IH ‘‘(ii) under subsection (c) to entities 1 including States, local governments, re- 2 gional and interstate collaboratives, asso- 3 ciations, nonprofit and for-profit private 4 entities, public-private partnerships, aca- 5 demic institutions, and Indian Tribes.’’; 6 (C) in subparagraph (F), by striking ‘‘year 7 if grants have been awarded in that year’’ and 8 inserting ‘‘5 years’’; and 9 (D) by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(I) A method to give special consideration 11 in reviewing proposals to projects with either di- 12 rect or indirect coastal or marine blue carbon 13 benefits and an accounting methodology to 14 quantify these benefits for the purposes of the 15 annual report required under section 907.’’. 16 (2) GRANTS TO COASTAL STATES.—Section 17 906(b) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 7505(b)) is amended 18 to read as follows: 19 ‘‘(b) GRANTS TO COASTAL STATES.— 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (3) 21 and (4), the Administrator shall award grants to eli- 22 gible coastal States based on the following formula: 23 ‘‘(A) 50 of the funds are allocated equally 24 among eligible coastal States. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:07 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3892.IH H3892 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3892 IH ‘‘(B) 25 percent of the funds are allocated 1 on the basis of the ratio of tidal shoreline miles 2 in a coastal State to the tidal shoreline miles of 3 all coastal States. 4 ‘‘(C) 25 percent of the funds are allocated 5 on the basis of the ratio of population density 6 of the coastal counties of a coastal State to the 7 average population density of all coastal coun- 8 ties based on the most recent data available by 9 the Census Bureau. 10 ‘‘(2) MAXIMUM ALLOCATION TO STATES.—Not- 11 withstanding paragraph (1), not more than 5 per- 12 cent of the total funds distributed under this sub- 13 section may be allocated to any single State. Any 14 amount exceeding this limit shall be redistributed 15 equally among the remaining eligible coastal States. 16 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENT TO SUBMIT PLANS.— 17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to re- 18 ceive a grant under this subsection, an eligible 19 coastal State shall submit to the Administrator 20 for review and approval, a 5-year plan, which 21 shall include the following: 22 ‘‘(i) Criteria to determine eligibility 23 for entities which may receive grants under 24 this subsection. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:07 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3892.IH H3892 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3892 IH ‘‘(ii) A description of the competitive 1 process the coastal State will use in allo- 2 cating funds received from the Fund, ex- 3 cept in the case of allocating funds under 4 paragraph (6), which shall include— 5 ‘‘(I) a description of the relative 6 roles of and consistency with the 7 State coastal zone management pro- 8 gram approved under the Coastal 9 Zone Management Act of 1972, if the 10 coastal State has such a plan, and 11 any State Sea Grant Program, if the 12 State has such program; and 13 ‘‘(II) a demonstration that such 14 competitive process is consistent with 15 the application and review procedures 16 established by the Administrator and 17 Foundation under subsection (a)(1). 18 ‘‘(iii) A process to certify that the 19 project or program and the awarding of a 20 contract for the expenditure of amounts re- 21 ceived under this paragraph are consistent 22 with the standard procurement rules and 23 regulations governing a comparable project 24 or program in that State, including all ap- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:07 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3892.IH H3892 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3892 IH plicable competitive bidding and audit re- 1 quirements. 2 ‘‘(iv) Procedures to make publicly 3 available on the internet a list of all 4 projects supported by the Fund, that in- 5 cludes at a minimum the grant recipient, 6 grant amount, project description, and 7 project status. 8 ‘‘(B) UPDATES.—As a condition of receiv- 9 ing a grant under this subsection, a coastal 10 State shall submit to the Administrator, not 11 less frequently than once every 5 years, an up- 12 date to the plan submitted by the coastal State 13 under subparagraph (A) for the 5-year period 14 immediately following the most recent submittal 15 under this paragraph. 16 ‘‘(4) OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.—In 17 determining whether to approve a plan or an update 18 to a plan described paragraph (3), the Administrator 19 or the Foundation shall provide the opportunity for, 20 and take into consideration, public input and com- 21 ment on the plan. 22 ‘‘(5) INDIAN TRIBES.—As a condition on receipt 23 of a grant under this subsection, a State that re- 24 ceives a grant under this subsection shall ensure 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:07 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3892.IH H3892 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3892 IH that Indian Tribes in the State are eligible to par- 1 ticipate in the competitive process described in the 2 State’s plan under paragraph (3)(A)(ii). 3 ‘‘(6) NONPARTICIPATION BY A STATE.—In any 4 fiscal year, if an eligible coastal State does not sub- 5 mit the plan required by paragraph (3) or declines 6 the funds distributed under t [Text truncated for display. 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