National Oceans and Coastal Security Improvements Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4093 To improve the National Oceans and Coastal Security Act, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 30, 2019 Mr. BEYER (for himself and Mr. ROONEY of Florida) 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 pe- riod to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for con- sideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned A BILL To improve the National Oceans and Coastal Security Act, 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Oceans and 4 Coastal Security Improvements Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4093.IH H4093 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4093 IH SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO THE NATIONAL OCEANS AND 1 COASTAL SECURITY ACT. 2 (a) DEFINITION OF TIDAL SHORELINE REFINED.— 3 Section 902 of the National Oceans and Coastal Security 4 Act (16 U.S.C. 7501) is amended— 5 (1) by amending paragraph (7) to read as fol- 6 lows: 7 ‘‘(7) TIDAL SHORELINE.—The term ‘tidal 8 shoreline’ means a ‘tidal shoreline’ or a ‘Great Lake 9 shoreline’ as such terms are used in section 10 923.110(c)(2)(i) of title 15, Code of Federal Regula- 11 tions, or a similar successor regulation.’’; and 12 (2) by adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘(8) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian Tribe’ 14 has the meaning given that term in section 4 of the 15 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 16 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304).’’. 17 (b) IMPROVEMENTS TO NATIONAL OCEANS AND 18 COASTAL SECURITY FUND.— 19 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND REQUIRED.— 20 Subsection (a) of section 904 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 21 7503) is amended by inserting ‘‘and jointly manage’’ 22 after ‘‘establish’’. 23 (2) DEPOSITS.—Paragraph (1) of subsection 24 (b) of section 904 is amended to read as follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4093.IH H4093 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4093 IH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be deposited 1 into the Fund, which shall constitute the assets of 2 the Fund, amounts as follows: 3 ‘‘(A) Amounts transferred to the Fund 4 under section 908. 5 ‘‘(B) Such other amounts as may be ap- 6 propriated or otherwise made available to carry 7 out this Act.’’. 8 (3) EXPENDITURES.—Strike subsection (d) of 9 section 904 and insert the following: 10 ‘‘(d) EXPENDITURE.— 11 ‘‘(1) Of the amounts deposited into the Fund 12 for each fiscal year, if those funds are equal to or 13 greater than $100,000,000— 14 ‘‘(A) not more than 80 percent may be 15 used for the award of grants under subsection 16 (b) of section 906; 17 ‘‘(B) not more than 20 percent may be 18 used for the award of grants under subsection 19 (c) of such section; and 20 ‘‘(C) no more than 4 percent may be used 21 by the Administrator and the Foundation for 22 administrative expenses to carry out this chap- 23 ter, which amount shall be divided between the 24 Administrator and the Foundation pursuant to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4093.IH H4093 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4093 IH an agreement reached and documented by both 1 the Administrator and the Foundation. 2 ‘‘(2) Of the amounts deposited into the Fund 3 for each fiscal year, if those funds are less than 4 $100,000,000, all funds shall be used for the award 5 of grants under subsection (c) of section 906 and no 6 more than 4 percent may be used by the Adminis- 7 trator and the Foundation for administrative ex- 8 penses to carry out this chapter, which amount shall 9 be divided between the Administrator and the Foun- 10 dation pursuant to an agreement reached and docu- 11 mented by both the Administrator and the Founda- 12 tion.’’. 13 (c) ELIGIBLE USES OF THE FUND.—Section 905 of 14 such Act (16 U.S.C. 7504) is amended to read as follows: 15 ‘‘SEC. 905. ELIGIBLE USES. 16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Amounts in the Fund may be 17 allocated by the Administrator and the Foundation to sup- 18 port programs and activities intended to protect, conserve, 19 restore, better understand, and utilize ocean and coastal 20 resources and coastal infrastructure, including scientific 21 research, resiliency and spatial planning, data-sharing, 22 and other programs and activities carried out in coordina- 23 tion with Federal and State departments or agencies, in- 24 cluding the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4093.IH H4093 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4093 IH ‘‘(1) Ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes restora- 1 tion and protection, including efforts to address po- 2 tential impacts of sea level change, sedimentation, 3 erosion, changes in ocean chemistry, hurricanes and 4 other extreme weather, flooding, and changes in 5 ocean temperature to natural resources, commu- 6 nities, and coastal economies. 7 ‘‘(2) Restoration, protection, or maintenance of 8 living ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources and 9 their habitats. 10 ‘‘(3) Planning for and managing coastal devel- 11 opment to enhance ecosystem and community integ- 12 rity, or to minimize impacts from sea level change, 13 hurricanes and other extreme weather, flooding, and 14 coastal erosion. 15 ‘‘(4) Projects to address management, planning, 16 or resiliency and readiness issues which are regional 17 or interstate in scope, such as regional ocean part- 18 nerships or similar bodies. 19 ‘‘(5) Efforts that contribute to the under- 20 standing of ecological, economic, societal, and na- 21 tional security threats driven by changes to the 22 oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes. 23 ‘‘(6) Efforts to preserve, protect, and collect 24 data, including but not limited to public ocean and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4093.IH H4093 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4093 IH coastal data portals, that would support sustainable 1 water-dependent commercial activities including 2 commercial fishing, recreational fishing businesses, 3 aquaculture, boat building, or other coastal-related 4 businesses. 5 ‘‘(7) Efforts to assist coastal States in strength- 6 ening, stabilizing, hardening, elevating, modifying, 7 repositioning, or otherwise enhancing the resiliency 8 of critical coastal transportation, emergency re- 9 sponse, water, electrical, and other infrastructure, 10 that are already subject to or face increased future 11 risks of hurricanes, coastal flooding, coastal erosion, 12 or sea level change to ensure the economic security, 13 safety, and ecological well-being of the coasts of the 14 United States. 15 ‘‘(8) Acquiring property or interests in property 16 if— 17 ‘‘(A) the area is located within a coastal 18 county or adjacent county; 19 ‘‘(B) the funds made available under this 20 subtitle are used to acquire land or interest in 21 land by purchase, exchange, or donation from a 22 willing seller; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4093.IH H4093 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4093 IH ‘‘(C) the Governor of the State in which 1 the property or interests in property are ac- 2 quired approves of the acquisition; and 3 ‘‘(D) such property or interest is acquired 4 in a manner that will ensure such property or 5 interest will be administered to support the pur- 6 poses of this Act. 7 ‘‘(9) Protection and modification of critical 8 coastal public infrastructure affected by erosion, 9 hurricanes or other extreme weather, flooding, or sea 10 level change. 11 ‘‘(10) Assistance for small businesses and com- 12 munities that are dependent on coastal tourism as 13 eligible efforts that help coastal economies minimize 14 impacts from sea level rise and disasters. 15 ‘‘(11) Projects that reinforce wastewater and 16 stormwater infrastructure as eligible critical infra- 17 structure projects (as compared to just general 18 water infrastructure, which can also include drinking 19 water systems). 20 ‘‘(12) Technical assistance to help develop com- 21 prehensive resilience and mitigation plans as an eli- 22 gible funding effort. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4093.IH H4093 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4093 IH ‘‘(b) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The Administrator 1 and the Foundation shall require a non-Federal match for 2 all awards made under section 906(c) from the Fund. 3 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR LITIGA- 4 TION.—No funds made available under this Act may be 5 used to fund litigation against the Federal Government.’’. 6 (d) GRANTS.— 7 (1) ADMINISTRATION.—Subsection (a)(1) of 8 section 906 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 7505) is amend- 9 ed— 10 (A) by amending subparagraph (B) to read 11 as follows: 12 ‘‘(B) Selection procedures and criteria for 13 the awarding of grants under this section that 14 require consultation with the Administrator and 15 the Secretary of the Interior.’’; 16 (B) by amending subparagraph (C)(ii) to 17 read as follows: 18 ‘‘(ii) under subsection (c) to entities 19 including States, local governments, re- 20 gional and interstate collaboratives, asso- 21 ciations, nonprofit and for-profit private 22 entities, public-private partnerships, aca- 23 demic institutions, and Indian Tribes.’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4093.IH H4093 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4093 IH (C) in subparagraph (F), by striking ‘‘year 1 if grants have been awarded in that year’’ and 2 inserting ‘‘five years’’. 3 (2) GRANTS TO COASTAL STATES.—Subsection 4 (b) of section 906 is amended to read as follows: 5 ‘‘(b) GRANTS TO COASTAL STATES.— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to section 7 904(d)(1) and paragraphs (3) and (4) of this sub- 8 section, the Administrator and the Foundation shall 9 award grants to eligible coastal States based on the 10 following formula: 11 ‘‘(A) Fifty percent of the funds are allo- 12 cated equally among such coastal States. 13 ‘‘(B) Twenty-five percent of the funds are 14 allocated on the basis of the ratio of tidal shore- 15 line miles in a coastal State to the tidal shore- 16 line miles of all coastal States. 17 ‘‘(C) Twenty-five percent of the funds are 18 allocated on the basis of the ratio of population 19 density of the coastal counties of a coastal 20 State to the average population density of all 21 coastal counties based on the most recent data 22 available by the U.S. Census Bureau. 23 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE COASTAL STATES.—For pur- 24 poses of this subsection, an eligible coastal State is 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4093.IH H4093 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4093 IH any coastal State as defined in section 1453 of this 1 title. 2 ‘‘(3) MAXIMUM ALLOCATION TO STATES.—Not- 3 withstanding paragraph (1), not more than 5 per- 4 cent of the total funds distributed under this sub- 5 section may be allocated to any single State. Any 6 amount exceeding this limit shall be redistributed 7 equally among the remaining eligible coastal States. 8 ‘‘(4) REQUIREMENT TO SUBMIT PLANS.— 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to re- 10 ceive a grant under this subsection, an eligible 11 coastal State shall submit to the Administrator 12 for review and approval, a 5-year plan, which 13 shall include the following: 14 ‘‘(i) Criteria to determine eligibility 15 for entities which may receive grants under 16 this subsection. 17 ‘‘(ii) A description of the competitive 18 process the coastal State will use in allo- 19 cating funds received from the Fund, ex- 20 cept in the case of allocating funds under 21 paragraph (7), which shall include— 22 ‘‘(I) a description of the relative 23 roles in the State competitive process 24 of the State coastal zone management 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4093.IH H4093 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 4093 IH program approved under the Coastal 1 Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 2 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.), if the coastal 3 State has such a plan, and any State 4 Sea Grant Program, if the state has 5 such program; and 6 ‘‘(II) a demonstration that such 7 competitive process is consistent with 8 the application and review procedures 9 established by the Administrator and 10 Foundation under subsection (a)(1). 11 ‘‘(iii) A process to certify that the 12 project or program and the awarding of a 13 contract for the expenditure of amounts re- 14 ceived under this paragraph are consistent 15 with the standard procurement rules and 16 regulations governing a comparable project 17 or program in that State, including all ap- 18 plicable competitive bidding and audit re- 19 quirements. 20 ‘‘(iv) Procedures to make publicly 21 available on the internet a list of all 22 projects supported by the Fund, that in- 23 cludes at a minimum the grant recipient, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4093.IH H4093 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 4093 IH grant amount, project description, and 1 project status. 2 ‘‘(B) UPDATES.—As a condition of receiv- 3 ing a grant under this subsection, a coastal 4 State shall submit to the Administrator, not 5 less frequently than once every 5 years, an up- 6 date to the plan submitted by the coastal State 7 under subparagraph (A) for the 5-year period 8 immediately following the most recent submittal 9 under this paragraph. 10 ‘‘(5) OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.—In 11 determining whether to approve a plan or an update 12 to a plan described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of 13 paragraph (5), the Administrator or the Foundation 14 shall provide the opportunity for, and take into con- 15 sideration, public input and comment on the plan. 16 ‘‘(6) INDIAN TRIBES.—As a condition on receipt 17 of a grant under this subsection, a State that re- 18 ceives a grant under this subsection shall ensure 19 that Indian Tribes in the State are eligible to par- 20 ticipate in the competitive process described in the 21 State’s plan under paragraph (5)(A)(ii). 22 ‘‘(7) NONPARTICIPATION BY A STATE.—In any 23 year, if an eligible coastal State or geographic area 24 described in paragraph (4)(B) does not s [Text truncated for display. 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