Chesapeake Watershed Investments for Landscape Defense Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2591 To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish a program to restore and protect the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. CARPER, Mr. KAINE, Mr. WARNER, Mr. COONS, Mr. MANCHIN, and Mr. CASEY) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish a program to restore and protect the Chesapeake Bay wa- tershed, 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 ‘‘Chesapeake Watershed 4 Investments for Landscape Defense Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:22 Oct 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2591.IS S2591 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2591 IS (1) CHESAPEAKE BAY AGREEMENTS.—The 1 term ‘‘Chesapeake Bay agreements’’ means the for- 2 mal, voluntary agreements— 3 (A) executed to achieve the goal of restor- 4 ing and protecting the Chesapeake Bay water- 5 shed ecosystem and the living resources of the 6 Chesapeake Bay watershed ecosystem; and 7 (B) signed by the Chesapeake Executive 8 Council. 9 (2) CHESAPEAKE BAY PROGRAM.—The term 10 ‘‘Chesapeake Bay program’’ means the program di- 11 rected by the Chesapeake Executive Council in ac- 12 cordance with the Chesapeake Bay agreements. 13 (3) CHESAPEAKE BAY WATERSHED.—The term 14 ‘‘Chesapeake Bay watershed’’ means the region that 15 covers— 16 (A) the Chesapeake Bay; 17 (B) the portions of the States of Delaware, 18 Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, 19 and West Virginia that drain into the Chesa- 20 peake Bay; and 21 (C) the District of Columbia. 22 (4) CHESAPEAKE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL.—The 23 term ‘‘Chesapeake Executive Council’’ means the 24 council comprised of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:22 Oct 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2591.IS S2591 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2591 IS (A) the Governors of each of the States of 1 Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, 2 Virginia, and West Virginia; 3 (B) the Mayor of the District of Columbia; 4 (C) the Chair of the Chesapeake Bay Com- 5 mission; and 6 (D) the Administrator of the Environ- 7 mental Protection Agency. 8 (5) CHESAPEAKE WILD PROGRAM.—The term 9 ‘‘Chesapeake WILD program’’ means the nonregula- 10 tory program established by the Secretary under sec- 11 tion 3(a). 12 (6) GRANT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘grant pro- 13 gram’’ means the Chesapeake Watershed Invest- 14 ments for Landscape Defense grant program estab- 15 lished by the Secretary under section 4(a). 16 (7) RESTORATION AND PROTECTION ACTIV- 17 ITY.—The term ‘‘restoration and protection activity’’ 18 means an activity carried out for the conservation, 19 stewardship, and enhancement of habitat for fish 20 and wildlife— 21 (A) to preserve and improve ecosystems 22 and ecological processes on which the fish and 23 wildlife depend; and 24 (B) for use and enjoyment by the public. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:22 Oct 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2591.IS S2591 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2591 IS (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 1 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di- 2 rector of the United States Fish and Wildlife Serv- 3 ice. 4 SEC. 3. PROGRAM ESTABLISHMENT. 5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 6 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es- 7 tablish a nonregulatory program, to be known as the 8 ‘‘Chesapeake Watershed Investments for Landscape De- 9 fense program’’. 10 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Chesapeake 11 WILD program include— 12 (1) coordinating restoration and protection ac- 13 tivities among Federal, State, local, and regional en- 14 tities and conservation partners throughout the 15 Chesapeake Bay watershed; 16 (2) engaging other agencies and organizations 17 to build a broader range of partner support, capac- 18 ity, and potential funding for projects in the Chesa- 19 peake Bay watershed; 20 (3) carrying out coordinated restoration and 21 protection activities, and providing for technical as- 22 sistance, throughout the Chesapeake Bay water- 23 shed— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:22 Oct 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2591.IS S2591 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2591 IS (A) to sustain and enhance restoration and 1 protection activities; 2 (B) to improve and maintain water quality 3 to support fish and wildlife, habitats of fish and 4 wildlife, and drinking water for people; 5 (C) to sustain and enhance water manage- 6 ment for volume and flood damage mitigation 7 improvements to benefit fish and wildlife habi- 8 tat; 9 (D) to improve opportunities for public ac- 10 cess and recreation in the Chesapeake Bay wa- 11 tershed consistent with the ecological needs of 12 fish and wildlife habitat; 13 (E) to facilitate strategic planning to maxi- 14 mize the resilience of natural ecosystems and 15 habitats under changing watershed conditions; 16 (F) to utilize green infrastructure or nat- 17 ural infrastructure best management practices 18 to enhance fish and wildlife habitat; 19 (G) to engage the public through outreach, 20 education, and citizen involvement to increase 21 capacity and support for coordinated restora- 22 tion and protection activities in the Chesapeake 23 Bay watershed; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:22 Oct 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2591.IS S2591 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2591 IS (H) to sustain and enhance vulnerable 1 communities and fish and wildlife habitat; 2 (I) to conserve and restore fish, wildlife, 3 and plant corridors; and 4 (J) to increase scientific capacity to sup- 5 port the planning, monitoring, and research ac- 6 tivities necessary to carry out coordinated res- 7 toration and protection activities. 8 (c) DUTIES.—In carrying out the Chesapeake WILD 9 program, the Secretary shall— 10 (1) draw on existing plans for the Chesapeake 11 Bay watershed, or portions of the Chesapeake Bay 12 watershed, including the Chesapeake Bay agree- 13 ments, and work in consultation with applicable 14 management entities, including Chesapeake Bay pro- 15 gram partners, such as the Federal Government, 16 State and local governments, the Chesapeake Bay 17 Commission, and other regional organizations, as 18 appropriate, to identify, prioritize, and implement 19 restoration and protection activities within the 20 Chesapeake Bay watershed; 21 (2) adopt a Chesapeake Bay watershed-wide 22 strategy that— 23 (A) supports the implementation of a 24 shared set of science-based restoration and pro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:22 Oct 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2591.IS S2591 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 2591 IS tection activities developed in accordance with 1 paragraph (1); and 2 (B) targets cost-effective projects with 3 measurable results; and 4 (3) establish the grant program in accordance 5 with section 4. 6 (d) COORDINATION.—In establishing the Chesapeake 7 WILD program, the Secretary shall consult, as appro- 8 priate, with— 9 (1) the heads of Federal agencies, including— 10 (A) the Administrator of the Environ- 11 mental Protection Agency; 12 (B) the Administrator of the National Oce- 13 anic and Atmospheric Administration; 14 (C) the Chief of the Natural Resources 15 Conservation Service; 16 (D) the Chief of Engineers; 17 (E) the Director of the United States Geo- 18 logical Survey; 19 (F) the Secretary of Transportation; 20 (G) the Chief of the Forest Service; and 21 (H) the head of any other applicable agen- 22 cy; 23 (2) the Governors of each of the States of Dela- 24 ware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:22 Oct 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2591.IS S2591 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 2591 IS and West Virginia and the Mayor of the District of 1 Columbia; 2 (3) fish and wildlife joint venture partnerships; 3 and 4 (4) other public agencies and organizations with 5 authority for the planning and implementation of 6 conservation strategies in the Chesapeake Bay wa- 7 tershed. 8 SEC. 4. GRANTS AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. 9 (a) CHESAPEAKE WILD GRANT PROGRAM.—To the 10 extent that funds are made available to carry out this sec- 11 tion, the Secretary shall establish and carry out, as part 12 of the Chesapeake WILD program, a voluntary grant and 13 technical assistance program, to be known as the ‘‘Chesa- 14 peake Watershed Investments for Landscape Defense 15 grant program’’, to provide competitive matching grants 16 of varying amounts and technical assistance to eligible en- 17 tities described in subsection (b) to carry out activities de- 18 scribed in section 3(b). 19 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The following entities are 20 eligible to receive a grant and technical assistance under 21 the grant program: 22 (1) A State. 23 (2) The District of Columbia. 24 (3) A unit of local government. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:22 Oct 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2591.IS S2591 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 2591 IS (4) A nonprofit organization. 1 (5) An institution of higher education. 2 (6) Any other entity that the Secretary deter- 3 mines to be appropriate in accordance with the cri- 4 teria established under subsection (c). 5 (c) CRITERIA.—The Secretary, in consultation with 6 officials and entities described in section 3(d), shall estab- 7 lish criteria for the grant program to help ensure that ac- 8 tivities funded under this section— 9 (1) accomplish 1 or more of the purposes de- 10 scribed in section 3(b); and 11 (2) advance the implementation of priority ac- 12 tions or needs identified in the Chesapeake Bay wa- 13 tershed-wide strategy adopted under section 3(c)(2). 14 (d) COST SHARING.— 15 (1) DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR SHARE.— 16 The Department of the Interior share of the cost of 17 a project funded under the grant program shall not 18 exceed 50 percent of the total cost of the project, as 19 determined by the Secretary. 20 (2) NON-DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 21 SHARE.— 22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The non-Department of 23 the Interior share of the cost of a project fund- 24 ed under the grant program may be provided in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:22 Oct 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2591.IS S2591 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 2591 IS cash or in the form of an in-kind contribution 1 of services or materials. 2 (B) OTHER FEDERAL FUNDING.—Non-De- 3 partment of the Interior Federal funds may be 4 used for not more than 25 percent of the total 5 cost of a project funded under the grant pro- 6 gram. 7 (e) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary may enter into 8 an agreement to manage the grant program with an orga- 9 nization that offers grant management services. 10 SEC. 5. REPORTING. 11 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 12 of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall 13 submit to Congress a report describing the implementation 14 of this Act, including a description of each project that 15 has received funding under this Act. 16 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro- 18 priated such sums as are necessary to carry out this Act. 19 (b) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds made 20 available under subsection (a) shall supplement, and not 21 supplant, funding for other activities conducted by the 22 Secretary in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:22 Oct 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2591.IS S2591 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS