Protect and Restore America's Estuaries Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3171 To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to reauthorize the National Estuary Program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 9, 2020 Mr. WHITEHOUSE (for himself, Mr. CASSIDY, and Mr. CARPER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to reau- thorize the National Estuary Program, 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 ‘‘Protect and Restore 4 America’s Estuaries Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. NATIONAL ESTUARY PROGRAM. 6 Section 320 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 7 Act (33 U.S.C. 1330) is amended— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Jan 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3171.IS S3171 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3171 IS (1) in subsection (a)(2)(B), by striking ‘‘and 1 Peconic Bay, New York’’ and inserting ‘‘Peconic 2 Bay, New York; Casco Bay, Maine; Tampa Bay, 3 Florida; Coastal Bend, Texas; San Juan Bay, Puer- 4 to Rico; Tillamook Bay, Oregon; Piscataqua Region, 5 New Hampshire; Barnegat Bay, New Jersey; Mary- 6 land Coastal Bays, Maryland; Charlotte Harbor, 7 Florida; Mobile Bay, Alabama; Morro Bay, Cali- 8 fornia; and Lower Columbia River, Oregon and 9 Washington’’; 10 (2) in subsection (b)(4)— 11 (A) by striking ‘‘management plan that 12 recommends’’ and inserting ‘‘management plan 13 that— 14 ‘‘(A) recommends’’; and 15 (B) by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(B) addresses the effects of recurring ex- 17 treme weather events on the estuary, including 18 the identification and assessment of 19 vulnerabilities in the estuary and the develop- 20 ment and implementation of adaptation strate- 21 gies; and 22 ‘‘(C) increases public education and aware- 23 ness of the ecological health and water quality 24 conditions of the estuary;’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Jan 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3171.IS S3171 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3171 IS (3) in subsection (c)(5), by inserting ‘‘nonprofit 1 organizations,’’ after ‘‘educational institutions,’’; 2 (4) in subsection (g)(4)— 3 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘sub- 4 section (i)(2)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 5 (i)(3)(B)’’; and 6 (B) in subparagraph (C)— 7 (i) in the matter preceding clause (i), 8 in the first sentence— 9 (I) by inserting ‘‘, emerging,’’ 10 after ‘‘urgent’’; 11 (II) by striking ‘‘coastal areas’’ 12 and inserting ‘‘estuaries of national 13 significance’’; 14 (ii) in clause (vi), by inserting ‘‘, ex- 15 treme weather,’’ after ‘‘sea level rise’’; 16 (iii) by redesignating clauses (vi) and 17 (vii) as clauses (ix) and (x), respectively; 18 and 19 (iv) by inserting after clause (v) the 20 following: 21 ‘‘(vi) stormwater runoff; 22 ‘‘(vii) accelerated land loss; 23 ‘‘(viii) problems resulting from urban- 24 ization and population growth, including— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Jan 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3171.IS S3171 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3171 IS ‘‘(I) increased demand for sewage 1 treatment; 2 ‘‘(II) loss of forests and natural 3 soil; and 4 ‘‘(III) increased amounts of im- 5 pervious surfaces that affect water 6 quality;’’; and 7 (5) in subsection (i)— 8 (A) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 9 paragraph (3); and 10 (B) in paragraph (1), in the matter pre- 11 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘There is 12 authorized to be appropriated to the Adminis- 13 trator $26,500,000 for each of fiscal years 14 2017 through 2021 for—’’ and inserting the 15 following: ‘‘There are authorized to be appro- 16 priated to the Administrator for the purposes 17 described in paragraph (2)— 18 ‘‘(A) $26,500,000 for each of fiscal years 19 2017 through 2021; and 20 ‘‘(B) $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 21 2022 through 2026. 22 ‘‘(2) PURPOSES DESCRIBED.—The purposes re- 23 ferred to in paragraph (1) are—’’. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Jan 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3171.IS S3171 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS