Remote, Coastal, and Small Watersheds Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8968 To authorize the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engi- neers, to recommend certain projects in remote, coastal, and small water- sheds, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 15, 2020 Ms. GABBARD (for herself and Mr. YOUNG) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To authorize the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to recommend certain projects in remote, coastal, and small watersheds, 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 ‘‘Remote, Coastal, and 4 Small Watersheds Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. REMOTE, COASTAL, OR SMALL WATERSHEDS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—In conducting a study of hurri- 7 cane and storm damage reduction, the Secretary of the 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:46 Dec 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8968.IH H8968 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8968 IH Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, may rec- 1 ommend a project without the need to demonstrate that 2 the project is justified solely by national economic develop- 3 ment benefits if the Secretary determines that— 4 (1) the community to be served by the project 5 has limited options for relocation or retreating from 6 the flood plain or coastal flood zone; 7 (2) the project would be located in the State of 8 Hawaii or Alaska, the Commonwealth of Puerto 9 Rico, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern 10 Mariana Islands, the United States Virgin Islands, 11 or American Samoa; 12 (3) the area cost factor is greater than 2.2, as 13 determined by the Secretary; or 14 (4) the long-term viability of the community in 15 which the project is located, or of a community that 16 is located in the region to be served by the project 17 and that will rely on the project, would be threat- 18 ened without the hurricane and storm damage re- 19 duction project. 20 (b) JUSTIFICATION.—In considering whether to rec- 21 ommend a project under subsection (a), the Secretary 22 shall consider the benefits of the project to— 23 (1) public health and safety of the local commu- 24 nity and communities that are located in the region 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:46 Dec 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8968.IH H8968 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8968 IH to be served by the project and that will rely on the 1 project, including access to facilities designed to pro- 2 tect public health and safety; 3 (2) hurricane and storm damage effects on local 4 and regional economic opportunities; 5 (3) welfare of the regional population to be 6 served by the project; or 7 (4) social and cultural value to the local com- 8 munity and communities that are located in the re- 9 gion to be served by the project and that will rely 10 on the project. 11 (c) PRIORITIZATION.—Projects recommended by the 12 Secretary under subsection (a) shall be given equivalent 13 budget consideration and priority as projects rec- 14 ommended solely by national economic development bene- 15 fits. 16 (d) DISPOSITION.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may carry out 18 any project identified in the study carried out pursu- 19 ant to subsection (a) in accordance with the criteria 20 for projects carried out under the authority of the 21 Secretary under section 205 of the River and Har- 22 bor Act of 1948 (33 U.S.C. 701s). 23 (2) NON-FEDERAL INTERESTS.—In evaluating 24 and implementing a project under this section, the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:46 Dec 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8968.IH H8968 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8968 IH Secretary shall allow a non-Federal interest to par- 1 ticipate in the financing of a project in accordance 2 with the criteria established for flood control 3 projects under section 903(c) of the Water Re- 4 sources Development Act of 1986 (Public Law 99– 5 662; 100 Stat. 4184). 6 (e) ANNUAL REPORT.—For a project that cannot be 7 carried out under the authority specified in subsection (d), 8 on a determination by the Secretary of the feasibility of 9 the project under subsection (a), the Secretary may in- 10 clude a recommendation concerning the project in the an- 11 nual report submitted to Congress under section 7001 of 12 the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 13 2014 (33 U.S.C. 2282d). 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:46 Dec 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8968.IH H8968 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS