Coastal State Climate Preparedness Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2735 To amend the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 to require the Secretary of Commerce to establish a coastal climate change adaptation prepared- ness and response program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 20, 2023 Mr. CARBAJAL (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, and Mr. LIEU) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To amend the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 to require the Secretary of Commerce to establish a coastal climate change adaptation preparedness and response 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 ‘‘Coastal State Climate 4 Preparedness Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2735.IH H2735 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 2735 IH SEC. 2. CLIMATE CHANGE PREPAREDNESS IN THE COAST- 1 AL ZONE. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Coastal Zone Management 3 Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.) is amended by add- 4 ing at the end the following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 320. CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION PREPAREDNESS 6 AND RESPONSE PROGRAM. 7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish, 8 consistent with the national policies set forth in section 9 303, a coastal climate change adaptation preparedness 10 and response program to— 11 ‘‘(1) provide assistance to coastal States to vol- 12 untarily develop coastal climate change adaptation 13 plans, pursuant to approved management programs 14 approved under section 306, to minimize contribu- 15 tions to climate change and to prepare for and re- 16 duce the negative consequences that may result from 17 climate change in the coastal zone; and 18 ‘‘(2) provide financial and technical assistance 19 and training to enable coastal States to implement 20 plans developed pursuant to this section through 21 coastal States’ enforceable policies. 22 ‘‘(b) COASTAL CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION 23 PLANNING AND PREPAREDNESS GRANTS.— 24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make a 25 grant to any coastal State for the purpose of devel- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2735.IH H2735 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 2735 IH oping climate change adaptation plans pursuant to 1 guidelines issued by the Secretary under paragraph 2 (8). 3 ‘‘(2) PLAN CONTENT.—A plan developed with a 4 grant under this subsection shall include the fol- 5 lowing: 6 ‘‘(A) Identification of public facilities and 7 public services, working waterfronts, coastal re- 8 sources of national significance, coastal waters, 9 energy facilities, or other land and water uses 10 located in the coastal zone that are likely to be 11 impacted by climate change. 12 ‘‘(B) Adaptive management strategies for 13 land use to respond or adapt to changing envi- 14 ronmental conditions, including strategies to 15 protect biodiversity, protect water quality, and 16 establish habitat buffer zones, migration cor- 17 ridors, and climate refugia. 18 ‘‘(C) Adaptive management strategies for 19 ocean-based ecosystems and resources, includ- 20 ing strategies to plan for and respond to geo- 21 graphic or temporal shifts in marine resources, 22 to create protected areas that will provide cli- 23 mate refugia, and to maintain and restore 24 ocean ecosystem function. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2735.IH H2735 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 2735 IH ‘‘(D) Requirements to initiate and main- 1 tain long-term monitoring of environmental 2 change to assess coastal zone adaptation and to 3 adjust when necessary adaptive management 4 strategies and new planning guidelines to attain 5 the policies under section 303. 6 ‘‘(E) Other information considered nec- 7 essary by the Secretary to identify the full 8 range of climate change impacts affecting coast- 9 al communities. 10 ‘‘(3) STATE HAZARD MITIGATION PLANS.— 11 Plans developed with a grant under this subsection 12 shall be consistent with State hazard mitigation 13 plans and natural disaster response and recovery 14 programs developed under State or Federal law. 15 ‘‘(4) ALLOCATION.—Grants under this sub- 16 section shall be available only to coastal States with 17 management programs approved by the Secretary 18 under section 306 and shall be allocated among such 19 coastal States in a manner consistent with regula- 20 tions promulgated pursuant to section 306(c). 21 ‘‘(5) PRIORITY.—In the awarding of grants 22 under this subsection, the Secretary may give pri- 23 ority to any coastal State that has received grant 24 funding to develop program changes pursuant to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2735.IH H2735 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 2735 IH paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (5), (6), (7), and (8) of sec- 1 tion 309(a). 2 ‘‘(6) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 3 may provide technical assistance to a coastal State 4 consistent with section 310 to ensure the timely de- 5 velopment of plans supported by grants awarded 6 under this subsection. 7 ‘‘(7) FEDERAL APPROVAL.—In order to be eligi- 8 ble for a grant under subsection (c), a coastal State 9 must have its plan developed under this subsection 10 approved by the Secretary. 11 ‘‘(8) GUIDELINES.—Not later than 180 days 12 after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec- 13 retary, in consultation with the coastal States, shall 14 issue guidelines for the implementation of the grant 15 program established under this subsection. 16 ‘‘(c) COASTAL CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION 17 PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.— 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make 19 grants to any coastal State that has a climate 20 change adaptation plan approved under subsection 21 (b)(7), in order to support projects that implement 22 strategies contained within such plans. 23 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec- 24 retary, not later than 90 days after approval of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2735.IH H2735 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 2735 IH first plan approved under subsection (b)(7), shall 1 publish in the Federal Register requirements regard- 2 ing applications, allocations, eligible activities, and 3 all terms and conditions for grants awarded under 4 this subsection. No less than 30 percent, and no 5 more than 50 percent, of the funds appropriated in 6 any fiscal year for grants under this subsection shall 7 be awarded through a merit-based competitive proc- 8 ess. 9 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary 10 may award grants to coastal States to implement 11 projects in the coastal zone to address stress factors 12 in order to improve coastal climate change adapta- 13 tion, including the following: 14 ‘‘(A) Activities to address physical disturb- 15 ances within the coastal zone, especially activi- 16 ties related to public facilities and public serv- 17 ices, tourism, sedimentation, ocean acidification, 18 and other factors negatively impacting coastal 19 waters. 20 ‘‘(B) Monitoring, control, or eradication of 21 disease organisms and invasive species. 22 ‘‘(C) Activities to address the loss, deg- 23 radation, or fragmentation of wildlife habitat 24 through projects to establish or protect marine 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2735.IH H2735 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 2735 IH and terrestrial habitat buffers, wildlife refugia, 1 other wildlife refuges, or networks thereof, pres- 2 ervation of migratory wildlife corridors and 3 other transition zones, and restoration of fish 4 and wildlife habitat. 5 ‘‘(D) Projects, with priority given to such 6 projects that use green infrastructure solutions, 7 to reduce, mitigate, or otherwise address likely 8 impacts caused by natural hazards in the coast- 9 al zone, including sea level rise, coastal inunda- 10 tion, storm water management, coastal erosion 11 and subsidence, severe weather events such as 12 cyclonic storms, tsunamis and other seismic 13 threats, and fluctuating Great Lakes water lev- 14 els. 15 ‘‘(E) Projects to adapt existing infrastruc- 16 ture, including enhancements to both built and 17 natural environments. 18 ‘‘(F) Provision of technical training and 19 assistance to local coastal policy makers to in- 20 crease awareness of science, management, and 21 technology information related to climate 22 change and adaptation strategies. 23 ‘‘(4) PROMOTION AND USE OF NATIONAL ESTU- 24 ARINE RESEARCH RESERVES.—The Secretary shall 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2735.IH H2735 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 2735 IH promote and encourage the use of National Estua- 1 rine Research Reserves as sites for pilot or dem- 2 onstration projects carried out with grants awarded 3 under this section.’’. 4 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 5 318(a) of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 6 U.S.C. 1464(a)) is amended— 7 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at the 8 end of paragraph (1); 9 (2) by striking the period at the end of para- 10 graph (2) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 11 (3) by adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘(3) for grants under section 320, such sums 13 as are necessary.’’. 14 (c) INTENT OF CONGRESS.—None of the amend- 15 ments made by this section shall be construed to require 16 any coastal State to amend or modify its approved man- 17 agement program pursuant to section 306(e) of the Coast- 18 al Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1455(e)) or 19 to extend the enforceable policies of a coastal State beyond 20 the coastal zone as identified in the coastal State’s ap- 21 proved management program. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2735.IH H2735 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB