Coastal Habitat Conservation Act of 2023

II Calendar No. 177 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1381 To authorize the Secretary of the Interior, through the Coastal Program of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, to work with willing partners and provide support to efforts to assess, protect, restore, and enhance important coastal landscapes that provide fish and wildlife habi- tat on which certain Federal trust species depend, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 27, 2023 Mr. CARDIN (for himself and Mr. GRAHAM) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works JULY 26, 2023 Reported by Mr. CARPER, without amendment A BILL To authorize the Secretary of the Interior, through the Coastal Program of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, to work with willing partners and provide sup- port to efforts to assess, protect, restore, and enhance important coastal landscapes that provide fish and wild- life habitat on which certain Federal trust species de- pend, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:25 Jul 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1381.RS S1381 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1381 RS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Coastal Habitat Con- 2 servation Act of 2023’’. 3 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 4 The purpose of this Act is to legislatively authorize 5 the Coastal Program of the Service in effect as of the date 6 of enactment of this Act to conduct collaborative land- 7 scape-level planning and on-the-ground coastal habitat as- 8 sessment, coastal habitat protection, coastal habitat res- 9 toration, and coastal habitat enhancement projects in pri- 10 ority coastal landscapes to conserve and recover Federal 11 trust species. 12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 13 In this Act: 14 (1) COASTAL ECOSYSTEM.—The term ‘‘coastal 15 ecosystem’’ means a biological community of orga- 16 nisms interacting with each other and their habitats 17 in a coastal landscape. 18 (2) COASTAL HABITAT ASSESSMENT.—The 19 term ‘‘coastal habitat assessment’’ means the proc- 20 ess of evaluating the physical, chemical, and biologi- 21 cal function of a coastal site to determine the value 22 of the site to fish and wildlife. 23 (3) COASTAL HABITAT ENHANCEMENT.—The 24 term ‘‘coastal habitat enhancement’’ means the ma- 25 nipulation of the physical, chemical, or biological 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:25 Jul 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1381.RS S1381 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1381 RS characteristics of a coastal ecosystem to increase or 1 decrease specific biological functions that make the 2 ecosystem valuable to fish and wildlife. 3 (4) COASTAL HABITAT PLANNING.—The term 4 ‘‘coastal habitat planning’’ means the process of de- 5 veloping a comprehensive plan that— 6 (A) characterizes a coastal ecosystem; 7 (B) sets protection, restoration, or en- 8 hancement goals, and identifies the priorities of 9 those goals; 10 (C) describes conservation strategies and 11 methodologies; 12 (D) establishes a timetable for implementa- 13 tion of the plan; and 14 (E) identifies roles of participants and 15 stakeholders. 16 (5) COASTAL HABITAT PROTECTION.— 17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘coastal 18 habitat protection’’ means a long-term action to 19 safeguard habitats of value to fish and wildlife 20 in a coastal ecosystem. 21 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘coastal habi- 22 tat protection’’ includes activities to support es- 23 tablishment of a conservation easement or fee 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:25 Jul 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1381.RS S1381 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1381 RS title acquisition by Federal and non-Federal 1 partners. 2 (6) COASTAL HABITAT RESTORATION.—The 3 term ‘‘coastal habitat restoration’’ means the manip- 4 ulation of the physical, chemical, or biological char- 5 acteristics of a coastal ecosystem with the goal of re- 6 turning, to the maximum extent practicable, the full 7 natural biological functions to lost or degraded na- 8 tive habitat. 9 (7) COASTAL LANDSCAPE.—The term ‘‘coastal 10 landscape’’ means a portion of a coastal ecosystem 11 within or adjacent to a coastal State that contains 12 various habitat types, including— 13 (A) a fresh or saltwater wetland in a coast- 14 al watershed; 15 (B) a coastal river, stream, or waterway; 16 (C) a coastal bay or estuary; 17 (D) a seagrass bed, reef, or other near- 18 shore marine habitat; 19 (E) a beach or dune system; 20 (F) a mangrove forest; and 21 (G) an associated coastal upland. 22 (8) COASTAL STATE.—The term ‘‘coastal 23 State’’ means— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:25 Jul 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1381.RS S1381 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1381 RS (A) a State in, or bordering on, the Atlan- 1 tic, Pacific, or Arctic Ocean, the Gulf of Mex- 2 ico, the Long Island Sound, or 1 or more of the 3 Great Lakes; 4 (B) the District of Columbia; 5 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 6 (D) Guam; 7 (E) American Samoa; 8 (F) the Commonwealth of the Northern 9 Mariana Islands; 10 (G) the Federated States of Micronesia; 11 (H) the Republic of the Marshall Islands; 12 (I) the Republic of Palau; and 13 (J) the United States Virgin Islands. 14 (9) FEDERAL TRUST SPECIES.—The term 15 ‘‘Federal trust species’’ means— 16 (A) migratory birds, threatened species or 17 endangered species listed under the Endangered 18 Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), 19 interjurisdictional fish, and marine mammals 20 for which the Secretary has management au- 21 thority; and 22 (B) any other species of concern, as deter- 23 mined by the Secretary. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:25 Jul 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1381.RS S1381 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1381 RS (10) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—The term ‘‘fi- 1 nancial assistance’’ means Federal funding provided 2 to Federal, State, local, and Tribal governments, 3 nongovernmental institutions, nonprofit organiza- 4 tions, and private individuals and entities through a 5 grant or cooperative agreement. 6 (11) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 7 means the Secretary of the Interior. 8 (12) SERVICE.—The term ‘‘Service’’ means the 9 United States Fish and Wildlife Service. 10 (13) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The term 11 ‘‘technical assistance’’ means a collaboration, facili- 12 tation, or consulting action relating to a coastal 13 habitat planning, coastal habitat assessment, coastal 14 habitat protection, coastal habitat restoration, or 15 coastal habitat enhancement project or initiative in 16 which the Service contributes scientific knowledge, 17 skills, and expertise to the project or initiative. 18 SEC. 4. COASTAL PROGRAM. 19 The Secretary shall carry out the Coastal Program 20 within the Service to— 21 (1) identify the leading threats to priority 22 coastal landscapes and conservation actions to ad- 23 dress those threats in partnership with Federal, 24 State, local, and Tribal governments, nongovern- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:25 Jul 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1381.RS S1381 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1381 RS mental institutions, nonprofit organizations, and pri- 1 vate individuals and entities; 2 (2) provide technical assistance and financial 3 assistance through partnerships with Federal, State, 4 local, and Tribal governments, nongovernmental in- 5 stitutions, nonprofit organizations, and private indi- 6 viduals and entities to conduct voluntary coastal 7 habitat planning, coastal habitat assessment, coastal 8 habitat protection, coastal habitat restoration, and 9 coastal habitat enhancement projects on public land 10 or private land; 11 (3) ensure the health and resilience of coastal 12 ecosystems through adaptive management proce- 13 dures based on the best available science; 14 (4) build the capacity of Federal, State, local, 15 and Tribal governments, nongovernmental institu- 16 tions, nonprofit organizations, and private individ- 17 uals and entities to carry out environmental con- 18 servation and stewardship measures; 19 (5) assist in the development and implementa- 20 tion of monitoring protocols to ensure the success of 21 coastal ecosystem restoration and coastal ecosystem 22 enhancement measures; and 23 (6) collaborate and share information with part- 24 ners and the public relating to best management 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:25 Jul 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1381.RS S1381 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 1381 RS practices for the conservation, restoration, and en- 1 hancement of coastal ecosystems. 2 SEC. 5. REPORTS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 4 date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 5 the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Service, 6 shall submit to the Committees on Appropriations and En- 7 vironment and Public Works of the Senate and the Com- 8 mittees on Appropriations and Natural Resources of the 9 House of Representatives, and make available to the pub- 10 lic on the website of the Service, a report on the Coastal 11 Program carried out under this Act. 12 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—Each report submitted under 13 subsection (a) shall assess on regional and nationwide 14 bases— 15 (1) Coastal Program work on coastal eco- 16 systems; 17 (2) progress made by the Coastal Program to- 18 ward identifying the leading threats to priority 19 coastal landscapes and conservation actions to ad- 20 dress those threats; and 21 (3) prospects for, and success of, protecting, re- 22 storing, and enhancing coastal ecosystems. 23 (c) INCLUSIONS.—Each report submitted under sub- 24 section (a) shall include— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:25 Jul 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1381.RS S1381 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 1381 RS (1) quantitative information on coastal land- 1 scapes protected, restored, or enhanced; 2 (2) funds appropriated to the Coastal Program 3 that have been expended or leveraged; 4 (3) a description of adaptive management prac- 5 tices implemented; and 6 (4) a description of emerging challenges or data 7 gaps that hinder the ability of the Coastal Program 8 to achieve the purpose of this Act. 9 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 10 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 11 this Act— 12 (1) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; 13 (2) $21,250,000 for fiscal year 2025; 14 (3) $22,500,000 for fiscal year 2026; 15 (4) $23,750,000 for fiscal year 2027; and 16 (5) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2028. 17 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:25 Jul 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1381.RS S1381 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB Calendar No. 177 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1381 A BILL To authorize the Secretary of the Interior, through the Coastal Program of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, to work with willing part- ners and provide support to efforts to assess, protect, restore, and enhance important coastal landscapes that provide fish and wildlife habitat on which certain Federal trust species depend, and for other purposes. JULY 26, 2023 Reported without amendment VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:25 Jul 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\S1381.RS S1381 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB