II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5056 

To require the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to provide for ocean-based climate solutions to reduce carbon 

emissions and global warming, to make coastal communities more resilient, and to provide for the conservation and restoration of ocean and 

coastal habitats, biodiversity, and marine mammal and fish populations, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 17, 2020 

Mr. MERKLEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To require the Administrator of the National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration to provide for ocean-based 

climate solutions to reduce carbon emissions and global 

warming, to make coastal communities more resilient, 

and to provide for the conservation and restoration of 

ocean and coastal habitats, biodiversity, and marine 

mammal and fish populations, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Ocean Climate Emergency Action Now Act of 2020’’ or 

4 the ‘‘OCEAN Act of 2020’’. 

5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

6 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

TITLE I—MARINE AND COASTAL BLUE CARBON 

Sec. 101. Blue Carbon Program. 

Sec. 102. National map of coastal and marine blue carbon ecosystems. 

Sec. 103. Report on blue carbon in the United States. 

Sec. 104. Blue Carbon Partnership Grant Program. 

Sec. 105. Integrated pilot programs to protect and restore degraded coastal 

blue carbon ecosystems. 

Sec. 106. Interagency working group. 

Sec. 107. Coastal carbon areas of significance. 

Sec. 108. Smithsonian Institution blue carbon activities. 

Sec. 109. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 110. Definitions. 

TITLE II—CLIMATE-READY FISHERIES AND BUY AMERICAN 

SEAFOOD 

Sec. 201. Sense of Congress. 

Sec. 202. Caught in the USA. 

Sec. 203. Eliminate fish subsidies in trade agreements. 

Sec. 204. Climate and fisheries research and management program. 

Sec. 205. Climate-ready fisheries innovation program. 

Sec. 206. Shifting Stocks Task Force. 

Sec. 207. Essential fish habitat consultation. 

Sec. 208. Ocean Aquaculture Research and Policy Program. 

TITLE III—COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT ACT AMENDMENTS 

Sec. 301. Grants to further achievement of Tribal coastal zone objectives. 

Sec. 302. Eligibility of District of Columbia for Federal funding under the 

Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972. 

Sec. 303. Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program. 

Sec. 304. Coastal Zone Management Fund. 

Sec. 305. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 306. Amendments to National Estuarine Research Reserve System program. 

TITLE IV—COASTAL RESILIENCY AND ADAPTATION 

Sec. 401. Living Shoreline Grant Program. 


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Sec. 402. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration coastal resilience 

research grants. 

Sec. 403. Grants for recovering oysters. 

Sec. 404. Improvements to the National Oceans and Coastal Security Act. 

Sec. 405. Restoration grants for coastlines and fisheries. 

Sec. 406. Strategic Climate Change Relocation Initiative and Program. 

TITLE V—OCEAN HEALTH: OCEAN ACIDIFICATION AND HARMFUL 

ALGAL BLOOMS 

Subtitle A—Coastal Communities Ocean Acidification 

Sec. 501. State and United States defined. 

Sec. 502. Coastal community vulnerability assessment. 

Subtitle B—Ocean Acidification Prize Competitions 

Sec. 511. Prize competitions. 

Subtitle C—Coastal and Ocean Acidification Stressors and Threats Research 

Sec. 521. Purposes. 

Sec. 522. Definitions. 

Sec. 523. Interagency working group. 

Sec. 524. Strategic research plan. 

Sec. 525. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ocean acidification 

activities. 

Sec. 526. National Science Foundation ocean acidification activities. 

Sec. 527. National Aeronautics and Space Administration ocean acidification 

activities. 

Sec. 528. Authorization of appropriations. 

Subtitle D—South Florida Clean Coastal Waters 

Sec. 531. South Florida harmful algal blooms and hypoxia assessment and action plan. 

Subtitle E—Protecting Local Communities From Harmful Algal Blooms 

Sec. 541. Algal blooms. 

Subtitle F—Harmful Algal Bloom Essential Forecasting 

Sec. 551. Designating certain harmful algal bloom services as excepted services 

under the Anti-Deficiency Act. 

Sec. 552. Centers of Excellence in Harmful Algal Bloom Research, Prevention, 

Response, and Mitigation. 

TITLE VI—NATIONAL OCEAN POLICY, DATA, AND COORDINATED 

WEBSITE FOR GRANT PROGRAMS 

Subtitle A—Regional Ocean Partnerships 

Sec. 601. Findings; sense of Congress; purposes. 

Sec. 602. Regional Ocean Partnerships. 

Subtitle B—Data and Scientific Coordination 


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Sec. 611. Increased coordination among agencies with respect to data and monitoring. 

Sec. 612. Interagency Ocean Exploration Committee. 

Sec. 613. Committee on Ocean Policy. 

Sec. 614. Building data sources. 

Sec. 615. National sea level rise risk analysis. 

Subtitle C—Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System 

Sec. 621. Staggered terms for National Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System Advisory Committee. 

Sec. 622. Integrated coastal and ocean observation system cooperative agreements. 

Sec. 623. Reauthorization of Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System 

Act of 2009. 

Sec. 624. Advanced Research Projects Agency–Oceans. 

Subtitle D—Centralized Website for Resiliency Grants 

Sec. 631. Centralized website for resiliency grants. 

TITLE VII—COASTAL WETLANDS 

Sec. 701. Definitions. 

Sec. 702. Coastal and Estuary Resilience Grant Program. 

Sec. 703. Data collection. 

Sec. 704. Outreach and technical assistance. 

Sec. 705. Annual restoration and funding. 

Sec. 706. Prevailing wage requirement. 

Sec. 707. Department of the Interior coastal wetland restoration; funding. 

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis4 trator’’ means the Administrator of the National 

5 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

6 (2) EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE.—The term 

7 ‘‘exclusive economic zone’’ means the zone estab8 lished by Presidential Proclamation Number 5030, 

9 dated March 10, 1983 (16 U.S.C. 1453 note; relat10 ing to the exclusive economic zone of the United 

11 States of America). 


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1 (3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

2 has the meaning given such term in section 4 of the 

3 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

4 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

5 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

6 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

7 meaning given such term in section 101(a) of the 

8 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

9 (5) NATIONAL ACADEMIES.—The term ‘‘Na10 tional Academies’’ means the National Academies of 

11 Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 

12 (6) RESTORATIVE OCEAN AQUACULTURE.—The 

13 term ‘‘restorative ocean aquaculture’’ means ocean 

14 and coastal propagation of seaweed or shellfish 

15 farming that generates positive ecological and social 

16 impact. 

17 (7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

18 the several States, the District of Columbia, and the 

19 United States Territories of American Samoa, the 

20 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 

21 Guam, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin 

22 Islands. 

23 (8) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘United 

24 States’’ means the States, collectively. 


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1 TITLE I—MARINE AND COASTAL 

2 BLUE CARBON 

3 SEC. 101. BLUE CARBON PROGRAM. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall es5 tablish and maintain a program, to be known as the ‘‘Blue 

6 Carbon Program’’, within the National Oceanic and At7 mospheric Administration for the purposes of furthering 

8 conservation objectives for fish and wildlife habitat con9 servation and restoration and coastal resilience including 

10 the development of ways to incorporate ecosystem services 

11 from carbon storage into existing domestic and inter12 national policies, programs, and activities. 

13 (b) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY.—In conducting the 

14 Program, the Administrator may enter into and perform 

15 such contracts, leases, grants, or cooperative agreements 

16 as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this title 

17 on such terms as Administrator considers appropriate. 

18 (c) CONSULTATION.—The Administrator shall coordi19 nate activities carried out under this section with the As20 sistant Administrator of the National Marine Fisheries 

21 Service and the Assistant Administrator of the National 

22 Ocean Service. 

23 (d) ACTIVITIES.—The Administrator shall lead the 

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1 scribed in section 106(e) and conduct the following activi2 ties: 

3 (1) Collaborate with Federal agencies, the inter4 agency working group, State agencies, Indian 

5 Tribes, and non-governmental organizations on re6 search, restoration, and protection efforts relating to 

7 blue carbon ecosystems. 

8 (2) Develop a database of blue carbon stocks 

9 and fluxes in the United States. 

10 (3) Assist in exploration of the potential for a 

11 market for carbon credits for restoration initiatives, 

12 including research and development of protocols. 

13 (4) Raise awareness of blue carbon ecosystems 

14 as a tool to further conservation objectives through 

15 education and extension activities. 

16 (5) Use existing models or develop new models 

17 to assess blue carbon storage potential that include 

18 quantification, verifiability, additionality as com19 pared to a historical baseline, and permanence of 

20 those benefits. 

21 (6) Quantify current total and net ecosystem 

22 carbon storage in coastal and marine areas. 

23 (7) Project future total and net ecosystem car24 bon storage under different scenarios influenced by 


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1 human population growth, sea level rise, and other 

2 system-wide changes. 

3 (8) Develop and use protocols for inclusion of 

4 blue carbon projects in carbon markets. 

5 (9) Protect and restore habitats, waters, and 

6 organisms that are long-term carbon sinks or will be 

7 subject to habitat change as a result of climate 

8 change and development. 

9 (10) Provide staff and technical expertise to the 

10 interagency working group. 

11 (11) Quantify co-benefits, including flood risk 

12 reduction, habitat restoration for endangered and 

13 threatened species, maintenance of biodiversity, 

14 water quality improvements, habitat maintenance 

15 and creation, cycling of nutrients other than carbon, 

16 and commercial and recreational fishing and boating 

17 benefits. 

18 (12) Assess regional and national ecosystem 

19 and socioeconomic impacts of carbon sequestration 

20 and storage. 

21 (13) Research variability, long-term storage, 

22 and innovative techniques for effective, long-term, 

23 natural ocean or coastal ecosystem-based carbon se24 questration. 

25 (14) Identify blue carbon hot spots. 


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1 (15) Assess legal issues of landownership in 

2 blue carbon markets, and develop guidelines to help 

3 landowners navigate the requirements of such mar4 kets. 

5 SEC. 102. NATIONAL MAP OF COASTAL AND MARINE BLUE 

6 CARBON ECOSYSTEMS. 

7 (a) NATIONAL MAP.—The Administrator, in con8 sultation with the interagency working group, shall— 

9 (1) produce, update every 3 years, and main10 tain a national map and inventory of coastal blue 

11 carbon ecosystems including— 

12 (A) with respect to each such ecosystem— 

13 (i) the species and types of habitat in 

14 the ecosystem; 

15 (ii) the condition of such habitats in16 cluding whether a habitat is degraded, 

17 drained, eutrophic, or tidally restricted; 

18 (iii) type of public or private owner19 ship and any protected status; 

20 (iv) the size of the ecosystem; 

21 (v) the salinity boundaries of the eco22 system; 

23 (vi) the tidal boundaries of the eco24 system; 


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1 (vii) an assessment of carbon seques2 tration potential, methane production, and 

3 net greenhouse gas effects of the eco4 system, including consideration of— 

5 (I) quantification; 

6 (II) verifiability; 

7 (III) additionality, as compared 

8 to a historical baseline; and 

9 (IV) permanence of those bene10 fits; 

11 (viii) an assessment of the ecosystem 

12 co-benefits, such as fish habitat for com13 mercial, recreational, and Tribal fisheries, 

14 flood risk reduction, wave stress, storm 

15 protection, shoreline stabilization, public 

16 access, water and air pollution filtration, 

17 contributions to traditional and cultural 

18 practices, and recreational use and benefits 

19 of the ecosystem; 

20 (ix) the potential for landward migra21 tion of the ecosystem as a result of sea 

22 level rise; 

23 (x) any upstream restrictions detri24 mental to the watershed process and condi25 tions, including dams, dikes, and levees; 


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1 (xi) any upstream pollution sources 

2 that threaten the health of the ecosystem; 

3 (xii) proximity to aquaculture uses or 

4 lease areas; and 

5 (xiii) a depiction of the effects of 

6 human stressors, including the conversion 

7 of coastal blue carbon ecosystems to other 

8 land uses and the cause of such conver9 sion; and 

10 (B) a depiction of the effects of climate 

11 change, including sea level rise, ocean acidifica12 tion, ocean warming, and other environmental 

13 stressors on the sequestration rate, carbon stor14 age, and potential of coastal blue carbon eco15 systems; and 

16 (2) in carrying out paragraph (1)— 

17 (A) incorporate, to the extent possible, ex18 isting and future data collected through feder19 ally and State funded research, including data 

20 collected from— 

21 (i) the Coastal Change Analysis Pro22 gram of the National Oceanic and Atmos23 pheric Administration; 


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1 (ii) the National Wetlands Inventory 

2 of the United States Fish and Wildlife 

3 Service; 

4 (iii) the LandCarbon program of the 

5 United States Geological Survey; 

6 (iv) the LiDAR information coordina7 tion and knowledge program of the United 

8 States Geological Survey and the Federal 

9 Emergency Management Agency; 

10 (v) the Biological and Environmental 

11 Research program of the Department of 

12 Energy; and 

13 (vi) the National Coastal Blue Carbon 

14 Assessment of the Department of Agri15 culture; and 

16 (B) engage regional experts for additional 

17 peer-reviewed data to ensure best available sci18 entific information is incorporated. 

19 (b) USE.—The interagency working group shall use 

20 the national map and inventory created pursuant to sub21 section (a)— 

22 (1) to assess the existing and potential carbon 

23 sequestration of different coastal blue carbon eco24 systems, and account for any regional differences; 


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1 (2) to assess and quantify emissions from de2 graded and destroyed coastal blue carbon eco3 systems; 

4 (3) to develop regional assessments and to pro5 vide technical assistance to regional, State, Tribal, 

6 and local government agencies, regional information 

7 coordination entities (as such term is defined in sec8 tion 12303(6) of the Integrated Coastal and Ocean 

9 Observation System Act (33 U.S.C. 3602(6))), and 

10 agencies, organizations, and other entities that sup11 port communities that may not have adequate re12 sources, including low-income communities, commu13 nities of color, Tribal communities, and rural com14 munities; 

15 (4) to assess degraded coastal blue carbon eco16 systems and the potential of those ecosystems for 

17 restoration, including developing scenario modeling 

18 to identify vulnerable land areas where management, 

19 protection, and restoration efforts should be focused, 

20 including the potential for an ecosystem to migrate 

21 inland to adapt to sea level rise; and 

22 (5) produce predictions of coastal blue carbon 

23 ecosystems and carbon sequestration rates in the 

24 context of climate change, environmental stressors, 

25 and human stressors. 


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1 SEC. 103. REPORT ON BLUE CARBON IN THE UNITED 

2 STATES. 

3 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

4 of this Act and every 2 years thereafter, the Adminis5 trator, in consultation with the interagency working 

6 group, shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, 

7 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Com8 mittee on Natural Resources of the House of Representa9 tives a report containing the following: 

10 (1) A summary of federally funded coastal and 

11 marine blue carbon ecosystem research, monitoring, 

12 preservation, and restoration activities, including the 

13 budget for each of those activities and a description 

14 of the progress made in advancing the national pri15 orities established by the interagency working group. 

16 (2) With respect to each blue carbon ecosystem, 

17 the— 

18 (A) type; 

19 (B) location; and 

20 (C) type of ownership, delineated by pri21 vate lands, State lands, Tribal lands, or Fed22 eral. 

23 (3) An assessment of the vulnerability of coast24 al and marine blue carbon ecosystems to climate im25 pacts such as sea-level rise, acidification, and salt26 water intrusion, and other environmental and human 


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1 stressors, such as development, water pollution, and 

2 aquaculture. 

3 (4) An assessment of the greatest anthropo4 genic threats to blue carbon ecosystems, including 

5 the Federal agency actions that have historically 

6 caused and presently cause great adverse effects on 

7 such ecosystems. 

8 (5) An assessment of the carbon sequestration 

9 potential of blue carbon ecosystems and the probable 

10 changes to sequestration under climate change sce11 narios. 

12 (6) An assessment of biophysical, social, and 

13 economic impediments, including water storage and 

14 flood control structures, to coastal blue carbon eco15 system protection and restoration and opportunities 

16 to restore and enhance the resilience and sequestra17 tion potential of blue carbon ecosystems. 

18 (7) An assessment of aging or outdated artifi19 cial structures, including dikes, levees, dams, cul20 verts, water storage structures, shoreline hardening 

21 projects, impediments to fish passage, and other in22 frastructure that impede the ecological or sequestra23 tion functions of blue carbon ecosystems and the 

24 feasibility of repairing, retrofitting, or removing such 

25 structures. 


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1 (8) An assessment of the economic, social, and 

2 environmental co-benefits that those blue carbon 

3 ecosystems provide including— 

4 (A) coastal protection from storms and 

5 flooding; 

6 (B) tourism and recreational use; 

7 (C) benefits to fisheries; 

8 (D) nutrient removal; 

9 (E) number of jobs that are directly or in10 directly attributable to blue carbon ecosystems; 

11 and 

12 (F) total economic activity that is attrib13 utable to blue carbon ecosystems. 

14 (9) An assessment of the social and economic 

15 makeup of the communities served by blue carbon 

16 ecosystems. 

17 SEC. 104. BLUE CARBON PARTNERSHIP GRANT PROGRAM. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall es19 tablish a competitive grant program, to be known as the 

20 ‘‘Blue Carbon Partnership Grant Program’’, to, beginning 

21 not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of 

22 this Act, provide funds to eligible recipients for projects 

23 that— 


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1 (1) protect and restore blue carbon stocks, oce2 anic blue carbon, and coastal blue carbon ecosystems 

3 and increase the long-term carbon storage; and 

4 (2) contribute to priorities identified in the 

5 most recent strategic plan developed by the inter6 agency working group under section 106(e). 

7 (b) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—A person or entity is eli8 gible to receive a grant under the grant program if such 

9 person or entity is— 

10 (1) a voluntary private landowner or group of 

11 landowners; 

12 (2) a State agency responsible for managing 

13 natural resources or wildlife; 

14 (3) an Indian Tribe; 

15 (4) a unit of local government; 

16 (5) a nonprofit organization or land trust; 

17 (6) an institution of higher education; or 

18 (7) any group of entities described in para19 graphs (1) through (6). 

20 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—In administering the grant 

21 program under this section, the Administrator shall use 

22 the criteria, guidelines, contracts, reporting requirements, 

23 and evaluation metrics developed by the interagency work24 ing group. 


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1 (d) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In evaluating applica2 tions for the grant program from eligible recipients, the 

3 Administrator shall give priority to proposed eligible res4 toration activities that would— 

5 (1) result in long-term protection and seques6 tration of carbon stored in coastal and marine envi7 ronments; and 

8 (2)(A) protect key habitats for fish, wildlife, 

9 and the maintenance of biodiversity; 

10 (B) provide coastal protection from develop11 ment, storms, flooding, and land-based pollution; 

12 (C) protect coastal resources of national, histor13 ical, and cultural significance; 

14 (D) benefit communities of color, low-income 

15 communities, Tribal or Indigenous communities, or 

16 rural communities; or 

17 (E) capitalize on existing established public-pri18 vate partnerships. 

19 (e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

20 (1) REPORT REQUIRED.—The Administrator 

21 shall submit annually to Congress a report con22 taining a State-by-State analysis of— 

23 (A) the total number of acres of land or 

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1 quisition, easement, restoration or other activi2 ties under the grant program; 

3 (B) the status of restoration projects 

4 under the grant program; and 

5 (C) the amount of blue carbon captured or 

6 protected over a 100-year time period as a re7 sult of the grant program. 

8 (2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF REPORT.—The 

9 Administrator shall make available to the public 

10 each report required by paragraph (1). 

11 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

12 authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator 

13 $200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 to 2025 to 

14 carry out this section. 

15 SEC. 105. INTEGRATED PILOT PROGRAMS TO PROTECT AND 

16 RESTORE DEGRADED COASTAL BLUE CAR17 BON ECOSYSTEMS. 

18 The Administrator shall— 

19 (1) establish integrated pilot programs that— 

20 (A) develop best management practices, in21 cluding design criteria and performance func22 tions, for coastal and marine blue carbon eco23 system restoration, nature-based adaptation 

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1 ward progression or migration of coastal blue 

2 carbon ecosystems; and 

3 (B) identify potential barriers to restora4 tion efforts; 

5 (2) ensure that the pilot programs— 

6 (A) cover geographically, ecologically, cul7 turally, and economically representative loca8 tions with significant ecological, economic, and 

9 social benefits; and 

10 (B) maximize potential for long-term car11 bon storage; 

12 (3) establish a procedure for reviewing applica13 tions for the pilot programs, taking into account— 

14 (A) quantification; 

15 (B) verifiability; 

16 (C) additionality, as compared to a histor17 ical baseline; and 

18 (D) permanence of those benefits; 

19 (4) ensure, through consultation with the inter20 agency working group, that the goals, metrics, moni21 toring, and outcomes of the pilot programs are com22 municated to the appropriate State, Tribal, and local 

23 governments, and to the general public; and 

24 (5) coordinate with relevant Federal agencies 

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1 essary duplication of effort among Federal agencies 

2 and departments with respect to protection and res3 toration programs. 

4 SEC. 106. INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Subcommittee on Ocean 

6 Science and Technology of the National Science and Tech7 nology Council shall establish an interagency working 

8 group to be known as the ‘‘Interagency Working Group 

9 on Coastal and Marine Blue Carbon’’. 

10 (b) PURPOSES.—The interagency working group 

11 shall— 

12 (1) oversee the development of and updates to 

13 a national map, including United States Territories, 

14 of coastal and marine blue carbon ecosystems, in15 cluding habitat types, with a regional focus in anal16 ysis that is usable for local level protection planning 

17 and restoration; 

18 (2) use such map to inform the Administrator 

19 of the creation by the Administrator of the Environ20 mental Protection Agency of the annual Inventory of 

21 United States Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks; 

22 (3) establish national coastal and marine blue 

23 carbon ecosystem restoration priorities, including an 

24 assessment of current Federal funding being used 

25 for restoration and conservation efforts; 


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1 (4) assess the biophysical, social, statutory, reg2 ulatory, and economic impediments to coastal and 

3 marine blue carbon ecosystem protection and res4 toration; 

5 (5) study the effects of climate change and en6 vironmental and human stressors on carbon seques7 tration rates; 

8 (6) identify priority blue carbon ecosystems for 

9 protection; 

10 (7) develop a national strategy for foundational 

11 science necessary to study, synthesize, and evaluate 

12 the effects of climate change and environmental and 

13 human stressors on sequestration rates and capabili14 ties of marine blue carbon and coastal blue carbon 

15 ecosystems protection; 

16 (8) develop an assessment of current legal au17 thorities to protect and restore blue carbon eco18 systems and make recommendations for additional 

19 authorities if current authorities are determined to 

20 be insufficient; and 

21 (9) ensure the continuity, use, and interoper22 ability of data assets through the Coastal Carbon 

23 Data Clearinghouse of the Smithsonian Institution. 

24 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—The interagency working group 

25 shall be comprised of representatives of the following: 


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1 (1) The Administrator. 

2 (2) The Administrator of the Environmental 

3 Protection Agency. 

4 (3) The Director of the National Science Foun5 dation. 

6 (4) The Administrator of the National Aero7 nautics and Space Administration. 

8 (5) The Director of the United States Geologi9 cal Survey. 

10 (6) The Director of the United States Fish and 

11 Wildlife Service. 

12 (7) The Director of the National Park Service. 

13 (8) The Director of the Bureau of Indian Af14 fairs. 

15 (9) The Secretary of the Smithsonian Institu16 tion. 

17 (10) The Chief of Engineers of the Army Corps 

18 of Engineers. 

19 (11) The Secretary of Agriculture. 

20 (12) The Secretary of Defense. 

21 (13) The Secretary of Transportation. 

22 (14) The Secretary of State. 

23 (15) The Secretary of Energy. 

24 (16) The Administrator of the United States 

25 Agency for International Development. 


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1 (17) The Administrator of the Federal Emer2 gency Management Agency. 

3 (18) The Chair of the Council on Environ4 mental Quality. 

5 (d) CHAIR.—The interagency working group shall be 

6 chaired by the Administrator. 

7 (e) STRATEGIC PLAN.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The interagency working 

9 group shall create a strategic plan for Federal in10 vestments in basic research, development, dem11 onstration, long-term monitoring and stewardship, 

12 and deployment of coastal blue carbon ecosystem 

13 and marine blue carbon projects for the 5-year pe14 riod beginning on the date that is 1 year after the 

15 date of the enactment of this Act. The plan shall in16 clude— 

17 (A) an assessment of the use of existing 

18 Federal programs to protect, restore, enhance, 

19 and preserve coastal blue carbon ecosystems; 

20 (B) an analysis of potential sea level rise 

21 migration corridors for blue carbon ecosystems; 

22 (C) an analysis of anticipated fish and 

23 wildlife uses of blue carbon ecosystems; and 

24 (D) identification of priority strategies and 

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1 hancing the resilience and carbon sequestration 

2 potential of such blue carbon ecosystems. 

3 (2) TIMING.—The interagency working group 

4 shall— 

5 (A) submit the strategic plan under para6 graph (1) to the Committee on Commerce, 

7 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and 

8 the Committee on Natural Resources and the 

9 Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

10 of the House of Representatives on a date that 

11 is not later than 1 year after the date of the 

12 enactment of this Act; and 

13 (B) submit a revised version of such plan 

14 to such committees every 5 years thereafter. 

15 (3) FEDERAL REGISTER.—Not less than 90 

16 days before the strategic plan, or any revision there17 of, is submitted under paragraph (2), the inter18 agency working group shall publish such plan or re19 vision in the Federal Register and solicit public com20 ments on such plan or revision for a period of not 

21 less than 60 days. 

22 SEC. 107. COASTAL CARBON AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE. 

23 (a) DESIGNATION.—The Administrator, consistent 

24 with this section, shall designate as a coastal carbon area 

25 of significance any area that is— 


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1 (1) in the coastal zone (as such term is defined 

2 in section 304 of the Coastal Zone Management Act 

3 of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1453)), in territorial waters of 

4 the United States, or in the exclusive economic zone; 

5 and 

6 (2) the location of water, a substrate, or an eco7 system that— 

8 (A) provides for long-term storage and se9 questration of significant amounts of ecosystem 

10 carbon; and 

11 (B)(i) limits erosion and future landward 

12 migration; 

13 (ii) provides a buffer against storm surge, 

14 especially for communities of color, low-income 

15 communities, and Tribal and Indigenous com16 munities; 

17 (iii) provides a spawning, breeding, feed18 ing, or nesting habitat for wildlife; or 

19 (iv) is estuarine habitat designated as es20 sential fish habitat under the Magnuson-Ste21 vens Fishery Conservation and Management 

22 Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.). 

23 (b) GUIDELINES.—The Administrator, in consulta24 tion with the interagency working group, shall, not later 

25 than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 


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1 establish by regulation guidelines based on the best avail2 able science to describe and identify coastal carbon areas 

3 of significance and measures to ensure the protection of 

4 coastal carbon areas of significance. 

5 (c) REVIEW AND UPDATE.—The Administrator, in 

6 consultation with the interagency working group, shall re7 view and update guidelines established under subsection 

8 (b) not less frequently than once every 5 years or when 

9 new information warrants such an update. 

10 (d) SCHEDULE.—The Administrator, in consultation 

11 with the interagency working group, shall— 

12 (1) establish a schedule for the identification of 

13 coastal carbon areas of significance under subsection 

14 (b) and for reviews and updates under subsection 

15 (c); and 

16 (2) make initial designations of a coastal carbon 

17 area of significance in each coastal State not later 

18 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act. 

19 (e) RECOMMENDATIONS AND INFORMATION.—The 

20 Administrator, in consultation with the interagency work21 ing group, shall, with respect to each coastal carbon area 

22 of significance, provide recommendations and information 

23 regarding the adverse impacts and threats to the carbon 

24 storage, ecosystem services, and habitat capacity of the 

25 area, and the actions that should be considered to avoid 


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1 adverse impacts and ensure the conservation and enhance2 ment of that area. 

3 (f) PROGRAMS ADMINISTERED BY THE SECRETARY

4 OF COMMERCE.—The Administrator, in consultation with 

5 the interagency working group, shall use programs admin6 istered by the Secretary of Commerce to carry out this 

7 section and ensure the conservation and enhancement of 

8 each coastal carbon area of significance. 

9 (g) REQUIREMENTS FOR FEDERAL ACTIONS.—With 

10 respect to any proposed agency action that has the poten11 tial to cause an adverse impact on the carbon storage, eco12 system services, or habitat capacity of any coastal carbon 

13 area of significance, each Federal agency shall comply 

14 with the following requirements: 

15 (1) NOTIFICATION.—Such Federal agency shall 

16 notify the Administrator of such proposed agency ac17 tion. 

18 (2) DETERMINATION OF ADVERSE IMPACT.— 

19 The Administrator, in consultation with the pro20 posing agency and subject to public comment, shall 

21 determine whether the proposed agency action will 

22 cause an adverse impact on the carbon storage, eco23 system, or habitat of a coastal carbon area of signifi24 cance. 


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1 (3) ALTERNATIVE.—With respect to any pro2 posed action the Administrator determines will have 

3 an adverse impact under paragraph (2), the pro4 posing agency, in consultation with the Adminis5 trator, shall determine whether there is an alter6 native action that would prevent such adverse im7 pact and fulfill the purpose of the proposed action. 

8 The proposing agency shall not take an action that 

9 would cause an adverse impact if an alternative that 

10 would not cause such adverse impact is available and 

11 would fulfill the purpose of such action. 

12 (4) CARBON STORAGE OFFSETS.—With respect 

13 to a proposed action for which the agency deter14 mines no alternative is available under paragraph 

15 (3), the proposing agency shall— 

16 (A) in consultation with the Administrator, 

17 take measures to minimize and mitigate such 

18 adverse impact; 

19 (B) take such action as the Administrator 

20 determines necessary to create a coastal or ma21 rine blue carbon ecosystem storage offset that, 

22 taken in conjunction with the proposed action, 

23 results in a long term net increase in carbon 

24 storage, lasting an equivalent time period as the 

25 carbon storage lost by the adverse impact; 


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1 (C) demonstrate quantitatively, using the 

2 best available science, that the carbon storage 

3 offset will result in a net increase in ecological 

4 carbon storage and is located in close proximity 

5 to the original site to keep the affected commu6 nities whole; 

7 (D) maintain such carbon storage offset 

8 for a period of time to be determined by the 

9 Administrator but not less than 100 years; and 

10 (E) publish the agency’s proposed course 

11 of mitigation in the Federal Register for public 

12 notice and comment. 

13 (h) REQUIREMENT FOR AUTHORIZATION OR APPRO14 PRIATION.—Any requests for a new authorization or ap15 propriation from a Federal agency transmitted to the Of16 fice of Management and Budget shall include, if such au17 thorization or appropriation may affect a coastal carbon 

18 area of significance, a certification that such agency will 

19 use such authorization or appropriation in compliance 

20 with this section. 

21 (i) REQUIRED RESTRICTIONS.—A Federal agency 

22 may not enter into a lease, easement, right-of-way, or sale 

23 of any land designated as a coastal carbon area of signifi24 cance unless such agency attaches appropriate restrictions 


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1 to the use of the property to protect the coastal carbon 

2 area of significance. 

3 (j) EXCEPTION.—Preparation, revision, implementa4 tion, or enforcement of a fishery management plan under 

5 the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Manage6 ment Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) that applies to an area 

7 that is subject to a prohibition on all bottom-tending fish8 ing gear shall not be treated as an action that is subject 

9 to subsection (g). 

10 SEC. 108. SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION BLUE CARBON AC11 TIVITIES. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Smithsonian 

13 Institution, in coordination with the Administrator and 

14 the interagency working group, shall provide for the long15 term stewardship, continuity, use, and interoperability of, 

16 and access to, data relating to coastal blue carbon eco17 systems and national mapping, including United States 

18 Territories and Tribal lands, by supporting the mainte19 nance of the Coastal Carbon Data Clearinghouse operated 

20 by the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. 

21 (b) COASTAL CARBON DATA CLEARINGHOUSE DU22 TIES.—Acting through the Coastal Carbon Data Clearing23 house, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, in co24 ordination with the Administrator and interagency work25 ing group, shall process, store, archive, provide access to, 


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1 and incorporate to the extent possible, all coastal and ma2 rine blue carbon data collected through federally funded 

3 research by a Federal agency, State, local agency, Indian 

4 Tribe, academic scientist, or other relevant entity. 

5 (c) GLOBAL AND NATIONAL DATA ASSETS.—The 

6 Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, in coordination 

7 with the Administrator and the interagency working 

8 group, shall ensure that existing global and national data 

9 assets are incorporated into the Coastal Carbon Data 

10 Clearinghouse to the greatest extent possible. 

11 (d) ESTABLISHMENT OF STANDARDS, PROTOCOLS, 

12 AND PROCEDURES.—The Secretary of the Smithsonian 

13 Institution, in coordination with the Administrator and 

14 the interagency working group, shall establish standards, 

15 protocols, and procedures for the processing, storing, 

16 archiving, and providing access to data in the Coastal Car17 bon Data Clearinghouse and best practices for sharing 

18 such data with State, local, and Tribal governments, 

19 coastal stakeholders, non-Federal resource managers, and 

20 academia. The Administrator shall publish, update, and 

21 keep current such data on a publicly available website. 

22 (e) DIGITAL TOOLS AND RESOURCES.—The Sec23 retary of the Smithsonian Institution, in coordination with 

24 the Administrator and the interagency working group, 


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1 shall develop digital tools and resources to support the 

2 public use of the Coastal Carbon Data Clearinghouse. 

3 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

4 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the 

5 Smithsonian Institution $5,000,000 for each of fiscal 

6 years 2021 through 2025 to carry out this section. 

7 SEC. 109. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

8 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Admin9 istrator $50,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2021 to 

10 2025 to carry out this title. 

11 SEC. 110. DEFINITIONS. 

12 In this title: 

13 (1) BLUE CARBON STOCKS.—The term ‘‘blue 

14 carbon stocks’’ means terrestrial and marine vegeta15 tion and underlying sediment that has the capacity 

16 to sequester and store atmospheric carbon. 

17 (2) COASTAL BLUE CARBON ECOSYSTEM.—The 

18 term ‘‘coastal blue carbon ecosystem’’ means vege19 tated coastal habitats including mangroves, tidal 

20 marshes, seagrasses, kelp forests, and other tidal or 

21 salt-water wetlands that have the capacity to seques22 ter carbon from the atmosphere for a period of not 

23 less than 100 years. 

24 (3) COASTAL CARBON AREA OF SIGNIFI25 CANCE.—The term ‘‘coastal carbon area of signifiVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:22 Jan 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00033 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5056.IS S5056

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1 cance’’ means any area designated by the Adminis2 trator under section 107 as a coastal carbon area of 

3 significance. 

4 (4) GRANT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘grant pro5 gram’’ means the Blue Carbon Partnership Grant 

6 Program established under section 104. 

7 (5) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP.—The term 

8 ‘‘interagency working group’’ means the Interagency 

9 Working Group on Coastal and Marine Blue Carbon 

10 established under section 106. 

11 (6) MARINE BLUE CARBON.—The term ‘‘marine 

12 blue carbon’’ means the sequestration of carbon in 

13 pelagic and deep sea ecosystems, including in sedi14 ments and through the ecosystem impacts of in15 creased biomass of large marine wildlife. 

16 (7) MARINE BLUE CARBON ECOSYSTEM.—The 

17 term ‘‘marine blue carbon ecosystem’’ means habi18 tats that support marine blue carbon. 

19 (8) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 

20 the Blue Carbon Program established under section 

21 101(a). 


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1 TITLE II—CLIMATE-READY FISH2 ERIES AND BUY AMERICAN 

3 SEAFOOD 

4 SEC. 201. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

5 It is the sense of Congress that— 

6 (1) American wild-caught seafood is integral to 

7 the Nation’s food supply and to American food secu8 rity; 

9 (2) the seafood supply chain is often long and 

10 complex; 

11 (3) American caught and American-processed 

12 seafood can be a sustainable healthy source of pro13 tein and micronutrients; 

14 (4) fresh, frozen, dried, and canned domestic 

15 seafood can be produced, processed, and transported 

16 in a manner that has a low carbon footprint; 

17 (5) marine species that are small, at lower 

18 trophic levels, and pelagic typically have the smallest 

19 carbon footprint; and 

20 (6) therefore, any executive agency that pur21 chases seafood products should, to the extent prac22 ticable, buy local American-caught or American-har23 vested and American-processed seafood products 

24 from fisheries that are not overfished or experi25 encing overfishing in order to reduce the greenhouse 


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1 gas emissions associated with the supply chain of 

2 seafood products. 

3 SEC. 202. CAUGHT IN THE USA. 

4 Section 2(c)(1) of the Act of August 11, 1939 (15 

5 U.S.C. 713c–3(c)(1)) is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(1) The Secretary shall make grants from the 

7 fund established under subsection (b) to— 

8 ‘‘(A) assist persons in carrying out re9 search and development projects addressed to 

10 any aspect of United States fisheries, including 

11 harvesting, processing, marketing, and associ12 ated infrastructures; or 

13 ‘‘(B) assist persons to market and promote 

14 the consumption of— 

15 ‘‘(i) local or domestic fishery products; 

16 ‘‘(ii) environmentally- and climate17 friendly fishery products that minimize by18 catch and impacts on marine mammals; 

19 ‘‘(iii) invasive species; or 

20 ‘‘(iv) well-managed but less known 

21 species.’’. 

22 SEC. 203. ELIMINATE FISH SUBSIDIES IN TRADE AGREE23 MENTS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 102(b) of the Bipartisan 

25 Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 


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1 2015 (19 U.S.C. 4201(b)) is amended by adding at the 

2 end the following: 

3 ‘‘(23) FISH SUBSIDIES.—The principal negoti4 ating objectives of the United States with respect to 

5 fish subsidies are the following: 

6 ‘‘(A) To eliminate subsidies that contribute 

7 to overcapacity, overfishing, or illegal, unre8 ported, and unregulated fishing, such as sub9 sidies that— 

10 ‘‘(i) increase the marine fishing capac11 ity of fishing vessels or support the acqui12 sition of equipment that increases the abil13 ity of fishing vessels to find fish; 

14 ‘‘(ii) support the construction of fish15 ing vessels, importation of fishing vessels, 

16 or government repurchase of fishing ves17 sels outside of a binding and effective fish18 ing capacity reduction program that in19 cludes the corresponding elimination of 

20 fishing rights and a binding and effective 

21 prohibition on the reuse of vessels for fish22 ing to increase capacity in any fishery; 

23 ‘‘(iii) affect fish stocks in any fish24 ery— 


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1 ‘‘(I) in an overfished or worse 

2 condition; 

3 ‘‘(II) whose stock levels are de4 clining; or 

5 ‘‘(III) whose stock level status re6 mains unknown; 

7 ‘‘(iv) are provided to fishing enter8 prises engaged in long-distance fishing, ei9 ther on the high seas or in the exclusive 

10 economic zone of a third country; 

11 ‘‘(v) support the transfer or reflagging 

12 of fishing vessels to third countries, includ13 ing through the creation of joint ventures 

14 with partners of those countries; 

15 ‘‘(vi) are provided to the fishing enter16 prises or to owners or operators of vessels 

17 that have been determined to have engaged 

18 in illegal, unreported, and unregulated 

19 fishing by a coastal State or a regional 

20 fisheries management organization; or 

21 ‘‘(vii) reduce fuel, insurance, or other 

22 operating costs solely for fishing enter23 prises. 

24 ‘‘(B) To require parties to trade agree25 ments— 


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1 ‘‘(i) to report to an environmental af2 fairs committee established under the 

3 agreement, on an annual basis, all marine 

4 fishing-related subsidies provided by the 

5 parties, including fleet capacity and trade 

6 data concerning the fisheries that the sub7 sidies affect; 

8 ‘‘(ii) to establish an independent body 

9 to make annual assessments of the health 

10 of fish stocks in each domestic fishery and 

11 report such assessments to such environ12 mental affairs committee; 

13 ‘‘(iii) with respect to shared or inter14 national fisheries in which each party is in15 volved in fishing activities, to commit to 

16 cooperating with third countries, regional 

17 fisheries management organizations, and 

18 assessment bodies in annual assessments 

19 of the health of fish stocks in such fish20 eries; and 

21 ‘‘(iv) to certify to such environmental 

22 affairs committee that they have made and 

23 continue to make adequate progress to24 ward the goal of protecting and conserving, 

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1 tem of protected areas and other effective 

2 area-based conservation measures, at least 

3 30 percent of the planet by 2030, with the 

4 focus on areas particularly important for 

5 biodiversity. 

6 ‘‘(C) To require parties to trade agree7 ments that are also members of the World 

8 Trade Organization to work collaboratively at 

9 the Organization to establish and maintain ro10 bust disciplines on fisheries subsidies.’’. 

11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

12 subsection (a)— 

13 (1) take effect on the date of the enactment of 

14 this Act; and 

15 (2) apply with respect to negotiations for trade 

16 agreements subject to the provisions of section 103 

17 of the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and 

18 Accountability Act of 2015 (19 U.S.C. 4202) en19 tered into on or after such date of enactment. 

20 SEC. 204. CLIMATE AND FISHERIES RESEARCH AND MAN21 AGEMENT PROGRAM. 

22 Title IV of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conserva23 tion and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1881 et seq.) is 

24 amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 409. CLIMATE AND FISHERIES RESEARCH AND MAN2 AGEMENT PROGRAM. 

3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PROGRAM.—The Sec4 retary, in consultation with appropriate Regional Fishery 

5 Management Councils and in coordination with other Fed6 eral agencies and educational institutions, shall establish 

7 a program to identify, develop, and implement adaptive 

8 strategies, consistent with the requirements of this Act, 

9 to improve the management of fisheries under current and 

10 anticipated impacts of climate change. In administering 

11 such program, the Secretary shall— 

12 ‘‘(1) expand and improve fisheries science, mon13 itoring, and data collection in order to support and 

14 promote integrated, climate-informed fishery man15 agement and ensure that the requirements of this 

16 Act are met under changing climatic conditions; 

17 ‘‘(2) prepare and adapt fishery management for 

18 climate change by promoting a precautionary ap19 proach to management and supporting the develop20 ment and use of relevant science and management 

21 tools, including forecasting, risk assessment, sce22 nario planning, coupled climate and ecosystem mod23 eling, and management strategy evaluation; 

24 ‘‘(3) improve agency understanding of stock 

25 shifts to inform catch advice, resolve jurisdictional 


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1 issues, and support achievement of conservation 

2 mandates in the face of shifting stocks; 

3 ‘‘(4) promote the use of climate-informed stock 

4 assessments; 

5 ‘‘(5) provide guidance on the use of climate-re6 sponsive control rules in fishery management; 

7 ‘‘(6) promote management approaches that in8 crease resilience to current and anticipated climate 

9 impacts in managed species and marine ecosystems, 

10 including by coordinating with and advancing pro11 grams to protect genetic diversity and age structure, 

12 protect marine habitat, minimize and better account 

13 for bycatch, and incorporating into management the 

14 ecological role of forage fish in the marine food web; 

15 ‘‘(7) increase understanding of the socio16 economic impacts of climate change on fishing par17 ticipants and related industries; 

18 ‘‘(8) coordinate within the National Oceanic 

19 and Atmospheric Administration on issues related to 

20 climate change and fisheries, including on data 

21 needs and availability; 

22 ‘‘(9) ensure that the research, resource manage23 ment, and expenditures to prepare fisheries for cli24 mate change promote racial and socioeconomic eqVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:22 Jan 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00042 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5056.IS S5056

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1 uity with respect to environmental and economic 

2 outcomes across fisheries and regions; 

3 ‘‘(10) promote the incorporation of climate 

4 change into fisheries management at regional fishery 

5 management organizations and other international 

6 bodies; and 

7 ‘‘(11) advance other climate change fishery 

8 science and management as appropriate. 

9 ‘‘(b) EVALUATION.—The Secretary, in consultation 

10 with the Councils, shall, not later than 3 years after the 

11 date of enactment of the Ocean Climate Emergency Action 

12 Now Act of 2020 and every 3 years thereafter, conduct 

13 an independent review that will be provided to Congress 

14 and the public on the results of the program, including— 

15 ‘‘(1) steps taken to modify or enhance research 

16 and data collection programs to better understand 

17 the effects of climate change on fishery resources; 

18 ‘‘(2) steps taken to evaluate various manage19 ment strategies in the context of future climate sce20 narios; 

21 ‘‘(3) how tools and solutions identified by the 

22 program have been or will be implemented in fishery 

23 science and management; and 


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1 ‘‘(4) the degree to which equity in outcomes of 

2 fulfilling programmatic duties was achieved as re3 quired by subsection (a)(9).’’. 

4 SEC. 205. CLIMATE-READY FISHERIES INNOVATION PRO5 GRAM. 

6 (a) CLIMATE-READY FISHERIES INNOVATION PRO7 GRAM.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

8 of this Act, the Administrator shall establish a program, 

9 including grants, to develop innovative tools and ap10 proaches designed to increase the adaptive capacity of 

11 fishery management to the impacts of climate change. In 

12 administering such program, the Administrator shall— 

13 (1) develop science and management ap14 proaches that address regional and national prior15 ities to improve the conservation and management of 

16 fishery resources under current and anticipated cli17 mate impacts; 

18 (2) provide for routine consultation with fishery 

19 managers and scientists in order to maximize oppor20 tunities to incorporate results of the program in 

21 fishery management actions; 

22 (3) promote adoption of methods developed 

23 under the program in fishery management plans de24 veloped by the Regional Fishery Management Coun25 cils; 


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1 (4) provide information and outreach to the pri2 vate sector and academic sector to encourage devel3 opment of tools and approaches to manage the ef4 fects of climate change on fisheries; and 

5 (5) provide information and outreach to fishery 

6 participants to increase understanding of and en7 courage adoption and use of tools and approaches 

8 developed under the program. 

9 (b) COORDINATION OF THE PROGRAM.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall es11 tablish a process to ensure coordination with and 

12 outreach to— 

13 (A) regional offices and science centers of 

14 the National Marine Fisheries Service; 

15 (B) the Regional Fishery Management 

16 Councils; 

17 (C) the scientific and statistical committees 

18 of such Fishery Management Councils; and 

19 (D) other relevant programs, including the 

20 cooperative research and management program 

21 under section 318 of the Magnuson-Stevens 

22 Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 

23 U.S.C. 1867), the Integrated Ocean Observing 

24 System, and programs within the National OceVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:22 Jan 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00045 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5056.IS S5056

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1 anic and Atmospheric Administration designed 

2 to address ocean acidification. 

3 (2) IDENTIFICATION.—The coordination de4 scribed in paragraph (1) shall include identification 

5 of multi-year research priorities to study and under6 stand the current and anticipated impacts of climate 

7 change on fisheries, fisheries interactions, habitats, 

8 fishery participants, fisheries science and moni9 toring, or other relevant priority. Such priorities 

10 shall be routinely reviewed in a timeframe not to ex11 ceed 5 years and updated as necessary. 

12 (c) REPORT.—Every 2 years, beginning 2 years after 

13 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

14 shall transmit a report to the Committee on Commerce, 

15 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Com16 mittee on Natural Resources of the House of Representa17 tives that— 

18 (1) describes funding provided to implement 

19 this section; 

20 (2) includes descriptions of and developments in 

21 tools and approaches achieved under this section; 

22 (3) describes how and in which fisheries these 

23 tools and approaches have been implemented; and 


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1 (4) describes improvements in fishery climate2 readiness associated with implementing this section, 

3 as well as proposals to address remaining problems. 

4 SEC. 206. SHIFTING STOCKS TASK FORCE. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall es6 tablish, not later than 120 days after the date of enact7 ment of this Act, a task force to be known as the ‘‘Shifting 

8 Stocks Task Force’’ consisting of 10 members, including 

9 1 member recommended by each of 8 Regional Fishery 

10 Management Councils and the Highly Migratory Species 

11 Advisory Panel and the Administrator or their designee. 

12 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

13 (1) TERMS.—Except as provided by paragraph 

14 (2), terms of appointed members of the Shifting 

15 Stocks Task Force shall be staggered, shall be 2 

16 years in duration, and no member shall serve more 

17 than 3 terms. 

18 (2) VACANCY.—Any member appointed to fill a 

19 vacancy occurring before the expiration of the term 

20 for which the member’s predecessor was appointed 

21 shall be appointed only for the remainder of that 

22 term. 

23 (3) CRITERIA FOR APPOINTMENT.—Members 

24 appointed to the Shifting Stocks Task Force shall be 

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1 digenous representatives, academics, or independent 

2 experts, shall have strong scientific or technical cre3 dentials and experience, and shall not include mem4 bers of the Regional Fishery Management Councils. 

5 (4) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member of the 

6 Shifting Stocks Task Force shall receive travel ex7 penses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in 

8 accordance with applicable provisions under sub9 chapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States 

10 Code. 

11 (5) CHAIRPERSON.—The chairperson of the 

12 Shifting Stocks Task Force shall be elected by the 

13 members. 

14 (c) MEETINGS.—The Shifting Stocks Task Force 

15 shall meet not less than 4 times annually. 

16 (d) STAFF SUPPORT.—Upon request of the Shifting 

17 Stocks Task Force, the Administrator may detail on a re18 imbursable basis personnel to the Shifting Stocks Task 

19 Force to assist such Task Force. 

20 (e) DEVELOPMENT OF CRITERIA.—Not later than 1 

21 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Shifting 

22 Stocks Task Force shall develop, in consultation with the 

23 Administrator and the Regional Fishery Management 

24 Councils, science-based decision-making criteria to make 

25 jurisdiction, allocation, and fishery management decisions 


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1 that minimize the risk of overfishing and maximize stock 

2 and ecosystem resilience to the effects of climate change, 

3 are consistent with the national standards, the other provi4 sions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 

5 Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), regulations im6 plementing recommendations by international organiza7 tions in which the United States participates (including 

8 but not limited to closed areas, quotas, and size limits), 

9 and any other applicable law. 

10 (f) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Shifting Stocks Task 

11 Force shall make recommendations to the Administrator 

12 and to the Regional Fishery Management Councils rec13 ommendations for the allocation and distribution of fish14 ing privileges based on the criteria developed under sub15 section (e). 

16 (g) PETITIONS.—Any member of the public may sub17 mit a petition to request the review of potentially shifting 

18 stock. In order to be eligible for consideration, a petition 

19 shall include sufficiently descriptive information regarding 

20 the stock or stocks in question, the jurisdiction or alloca21 tion concerns, and any other relevant information. 

22 (h) PETITION REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATION.— 

23 (1) DETERMINATION OF SUFFICIENT INFORMA24 TION.—Upon receipt of a petition under subsection 

25 (g), the Shifting Stocks Task Force shall, not later 


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1 than 60 days after the date of such receipt, deter2 mine by majority vote whether the petition contains 

3 sufficient information to show that a substantial 

4 shift in the distribution of a stock has occurred. 

5 (2) REVIEW PROCESS.—If the Shifting Stocks 

6 Task Force makes a determination under paragraph 

7 (1) that a petition contains sufficient information, 

8 the Shifting Stocks Task Force shall review such pe9 tition. Such review shall include— 

10 (A) a public hearing in the affected region; 

11 and 

12 (B) a public notice and comment period of 

13 not less than 90 days. 

14 (3) WRITTEN RECOMMENDATION.—Upon com15 pletion of a review under paragraph (2), the Shifting 

16 Stocks Task Force shall— 

17 (A) determine which Regional Fishery 

18 Management Council’s or Councils’ geographic 

19 area of authority the fishery is located in; and 

20 (B) submit to the Administrator, each af21 fected Regional Fishery Management Council, 

22 and the petitioner written recommendations for 

23 allocation and distribution of fishing privileges 

24 within the fishery. 


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1 (4) RESPONSE.—Upon receipt of a rec2 ommendation from the Shifting Stocks Task Force 

3 under paragraph (3), the Administrator shall— 

4 (A) begin consultation with the affected 

5 Regional Fishery Management Council regard6 ing necessary changes to fishery management 

7 plans; and 

8 (B) not later than 180 days after the date 

9 of receipt of the Shifting Stocks Task Force’s 

10 recommendation, ensure that a compliant fish11 ery management plan that fully accounts for 

12 the best available science on shifting stocks and 

13 the recommendations of the Shifting Stocks 

14 Task Force is created, published, and imple15 mented. 

16 (5) PUBLICATION.—The Shifting Stocks Task 

17 Force shall publish on the internet each petition re18 ceived under this section, the determination as made 

19 under paragraph (1), and any written recommenda20 tions produced under paragraph (3). 

21 SEC. 207. ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT CONSULTATION. 

22 Section 305(b) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

23 Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1855(b)) 

24 is amended— 

25 (1) in paragraph (1)(A)— 


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1 (A) by inserting ‘‘every 5 years’’ after ‘‘up2 dating’’; and 

3 (B) by inserting ‘‘, changes to habitat, in 

4 part due to climate change,’’ after ‘‘evidence’’; 

5 (2) in paragraph (1)(D), by inserting ‘‘and such 

6 agencies shall take action’’ after ‘‘agencies’’; and 

7 (3) by striking paragraphs (2) through (4) and 

8 inserting after paragraph (1) the following: 

9 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATIONS REGARDING FEDERAL

10 AGENCY ACTION WITH ADVERSE EFFECTS ON ES11 SENTIAL FISH HABITAT.— 

12 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT TO AVOID OR MITI13 GATE ADVERSE EFFECTS.— 

14 ‘‘(i) ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT.—With 

15 respect to any Federal agency action that 

16 may have an adverse affect on essential 

17 fish habitat, each such Federal agency 

18 shall, in consultation with the Secretary, 

19 ensure that any action authorized, funded, 

20 or undertaken by such agency avoids the 

21 adverse effect of such action on essential 

22 fish habitat or, to the extent that the ad23 verse effect cannot be avoided, the agency 

24 shall minimize and mitigate the adverse ef25 fect. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) HABITAT AREA OF PARTICULAR

2 CONCERN.—No Federal agency may au3 thorize, fund, or undertake an action if 

4 such agency determines, in consultation 

5 with the Secretary, that such action would 

6 have an adverse effect on a habitat area of 

7 particular concern. 

8 ‘‘(B) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall 

9 establish regulations for the consultation proc10 ess required by subparagraph (A), including to 

11 ensure that recommendations made by the Sec12 retary pursuant to such subparagraph would re13 sult in the avoidance, if possible, of adverse ef14 fects on essential fish habitat and, if avoidance 

15 is not possible, the minimization and mitigation 

16 of any such adverse effects. 

17 ‘‘(3) INFORMATION TO COUNCIL.—The Sec18 retary shall inform each affected Council of any con19 sultation carried out under paragraph (2), including 

20 information on the proposed action and any poten21 tial adverse effects, and each affected Council— 

22 ‘‘(A) may comment on and make rec23 ommendations to the Secretary and any Federal 

24 or State agency concerning the underlying ac25 tion if, in the view of the Council, such action 


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1 may affect the habitat of a fishery resource 

2 under the authority of such Council; and 

3 ‘‘(B) shall comment on and make rec4 ommendations to the Secretary and any Federal 

5 or State agency concerning the underlying ac6 tion if, in the view of the Council, such action 

7 is likely to adversely affect the habitat of an 

8 anadromous fishery resource under the author9 ity of such Council. 

10 ‘‘(4) INFORMATION FROM OTHER SOURCES.— 

11 ‘‘(A) RECEIPT OF INFORMATION.—If the 

12 Secretary receives information from any source 

13 and determines that an action taken, funded, or 

14 authorized or proposed to be taken, funded, or 

15 authorized by a State or Federal agency may 

16 have an adverse effect on an essential fish habi17 tat identified under this Act, the Secretary shall 

18 recommend to such agency measures that avoid 

19 such adverse effects and minimize or mitigate 

20 such adverse effects that cannot be avoided. 

21 ‘‘(B) REQUIRED RESPONSE.—Not later 

22 than 30 days after receiving a recommendation 

23 under subparagraph (A), a Federal, State, or 

24 local agency shall provide a detailed response in 

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1 graph (3) and the Secretary regarding the mat2 ter. The response shall include a description of 

3 measures proposed by the agency for avoiding 

4 the adverse effects, or to the extent the adverse 

5 effects cannot be avoided, mitigating the ad6 verse effects of the action on such essential fish 

7 habitat. In the case of a response that is incon8 sistent with the recommendations of the Sec9 retary, the Federal agency shall explain how the 

10 alternative measures proposed will avoid the ad11 verse effects of such action on essential fish 

12 habitat or, to the extent that adverse effects 

13 cannot be avoided, mitigate the adverse effects. 

14 ‘‘(C) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall 

15 make available to the public— 

16 ‘‘(i) any recommendation made under 

17 subparagraph (A) on the date on which 

18 such recommendation is made; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) any response made by an agency 

20 under subparagraph (B) on the date on 

21 which such response is received. 

22 ‘‘(5) HABITAT AREA OF PARTICULAR CON23 CERN.—In this subsection, the term ‘habitat area of 

24 particular concern’ means a specific type of area 


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1 that is a part of or within an essential fish habitat 

2 that— 

3 ‘‘(A) provides an important ecological func4 tion, including for maintaining and restoring 

5 the biomass, demographic, spatial, or genetic 

6 characteristics of fish populations; 

7 ‘‘(B) is sensitive to human-induced envi8 ronmental degradation; 

9 ‘‘(C) is or will be significantly stressed by 

10 human activities; 

11 ‘‘(D) due to prevailing or anticipated fu12 ture environmental conditions, is or may be13 come important to the health of managed spe14 cies; or 

15 ‘‘(E) is rare.’’. 

16 SEC. 208. OCEAN AQUACULTURE RESEARCH AND POLICY 

17 PROGRAM. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall es19 tablish an Ocean Aquaculture Research and Policy Pro20 gram to address opportunities, challenges, and innovation 

21 in restorative ocean aquaculture development, siting, and 

22 operations in the coastal waters and exclusive economic 

23 zone through— 

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1 ronment can be fully understood, anticipated, ac2 counted for, and avoided and impacts to wild-cap3 ture fisheries and marine wildlife are minimized dur4 ing the species selection, design, development, siting, 

5 and operation of aquaculture facilities; and 

6 (2) the development and application of best 

7 management practices to ensure the species selec8 tion, design, development, siting, and operation of 

9 restorative ocean aquaculture maximizes potential 

10 benefits while minimizing potential adverse impacts 

11 to the marine environment and wild-capture fish12 eries. 

13 (b) USE OF EXISTING PROGRAMS.—The Adminis14 trator shall use existing grant and research programs to 

15 support the design, development, siting, and operation of 

16 restorative ocean aquaculture using best management 

17 practices to maximize potential benefits and minimize po18 tential adverse impacts to the marine environment. 

19 (c) PRIORITIZATION IN OTHER PROGRAMS.—In car20 rying out other programs relating to aquaculture research 

21 and development, the Administrator shall prioritize restor22 ative ocean aquaculture, including in carrying out— 

23 (1) the Small Business Innovation Research 

24 Program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

25 Administration; 


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1 (2) the National Sea Grant College Program; 

2 and 

3 (3) section 2 of the Act of August 11, 1939 (15 

4 U.S.C. 713c–3). 

5 (d) PRIORITIZATION WITHIN THE PROGRAM.—In 

6 carrying out this section, the Administrator shall prioritize 

7 support for research and technology development that in8 cludes— 

9 (1) design analyses of restorative aquaculture 

10 systems to maximize ecosystem benefits while avoid11 ing adverse impacts to the marine environment and 

12 wild-capture fisheries and marine wildlife; 

13 (2) spatial analyses to understand and evaluate 

14 where siting of restorative aquaculture can minimize 

15 adverse impacts to migratory birds and waterbirds, 

16 marine birds and mammals, endangered species, and 

17 other aspects of the marine ecosystem; 

18 (3) monitoring both the individual and cumu19 lative environmental impacts of current and pro20 posed small scale aquaculture operations to inform 

21 potential impacts of large-scale operations and 

22 siting; 

23 (4) offshore monitoring, remediation, and miti24 gation technology development; and 


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1 (5) understanding and preparing for impacts 

2 that climate change may have on design develop3 ment, siting, and operations of restorative aqua4 culture facilities and the marine environment. 

5 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

6 of the enactment of this Act, the National Academies shall 

7 submit to the Administrator and to Congress a report that 

8 reviews, compiles, and synthesizes existing technologies 

9 and assessments of restorative ocean aquaculture to fur10 ther inform ongoing research and technical assistance 

11 funded under subsection (c). 

12 (f) CONTENT.—The report required by subsection (e) 

13 shall include the following: 

14 (1) A quantitative assessment of the capacity 

15 for sequestering and storing significant amounts of 

16 carbon from the atmosphere and ocean to mitigate 

17 the impacts of climate change. 

18 (2) A comprehensive assessment of the blue 

19 carbon potential for an aquaculture project, includ20 ing its potential environmental impacts, including 

21 cumulative impacts, to native marine species and 

22 marine habitat and the potential adverse wildlife 

23 interactions likely to result from the use of restora24 tive aquaculture technologies in use or under devel25 opment worldwide. 


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1 (3) A comprehensive assessment of the poten2 tial impacts, including cumulative impacts, to wild3 capture fisheries and marine wildlife and the produc4 tivity thereof likely to result from the use of restora5 tive aquaculture technologies in use or under devel6 opment worldwide. 

7 (4) An assessment of any known ecosystems 

8 services that have been derived from restorative 

9 ocean aquaculture and design, including siting and 

10 size parameters that maximize those benefits. 

11 (5) A detailed discussion of the mitigation 

12 measures available currently to reduce any negative 

13 environmental or wild-capture fisheries and marine 

14 wildlife impacts identified and their degree of effi15 cacy, as well as the real-time facility monitoring op16 tions available. 

17 (6) Recommendations of regionally relevant 

18 siting, installation, and operations standards nec19 essary to ensure that restorative ocean aquaculture 

20 facilities are developed and operated in a manner 

21 which minimizes impacts to the marine environment 

22 and avoids and minimizes harmful interactions with 

23 marine wildlife and habitat or conflict with other ex24 isting ocean-user groups. 


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1 (7) Economic analysis identifying the potential 

2 benefits and impacts to commercial and recreational 

3 fishing and ocean recreation industries resulting 

4 from restorative ocean aquaculture. 

5 (8) Recommendations for further research and 

6 assessments that should be supported. 

7 (9) A sustainability classification system to as8 sess the various types of restorative aquaculture on 

9 a range of life cycle ecological and social benefits 

10 and provides a composite score with which to rank 

11 such types of restorative aquaculture. 

12 TITLE III—COASTAL ZONE MAN13 AGEMENT ACT AMENDMENTS 

14 SEC. 301. GRANTS TO FURTHER ACHIEVEMENT OF TRIBAL 

15 COASTAL ZONE OBJECTIVES. 

16 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Coastal Zone Man17 agement Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.) is amended 

18 by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘GRANTS TO FURTHER ACHIEVEMENT OF TRIBAL

20 COASTAL ZONE OBJECTIVES

21 ‘‘SEC. 320. (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Sec22 retary may award competitive grants to Indian Tribes to 

23 further achievement of the objectives of such a Tribe for 

24 such Tribe’s Tribal coastal zone. 

25 ‘‘(b) COST SHARE.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of the 

2 cost of any activity carried out with a grant under 

3 this section shall be— 

4 ‘‘(A) in the case of a grant of less than 

5 $200,000, 100 percent of such cost; and 

6 ‘‘(B) in the case of a grant of $200,000 or 

7 more, 95 percent of such cost, except as pro8 vided in paragraph (2). 

9 ‘‘(2) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive the 

10 application of paragraph (1)(B) with respect to a 

11 grant to an Indian Tribe, or otherwise reduce the 

12 portion of the share of the cost of an activity re13 quired to be paid by an Indian Tribe under such 

14 paragraph, if the Secretary determines that the 

15 Tribe does not have sufficient funds to pay such por16 tion. 

17 ‘‘(c) COMPATIBILITY.—The Secretary may not award 

18 a grant under this section unless the Secretary determines 

19 that the activities to be carried out with the grant are 

20 compatible with this title and that the grantee has con21 sulted with the affected coastal state regarding the grant 

22 objectives and purposes. 

23 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZED OBJECTIVES AND PURPOSES.— 

24 Amounts awarded as a grant under this section shall be 

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1 ized under subsections (b) and (c), respectively, of section 

2 306A. 

3 ‘‘(e) FUNDING.—Of amounts appropriated to carry 

4 out this Act, $5,000,000 is authorized to carry out this 

5 section for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025. 

6 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 ‘‘(1) INDIAN LAND.—The term ‘Indian land’ 

8 has the meaning given such term in section 2601 of 

9 the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (25 U.S.C. 3501). 

10 ‘‘(2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian Tribe’ 

11 means an Indian Tribe, as that term is defined in 

12 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu13 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

14 ‘‘(3) TRIBAL COASTAL ZONE.—The term ‘Tribal 

15 coastal zone’ means any Indian land of an Indian 

16 Tribe that is within the coastal zone. 

17 ‘‘(4) TRIBAL COASTAL ZONE OBJECTIVE.—The 

18 term ‘Tribal coastal zone objective’ means, with re19 spect to an Indian Tribe, any of the following objec20 tives: 

21 ‘‘(A) Protection, restoration, or preserva22 tion of areas in the Tribal coastal zone of such 

23 Tribe that hold— 

24 ‘‘(i) important ecological, cultural, or 

25 sacred significance for such Tribe; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) traditional, historic, and esthetic 

2 values essential to such Tribe. 

3 ‘‘(B) Preparing and implementing a special 

4 area management plan and technical planning 

5 for important coastal areas. 

6 ‘‘(C) Any coastal or shoreline stabilization 

7 measure, including any mitigation measure, for 

8 the purpose of public safety, public access, or 

9 cultural or historical preservation.’’. 

10 (b) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 180 days after the 

11 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Com12 merce shall issue guidance for the program established 

13 under the amendment made by subsection (a), including 

14 the criteria for awarding grants under such program based 

15 on consultation with Indian Tribes (as that term is defined 

16 in that amendment). 

17 (c) USE OF STATE GRANTS TO FULFILL TRIBAL OB18 JECTIVES.—Section 306A(c)(2) of the Coastal Zone Man19 agement Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1455a(c)(2)) is amend20 ed— 

21 (1) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

22 and inserting a semicolon; 

23 (2) in subparagraph (E), by striking the period 

24 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

25 (3) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(F) fulfilling any Tribal coastal zone ob2 jective (as that term is defined in section 

3 320).’’. 

4 (d) OTHER PROGRAMS NOT AFFECTED.—Nothing in 

5 this section and the amendments made by this section may 

6 be construed to affect the ability of an Indian Tribe to 

7 apply for, receive assistance under, or participate in any 

8 program authorized by the Coastal Zone Management Act 

9 of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.) or other related Federal 

10 laws. 

11 SEC. 302. ELIGIBILITY OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA FOR 

12 FEDERAL FUNDING UNDER THE COASTAL 

13 ZONE MANAGEMENT ACT OF 1972. 

14 Section 304(4) of the Coastal Zone Management Act 

15 of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1453(4)) is amended by inserting ‘‘the 

16 District of Columbia,’’ after ‘‘the term also includes’’. 

17 SEC. 303. COASTAL AND ESTUARINE LAND CONSERVATION 

18 PROGRAM. 

19 Section 307A of the Coastal Zone Management Act 

20 of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1456–1) is amended— 

21 (1) by striking the heading and inserting 

22 ‘‘COASTAL AND ESTUARINE LAND CONSERVATION

23 PROGRAM’’; 

24 (2) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol25 lows: 


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1 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may conduct a 

2 Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program, in co3 operation with State, regional, and other units of govern4 ment, for the purposes of protecting important coastal and 

5 estuarine areas that— 

6 ‘‘(1) have significant conservation, recreation, 

7 coastal access, ecological, historical, or aesthetic 

8 value; 

9 ‘‘(2) are threatened by conversion from their 

10 natural, undeveloped, or recreational state to other 

11 uses; or 

12 ‘‘(3) could be managed or restored to effectively 

13 conserve, enhance, or restore ecological function or 

14 mitigate climate change.’’; 

15 (3) in subsection (c)— 

16 (A) by amending paragraph (7) to read as 

17 follows: 

18 ‘‘(7) Priority shall be given to lands that— 

19 ‘‘(A) can be effectively managed and pro20 tected and that have significant ecological 

21 value; 

22 ‘‘(B)(i) are under an imminent threat of 

23 conversion to a use that will degrade or other24 wise diminish their natural, undeveloped, or rec25 reational state; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) serve to mitigate the adverse impacts 

2 caused by coastal population growth in the 

3 coastal environment; 

4 ‘‘(iii) are within a national estuarine re5 search reserve designated under section 315, a 

6 national wildlife refuge, or a national estuary 

7 program, or are proposed for designation as 

8 such a reserve or other such protected area; or 

9 ‘‘(iv) are under threat due to climate 

10 change or may serve to mitigate the adverse ef11 fects of climate change, including through the 

12 storage of blue carbon, and to facilitate inland 

13 migration of coastal ecosystems in response to 

14 sea level rise; and 

15 ‘‘(C) to the maximum extent practicable, 

16 benefit communities that may not have ade17 quate resources to prepare for or respond to 

18 coastal hazards or to access the coastline, in19 cluding low income communities, communities 

20 of color, Tribal and Indigenous communities, 

21 and rural communities.’’; and 

22 (B) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘tri23 ennially’’ and inserting ‘‘every 5 years’’; 

24 (4) in subsection (f)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (2)(B), by inserting ‘‘for 

2 any territory of the United States that is un3 able to provide the match,’’ after ‘‘commu4 nity,’’; and 

5 (B) in paragraph (4)— 

6 (i) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking 

7 ‘‘meets the criteria set forth in section 

8 2(b)’’ and inserting ‘‘the goals set forth in 

9 subsection (b)’’; and 

10 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

11 ‘‘(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (A)’’; 

12 (5) in subsection (h), by striking the second 

13 sentence; and 

14 (6) in subsection (l), by striking ‘‘fiscal years 

15 2009 through 2013’’ and inserting ‘‘2021 through 

16 2025’’. 

17 SEC. 304. COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT FUND. 

18 Section 308 of Coastal Zone Management Act of 

19 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1456a) is amended to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT FUND

21 ‘‘SEC. 308. (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is estab22 lished a fund, to be known as the ‘Coastal Zone Manage23 ment Fund’, which shall consist of fees deposited into the 

24 Fund under section 307(i)(3) and any other funds appro25 priated to the Fund. 


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1 ‘‘(b) GRANTS FOR POST-DISASTER RESPONSE TO SE2 VERE COASTAL FLOOD EVENTS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In response to a major dis4 aster declared under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 

5 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

6 5121 et seq.) as a result of flood and related dam7 ages in the coastal zone of a State, the Secretary 

8 may issue a grant to such State for a purpose de9 scribed in paragraph (2). 

10 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE USES.—A State may use funds 

11 provided under this subsection to— 

12 ‘‘(A) improve resilience to future severe 

13 coastal flood hazards including activities and 

14 projects related to— 

15 ‘‘(i) publicly owned infrastructure; 

16 ‘‘(ii) residential and commercial struc17 tures; 

18 ‘‘(iii) natural infrastructure; or 

19 ‘‘(iv) waste disposal sites and indus20 trial facilities; 

21 ‘‘(B) assess damages after a major disaster 

22 described in paragraph (1); 

23 ‘‘(C) plan, design, or engineer a project 

24 to— 


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1 ‘‘(i) restore, expand, install, or relo2 cate natural infrastructure; 

3 ‘‘(ii) remove damaged assets, restore 

4 sites to safe conditions, and select alter5 native sites; or 

6 ‘‘(iii) facilitate the landward migration 

7 of coastal ecosystems; or 

8 ‘‘(D) implement a project described by 

9 subparagraph (C). 

10 ‘‘(3) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Secretary may 

11 issue a grant under this subsection for an amount 

12 not to exceed— 

13 ‘‘(A) 90 percent of the cost of an activity 

14 described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of para15 graph (2); 

16 ‘‘(B) except as provided in subparagraph 

17 (C), 60 percent of the cost of an activity de18 scribed in paragraph (2)(D); 

19 ‘‘(C) 75 percent of the cost of an activity 

20 provided for in a plan approved under sub21 section (f); or 

22 ‘‘(D) 100 percent of the cost of any activ23 ity described in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) 

24 of paragraph (2) responding to the effects of a 

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1 nity that is identified in a plan approved under 

2 subsection (f). 

3 ‘‘(c) GRANTS FOR SEVERE COASTAL FLOOD HAZARD

4 PLANNING.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, at the re6 quest of a Governor of a coastal state, may use 

7 amounts in the Fund to issue a grant to a coastal 

8 state with an approved coastal zone management 

9 program for the timely response to a severe coastal 

10 flood hazard. 

11 ‘‘(2) PROPOSAL.—To be considered for a grant 

12 under this section, a State shall submit a grant pro13 posal to the Secretary in a time, place, and manner 

14 determined by the Secretary. Such proposal shall— 

15 ‘‘(A) describe the risks that severe coastal 

16 flood hazards pose in the State and goals for 

17 reducing loss of life and property and sus18 taining coastal ecosystems in response to these 

19 risks; 

20 ‘‘(B) include consideration of related plans 

21 including the Coastal Zone Management Plan 

22 of the State, the Hazard Mitigation Plan of the 

23 State, and the severe coastal flood hazard pre24 paredness plans, if any, of neighboring States; 


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1 ‘‘(C) be developed in conjunction with local 

2 governments in the coastal zone of the State 

3 and provided for public review and comment on 

4 the plan, including holding a public hearing and 

5 engaging disadvantaged communities; and 

6 ‘‘(D) be substantially consistent with the 

7 guidance issued under subsection (e)(1)(C). 

8 ‘‘(3) CRITERIA.—In determining the amount of 

9 a grant under this subsection, the Secretary shall 

10 consider the— 

11 ‘‘(A) area and population of the coastal 

12 zone of the applicant State; 

13 ‘‘(B) the risks that severe coastal flood 

14 hazards pose to the State; and 

15 ‘‘(C) the reduction of severe coastal flood 

16 hazards expected as a result of the proposal. 

17 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF FUNDS TO BE

18 AWARDED.—Grants made pursuant to this sub19 section in any fiscal year shall not exceed 50 percent 

20 of the funds in the Fund as a result of appropria21 tions pursuant to subsection (j)(1). 

22 ‘‘(5) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

24 subparagraph (B), the Federal share of the cost 


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1 of an activity funded by a grant issued under 

2 this subsection shall not exceed— 

3 ‘‘(i) 75 percent of the cost of the ac4 tivity; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) 85 percent of the cost of the ac6 tivity in the case of a State that has en7 acted a requirement for the disclosure of 

8 severe coastal flood hazards, including sea 

9 level rise, that meets criteria for such dis10 closure established by the Secretary, to 

11 buyers of real estate in the coastal zone. 

12 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary may re13 duce or waive the matching requirement under 

14 paragraph (5) if a coastal state submits a writ15 ten request to the Secretary for a waiver with 

16 a justification as to why the State cannot meet 

17 the match requirement, and the Secretary de18 termines such justification sufficient to waive 

19 such requirement. 

20 ‘‘(d) GRANTS FOR SEVERE COASTAL FLOOD HAZARD

21 PLAN IMPLEMENTATION.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, at the Sec23 retary’s discretion or at the request of the Governor 

24 of a State, may use amounts in the Fund to issue 

25 grants to a coastal state with a severe coastal flood 


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1 hazard preparedness plan approved under subsection 

2 (f) to implement the approved plan. 

3 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Activities eligible 

4 for funding under this subsection include— 

5 ‘‘(A) conducting a public awareness cam6 paign to inform the public and decision-makers 

7 about severe coastal flood hazards; 

8 ‘‘(B) developing, enacting, and admin9 istering a state or local law prohibiting new and 

10 significantly expanded development in areas at 

11 risk of severe coastal flood hazards; 

12 ‘‘(C) developing, enacting, and admin13 istering a state requirement for disclosure of se14 vere coastal flood hazards, including sea level 

15 rise, to buyers of real estate; 

16 ‘‘(D) making grants to local governments, 

17 or regional consortiums of local governments, to 

18 implement the state plan, including develop19 ment of local or regional plans and site-specific 

20 plans or projects; and 

21 ‘‘(E) planning, designing, and imple22 menting projects to— 

23 ‘‘(i) protect existing public infrastruc24 ture and residential and commercial propVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:22 Jan 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00074 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5056.IS S5056

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1 erties, including built structures, natural 

2 infrastructure, and living shorelines; 

3 ‘‘(ii) relocate infrastructure or struc4 tures at risk of damage by severe coastal 

5 flood hazards, restore such sites to safe 

6 conditions, and select alternative sites; 

7 ‘‘(iii) remove structures damaged by 

8 severe coastal flood hazards and restore 

9 such site to safe conditions; 

10 ‘‘(iv) protect waste disposal facilities 

11 in areas at risk of severe coastal flood haz12 ards or relocate such facilities to alter13 native sites; and 

14 ‘‘(v) facilitate the landward migration 

15 of coastal ecosystems. 

16 ‘‘(3) CONSIDERATIONS.—Grants made pursuant 

17 to this subsection shall be in response to an annual 

18 request for proposals. In determining the amount of 

19 a grant, the Secretary shall consider— 

20 ‘‘(A) the area and population of the coastal 

21 zone of the State; 

22 ‘‘(B) the risks that severe coastal flood 

23 hazards pose in the State and the reduction of 

24 coastal flood hazards expected as a result of the 

25 proposal; 


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1 ‘‘(C) demonstration of innovative ap2 proaches to preparing for severe coastal flood 

3 hazards; and 

4 ‘‘(D) benefits to disadvantaged commu5 nities identified in a plan approved under sub6 section (f). 

7 ‘‘(4) FEDERAL SHARE.—A grant under this 

8 subsection shall be limited to 75 percent of the cost 

9 of the proposal, except that the Secretary may re10 duce or waive the such matching requirement if a 

11 coastal state submits to the Secretary in writing a 

12 request for a waiver with a justification as to why 

13 the State cannot meet the match requirement, and 

14 the Secretary agrees with the justification and 

15 grants the waiver. 

16 ‘‘(e) TECHNICAL SUPPORT TO STATES.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall take 

18 such actions as the Secretary determines necessary 

19 to support States in carrying out this section, in20 cluding at a minimum the following: 

21 ‘‘(A) Periodic assessment of storm flood 

22 risk and relative sea level and lake level changes 

23 along the United States coastline, including es24 timates of changes in storm intensity and relVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:22 Jan 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00076 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5056.IS S5056

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1 ative sea or lake levels by 2040, 2060, 2080, 

2 and 2100. 

3 ‘‘(B) Operation of an online mapping tool 

4 to describe areas at risk of temporary flooding 

5 from future coastal storms and permanent in6 undation as a result of sea or long term lake 

7 level changes. 

8 ‘‘(C) Publication, not later than 1 year 

9 after the date of enactment of this section and 

10 periodically thereafter, of guidance for the de11 velopment of State plans approved under sub12 section (f). 

13 ‘‘(D) Establishment, not later than 1 year 

14 after the date of enactment of the Ocean Cli15 mate Emergency Action Now Act of 2020, of 

16 minimum criteria for disclosure of severe coast17 al flood hazards, including sea level rise, to buy18 ers of real estate in the coastal zone. 

19 ‘‘(E) Creation, not later than 1 year after 

20 the date of enactment of the Ocean Climate 

21 Emergency Action Now Act of 2020, and peri22 odic updating, of an online dashboard describ23 ing the key features of State or local govern24 ment requirements for disclosure of severe 

25 coastal flood hazards to buyers of real estate. 


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1 ‘‘(F) Establishment, not later than 1 year 

2 after the date of enactment of the Ocean Cli3 mate Emergency Action Now Act of 2020, after 

4 consultation with the Administrator of the En5 vironmental Protection Agency, of standards for 

6 restoration to safe conditions of sites from 

7 which infrastructure or other structures have 

8 been relocated. 

9 ‘‘(2) The guidance developed by the Secretary 

10 pursuant to paragraph (1)(C) shall, at a minimum— 

11 ‘‘(A) provide information States need to 

12 establish State-specific estimates of severe 

13 coastal flood hazards, including more severe 

14 storms and relative sea and lake levels, and 

15 planning targets for such hazards for the years 

16 2040, 2060, 2080, and 2100; 

17 ‘‘(B) describe approaches the State should 

18 consider to prohibit new or expanded develop19 ment in areas at risk of severe coastal flood 

20 hazards; 

21 ‘‘(C) outline considerations for State 

22 grants to support local governments in the 

23 coastal zone, or consortiums of such govern24 ments acting on a regional basis, in developing 


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1 or implementing parts of a plan approved under 

2 subsection (f); 

3 ‘‘(D) describe methods for evaluation of re4 sponse options including construction of struc5 tures to protect assets and relocation to alter6 native sites, including cost comparison in the 

7 context of available resources, and related con8 siderations; 

9 ‘‘(E) review options for establishing prior10 ities for removal of damaged or abandoned 

11 structures and restoration of sites to safe condi12 tions; 

13 ‘‘(F) describe social justice policies and 

14 practices the State should consider adopting, in15 cluding criteria for identifying disadvantaged 

16 communities within the coastal zone of the 

17 State and the policies and practices the State 

18 should consider adopting to assure that inter19 ests of such communities are addressed in State 

20 plans developed pursuant to this section; 

21 ‘‘(G) identify areas in coastal communities, 

22 or other locations in the State, that have mini23 mal severe coastal flood hazards, that are ap24 propriate for relocation of people and assets, 


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1 and can sustain the identity and cultural herit2 age of relocated communities; 

3 ‘‘(H) provide information and practices for 

4 identifying coastal areas that are important to 

5 the successful landward migration of eco6 systems in response to severe coastal flood haz7 ards and measures for protecting these migra8 tion pathways; 

9 ‘‘(I) identify tools to identify waste dis10 posal sites and related sites that pose a risk of 

11 water pollution as a result of severe coastal 

12 flood hazards and describe practices the State 

13 should consider to protect or relocate such fa14 cilities or sites; and 

15 ‘‘(J) describe opportunities to improve 

16 public access to the shoreline as a result of im17 proved preparedness for severe coastal flood 

18 hazards. 

19 ‘‘(f) APPROVAL OF PLANS.—The Secretary shall es20 tablish a process for approving plans under this section. 

21 ‘‘(g) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary may use 

22 amounts in the Fund for expenses incident to the adminis23 tration of this section, in an amount not to exceed 

24 $250,000 or 3 percent of the amount in the Fund, which25 ever is less, for each year. 


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1 ‘‘(h) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall, 

2 not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of the 

3 Ocean Climate Emergency Action Now Act of 2020, and 

4 every 3 years thereafter, submit to the Committee on Nat5 ural Resources of the House of Representatives and the 

6 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

7 the Senate a report describing the development of plans 

8 and projects under this section, changes in severe coastal 

9 flood hazards, including changes to risks to disadvantaged 

10 communities, and making recommendations to better re11 spond to these challenges. 

12 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 ‘‘(1) DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES.—The 

14 term ‘disadvantaged communities’ means areas of 

15 the coastal state identified in a plan approved under 

16 subsection (f) that disproportionately suffer from a 

17 combination of economic, health, and environmental 

18 burdens including poverty, high unemployment, air 

19 and water pollution, presence of hazardous wastes as 

20 well as high incidence of asthma and heart disease. 

21 ‘‘(2) GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 

22 ‘green infrastructure’ has the meaning provided in 

23 section 502(27) of the Federal Water Pollution Con24 trol Act (33 U.S.C. 1362(27)). 


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1 ‘‘(3) LIVING SHORELINE.—The term ‘living 

2 shoreline’ means a protected, stabilized coastal edge 

3 made of natural materials such as plants designed to 

4 provide wildlife habitat, as well as natural resilience 

5 to shorelines. 

6 ‘‘(4) NATURAL INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 

7 ‘natural infrastructure’ means coastal wetlands, 

8 beaches, dunes, marshes, mangrove forests, munic9 ipal green infrastructure, and living shorelines. 

10 ‘‘(5) PUBLICLY OWNED INFRASTRUCTURE.— 

11 The term ‘publicly owned infrastructure’ means 

12 buildings, structures, and facilities and appur13 tenances of drinking water, sewage treatment, nat14 ural gas, or electric power utilities owned by a mu15 nicipal, county, or State government or a combina16 tion of such governments. 

17 ‘‘(6) SAFE CONDITIONS.—The term ‘safe condi18 tions’ refers to standards for restoration of sites 

19 from which infrastructure or structures are relocated 

20 established by the Secretary pursuant to subsection 

21 (e)(1)(F) and are protective of human health and 

22 the environment. 

23 ‘‘(7) SEVERE COASTAL FLOOD HAZARDS.—The 

24 term ‘severe coastal flood hazards’ means temporary 

25 flooding resulting from coastal storms and storm 


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1 surge, tsunamis, and changing lake levels and per2 manent inundation from rising sea levels and land 

3 subsidence, including landward migration of shore4 lines impacting residential and commercial property, 

5 infrastructure, and ecosystems. 

6 ‘‘(8) WASTE DISPOSAL SITE.—The term ‘waste 

7 disposal site’ means a publicly or privately owned 

8 solid waste landfill or disposal site, hazardous waste 

9 landfill of disposal site, sites included on the Na10 tional Priorities List developed under the Com11 prehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, 

12 and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.), 

13 and sites for the disposal of coal combustion residu14 als from coal-fired power plants, provided that such 

15 sites are identified in a plan approved under sub16 section (f). 

17 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

19 appropriated into the Fund for use by the Secretary 

20 $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 

21 2025, which shall remain available until expended 

22 without fiscal year limitation. 

23 ‘‘(2) MAJOR DISASTERS.—There is authorized 

24 to be appropriated into the Fund for use by the Sec25 retary to respond to a major disaster declared under 


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1 the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer2 gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) such 

3 sums as may be necessary. Funds appropriated pur4 suant to this paragraph may only be used to make 

5 grants to the State or States in which the major dis6 aster occurred and shall remain available until ex7 pended without fiscal year limitation.’’. 

8 SEC. 305. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

9 Section 318(a) of the Coastal Zone Management Act 

10 of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1464(a)) is amended to read as fol11 lows: 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be ap13 propriated to the Secretary, to remain available until ex14 pended— 

15 ‘‘(1) for grants under sections 306, 306A, and 

16 309, $95,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 

17 through 2025; and 

18 ‘‘(2) for grants under section 315, $37,000,000 

19 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025.’’. 

20 SEC. 306. AMENDMENTS TO NATIONAL ESTUARINE RE21 SEARCH RESERVE SYSTEM PROGRAM. 

22 (a) DESIGNATION OF ADDITIONAL RESERVES.—Not 

23 later than 5 years after the date of the enactment of this 

24 Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall designate not less 

25 than 5 new national estuarine reserves under section 315 


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1 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 

2 1461) that ensure the National Estuarine Research Re3 serve System includes areas in— 

4 (1) all biogeographic regions of the United 

5 States; and 

6 (2) each coastal state (as that term is defined 

7 in that Act). 

8 (b) GUIDELINES FOR TRACKING AND MODELING THE

9 IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE.—Section 315(c) of the 

10 Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 

11 1461(c)) is amended— 

12 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through 

13 (5) as paragraphs (4) through (6); and 

14 (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(3) the establishment of coordinated long-term 

17 data monitoring and methods throughout the Sys18 tem for tracking and modeling the impacts of cli19 mate change on estuarine systems, including impacts 

20 on lake levels and sea levels;’’. 

21 (c) PROMOTION AND COORDINATION OF ESTUARINE

22 RESEARCH.—Section 315(d) of the Coastal Zone Manage23 ment Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1461(d)) is amended— 

24 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 

25 inserting a semicolon; 


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1 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at 

2 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

3 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(3) establishing and managing the Margaret 

5 A. Davidson Graduate Research Fellowship to pro6 vide, subject to the availability of appropriations, fi7 nancial assistance to graduate research that utilizes 

8 the national estuarine research reserves; 

9 ‘‘(4) establishing a Central Data Management 

10 office and System Science Collaborative; and 

11 ‘‘(5) carrying out monitoring, education, exten12 sion, and coastal training programs throughout the 

13 System.’’. 

14 (d) LAND ACQUISITION AND CONSTRUCTION.—Sec15 tion 315 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 

16 (16 U.S.C. 1461) is amended by adding at the end the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(h) LAND ACQUISITION AND CONSTRUCTION.—The 

19 Secretary may use funds authorized under section 318 for 

20 land acquisition and the construction and renovations of 

21 facilities required to meet delivery of System programs 

22 and services, or to meet changing needs of programs under 

23 this title. Such construction shall incorporate green design 

24 principles, materials, energy efficiency, and adaptive reuse 

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1 nology and management strategies that enhance resilience 

2 of System facilities and lands.’’. 

3 TITLE IV—COASTAL RESILIENCY 

4 AND ADAPTATION 

5 SEC. 401. LIVING SHORELINE GRANT PROGRAM. 

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall 

7 make grants to eligible entities for purposes of— 

8 (1) designing and implementing large- and 

9 small-scale, climate-resilient living shoreline projects; 

10 and 

11 (2) applying innovative uses of natural mate12 rials and systems to protect coastal communities, 

13 habitats, and natural system functions. 

14 (b) PROJECT PROPOSALS.—To be eligible to receive 

15 a grant under this section, an eligible entity shall— 

16 (1) submit to the Administrator a proposal for 

17 a living shoreline project, including monitoring, data 

18 collection, and measurable performance criteria with 

19 respect to the project; 

20 (2) demonstrate to the Administrator that the 

21 entity has any permits or other authorizations from 

22 local, State, and Federal Government agencies nec23 essary to carry out the living shoreline project or 

24 provide evidence demonstrating general support from 

25 such agencies; and 


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1 (3) include an engagement or education compo2 nent that seeks and solicits feedback from the local 

3 or regional community most directly affected by the 

4 proposal. 

5 (c) PROJECT SELECTION.— 

6 (1) DEVELOPMENT OF CRITERIA.—The Admin7 istrator shall select eligible entities to receive grants 

8 under this section based on criteria developed by the 

9 Administrator, in consultation with relevant offices 

10 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis11 tration, such as the Office of Habitat Conservation, 

12 the Office for Coastal Management, and the Res13 toration Center. 

14 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing criteria 

15 under paragraph (1) to evaluate a proposed living 

16 shoreline project, the Administrator shall take into 

17 account— 

18 (A) the potential of the project to protect 

19 the community and maintain the viability of the 

20 environment, such as through protection of eco21 system functions, environmental benefits, or 

22 habitat types, in the area where the project is 

23 to be carried out; 

24 (B) the historic and future environmental 

25 conditions of the project site, particularly those 


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1 environmental conditions affected by climate 

2 change; 

3 (C) the net ecological benefits of the 

4 project including the potential of the project to 

5 contribute to carbon sequestration; 

6 (D) the ability of the entity proposing the 

7 project to demonstrate the potential of the 

8 project to protect the coastal community where 

9 the project is to be carried out, including 

10 through— 

11 (i) mitigating the effects of erosion; 

12 (ii) attenuating the impact of coastal 

13 storms and storm surge; 

14 (iii) mitigating shoreline flooding; 

15 (iv) mitigating the effects of sea level 

16 rise, accelerated land loss, and extreme 

17 tides; 

18 (v) sustaining, protecting, or restoring 

19 the functions and habitats of coastal eco20 systems; 

21 (vi) protecting important cultural sites 

22 or values; or 

23 (vii) such other forms of coastal pro24 tection as the Administrator considers ap25 propriate; and 


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1 (E) the potential of the project to support 

2 resiliency at a military installation or commu3 nity infrastructure supportive of a military in4 stallation (as such terms are defined in section 

5 2391 of title 10, United States Code). 

6 (3) PRIORITY.—In selecting living shoreline 

7 projects to receive grants under this section, the Ad8 ministrator shall give priority consideration to a pro9 posed project to be conducted in an area— 

10 (A) for which the President has declared, 

11 during the 10-year period preceding the submis12 sion of the proposal for the project under sub13 section (b), that a major disaster exists pursu14 ant to section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford 

15 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 

16 (42 U.S.C. 5170) because of a hurricane, trop17 ical storm, coastal storm, or flooding; 

18 (B) that has a documented history of 

19 coastal erosion or frequent coastal inundation 

20 during that 10-year period; or 

21 (C) that includes communities that may 

22 not have adequate resources to prepare for or 

23 respond to coastal hazards, including low in24 come communities, communities of color, Tribal 


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1 communities, Indigenous communities, and 

2 rural communities. 

3 (4) MINIMUM STANDARDS.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

5 shall develop minimum standards to be used in 

6 selecting eligible entities to receive grants under 

7 this section, taking into account— 

8 (i) the considerations described in 

9 paragraph (2); 

10 (ii) the need for such standards to be 

11 general enough to accommodate concerns 

12 relating to specific project sites; and 

13 (iii) the consideration of an estab14 lished eligible entity program with systems 

15 to disburse funding from a single grant to 

16 support multiple small-scale projects. 

17 (B) CONSULTATIONS.—In developing 

18 standards under subparagraph (A), the Admin19 istrator— 

20 (i) shall consult with relevant offices 

21 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

22 Administration, such as the Office of Habi23 tat Conservation, the Office for Coastal 

24 Management, and the Restoration Center; 

25 and 


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1 (ii) may consult with— 

2 (I) relevant interagency councils, 

3 such as the Estuary Habitat Restora4 tion Council; 

5 (II) Indian Tribes and Tribal or6 ganizations; 

7 (III) State coastal management 

8 agencies; and 

9 (IV) relevant nongovernmental 

10 organizations. 

11 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—A grant awarded under this 

12 section to an eligible entity to carry out a living shoreline 

13 project may be used by the eligible entity only— 

14 (1) to carry out the project, including adminis15 tration, design, permitting, entry into negotiated in16 direct cost rate agreements, and construction; 

17 (2) to monitor, collect, and report data on the 

18 performance (including performance over time) of 

19 the project, in accordance with standards issued by 

20 the Administrator under subsection (f)(3); or 

21 (3) to incentivize landowners to engage in living 

22 shoreline projects. 

23 (e) COST SHARING.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para25 graph (2), an eligible entity that receives a grant 


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1 under this section to carry out a living shoreline 

2 project shall provide, from non-Federal sources, 

3 funds or other resources (such as land or conserva4 tion easements or in-kind matching from private en5 tities) valued at not less than 50 percent of the total 

6 cost, including administrative costs, of the project. 

7 (2) REDUCED MATCHING REQUIREMENT FOR

8 CERTAIN COMMUNITIES.—The Administrator may 

9 reduce or waive the matching requirement under 

10 paragraph (1) for an eligible entity representing a 

11 community or nonprofit organization if— 

12 (A) the eligible entity submits to the Ad13 ministrator in writing— 

14 (i) a request for such a reduction or 

15 waiver and, in the case of a request for a 

16 reduction, the amount of the reduction; 

17 and 

18 (ii) a justification for why the entity 

19 cannot meet the matching requirement; 

20 and 

21 (B) the Administrator agrees with the jus22 tification. 

23 (f) MONITORING AND REPORTING.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall re25 quire each eligible entity receiving a grant under this 


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1 section (or a representative of the entity) to carry 

2 out a living shoreline project— 

3 (A) to transmit to the Administrator data 

4 collected under the project; 

5 (B) to monitor the project and to collect 

6 data on— 

7 (i) the ecological and economic bene8 fits of the project and the protection pro9 vided by the project for the coastal com10 munity where the project is carried out, in11 cluding through— 

12 (I) mitigating the effects of ero13 sion; 

14 (II) attenuating the impact of 

15 coastal storms and storm surge; 

16 (III) mitigating shoreline flood17 ing; 

18 (IV) mitigating the effects of sea 

19 level rise, accelerated land loss, and 

20 extreme tides; 

21 (V) sustaining, protecting, or re22 storing the functions and habitats of 

23 coastal ecosystems; or 


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1 (VI) such other forms of coastal 

2 protection as the Administrator con3 siders appropriate; and 

4 (ii) the performance of the project in 

5 providing such protection; 

6 (C) to make data collected under the 

7 project available on a publicly accessible inter8 net website of the National Oceanic and Atmos9 pheric Administration; and 

10 (D) not later than 1 year after the entity 

11 receives the grant, and annually thereafter until 

12 the completion of the project, to submit to the 

13 Administrator a report on— 

14 (i) the data described in subparagraph 

15 (B); and 

16 (ii) the effectiveness of the project in 

17 increasing protection of the coastal com18 munity where the project is carried out 

19 through living shorelines techniques, in20 cluding— 

21 (I) a description of— 

22 (aa) the project; 

23 (bb) the activities carried 

24 out under the project; and 


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1 (cc) the techniques and ma2 terials used in carrying out the 

3 project. 

4 (2) GUIDELINES.—In developing guidelines re5 lating to the data collected under paragraph (1)(B), 

6 the Administrator shall consider how additional data 

7 could safely be collected before and after major dis8 asters or severe weather events to measure project 

9 performance and project recovery. 

10 (3) STANDARDS.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

12 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

13 Administrator shall, in consultation with rel14 evant offices of the National Oceanic and At15 mospheric Administration, relevant interagency 

16 councils, and relevant nongovernmental organi17 zations, issue standards for the monitoring, col18 lection, and reporting under subsection (d)(2) 

19 of data regarding the performance of living 

20 shoreline projects for which grants are awarded 

21 under this section. 

22 (B) REPORTING.—The standards issued 

23 under subparagraph (A) shall require an eligi24 ble entity receiving a grant under this section 


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1 to report the data described in that subpara2 graph to the Administrator on a regular basis. 

3 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

4 authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator 

5 $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025 

6 for purposes of carrying out this section. 

7 (h) MINIMUM REQUIRED FUNDS FOR SHORELINE

8 PROJECTS LOCATED WITHIN THE GREAT LAKES.—The 

9 Secretary shall use not less than 10 percent of the funds 

10 awarded under this section for grants to projects located 

11 in the Great Lakes. 

12 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti14 ty’’ means any of the following: 

15 (A) A unit of a State or local government. 

16 (B) An organization described in section 

17 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

18 that is exempt from taxation under section 

19 501(a) of such Code. 

20 (C) An Indian Tribe. 

21 (2) LIVING SHORELINE PROJECT.—The term 

22 ‘‘living shoreline project’’— 

23 (A) means a project that— 

24 (i) restores or stabilizes a shoreline, 

25 including marshes, wetlands, and other 


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1 vegetated areas that are part of the shore2 line ecosystem, by using natural materials 

3 and systems to create buffers to attenuate 

4 the impact of coastal storms, currents, 

5 flooding, and wave energy and to prevent 

6 or minimize shoreline erosion while pro7 viding a net ecological benefit to eco8 systems and habitats; 

9 (ii) incorporates as many natural ele10 ments as possible, such as native wetlands, 

11 kelp forests, submerged aquatic plants, 

12 corals, oyster shells, native grasses, shrubs, 

13 or trees; 

14 (iii) utilizes techniques that incor15 porate ecological and coastal engineering 

16 principles in shoreline stabilization; and 

17 (iv) to the extent possible, maintains 

18 or restores existing natural slopes and con19 nections between uplands and adjacent 

20 wetlands or surface waters; 

21 (B) may include the use of— 

22 (i) natural elements, such as sand, 

23 wetland plants, logs, oysters or other shell24 fish, submerged aquatic vegetation, corals, 


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1 native grasses, shrubs, trees, or coir fiber 

2 logs; 

3 (ii) project elements that provide eco4 logical benefits to coastal ecosystems and 

5 habitats in addition to shoreline protection; 

6 and 

7 (iii) structural materials, such as 

8 stone, concrete, wood, vinyl, oyster domes, 

9 or other approved engineered structures in 

10 combination with natural materials; and 

11 (C) may include a project that expands 

12 upon or restores natural living shorelines or ex13 isting living shoreline projects. 

14 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

15 the several States, the District of Columbia, the 

16 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States 

17 Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the 

18 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

19 SEC. 402. NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMIN20 ISTRATION COASTAL RESILIENCE RESEARCH 

21 GRANTS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall annually 

23 carry out a competitively awarded grant program (referred 

24 to in this section as the ‘‘Program’’) focused on inter25 disciplinary coastal resilience and sustainability. 


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1 (b) OBJECTIVE.—The objective of the Program shall 

2 be to develop scalable, best practices— 

3 (1) to prepare more resilient, sustainable coast4 al communities; and 

5 (2) to reduce disaster recovery costs. 

6 (c) COLLABORATION.—The Administrator shall con7 duct the Program in collaboration with business and in8 dustry, government agencies, academic institutions, and 

9 coastal community stakeholders. 

10 (d) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for a grant under 

11 the Program, an applicant shall be an institution of higher 

12 education, nonprofit organization, State, local, or Tribal 

13 government, for-profit organization, United States terri14 tory, or Federal agency that has statutory authority to 

15 receive transfers of funds. 

16 (e) COASTAL RESILIENCE RESEARCH COMPETITIVE

17 GRANTS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—In awarding grants under 

19 the Program, the Administrator shall give priority to 

20 coastal resilience research projects that focus on— 

21 (A) protecting life and critical infrastruc22 ture; 

23 (B) developing decision-support tools use24 ful to coastal communities; 


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1 (C) determining societal, ecological, and re2 siliency benefits of coastal restoration and nat3 ural, nature-based, and man-made infrastruc4 ture, and how those benefits affect the sustain5 ability of coastal ecosystems; 

6 (D) volunteer and community-science mon7 itoring of coastal and marine resources as part 

8 of efforts to protect coastal communities from 

9 sea level rise; 

10 (E) monitoring and developing ecosystem11 based approaches to managing coastal eco12 systems to promote sustainability; 

13 (F) assessing and enhancing the capacity 

14 of human communities to adapt to coastal nat15 ural disasters; 

16 (G) assessing coastal vulnerability and 

17 risk; 

18 (H) evaluating adaptation and restoration 

19 approaches to reduce risk, including through 

20 the use of natural, nature-based, and man-made 

21 features; 

22 (I) minimizing costs associated with dam23 ages incurred from natural disasters, flooding, 

24 and sea level rise; and 


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1 (J) developing curriculum for new pro2 grams in coastal restoration at public commu3 nity colleges and within college Sea Grant pro4 grams to train the new coastal restoration 

5 workforce. 

6 (f) DONATIONS.—The Administrator may accept and 

7 use donations of funds to implement this section. 

8 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 

10 ‘‘critical infrastructure’’ means infrastructure, in11 cluding natural or nature-based infrastructure, the 

12 destruction or damaging of which would have a de13 bilitating impact on national security or economic se14 curity, undermine community resiliency and adapta15 tion, or threaten public health or safety. 

16 (2) NATURAL AND NATURE-BASED FEA17 TURES.—The term ‘‘natural’’ or ‘‘nature-based fea18 tures’’ means coastal wetlands, beaches, dunes, 

19 marshes, mangrove forests, municipal green infra20 structure, and living shorelines. 

21 SEC. 403. GRANTS FOR RECOVERING OYSTERS. 

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall es23 tablish a grant program (in this section referred to as the 

24 ‘‘Program’’) under which the Administrator shall award 

25 grants to eligible entities for the purpose of conducting 


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1 research on the conservation, restoration, or management 

2 of oysters in estuarine ecosystems. 

3 (b) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

4 under this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the 

5 Administrator an application at such time, in such man6 ner, and containing such information as the Administrator 

7 may require. 

8 (c) ALLOCATION OF GRANT FUNDS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 

10 award a grant under the Program to eligible entities 

11 that submit an application under subsection (b). 

12 (2) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

14 subparagraph (B), the total amount of Federal 

15 funding received under the Program by an eligi16 ble entity may not exceed 85 percent of the 

17 total cost of the research project for which the 

18 funding was awarded. For the purposes of this 

19 subparagraph, the non-Federal share of project 

20 costs may be provided by in-kind contributions 

21 and other noncash support. 

22 (B) WAIVER.—The Administrator may 

23 waive all or part of the requirement in subpara24 graph (A) if the Administrator determines that 

25 no reasonable means are available through 


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1 which an eligible entity applying for a grant 

2 under this section can meet such requirement 

3 and the probable benefit of such research 

4 project outweighs the public interest in such re5 quirement. 

6 (3) EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION.—The Adminis7 trator shall ensure, to the maximum extent prac8 ticable, that grant funding under this section is ap9 portioned according to the historic baseline oyster 

10 population of each estuary of the United States. 

11 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 (1) ACADEMIC COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘aca13 demic community’’ means faculty, researchers, pro14 fessors, and representatives of State-accredited col15 leges and universities. 

16 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti17 ty’’ means a member of the academic community, a 

18 member of the seafood industry, a relevant nonprofit 

19 organization, or a relevant State agency, that is pro20 posing or conducting a research project on the con21 servation, restoration, or management of oysters in 

22 an estuarine ecosystem developed through consulta23 tion with a member of the academic community, a 

24 member of the seafood industry, a relevant nonprofit 

25 organization, or a relevant State agency. 


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1 (3) HISTORIC BASELINE.—The term ‘‘historic 

2 baseline’’ means the estimated population of oysters 

3 in an estuary in 1850. 

4 (4) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 

5 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization de6 scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 

7 Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under section 

8 501(a) of such Code. 

9 (5) SEAFOOD INDUSTRY.—The term ‘‘seafood 

10 industry’’ means shellfish growers, shellfish har11 vesters, commercial fishermen, and recreational fish12 ermen. 

13 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

14 authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator 

15 $6,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025 

16 to carry out this section. 

17 SEC. 404. IMPROVEMENTS TO THE NATIONAL OCEANS AND 

18 COASTAL SECURITY ACT. 

19 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 902 of the National 

20 Oceans and Coastal Security Act (16 U.S.C. 7501) is 

21 amended— 

22 (1) by amending paragraph (5) to read as fol23 lows: 

24 ‘‘(5) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian Tribe’ 

25 has the meaning given such term in section 4 of the 


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1 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

2 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304).’’; 

3 (2) by amending paragraph (7) to read as fol4 lows: 

5 ‘‘(7) TIDAL SHORELINE.—The term ‘tidal 

6 shoreline’ means a ‘tidal shoreline’ or a ‘Great Lake 

7 shoreline’ as such terms are used in section 

8 923.110(c)(2)(i) of title 15, Code of Federal Regula9 tions, or a similar successor regulation.’’; and 

10 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(8) BLUE CARBON.—The term ‘blue carbon’ 

12 means the ability of an ocean or coastal ecosystem, 

13 habitat, or other natural resource to absorb, capture, 

14 and contain atmospheric carbon dioxide.’’. 

15 (b) IMPROVEMENTS TO NATIONAL OCEANS AND

16 COASTAL SECURITY FUND.— 

17 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND REQUIRED.— 

18 Subsection (a) of section 904 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 

19 7503) is amended by inserting ‘‘and jointly manage’’ 

20 after ‘‘establish’’. 

21 (2) DEPOSITS.—Paragraph (1) of section 

22 904(b) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 7503(b)) is amended 

23 to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be deposited 

2 into the Fund, which shall constitute the assets of 

3 the Fund, amounts as follows: 

4 ‘‘(A) Amounts appropriated for the Fund. 

5 ‘‘(B) Such other amounts as may be ap6 propriated or otherwise made available to carry 

7 out this title.’’. 

8 (3) EXPENDITURES.—Section 904 of such Act 

9 (16 U.S.C. 7503) is amended by striking subsection 

10 (d) and inserting the following: 

11 ‘‘(d) EXPENDITURE.— 

12 ‘‘(1) AMOUNTS DEPOSITED EQUALING OR EX13 CEEDING $100,000,000.—If amounts deposited into 

14 the Fund in a fiscal year equal or exceed 

15 $100,000,000— 

16 ‘‘(A) not more than 80 percent of such 

17 amounts may be used in that fiscal year for the 

18 award of grants under subsection (b) of section 

19 906; 

20 ‘‘(B) not more than 20 percent of such 

21 amounts may be used in that fiscal year for the 

22 award of grants under subsection (c) of such 

23 section; and 

24 ‘‘(C) not more than 4 percent of such 

25 amounts may be used in that fiscal year by the 


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1 Administrator and the Foundation for adminis2 trative expenses to carry out this title, which 

3 amount shall be divided between the Adminis4 trator and the Foundation pursuant to an 

5 agreement reached and documented by both the 

6 Administrator and the Foundation. 

7 ‘‘(2) AMOUNTS DEPOSITED OF LESS THAN

8 $100,000,000.—If amounts deposited into the Fund in 

9 a fiscal year are less than $100,000,000— 

10 ‘‘(A) all of such amounts shall be used in 

11 that fiscal year for the award of grants under 

12 subsection (c) of section 906; and 

13 ‘‘(B) not more than 4 percent may be used 

14 by the Administrator and the Foundation for 

15 administrative expenses to carry out this title, 

16 which amount shall be divided between the Ad17 ministrator and the Foundation pursuant to an 

18 agreement reached and documented by both the 

19 Administrator and the Foundation.’’. 

20 (c) ELIGIBLE USES OF THE FUND.—Section 905 of 

21 such Act (16 U.S.C. 7504) is amended to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘SEC. 905. ELIGIBLE USES. 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Amounts in the Fund may be 

24 allocated by the Administrator and the Foundation to sup25 port programs and activities intended to protect, conserve, 


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1 restore, better understand, and utilize ocean and coastal 

2 resources and coastal infrastructure, including scientific 

3 research, resiliency and spatial planning, data-sharing, 

4 and other programs and activities carried out in coordina5 tion with Federal and State departments or agencies, in6 cluding the following: 

7 ‘‘(1) Ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes restora8 tion and protection, including efforts to address po9 tential impacts of sea level change, sedimentation, 

10 erosion, changes in ocean chemistry, hurricanes and 

11 other extreme weather, flooding, and changes in 

12 ocean temperature to natural resources, commu13 nities, and coastal economies. 

14 ‘‘(2) Restoration, protection, or maintenance of 

15 living ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources and 

16 their habitats, including habitats and ecosystems 

17 that provide blue carbon benefits. 

18 ‘‘(3) Planning for and managing coastal devel19 opment to enhance ecosystem and community integ20 rity, or to minimize impacts from sea level change, 

21 hurricanes and other extreme weather, flooding, and 

22 coastal erosion. 

23 ‘‘(4) Projects to address management, planning, 

24 or resiliency and readiness issues which are regional 


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1 or interstate in scope, such as regional ocean part2 nerships or similar bodies. 

3 ‘‘(5) Efforts that contribute to the under4 standing of ecological, economic, societal, and na5 tional security threats driven by changes to the 

6 oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes. 

7 ‘‘(6) Efforts to preserve, protect, and collect 

8 data, including through public ocean and coastal 

9 data portals, that would support sustainable water10 dependent commercial activities, including commer11 cial fishing, recreational fishing businesses, aqua12 culture, boat building, or other coastal-related busi13 nesses. 

14 ‘‘(7) Efforts to assist coastal States in repo15 sitioning, relocating, or deploying natural or nature16 based features to enhance the resiliency of critical 

17 coastal transportation and emergency response, 

18 water, electrical, and other infrastructure that are 

19 already subject to or face increased future risks of 

20 hurricanes, coastal flooding, coastal erosion, or sea 

21 level change to ensure the economic security, safety, 

22 and ecological well-being of the coasts of the United 

23 States. 

24 ‘‘(8) Acquiring property or interests in property 

25 if— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the property is located within a coast2 al county or adjacent county; 

3 ‘‘(B) the property or interests in property 

4 are acquired through the voluntary sale, ex5 change, or donation of the property or interests 

6 in property by the previous owner; 

7 ‘‘(C) the Governor of the State in which 

8 the property or interests in property are located 

9 approves of the acquisition; and 

10 ‘‘(D) the property or interests in property 

11 are acquired in a manner that will ensure that 

12 the property or interests in property will be ad13 ministered to support the purposes of this title. 

14 ‘‘(9) Protection and modification of critical 

15 coastal public infrastructure affected by erosion, 

16 hurricanes or other extreme weather, flooding, or sea 

17 level change. 

18 ‘‘(10) Assistance for small businesses and com19 munities that are dependent on coastal tourism to 

20 help coastal economies minimize impacts from sea 

21 level rise and disasters. 

22 ‘‘(11) Projects that use natural and nature23 based approaches for enhancing the resiliency of 

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1 pared to general water infrastructure, which may in2 clude drinking water systems). 

3 ‘‘(12) Technical assistance to help develop com4 prehensive resilience and mitigation plans. 

5 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR LITIGA6 TION.—No funds made available under this title may be 

7 used to fund litigation against the Federal Government.’’. 

8 (d) GRANTS.— 

9 (1) ADMINISTRATION.—Subsection (a)(1) of 

10 section 906 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 7505) is amend11 ed— 

12 (A) by amending subparagraph (B) to read 

13 as follows: 

14 ‘‘(B) Selection procedures and criteria for 

15 the awarding of grants under this section that 

16 require consultation with the Administrator and 

17 the Secretary of the Interior.’’; 

18 (B) by amending subparagraph (C)(ii) to 

19 read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(ii) under subsection (c) to entities 

21 including States, local governments, re22 gional and interstate collaboratives, asso23 ciations, nonprofit and for-profit private 

24 entities, public-private partnerships, aca25 demic institutions, and Indian Tribes.’’; 


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1 (C) in subparagraph (F), by striking ‘‘year 

2 if grants have been awarded in that year’’ and 

3 inserting ‘‘5 years’’; and 

4 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(I) A method to give special consideration 

6 in reviewing proposals to projects with either di7 rect or indirect coastal or marine blue carbon 

8 benefits and an accounting methodology to 

9 quantify those benefits for the purposes of the 

10 annual report required under section 907.’’. 

11 (2) GRANTS TO COASTAL STATES.—Subsection 

12 (b) of section 906 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 7505) is 

13 amended to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘(b) GRANTS TO COASTAL STATES.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to section 

16 904(d)(1) and paragraphs (2) and (3) of this sub17 section, the Administrator and the Foundation shall 

18 award grants to coastal States as follows: 

19 ‘‘(A) 50 percent of the funds provided 

20 through such grants shall be allocated equally 

21 among such coastal States. 

22 ‘‘(B) 25 percent of such funds shall be al23 located on the basis of the ratio of tidal shore24 line miles in a coastal State to the tidal shore25 line miles of all coastal States. 


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1 ‘‘(C) 25 percent of such funds shall be al2 located on the basis of the ratio of population 

3 density of the coastal counties of a coastal 

4 State to the average population density of all 

5 coastal counties based on the most recent data 

6 available from the Bureau of the Census. 

7 ‘‘(2) MAXIMUM ALLOCATION TO STATES.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not more than 5 per9 cent of the total funds distributed under this 

10 subsection may be allocated to any one coastal 

11 State. 

12 ‘‘(B) REDISTRIBUTION.—Any amount ex13 ceeding the limitation under subparagraph (A) 

14 that would by reason of paragraph (1) be allo15 cated to a coastal State shall be redistributed 

16 equally among the remaining coastal States. 

17 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENT TO SUBMIT PLANS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to re19 ceive a grant under this subsection, a coastal 

20 State shall submit to the Administrator for re21 view and approval a 5-year plan, which shall in22 clude the following: 

23 ‘‘(i) Criteria pursuant to which the 

24 coastal State will determine the eligibility 


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1 of entities to receive funds provided to the 

2 coastal State pursuant to the grant. 

3 ‘‘(ii) A description of the competitive 

4 process the coastal State will use in allo5 cating such funds, except in the case of al6 locating funds under paragraph (6), which 

7 shall include— 

8 ‘‘(I) a description of the relative 

9 roles in the process of, and the con10 sistency with process with, the State 

11 coastal zone management program ap12 proved under the Coastal Zone Man13 agement Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1451 

14 et seq.), if the coastal State has such 

15 a plan, and any State Sea Grant Pro16 gram, if the State has such program; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(II) a demonstration that such 

19 competitive process is consistent with 

20 the application and review procedures 

21 established under subsection (a)(1). 

22 ‘‘(iii) A description of the process the 

23 coastal State will use to certify that any 

24 project or program, and the award of any 

25 contract for the expenditure of such funds, 


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1 is consistent with the standard procure2 ment rules and regulations governing com3 parable projects, programs, and contracts 

4 in the coastal State, including all applica5 ble competitive bidding and audit require6 ments. 

7 ‘‘(iv) A description of the procedures 

8 the coastal State will use to make publicly 

9 available on the internet— 

10 ‘‘(I) a list of all activities sup11 ported using such funds; and 

12 ‘‘(II) with respect to each such 

13 activity, an identification of, at a min14 imum, the recipient of such funds, the 

15 amount of such funds provided, a de16 scription of the activity, and the sta17 tus of the activity. 

18 ‘‘(B) UPDATES.—A coastal State that re19 ceives a grant under this subsection shall sub20 mit to the Administrator, not less frequently 

21 than once every 5 years after first receiving 

22 such a grant, an update to the plan submitted 

23 by the coastal State under subparagraph (A) 

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1 lowing the most recent plan or update sub2 mitted under this paragraph. 

3 ‘‘(4) OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.—In 

4 determining whether to approve a plan or an update 

5 to a plan described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of 

6 paragraph (3), the Administrator or the Foundation 

7 shall provide the opportunity for, and take into con8 sideration, public input and comment on the plan. 

9 ‘‘(5) INDIAN TRIBES.—A coastal State that re10 ceives a grant under this subsection shall ensure 

11 that Indian Tribes in the coastal State are eligible 

12 to participate in the competitive process described in 

13 the plan of the coastal State under paragraph 

14 (3)(A)(ii). 

15 ‘‘(6) NONPARTICIPATION BY A STATE.—In any 

16 year, if a coastal State does not submit the plan re17 quired by paragraph (3) or declines the award of a 

18 grant under this subsection, the funds that would 

19 have been allocated to the coastal State shall be re20 distributed equally among the remaining coastal 

21 States.’’. 

22 (3) NATIONAL GRANTS FOR OCEANS, COASTS, 

23 AND GREAT LAKES.—Subsection (c) of such section 

24 is amended— 

25 (A) in paragraph (2)— 


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1 (i) in subparagraph (B)— 

2 (I) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘; 

3 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

4 (II) by redesignating clause (iii) 

5 as clause (iv); and 

6 (III) by inserting after clause (ii) 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘(iii) nongovernmental organizations; 

9 and’’; and 

10 (ii) by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(C) CAP ON STATE FUNDING.—The 

13 amount of a grant awarded under this sub14 section shall not count toward the maximum 

15 amount that may be allocated to a coastal State 

16 under subsection (b)(2).’’; and 

17 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(3) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The Adminis19 trator and the Foundation shall require that non20 Federal funds be available for a percentage of the 

21 costs (as determined by the Administrator or the 

22 Foundation, as applicable) of the activities for which 

23 any grant is awarded under this subsection.’’. 


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1 (e) ANNUAL REPORT.—Section 907(b) of the Na2 tional Oceans and Coastal Security Act (16 U.S.C. 

3 7506(b)) is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 

5 inserting a semicolon; 

6 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at 

7 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

8 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(4) an estimate of blue carbon benefits, in 

10 tons of carbon dioxide, expected through grants 

11 awarded to projects that received special consider12 ation under section 906 due to the potential blue 

13 carbon benefits of the projects.’’. 

14 (f) FUNDING.—Section 908 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 

15 7507) is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 908. FUNDING. 

17 ‘‘There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

18 this title $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2021 and each fiscal 

19 year thereafter.’’. 

20 SEC. 405. RESTORATION GRANTS FOR COASTLINES AND 

21 FISHERIES. 

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

23 a grant program to provide funding and technical assist24 ance to eligible entities for purposes of carrying out a 

25 project described in subsection (d). 


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1 (b) PROJECT PROPOSAL.—To be considered for a 

2 grant under this section, an eligible entity shall submit 

3 a grant proposal to the Secretary in a time, place, and 

4 manner determined by the Secretary. Such proposal shall 

5 include monitoring, data collection, and measurable per6 formance criteria with respect to the project. 

7 (c) DEVELOPMENT OF CRITERIA.—The Secretary 

8 shall select eligible entities to receive grants under this 

9 section based on criteria developed by the Secretary, in 

10 consultation with relevant offices of the National Oceanic 

11 and Atmospheric Administration, such as the Office of 

12 Habitat Conservation and the Office for Coastal Manage13 ment. 

14 (d) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—A project is described in 

15 this subsection if— 

16 (1) the purpose of the project is to restore a 

17 marine, estuarine, coastal, or Great Lake habitat, 

18 including— 

19 (A) restoration of habitat to protect or re20 cover a species that is threatened, endangered, 

21 or a species of concern under the Endangered 

22 Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); 

23 (B) through the removal or remediation of 

24 marine debris, including derelict vessels and 

25 fishing gear, in coastal and marine habitats; or 


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1 (C) for the benefit of— 

2 (i) shellfish; 

3 (ii) fish, including diadromous fish; or 

4 (iii) coral reef; or 

5 (2) provides adaptation to climate change, in6 cluding by constructing or protecting ecological fea7 tures or nature-based infrastructure that protects 

8 coastal communities from sea level rise, coastal 

9 storms, or flooding, and blue carbon projects. 

10 (e) PRIORITY.—In determining which projects to 

11 fund under this section, the Secretary shall give priority 

12 to a proposed project— 

13 (1) that would stimulate the economy; 

14 (2) for which the applicant can demonstrate 

15 that the grant will fund work that will begin not 

16 more than 90 days after the date of the award; 

17 (3) for which the applicant can demonstrate 

18 that the grant will fund work that will employ fish19 ermen who have been negatively impacted by the 

20 COVID–19 pandemic or pay a fisherman for the use 

21 of a fishing vessel; 

22 (4) for which the applicant can demonstrate 

23 that any preliminary study or permit required before 

24 the project can begin has been completed or can be 

25 completed shortly after an award is made; or 


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1 (5) that includes communities that may not 

2 have adequate resources including low income com3 munities, communities of color, Tribal communities, 

4 Indigenous communities, and rural communities. 

5 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

6 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 

7 $3,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2021 to carry out this sec8 tion, to remain available until expended. 

9 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti11 ty’’ means a nonprofit, a for-profit business, an in12 stitution of higher education, or a State, local, Trib13 al, or Territorial government. 

14 (2) FISHERMEN.—The term ‘‘fishermen’’ 

15 means commercial or for-hire fishermen or oyster 

16 farmers. 

17 (3) SECRETARY.—In this section, the term 

18 ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of Commerce, act19 ing through the Administrator of the National Oce20 anic and Atmospheric Administration. 

21 SEC. 406. STRATEGIC CLIMATE CHANGE RELOCATION INI22 TIATIVE AND PROGRAM. 

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF INITIATIVE.—The Chairman 

24 of the Council on Environmental Quality (in this section 

25 referred to as the ‘‘Chair’’) shall establish an initiative, 


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1 to be known as the ‘‘Strategic Climate Change Relocation 

2 Initiative’’ (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Initiative’’), 

3 for the purposes of coordinating Federal agency activities 

4 to identify and assist communities that have expressed af5 firmative interest in relocation due to health, safety, and 

6 environmental impacts from climate change, including 

7 hurricanes, flooding, sea level rise, and repeat wildfires. 

8 (b) DIRECTOR.—The Chair shall appoint a Strategic 

9 Climate Relocation Director to manage the Initiative. 

10 (c) CONSULTATION.—The Chair shall coordinate and 

11 consult with Federal agencies conducting activities related 

12 to this section including the National Oceanic and Atmos13 pheric Administration, the Department of the Interior, in14 cluding the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Environmental 

15 Protection Agency, the Federal Emergency Management 

16 Agency, the Department of Housing and Urban Develop17 ment, the Denali Commission, the Corps of Engineers, the 

18 Office of Management and Budget, the National Economic 

19 Council, the National Security Council, the interagency 

20 subgroup on Tribal resilience of the White House Council 

21 on Native American Affairs, and other Federal agencies 

22 as appropriate. 

23 (d) EXTERNAL ADVISORY PANEL.—The Chair shall 

24 establish an external advisory panel that may include com25 munity leaders, non-governmental organizations, State 


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1 and local government representatives, Tribal leaders, In2 digenous community representatives, climate adaptation 

3 professionals, and other relevant experts as appropriate. 

4 (e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 years 

5 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Chair shall 

6 submit to Congress a report recommending key elements 

7 of a program, to be known as the ‘‘Strategic Climate 

8 Change Relocation Program’’ (in this section referred to 

9 as the ‘‘Program’’) to identify and assist communities that 

10 have expressed affirmative interest in relocation due to 

11 health, safety, and environmental impacts from climate 

12 change. The report shall— 

13 (1) identify— 

14 (A) areas where climate change impacts 

15 make relocation a likely climate change adapta16 tion strategy; 

17 (B) communities that have expressed af18 firmative interest in relocation (in this section 

19 referred to as ‘‘sending communities’’); and 

20 (C) potential relocation areas and commu21 nities that have expressed interest in attracting 

22 climate migrants (in this section referred to as 

23 ‘‘receiving communities’’); 

24 (2) propose criteria to qualify for climate relo25 cation assistance, with preference given to disadvanVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:22 Jan 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00124 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5056.IS S5056

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1 taged communities where community members have 

2 indicated a preference for retreat and would other3 wise be challenged to relocate; 

4 (3) describe the roles and responsibilities of 

5 specific Federal agencies in implementing the Pro6 gram and how the Program should be coordinated 

7 with applicable State and Federal agency plans and 

8 programs and identify Federal programs that can be 

9 tailored to incentivize self-identification of commu10 nities as receiving areas; 

11 (4) outline the role that State and local govern12 ments should play in implementing the Program, in13 cluding identification of areas or communities where 

14 people leaving areas vulnerable to climate change 

15 can consider locating, and the specific resources 

16 needed to prepare those communities to be receiving 

17 communities in terms of Federal investment in in18 frastructure, affordable housing, and social services; 

19 (5) summarize existing Federal and State pro20 grams for purchase of individual properties vulner21 able to the impacts of climate change and propose 

22 how those programs might be restructured, im23 proved, or expanded to incentivize climate change re24 location; 


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1 (6) describe measures that governments or 

2 other organizations can take to reduce the psycho3 logical stress associated with relocation to preserve 

4 or support the historical and cultural identity of 

5 communities being relocated and to restore and con6 serve areas that communities are relocated from as 

7 publicly accessible natural assets, and how Federal 

8 programs will support those efforts; 

9 (7) identify and recommend measures to over10 come how institutional barriers, such as Federal pro11 grams that do not account for Tribal sovereignty, 

12 constrain Tribal communities’ ability to pursue self13 determined management of their resources and built 

14 environment; 

15 (8) identify measures that Congress, Federal 

16 agencies, or State and local governments should take 

17 to discourage or restrict new development and hard 

18 structural measures in areas vulnerable to such sig19 nificant climate change impacts that they are likely 

20 to require a solution that includes relocation, in par21 ticular, where the Federal Government could estab22 lish stricter funding requirements for post-disaster 

23 funding that require updated building codes and 

24 land use strategies reflecting climate risk; 


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1 (9) describe existing policies and clarify respon2 sibilities of governments in complying with obliga3 tions to protect private property, including providing 

4 just compensation for any taking of private prop5 erty; 

6 (10) propose an application process, available 

7 online, for States and communities to express af8 firmative interest in climate relocation assistance, ei9 ther as a leaving community or receiving community; 

10 (11) provide guidance on and identify additional 

11 funding for operations and maintenance require12 ments for vacated land, and identify the resources 

13 needed to prioritize public access, recreational 

14 spaces, or conservation areas; 

15 (12) review efficacy of existing flood mitigation 

16 strategies on reducing flood risk to human popu17 lations, and identify opportunities to coordinate 

18 blue-green infrastructure solutions with buyout pro19 grams that increase the resilience of remaining resi20 dents; and 

21 (13) outline the amount and timing of Federal 

22 funding that is expected to be needed to implement 

23 the Program. 


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1 (f) DEVELOPMENT OF REPORT TO CONGRESS.—In 

2 developing the report required by subsection (e), the Chair 

3 shall— 

4 (1) provide for public review of and public com5 ment on a draft of the report; 

6 (2) consult with organizations representing 

7 State and local governments; 

8 (3) consult with the external advisory panel es9 tablished under subsection (d); and 

10 (4) evaluate projects implemented under the 

11 National Disaster Resilience Competition adminis12 tered by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Devel13 opment. 

14 (g) CLIMATE CHANGE STRATEGIC RELOCATION PRO15 GRAM PILOT PROJECTS.—Not later than 2 years after the 

16 date on which the report required by subsection (e) is sub17 mitted, the Chair shall establish and carry out pilot 

18 projects based upon the recommendations included in such 

19 report. 

20 (h) SUBSEQUENT PERIODIC REPORTS TO CON21 GRESS.—Not later than 3 years after the date on which 

22 the report required by subsection (e) is submitted, and 

23 every 3 years thereafter, the Chair shall submit to Con24 gress a report evaluating progress in the implementation 


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1 of the Program and making recommendations for needed 

2 changes to the Program. 

3 TITLE V—OCEAN HEALTH: 

4 OCEAN ACIDIFICATION AND 

5 HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS 

6 Subtitle A—Coastal Communities 

7 Ocean Acidification 

8 SEC. 501. STATE AND UNITED STATES DEFINED. 

9 Section 12403 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Re10 search And Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3702) is 

11 amended— 

12 (1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para13 graph (4); 

14 (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(3) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each 

17 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 

18 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American 

19 Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern 

20 Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands of the United 

21 States, and any other territory or possession of the 

22 United States.’’; and 

23 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(5) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘United 

25 States’ means the States, collectively.’’. 


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1 SEC. 502. COASTAL COMMUNITY VULNERABILITY ASSESS2 MENT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 12406 of the Federal 

4 Ocean Acidification Research And Monitoring Act of 2009 

5 (33 U.S.C. 3705) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘(referred to 

7 in this section as the ‘Program’)’’ after ‘‘acidifica8 tion program’’; 

9 (2) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub10 section (d); and 

11 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(b) COMMUNITY VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

15 after the date of the enactment of the Ocean Cli16 mate Emergency Action Now Act of 2020 and every 

17 7 years thereafter, the Secretary, through the ‘Pro18 gram’, shall conduct an ocean acidification coastal 

19 community vulnerability assessment, and issue a cor20 responding public report. 

21 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The assessment con22 ducted under paragraph (1) shall— 

23 ‘‘(A) identify the United States coastal 

24 communities, including island communities, low25 population rural communities, and subsistence 

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1 al and ocean resources that may be impacted by 

2 ocean acidification; 

3 ‘‘(B) assess the nature of the social and 

4 economic vulnerabilities of those communities, 

5 including the economic effect on local or re6 gional commercial fisheries and recreational op7 portunities and over what timescales such ef8 fects will be felt; 

9 ‘‘(C) identify the ocean acidification im10 pacts that might harm those communities, both 

11 in isolation and in conjunction with other 

12 changing ocean conditions, including effects 

13 from changes in ocean and coastal marine re14 sources that are not managed by the Federal 

15 Government; 

16 ‘‘(D) identify key knowledge gaps where 

17 research could be devoted to better understand 

18 the possible impacts of ocean acidification on 

19 those communities, the risks and threats facing 

20 those communities, and possible adaptation 

21 strategies for those communities; and 

22 ‘‘(E) be conducted in collaboration with ex23 perts, including traditional knowledge experts, 

24 and individuals who are familiar with the 

25 unique economic, social, ecological, geographic, 


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1 and resource concerns of coastal communities in 

2 the United States, including representatives 

3 from— 

4 ‘‘(i) the National Marine Fisheries 

5 Service and the Office for Coastal Manage6 ment of the National Oceanic and Atmos7 pheric Administration; 

8 ‘‘(ii) National Integrated Coastal and 

9 Ocean Observation System regional infor10 mation coordination entities established 

11 under section 12304(c)(4) of the Inte12 grated Coastal and Ocean Observation 

13 System Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 

14 3603(c)(4)); 

15 ‘‘(iii) regional ocean acidification net16 works; and 

17 ‘‘(iv) State sea grant programs (as de18 fined in section 203 of the National Sea 

19 Grant College Program Act (33 U.S.C. 

20 1122)). 

21 ‘‘(c) SUPPORT FOR STATE AND LOCAL VULNER22 ABILITY ASSESSMENTS AND STRATEGIC RESEARCH

23 PLANNING.—In carrying out the Program, the Secretary 

24 shall collaborate with State, local, and Tribal government 

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1 ability assessments, strategic research planning, or other 

2 similar activities related to ocean acidification and its im3 pacts on coastal communities, for the purpose of— 

4 ‘‘(1) determining whether such activities can be 

5 used as a model for other communities; and 

6 ‘‘(2) identifying opportunities for the National 

7 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other 

8 relevant Federal agencies to support such activi9 ties.’’. 

10 (b) ONGOING INPUT MECHANISM.—Section 

11 12404(b)(5) of the Federal Ocean Acidification Research 

12 And Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3703(b)(5)) is 

13 amended— 

14 (1) by striking ‘‘including information’’ and in15 serting the following: ‘‘including— 

16 ‘‘(A) information’’; 

17 (2) by striking the period at the end and insert18 ing ‘‘; and’’; and 

19 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(B) an ongoing mechanism that allows af21 fected industry members, coastal stakeholders, 

22 non-Federal resource managers, community 

23 acidification networks, Indigenous knowledge 

24 groups, and scientific experts not employed by 

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1 search, data, and monitoring that is necessary 

2 to support on-the-ground management, decision 

3 making, and adaptation related to ocean acidifi4 cation and the effects of such acidification; 

5 and’’. 

6 (c) STRATEGIC RESEARCH PLAN.—Section 12405 of 

7 the Federal Ocean Acidification Research And Monitoring 

8 Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3704) is amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (b)— 

10 (A) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

11 the end; 

12 (B) in paragraph (9), by striking the pe13 riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

14 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(10) make recommendations to conduct re16 search in areas, including the social sciences and ec17 onomics, to address the key knowledge gaps identi18 fied in the community vulnerability assessment re19 port conducted under section 12406(b); and’’; and 

20 (2) in subsection (e), by inserting ‘‘, Tribal gov21 ernment, Indigenous and traditional knowledge ex22 pert,’’ after ‘‘industry’’. 

23 (d) REPORT ON SUPPORT FOR STATE AND LOCAL

24 VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENTS AND STRATEGIC RE25 SEARCH PLANNING.—Not later than 180 days after the 


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1 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 

2 submit to Congress a report detailing the efforts of the 

3 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to sup4 port State, local, and Tribal community vulnerability as5 sessments, strategic research and planning, and moni6 toring needs, pursuant to section 12406(c) of the Federal 

7 Ocean Acidification Research And Monitoring Act of 2009 

8 (as added by subsection (a)). 

9 Subtitle B—Ocean Acidification 

10 Prize Competitions 

11 SEC. 511. PRIZE COMPETITIONS. 

12 Section 12404 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Re13 search And Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3703) is 

14 amended by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(d) PRIZE COMPETITIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any Federal agency with a 

17 representative serving on the interagency working 

18 group established under this section may, either in19 dividually or in cooperation with 1 or more agencies, 

20 carry out a program to award prizes competitively 

21 under section 24 of the Stevenson-Wydler Tech22 nology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3719). An 

23 agency seeking to carry out such a program shall 

24 carry out such program in coordination with the 

25 chair of such interagency working group. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PURPOSES.—Any prize competition carried 

2 out under this subsection shall be for the purpose of 

3 stimulating innovation to advance our Nation’s abil4 ity to understand, research, or monitor ocean acidifi5 cation or its impacts, or to develop management or 

6 adaptation options for responding to ocean acidifica7 tion. 

8 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY PROGRAMS.—Priority shall be 

9 given to establishing programs under this section 

10 that address communities, environments, or indus11 tries that are in distress due to the impacts of ocean 

12 acidification, including— 

13 ‘‘(A) the development of monitoring or 

14 management options for communities or indus15 tries that are experiencing significant financial 

16 hardship; 

17 ‘‘(B) the development of adaptation op18 tions to alleviate economic harm and job loss 

19 caused by ocean acidification; 

20 ‘‘(C) the development of measures to help 

21 vulnerable communities or industries, with an 

22 emphasis on rural communities and businesses; 

23 and 


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1 ‘‘(D) the development of adaptation and 

2 management options for impacted shellfish in3 dustries.’’. 

4 Subtitle C—Coastal and Ocean 

5 Acidification Stressors and 

6 Threats Research 

7 SEC. 521. PURPOSES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 12402(a) of the Federal 

9 Ocean Acidification Research And Monitoring Act of 2009 

10 (33 U.S.C. 3701(a)) is amended— 

11 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

12 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

13 (A), by striking ‘‘development and coordina14 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘coordination and imple15 mentation’’; 

16 (B) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

17 ‘‘acidification on marine organisms’’ and insert18 ing ‘‘acidification and coastal acidification on 

19 marine organisms’’; and 

20 (C) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘es21 tablish’’ and all that follows through the semi22 colon and inserting ‘‘maintain and advise an 

23 interagency research, monitoring, and public 

24 outreach program on ocean acidification and 

25 coastal acidification;’’; 


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1 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘establish2 ment’’ and inserting ‘‘maintenance’’; 

3 (3) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘and coastal 

4 acidification’’ after ‘‘ocean acidification’’; and 

5 (4) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘and coastal 

6 acidification that take into account other environ7 mental and anthropogenic stressors’’ after ‘‘ocean 

8 acidification’’. 

9 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

10 Section 12402 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Re11 search And Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3701(a)) 

12 is amended by striking ‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—’’. 

13 SEC. 522. DEFINITIONS. 

14 Section 12403 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Re15 search And Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3702), as 

16 amended by section 501 of this Act, is further amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘of the 

18 Earth’s oceans’’ and all that follows before the pe19 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘and changes in the 

20 water chemistry of the Earth’s oceans, coastal estu21 aries, and waterways caused by carbon dioxide from 

22 the atmosphere and the breakdown of organic mat23 ter’’; 

24 (2) in paragraph (4), as redesignated by section 

25 501(a) of this Act, by striking ‘‘Joint Subcommittee 


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1 on Ocean Science and Technology’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology’’; 

3 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through 

4 (5) as paragraphs (2) through (6), respectively; and 

5 (4) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so re6 designated, the following new paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(1) COASTAL ACIDIFICATION.—The term 

8 ‘coastal acidification’ means the combined decrease 

9 in pH and changes in the water chemistry of coastal 

10 oceans, estuaries, and other bodies of water from 

11 chemical inputs (including carbon dioxide from the 

12 atmosphere), freshwater inputs, and excess nutrient 

13 run-off from land and coastal atmospheric pollution 

14 that result in processes that release carbon dioxide, 

15 acidic nitrogen, and sulfur compounds as byproducts 

16 which end up in coastal waters.’’. 

17 SEC. 523. INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP. 

18 Section 12404 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Re19 search And Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3703) is 

20 amended— 

21 (1) in the heading, by striking ‘‘SUB22 COMMITTEE’’ and inserting ‘‘WORKING GROUP’’; 

23 (2) in subsection (a)— 

24 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Joint 

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1 nology of the National Science and Technology 

2 Council shall coordinate Federal activities on 

3 ocean acidification and’’ and inserting ‘‘Sub4 committee shall’’; 

5 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘Wildlife 

6 Service,’’ and inserting ‘‘Wildlife Service, the 

7 Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the En8 vironmental Protection Agency, the Department 

9 of Agriculture, the Department of State, the 

10 Department of Energy, the Department of the 

11 Navy, the National Park Service, the Bureau of 

12 Indian Affairs, the National Institute of Stand13 ards and Technology, the Smithsonian Institu14 tion,’’; and 

15 (C) in paragraph (3), in the heading, by 

16 striking ‘‘CHAIRMAN’’ and inserting ‘‘CHAIR’’; 

17 (3) in subsection (b)— 

18 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, in19 cluding the efforts of the National Oceanic and 

20 Atmospheric Administration to facilitate such 

21 implementation’’ after ‘‘of the plan’’; 

22 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

23 (i) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 

24 ‘‘and coastal acidification’’ after ‘‘ocean 

25 acidification’’; and 


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1 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 

2 ‘‘and coastal acidification’’ after ‘‘ocean 

3 acidification’’; 

4 (C) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

5 and inserting a semicolon; 

6 (D) in paragraph (5), as amended by sec7 tion 502(b) of this Act— 

8 (i) by striking ‘‘developed’’ and insert9 ing ‘‘and coastal acidification developed’’; 

10 and 

11 (ii) by striking ‘‘impacts of ocean 

12 acidification’’and inserting ‘‘impacts of 

13 ocean acidification and coastal acidifica14 tion’’; and 

15 (E) by adding at the end the following new 

16 paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(6) ensure that each of the Federal agencies 

18 represented on the interagency working group— 

19 ‘‘(A) participates in the Ocean Acidifica20 tion Information Exchange established under 

21 paragraph (5); and 

22 ‘‘(B) delivers data and information to sup23 port the data archive system established under 

24 section 12406(f).’’; 

25 (4) in subsection (c), in paragraph (2)— 


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1 (A) by inserting ‘‘, and to the Office of 

2 Management and Budget,’’ after ‘‘House of 

3 Representatives’’; and 

4 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘the 

5 interagency research’’ and inserting ‘‘inter6 agency strategic research’’; 

7 (5) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub8 section (d); and 

9 (6) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(c) ADVISORY BOARD.— 

12 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Chair of the Sub13 committee shall establish an Ocean Acidification Ad14 visory Board. 

15 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The Advisory Board shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) not later than 180 days before the 

17 Subcommittee submits the most recent report 

18 under subsection (d)(2)— 

19 ‘‘(i) review such report; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) submit an analysis of such report 

21 to the Subcommittee for consideration in 

22 the final report submitted under subsection 

23 (d)(2); 

24 ‘‘(B) concurrently with the Subcommittee’s 

25 final submission of the report under subsection 


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1 (d)(2), submit a copy of the analysis provided 

2 to the Subcommittee to the Committee on Com3 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Sen4 ate, the Committee on Science, Space, and 

5 Technology of the House of Representatives, 

6 and the Committee on Natural Resources of the 

7 House of Representatives; 

8 ‘‘(C) not later than 180 days before the 

9 Subcommittee submits the most recent strategic 

10 research plan under subsection (d)(3) to Con11 gress— 

12 ‘‘(i) review such plan; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) submit an analysis of such plan 

14 and the implementation thereof to the Sub15 committee for consideration in the final 

16 strategic research plan submitted under 

17 subsection (d)(3); 

18 ‘‘(D) concurrently with the Subcommittee’s 

19 final submission of the strategic research plan 

20 under subsection (d)(3), submit a copy of the 

21 analysis provided to the Subcommittee to the 

22 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans23 portation of the Senate, the Committee on 

24 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 


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1 Representatives, and the Committee on Natural 

2 Resources of the House of Representatives; 

3 ‘‘(E) provide ongoing advice to the Sub4 committee and the interagency working group 

5 on matters related to Federal activities on 

6 ocean acidification and coastal acidification; 

7 ‘‘(F) advise the Subcommittee and the 

8 interagency working group on— 

9 ‘‘(i) efforts to coordinate research and 

10 monitoring activities related to ocean acidi11 fication and coastal acidification; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) the best practices for the stand13 ards developed for data archiving under 

14 section 12406(g); 

15 ‘‘(G) publish in the Federal Register a 

16 charter; 

17 ‘‘(H) provide the Library of Congress 

18 with— 

19 ‘‘(i) the charter described in subpara20 graph (G); 

21 ‘‘(ii) any schedules and minutes for 

22 meetings of the Advisory Board; 

23 ‘‘(iii) any documents that are ap24 proved by the Advisory Board; and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) any reports and analysis pre2 pared by the Advisory Board; and 

3 ‘‘(I) establish a publicly accessible web 

4 page on the website of the National Oceanic 

5 and Atmospheric Administration, that contains 

6 the information described in clauses (i) through 

7 (iv) of subparagraph (H). 

8 ‘‘(3) MEMBERSHIP.—The Advisory Board shall 

9 consist of 24 members as follows: 

10 ‘‘(A) Two representatives of the shellfish 

11 and crab industry. 

12 ‘‘(B) One representative of the finfish in13 dustry. 

14 ‘‘(C) One representative of seafood proc15 essors. 

16 ‘‘(D) Three representatives from academia, 

17 including both natural and social sciences. 

18 ‘‘(E) One representative of recreational 

19 fishing. 

20 ‘‘(F) One representative of relevant non21 governmental organizations. 

22 ‘‘(G) Six representatives from relevant 

23 State, local, and Tribal governments. 

24 ‘‘(H) One representative from the Alaska 

25 Ocean Acidification Network. 


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1 ‘‘(I) One representative from the California 

2 Current Acidification Network. 

3 ‘‘(J) One representative from the North4 east Coastal Acidification Network. 

5 ‘‘(K) One representative from the South6 east Coastal Acidification Network. 

7 ‘‘(L) One representative from the Gulf of 

8 Mexico Coastal Acidification Network. 

9 ‘‘(M) One representative from the Mid-At10 lantic Coastal Acidification Network. 

11 ‘‘(N) One representative from the Pacific 

12 Islands Ocean Observing System or similar en13 tity representing the island Territories and pos14 sessions of the United States in the Pacific 

15 Ocean, and the State of Hawaii. 

16 ‘‘(O) One representative from the Carib17 bean Regional Association for Coastal Ocean 

18 Observing or a similar entity representing Puer19 to Rico and the United States Virgin Islands. 

20 ‘‘(P) One representative from the National 

21 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall 

22 serve as an ex-officio member of the Advisory 

23 Board without a vote. 

24 ‘‘(4) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.—The Chair 

25 of the Subcommittee shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) appoint members to the Advisory 

2 Board (taking into account the geographical in3 terests of each individual to be appointed as a 

4 member of the Advisory Board to ensure that 

5 an appropriate balance of geographical interests 

6 are represented by the members of the Advisory 

7 Board) who— 

8 ‘‘(i) represent the interest group for 

9 which each seat is designated; 

10 ‘‘(ii) demonstrate expertise on ocean 

11 acidification or coastal acidification and its 

12 scientific, economic, industry, cultural, and 

13 community impacts; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) have a record of distinguished 

15 service with respect to ocean acidification 

16 or coastal acidification, and such impacts; 

17 ‘‘(B) give consideration to nominations and 

18 recommendations from the members of the 

19 interagency working group and the public for 

20 such appointments; and 

21 ‘‘(C) ensure that an appropriate balance of 

22 scientific, industry, and geographical interests 

23 are represented by the members of the Advisory 

24 Board. 


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1 ‘‘(5) TERM OF MEMBERSHIP.—Each member of 

2 the Advisory Board— 

3 ‘‘(A) shall be appointed for a 5-year term; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(B) may be appointed to more than 1 

6 term. 

7 ‘‘(6) CHAIR.—The Chair of the Subcommittee 

8 shall appoint 1 member of the Advisory Board to 

9 serve as the Chair of the Advisory Board. 

10 ‘‘(7) MEETINGS.—Not less than once each cal11 endar year, the Advisory Board shall meet at such 

12 times and places as may be designated by the Chair 

13 of the Advisory Board, in consultation with the 

14 Chair of the Subcommittee and the Chair of the 

15 interagency working group. 

16 ‘‘(8) BRIEFING.—The Chair of the Advisory 

17 Board shall brief the Subcommittee and the inter18 agency working group on the progress of the Advi19 sory Board as necessary. 

20 ‘‘(9) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.— 

21 Section 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act 

22 shall not apply to the Advisory Board.’’. 


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1 SEC. 524. STRATEGIC RESEARCH PLAN. 

2 Section 12405 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Re3 search And Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3704) is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a)— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘acidification’’ each place it 

7 appears and inserting ‘‘acidification and coastal 

8 acidification’’; 

9 (B) in the first sentence— 

10 (i) by inserting ‘‘, and not later than 

11 every 5 years thereafter’’ after ‘‘the date of 

12 enactment of this Act’’; 

13 (ii) by inserting ‘‘address the socio14 economic impacts of ocean acidification 

15 and coastal acidification and to’’ after 

16 ‘‘mitigation strategies to’’; and 

17 (iii) by striking ‘‘marine ecosystems’’ 

18 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘eco19 systems’’; and 

20 (C) in the second sentence, by inserting 

21 ‘‘and recommendations made by the Advisory 

22 Board in the review of the plan required under 

23 section 12404(c)(2)(C)(i)’’ after ‘‘subsection 

24 (d)’’; 

25 (2) in subsection (b), as amended by section 

26 502(c) of this Act— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘and so2 cial sciences’’ after ‘‘among the ocean sciences’’; 

3 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

4 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

5 ‘‘impacts’’ and inserting ‘‘impacts, includ6 ing trends of changes in ocean chemistry,’’; 

7 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 

8 (I) by striking ‘‘improve the abil9 ity to assess the’’ and inserting ‘‘as10 sess the short-term and long-term’’; 

11 and 

12 (II) by striking ‘‘; and’’ at the 

13 end and inserting a semicolon; 

14 (iii) by amending subparagraph (C) to 

15 read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(C) provide information for the— 

17 ‘‘(i) development of adaptation and 

18 mitigation strategies to address the socio19 economic impacts of ocean acidification 

20 and coastal acidification; 

21 ‘‘(ii) conservation of marine organisms 

22 and ecosystems; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) assessment of the effectiveness 

24 of such adaptation and mitigation strate25 gies; and’’; and 


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1 (iv) by adding at the end the following 

2 new subparagraph: 

3 ‘‘(D) improve research on— 

4 ‘‘(i) ocean acidification and coastal 

5 acidification; 

6 ‘‘(ii) the interactions between and ef7 fects of multiple combined stressors includ8 ing changes in water chemistry, changes in 

9 sediment delivery, hypoxia, and harmful 

10 algal blooms, on ocean acidification and 

11 coastal acidification; and 

12 ‘‘(iii) the effect of environmental 

13 stressors on marine resources and eco14 systems;’’; 

15 (C) in paragraph (3)— 

16 (i) in subparagraph (F), by striking 

17 ‘‘database development’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘data management’’; 

19 (ii) in subparagraph (H) by striking 

20 ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

21 (iii) by adding at the end the fol22 lowing new subparagraphs: 

23 ‘‘(J) assessment of adaptation and mitiga24 tion strategies; and 

25 ‘‘(K) education and outreach activities;’’; 


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1 (D) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘set 

2 forth’’ and inserting ‘‘ensure an appropriate 

3 balance of contribution in establishing’’; 

4 (E) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘reports’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘the best available peer-reviewed 

6 scientific reports’’; 

7 (F) in paragraph (6)— 

8 (i) by inserting ‘‘and coastal acidifica9 tion’’ after ‘‘ocean acidification’’; and 

10 (ii) by striking ‘‘of the United States’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘within the United States’’; 

12 (G) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘outline 

13 budget requirements’’ and inserting ‘‘estimate 

14 costs associated for full implementation of each 

15 element of the plan by fiscal year’’; 

16 (H) in paragraph (8)— 

17 (i) by inserting ‘‘and coastal acidifica18 tion’’ after ‘‘ocean acidification’’ each place 

19 it appears; and 

20 (ii) by striking ‘‘its’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘their’’; and 

22 (I) by adding at the end the following new 

23 paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(11) describe monitoring needs necessary to 

25 support potentially affected industry members, 


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1 coastal stakeholders, fishery management councils 

2 and commissions, non-Federal resource managers, 

3 and scientific experts on decision making and adap4 tation related to ocean acidification and coastal 

5 acidification.’’; 

6 (3) in subsection (c)— 

7 (A) in paragraph (1)(C), by striking ‘‘sur8 face’’; 

9 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘and 

10 coastal acidification’’ after ‘‘ocean acidification’’ 

11 each place it appears; 

12 (C) in paragraph (3)— 

13 (i) by striking ‘‘input, and’’ and in14 serting ‘‘inputs,’’; 

15 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, marine food webs,’’ 

16 after ‘‘marine ecosystems’’; and 

17 (iii) by inserting ‘‘, and modeling that 

18 supports fisheries management’’ after 

19 ‘‘marine organisms’’; 

20 (D) in paragraph (5), by inserting ‘‘and 

21 coastal acidification’’ after ‘‘ocean acidifica22 tion’’; and 

23 (E) by adding at the end the following new 

24 paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(6) Research to understand related and cumu2 lative stressors and other biogeochemical processes 

3 occurring in conjunction with ocean acidification and 

4 coastal acidification.’’; and 

5 (4) by redesignating subsection (e), as amended 

6 by section 502(c) of this Act, as subsection (f); and 

7 (5) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol8 lowing new subsection (e): 

9 ‘‘(e) ADVISORY BOARD EVALUATION.—Not later 

10 than 180 days before a plan is submitted to Congress, the 

11 Subcommittee shall provide the Advisory Board estab12 lished under section 12404(c) a copy of the plan for pur13 poses of review under paragraph (2)(C)(i) of such sec14 tion.’’. 

15 SEC. 525. NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMIN16 ISTRATION OCEAN ACIDIFICATION ACTIVI17 TIES. 

18 Section 12406 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Re19 search And Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3705), as 

20 amended by section 502 of this Act, is further amended— 

21 (1) in subsection (a)— 

22 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

23 by inserting ‘‘coordination,’’ after ‘‘research, 

24 monitoring,’’; 

25 (B) in paragraph (1)— 


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1 (i) in subparagraph (B)— 

2 (I) by inserting ‘‘including the 

3 Integrated Ocean Observing System 

4 and the ocean observing assets of 

5 other Federal and State agencies,’’ 

6 after ‘‘ocean observing assets,’’; and 

7 (II) by inserting ‘‘and agency 

8 and department missions, prioritizing 

9 the location of monitoring instru10 ments, assets, and projects to maxi11 mize the efficiency of resources and to 

12 optimize understanding of socio13 economic impacts and ecosystem 

14 health’’ after ‘‘research program’’; 

15 (ii) in subparagraph (C)— 

16 (I) by striking ‘‘adaptation’’ and 

17 inserting ‘‘adaptation and mitigation’’; 

18 and 

19 (II) by inserting ‘‘and supporting 

20 socioeconomically vulnerable commu21 nities and industries’’ after ‘‘marine 

22 ecosystems’’; 

23 (iii) in subparagraph (E)— 


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1 (I) by striking ‘‘its impacts’’ and 

2 inserting ‘‘their respective impacts’’; 

3 and 

4 (II) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and in5 serting a semicolon; 

6 (iv) in subparagraph (F)— 

7 (I) by striking ‘‘monitoring and 

8 impacts research’’ and inserting ‘‘re9 search, monitoring, and adaptation 

10 and mitigation strategies’’; and 

11 (II) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

12 and 

13 (v) by adding at the end the following 

14 new subparagraph: 

15 ‘‘(G) research to improve understanding of 

16 the effect of— 

17 ‘‘(i) other environmental stressors on 

18 ocean acidification and coastal acidifica19 tion; 

20 ‘‘(ii) multiple environmental stressors 

21 on living marine resources and coastal eco22 systems; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) adaptation and mitigation strat24 egies to address the socioeconomic impacts 


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1 of ocean acidification and coastal acidifica2 tion.’’; 

3 (C) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘critical 

4 research projects that explore’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘critical research and education projects that 

6 explore and communicate’’; and 

7 (D) in paragraphs (1) and (2), by striking 

8 ‘‘acidification’’ each place it appears and insert9 ing ‘‘acidification and coastal acidification’’; 

10 and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub12 sections: 

13 ‘‘(e) RELATIONSHIP TO INTERAGENCY WORKING

14 GROUP.—The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin15 istration shall serve as the lead Federal agency responsible 

16 for coordinating the Federal response to ocean acidifica17 tion and coastal acidification, by— 

18 ‘‘(1) leading the interagency working group in 

19 implementing the strategic research plan under sec20 tion 12405; 

21 ‘‘(2) coordinating monitoring and research ef22 forts among Federal agencies in cooperation with 

23 State, local, and Tribal government and inter24 national partners; 


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1 ‘‘(3) maintaining an Ocean Acidification Infor2 mation Exchange described under section 

3 12404(b)(5) to allow for information to be electroni4 cally accessible, including information— 

5 ‘‘(A) on ocean acidification developed 

6 through or used by the ocean acidification pro7 gram described under section 12406(a); or 

8 ‘‘(B) that would be useful to State govern9 ments, local governments, Tribal governments, 

10 resource managers, policymakers, researchers, 

11 and other stakeholders in mitigating or adapt12 ing to the impacts of ocean acidification and 

13 coastal acidification; and 

14 ‘‘(4) establishing and maintaining the data ar15 chive system under subsection (f). 

16 ‘‘(f) DATA ARCHIVE SYSTEM.— 

17 ‘‘(1) MANAGEMENT.—The Secretary, in coordi18 nation with members of the interagency working 

19 group, shall provide for the long-term stewardship 

20 of, and access to, data relating to ocean acidification 

21 and coastal acidification by establishing and main22 taining a data archive system that the National Cen23 ter for Environmental Information uses to process, 

24 store, archive, provide access to, and incorporate to 

25 the extent possible, such data collected— 


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1 ‘‘(A) through relevant federally funded re2 search; and 

3 ‘‘(B) by a Federal agency, State agency, 

4 local agency, Tribe, academic scientist, volun5 teer scientist, or industry organization. 

6 ‘‘(2) EXISTING GLOBAL OR NATIONAL DATA AS7 SETS.—In establishing and maintaining the data ar8 chive system under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

9 shall ensure that existing global or national data as10 sets (including the data assets maintained by the 

11 National Centers for Environmental Information, 

12 the Integrated Ocean Observing System, and other 

13 existing data systems within Federal agencies) are 

14 incorporated to the greatest extent possible. 

15 ‘‘(g) STANDARDS, PROTOCOLS, AND PROCEDURES.— 

16 With respect to the data described in subsection (d), the 

17 Secretary, in coordination with members of the inter18 agency working group, shall establish and revise as nec19 essary the standards, protocols, or procedures for— 

20 ‘‘(1) processing, storing, archiving, and pro21 viding access to such data; 

22 ‘‘(2) the interoperability and intercalibration of 

23 such data; 

24 ‘‘(3) the collection of any metadata underlying 

25 such data; and 


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1 ‘‘(4) sharing such data with State, local, and 

2 Tribal government programs, potentially affected in3 dustry members, coastal stakeholders, fishery man4 agement councils and commissions, non-Federal re5 source managers, and academia. 

6 ‘‘(h) DISSEMINATION OF OCEAN ACIDIFICATION

7 DATA AND COASTAL ACIDIFICATION DATA.—The Sec8 retary, in coordination with members of the interagency 

9 working group, shall disseminate the data described under 

10 subsection (d) to the greatest extent practicable by sharing 

11 such data on full and open access exchanges, including 

12 the Ocean Acidification Information Exchange described 

13 in section 12404(b)(5). 

14 ‘‘(i) REQUIREMENT.—Recipients of grants from the 

15 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under 

16 this subtitle that collect data described under subsection 

17 (f) shall— 

18 ‘‘(1) collect such data in accordance with the 

19 standards, protocols, or procedures established pur20 suant to subsection (g); and 

21 ‘‘(2) submit such data to the data archive sys22 tem under subsection (f), in accordance with any 

23 rules promulgated by the Secretary.’’. 


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1 SEC. 526. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION OCEAN ACIDI2 FICATION ACTIVITIES. 

3 Section 12407 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Re4 search And Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3706) is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘ocean acidification’’ each place 

7 it appears and inserting ‘‘ocean acidification and 

8 coastal acidification’’; 

9 (2) in subsection (a)— 

10 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph 

11 (1)— 

12 (i) by striking ‘‘continue’’ and all that 

13 follows through ‘‘which shall’’; 

14 (ii) by striking ‘‘proposals for re15 search’’ and inserting ‘‘proposals for the 

16 researching’’; and 

17 (iii) by striking ‘‘its impacts’’ and in18 serting ‘‘their respective impacts’’; 

19 (B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘marine 

20 ecosystems’’ and inserting ‘‘ecosystems’’; 

21 (C) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

22 at the end and inserting a semicolon; 

23 (D) in paragraph (3)— 

24 (i) by striking ‘‘and its impacts’’ and 

25 inserting ‘‘and their respective impacts’’; 

26 and 


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1 (ii) by striking the period at the end 

2 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (E) by adding at the end the following new 

4 paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(4) adaptation and mitigation strategies to ad6 dress socioeconomic effects of ocean acidification and 

7 coastal acidification.’’; and 

8 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENT.—Recipients of grants from the 

10 National Science Foundation under this subtitle that col11 lect data described under section 12406(f) shall— 

12 ‘‘(1) collect data in accordance with the stand13 ards, protocols, or procedures established pursuant 

14 to section 12406(g); and 

15 ‘‘(2) submit such data to the Director and the 

16 Secretary, in accordance with any rules promulgated 

17 by the Director or the Secretary.’’. 

18 SEC. 527. NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINIS19 TRATION OCEAN ACIDIFICATION ACTIVITIES. 

20 Section 12408 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Re21 search And Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3707) is 

22 amended— 

23 (1) by striking ‘‘ocean acidification’’ each place 

24 it appears and inserting ‘‘ocean acidification and 

25 coastal acidification’’; 


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1 (2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘its impacts’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘their respective impacts’’; and 

3 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub4 section: 

5 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENT.—Researchers from the National 

6 Aeronautics and Space Administration under this subtitle 

7 that collect data described under section 12406(f) shall— 

8 ‘‘(1) collect such data in accordance with the 

9 standards, protocols, or procedures established pur10 suant to section 12406(g); and 

11 ‘‘(2) submit such data to the Administrator and 

12 the Secretary, in accordance with any rules promul13 gated by the Administrator or the Secretary.’’. 

14 SEC. 528. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

15 Section 12409 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Re16 search And Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3708) is 

17 amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘subtitle—’’ 

19 and all that follows through paragraph (4) and in20 serting the following: ‘‘subtitle $30,500,000 for each 

21 of the fiscal years 2021 through 2025.’’; and 

22 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘subtitle—’’ 

23 and all that follows through paragraph (4) and in24 serting the following: ‘‘subtitle $20,000,000 for each 

25 of the fiscal years 2021 through 2025.’’. 


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1 Subtitle D—South Florida Clean 

2 Coastal Waters 

3 SEC. 531. SOUTH FLORIDA HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS AND 

4 HYPOXIA ASSESSMENT AND ACTION PLAN. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Harmful Algal Bloom and 

6 Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998 (33 U.S.C. 

7 4001 et seq.) is amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating sections 605 through 609 

9 as sections 606 through 610, respectively; and 

10 (2) by inserting after section 604 the following: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 605. SOUTH FLORIDA HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS AND 

12 HYPOXIA. 

13 ‘‘(a) SOUTH FLORIDA.—In this section, the term 

14 ‘South Florida’ means— 

15 ‘‘(1) all lands and waters within the administra16 tive boundaries of the South Florida Water Manage17 ment District; 

18 ‘‘(2) regional coastal waters, including Biscayne 

19 Bay, the Caloosahatchee Estuary, St. Lucie Estuary, 

20 Florida Bay, and Indian River Lagoon; and 

21 ‘‘(3) the Florida Reef Tract. 

22 ‘‘(b) INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT.— 

23 ‘‘(1) INTERIM INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT.—Not 

24 later than 540 days after the date of the enactment 

25 of the Ocean Climate Emergency Action Now Act of 


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1 2020, the Task Force, in accordance with the au2 thority under section 603, shall complete and submit 

3 to Congress and the President an interim integrated 

4 assessment. 

5 ‘‘(2) FINAL INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT.—Not 

6 later than 3 years after the date of the enactment 

7 of the Ocean Climate Emergency Action Now Act of 

8 2020, the Task Force shall finalize, and submit to 

9 Congress and the President, the interim integrated 

10 assessment required under paragraph (1). 

11 ‘‘(3) CONTENTS OF THE INTEGRATED ASSESS12 MENT.—The integrated assessments required under 

13 paragraphs (1) and (2) shall examine the causes, 

14 consequences, and potential approaches to reduction 

15 of harmful algal blooms and hypoxia in South Flor16 ida, and the status of, and gaps within, current 

17 harmful algal bloom and hypoxia research, moni18 toring, management, prevention, response, and con19 trol activities that directly affect the region by— 

20 ‘‘(A) Federal agencies; 

21 ‘‘(B) State agencies; 

22 ‘‘(C) regional research consortia; 

23 ‘‘(D) academia; 

24 ‘‘(E) private industry; 

25 ‘‘(F) nongovernmental organizations; and 


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1 ‘‘(G) Indian Tribes (as defined in section 

2 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu3 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)). 

4 ‘‘(c) ACTION PLAN.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years and 

6 180 days after the date of the enactment of the 

7 Ocean Climate Emergency Action Now Act of 2020, 

8 the Task Force shall develop and submit to Con9 gress an action plan, based on the integrated assess10 ments under subsection (b), for reducing, mitigating, 

11 and controlling harmful algal blooms and hypoxia in 

12 South Florida. 

13 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The action plan submitted 

14 under paragraph (1) shall— 

15 ‘‘(A) address the monitoring needs identi16 fied in the integrated assessments under sub17 section (b); 

18 ‘‘(B) include a timeline and budgetary re19 quirements for deployment of future assets; 

20 ‘‘(C) identify requirements for the develop21 ment and verification of South Florida harmful 

22 algal bloom and hypoxia models, including— 

23 ‘‘(i) all assumptions built into the 

24 models; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) data quality methods used to en2 sure the best available data are utilized; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(D) include a plan to implement a remote 

5 monitoring network and early warning system 

6 for alerting local communities in the region to 

7 harmful algal bloom risks that may impact 

8 human health. 

9 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—In developing the action 

10 plan submitted under paragraph (1), the Task Force 

11 shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) consult with the State of Florida and 

13 affected local and Tribal governments; 

14 ‘‘(B) consult with representatives from re15 gional academic, agricultural, industry, and 

16 other stakeholder groups; 

17 ‘‘(C) ensure that such plan complements 

18 and does not duplicate activities conducted by 

19 other Federal or State agencies, including the 

20 South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task 

21 Force; 

22 ‘‘(D) identify critical research for reducing, 

23 mitigating, and controlling harmful algal bloom 

24 events and their effects; 


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1 ‘‘(E) evaluate cost-effective, incentive2 based partnership approaches; 

3 ‘‘(F) ensure that such plan is technically 

4 sound and cost-effective; 

5 ‘‘(G) use existing research, assessments, 

6 reports, and program activities; and 

7 ‘‘(H) publish a draft summary of the ac8 tion plan required by paragraph (1) in the Fed9 eral Register not less than 180 days before sub10 mitting such plan to Congress. 

11 ‘‘(4) PROGRESS REPORTS.—The Task Force 

12 shall submit, beginning 2 years after the date on 

13 which the action plan required by paragraph (1) is 

14 submitted to Congress, biennial progress reports on 

15 steps taken to meet the objectives of such action 

16 plan to Congress.’’. 

17 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT AND CORRECTION.—The 

18 table of contents in section 2 of the Coast Guard Author19 ization Act of 1998 (Public Law 105–383) is amended by 

20 striking the items relating to title VI and inserting the 

21 following new items: 

‘‘TITLE VI—HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS AND HYPOXIA 

‘‘Sec. 601. Short title. 

‘‘Sec. 602. Findings. 

‘‘Sec. 603. Assessments. 

‘‘Sec. 603A. National Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Program. 

‘‘Sec. 603B. Comprehensive research plan and action strategy. 

‘‘Sec. 604. Northern Gulf of Mexico hypoxia. 

‘‘Sec. 605. South Florida harmful algal blooms and hypoxia. 

‘‘Sec. 606. Great Lakes hypoxia and harmful algal blooms. 


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‘‘Sec. 607. Protection of States’ Rights. 

‘‘Sec. 608. Effect on other Federal authority. 

‘‘Sec. 609. Definitions. 

‘‘Sec. 610. Authorization of appropriations.’’. 

1 Subtitle E—Protecting Local Com2 munities From Harmful Algal 

3 Blooms 

4 SEC. 541. ALGAL BLOOMS. 

5 Section 102(2) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 

6 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122) 

7 is amended by striking ‘‘or drought’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘drought, or algal blooms’’. 

9 Subtitle F—Harmful Algal Bloom 

10 Essential Forecasting 

11 SEC. 551. DESIGNATING CERTAIN HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOM 

12 SERVICES AS EXCEPTED SERVICES UNDER 

13 THE ANTI-DEFICIENCY ACT. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 603A of the Harmful 

15 Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 

16 1998 (33 U.S.C. 4002) is amended by adding at the end 

17 the following subsection: 

18 ‘‘(j) ANTI-DEFICIENCY ACT APPLIED TO HARMFUL

19 ALGAL BLOOM SERVICES.—Any services accepted by an 

20 officer or employee under this chapter, including web serv21 ices and server processing, for the Harmful Algal Bloom 

22 forecast system of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

23 Administration shall be deemed, for purposes of section 


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1 1342 of title 31, United States Code, services for emer2 gencies involving the safety of human life or the protection 

3 of property.’’. 

4 (b) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by sub5 section (a) shall apply to any lapse in appropriations be6 ginning on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

7 SEC. 552. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN HARMFUL ALGAL 

8 BLOOM RESEARCH, PREVENTION, RESPONSE, 

9 AND MITIGATION. 

10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than one year after 

11 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

12 Commerce, acting through the Administrator, shall des13 ignate organizations as National Centers of Excellence in 

14 Harmful Algal Bloom Research, Prevention, Response, 

15 and Mitigation (in this section referred to as ‘‘National 

16 Centers of Excellence’’). 

17 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the National Centers 

18 of Excellence is— 

19 (1) to further understanding of harmful algal 

20 blooms; 

21 (2) to further understanding of the impacts of 

22 harmful algal blooms on public health, including the 

23 health of at-risk populations; 

24 (3) to further the ability to research, forecast, 

25 and monitor harmful algal blooms; 


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1 (4) to formalize and enhance existing partner2 ships and collaborations among institutions of higher 

3 education, research entities, local, State, Territorial, 

4 and Tribal agencies, and the Federal Government; 

5 (5) to further the prevention, control, and miti6 gation of harmful algal blooms; 

7 (6) to transition harmful algal bloom research 

8 and forecasting from observational to operational 

9 use; and 

10 (7) to address existing and emerging harmful 

11 algal bloom issues as the Administrator considers 

12 appropriate. 

13 (c) ELIGIBILITY FOR DESIGNATIONS.—To be eligible 

14 for designation under this section, an organization shall— 

15 (1) be an institution of higher education, a 

16 State, Territorial, or Tribal research agency, a non17 profit laboratory or other research entity, or a con18 sortium of such eligible entities; 

19 (2) have demonstrated expertise and success in 

20 harmful algal bloom research, monitoring, fore21 casting, prevention, or response efforts; 

22 (3) have demonstrated ability to collaborate 

23 with local, State, Territorial, and Tribal govern24 ments and Federal agencies on harmful algal 

25 blooms; and 


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1 (4) be located in an area that is economically 

2 and environmentally impacted by harmful algal 

3 blooms. 

4 (d) REQUIREMENTS FOR DESIGNATIONS.—In desig5 nating National Centers of Excellence under this section, 

6 the Administrator shall— 

7 (1) consult with the Inter-Agency Task Force 

8 on Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia; 

9 (2) ensure regional balance by designating Na10 tional Centers of Excellence in a variety of locations 

11 throughout the United States, including the District 

12 of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 

13 American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the 

14 Northern Mariana Islands, the United States Virgin 

15 Islands, and other Territories and possessions of the 

16 United States; and 

17 (3) avoid duplication of other harmful algal 

18 bloom research. 

19 (e) EFFECTIVE PERIOD, REVIEW, AND RENEWAL.— 

20 Each designation of an organization as a National Center 

21 under this section— 

22 (1) shall be effective for 5 years; 

23 (2) shall be reviewed by the Secretary, acting 

24 through the Administrator, in the fourth year of 

25 such effective period; and 


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1 (3) following such review, may be renewed for 

2 an additional 5-year period. 

3 (f) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Secretary shall require 

4 and publish an annual activity report from each National 

5 Center. 

6 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

7 out this section, including for providing funding to Na8 tional Centers of Excellence designated under this section, 

9 there is authorized to be appropriated to the National Oce10 anic and Atmospheric Administration $12,500,000 for 

11 each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025, of which not more 

12 than 5 percent may be available each fiscal year for ad13 ministrative expenses. 

14 TITLE VI—NATIONAL OCEAN 

15 POLICY, DATA, AND COORDI16 NATED WEBSITE FOR GRANT 

17 PROGRAMS 

18 Subtitle A—Regional Ocean 

19 Partnerships 

20 SEC. 601. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS; PURPOSES. 

21 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find22 ings: 

23 (1) The ocean and coastal waters of the United 

24 States are foundational to the economy, security, 

25 global competitiveness, and well-being of the United 


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1 States and continuously serve the people of the 

2 United States and other countries as an important 

3 source of food, energy, economic productivity, recre4 ation, culture, beauty, and enjoyment. 

5 (2) Over many years, the resource productivity 

6 and water quality of the ocean and coastal areas of 

7 the United States have been diminished by pollution, 

8 increasing population demands, economic develop9 ment, and natural and man-made hazard events, 

10 both acute and chronic. 

11 (3) Ocean and coastal areas of the United 

12 States are managed by State and Federal resource 

13 agencies and regulated on an interstate and regional 

14 scale by various overlapping Federal authorities, 

15 thereby creating a significant need for interstate co16 ordination to enhance regional priorities, including 

17 the ecological and economic health of those areas. 

18 (4) Regional Ocean Partnerships, established by 

19 coastal states working in close coordination with 

20 Federal agencies, regional fisheries managers, and 

21 Tribal governments, help coordinate interstate re22 sponses to critical ocean issues that extend beyond 

23 individual State boundaries. 

24 (5) Regional Ocean Partnerships have improved 

25 understanding of climate change’s impact on fish 


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1 and shellfish populations, have invested in identi2 fying indicators of ocean health and addressing 

3 coastal mitigation, and have played leading roles in 

4 the creation and upkeep of regional ocean data por5 tals that allow for improved understanding of ocean 

6 use synergies and trade-offs. 

7 (6) Regional Ocean Partnerships engage in co8 ordinated efforts to protect and enhance the health 

9 of living resources and engage the public in steward10 ship of ocean and coastal areas. 

11 (7) The coordination offered by Regional Ocean 

12 Partnerships is particularly critical in the era of cli13 mate change, with coastal and ocean resources under 

14 threat and as demand for offshore resources in15 creases. 

16 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this subtitle are as 

17 follows: 

18 (1) To complement and expand cooperative vol19 untary efforts intended to manage and restore ocean 

20 and coastal areas spanning across multiple State 

21 boundaries. 

22 (2) To expand Federal support for monitoring, 

23 data management, and restoration activities in ocean 

24 and coastal areas. 


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1 (3) To commit the United States to a com2 prehensive cooperative program to achieve improved 

3 water quality in, and improvements in the produc4 tivity of living resources of, all coastal ecosystems. 

5 (4) To authorize Regional Ocean Partnerships 

6 as intergovernmental coordinators for shared inter7 state and regional priorities relating to the collabo8 rative management of the large marine ecosystems, 

9 thereby reducing duplication of efforts and maxi10 mizing opportunities to leverage support in the 

11 ocean and coastal regions. 

12 (5) To enable Regional Ocean Partnerships, or 

13 designated fiscal management entities of such part14 nerships, to receive Federal funding to conduct the 

15 scientific research, conservation and restoration ac16 tivities, and priority coordination on shared regional 

17 priorities necessary to achieve the purposes described 

18 in paragraphs (1) through (4). 

19 SEC. 602. REGIONAL OCEAN PARTNERSHIPS. 

20 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 (1) COASTAL STATE.—The term ‘‘coastal state’’ 

22 has the meaning given that term in section 304 of 

23 the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 

24 U.S.C. 1453). 


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1 (2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

2 has the meaning given to the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ in 

3 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu4 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

5 (b) REGIONAL OCEAN PARTNERSHIPS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—A coastal state may partici7 pate in a Regional Ocean Partnership with 1 or 

8 more other coastal states that share a common 

9 ocean or coastal area with the coastal state, without 

10 regard to whether the coastal states are contiguous. 

11 (2) APPLICATION.—The Governor of a coastal 

12 state or the Governors of a group of coastal states 

13 may apply to the Secretary of Commerce, on behalf 

14 of a partnership, for the partnership to receive des15 ignation as a Regional Ocean Partnership if the 

16 partnership— 

17 (A) meets the requirements under para18 graph (3); and 

19 (B) submits an application for such des20 ignation in such manner, in such form, and 

21 containing such information as the Secretary 

22 may require. 

23 (3) REQUIREMENTS.—A partnership is eligible 

24 for designation as a Regional Ocean Partnership by 


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1 the Secretary under paragraph (2) if the partner2 ship— 

3 (A) is established to coordinate the inter4 state management of coastal resources; 

5 (B) focuses on the environmental issues af6 fecting the ocean and coastal areas of the mem7 bers participating in the partnership; 

8 (C) complements existing State coastal and 

9 ocean management efforts on an interstate 

10 scale, focusing on shared regional priorities; 

11 (D) does not have a regulatory function; 

12 and 

13 (E) is not duplicative of an existing Re14 gional Ocean Partnership designated under 

15 paragraph (4), as determined by the Secretary. 

16 (4) DESIGNATION OF CERTAIN ENTITIES AS RE17 GIONAL OCEAN PARTNERSHIPS.—Notwithstanding 

18 paragraph (2) or (3), the following entities are des19 ignated as Regional Ocean Partnerships: 

20 (A) The Gulf of Mexico Alliance, comprised 

21 of the States of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, 

22 Mississippi, and Texas. 

23 (B) The Northeast Regional Ocean Coun24 cil, comprised of the States of Maine, Vermont, 


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1 New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, 

2 and Rhode Island. 

3 (C) The Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on 

4 the Ocean, comprised of the States of New 

5 York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and 

6 Virginia. 

7 (D) The West Coast Ocean Alliance, com8 prised of the States of California, Oregon, and 

9 Washington and the coastal Indian Tribes in 

10 those States. 

11 (c) GOVERNING BODIES OF REGIONAL OCEAN PART12 NERSHIPS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—A Regional Ocean Partner14 ship designated under subsection (b) shall be gov15 erned by a governing body. 

16 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—A governing body described 

17 in paragraph (1)— 

18 (A) shall be comprised, at a minimum, of 

19 voting members from each coastal state partici20 pating in the Regional Ocean Partnership, des21 ignated by the Governor of the coastal state; 

22 and 

23 (B) may include such other members as 

24 the partnership considers appropriate. 


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1 (d) FUNCTIONS.—A Regional Ocean Partnership des2 ignated under subsection (b) may perform the following 

3 functions: 

4 (1) Promote coordination of the actions of the 

5 agencies of coastal states participating in the part6 nership with the actions of the appropriate officials 

7 of Federal agencies and State and Tribal govern8 ments in developing strategies— 

9 (A) to conserve living resources, expand 

10 and protect valuable habitats, enhance coastal 

11 resilience, and address such other issues related 

12 to the shared ocean or coastal area as are de13 termined to be a shared, regional priority by 

14 those States; and 

15 (B) to manage regional data portals and 

16 develop associated data products for purposes 

17 that support the priorities of the partnership. 

18 (2) In cooperation with appropriate Federal and 

19 State agencies, Tribal governments, and local au20 thorities, develop and implement specific action 

21 plans to carry out coordination goals. 

22 (3) Coordinate and implement priority plans 

23 and projects, and facilitate science, research, mod24 eling, monitoring, data collection, and other activi25 ties that support the goals of the partnership 


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1 through the provision of grants and contracts under 

2 subsection (e). 

3 (4) Engage, coordinate, and collaborate with 

4 relevant governmental entities and stakeholders to 

5 address ocean and coastal related matters that re6 quire interagency or intergovernmental solutions. 

7 (5) Implement engagement programs for public 

8 information, education, and participation to foster 

9 stewardship of the resources of the ocean and coast10 al areas, as relevant. 

11 (6) Develop and make available, through publi12 cations, technical assistance, and other appropriate 

13 means, information pertaining to cross-jurisdictional 

14 issues being addressed through the coordinated ac15 tivities of the partnership. 

16 (7) Serve as a liaison with, and provide infor17 mation to, international counterparts, as appropriate 

18 on priority issues for the partnership. 

19 (e) GRANTS AND CONTRACTS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—A Regional Ocean Partner21 ship designated under subsection (b) may, in coordi22 nation with existing Federal and State management 

23 programs, from amounts made available to the part24 nership by the Administrator or the head of another 

25 Federal agency— 


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1 (A) provide grants to eligible persons de2 scribed in paragraph (2) for the purposes de3 scribed in paragraph (3); and 

4 (B) enter into contracts with such persons 

5 for such purposes. 

6 (2) ELIGIBLE PERSONS.—The eligible persons 

7 described in this paragraph are the following: 

8 (A) Indian Tribes. 

9 (B) State and local governments. 

10 (C) Nongovernmental organizations. 

11 (D) Institutions of higher education. 

12 (E) Individuals. 

13 (F) Private entities. 

14 (3) PURPOSES.—The purposes described in this 

15 paragraph include any of the following: 

16 (A) Monitoring the water quality and living 

17 resources of multi-State ocean and coastal eco18 systems and to coastal communities. 

19 (B) Researching and addressing the effects 

20 of natural and human-induced environmental 

21 changes to— 

22 (i) ocean and coastal ecosystems; and 

23 (ii) coastal communities. 

24 (C) Developing and executing cooperative 

25 strategies that— 


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1 (i) address regional data issues identi2 fied by the partnership; and 

3 (ii) will result in more effective man4 agement of common ocean and coastal 

5 areas. 

6 (f) REPORTS AND ASSESSMENTS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 years after 

8 the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 5 

9 years thereafter until 2040, the Administrator, in 

10 coordination with the Regional Ocean Partnerships 

11 designated under subsection (b), shall— 

12 (A) assess the effectiveness of the partner13 ships in supporting regional priorities relating 

14 to the management of common ocean and coast15 al areas; and 

16 (B) submit to Congress a report on that 

17 assessment. 

18 (2) REPORT REQUIREMENTS.—The report re19 quired under paragraph (1)(B) shall include the fol20 lowing: 

21 (A) An assessment of the overall status of 

22 the work of the Regional Ocean Partnerships 

23 designated under subsection (b). 

24 (B) An assessment of the effectiveness of 

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1 ships are supporting or implementing and the 

2 extent to which the priority needs of the regions 

3 covered by such partnerships are being met 

4 through such strategies. 

5 (C) Such recommendations as the Admin6 istrator may have for the improvement of ef7 forts of the Regional Ocean Partnerships to 

8 support the purposes of this subtitle. 

9 (D) An assessment of how the efforts of 

10 the Regional Ocean Partnerships support or en11 hance Federal and State efforts in line with the 

12 purposes of this subtitle. 

13 (E) Recommendations for improvements to 

14 the collective strategies that support the pur15 poses of this subtitle in coordination and con16 sultation with all relevant Federal, State, and 

17 Tribal entities. 

18 (g) AVAILABILITY OF FEDERAL FUNDS.—In addition 

19 to amounts made available to Regional Ocean Partner20 ships designated under subsection (b) by the Adminis21 trator under this section, the head of any other Federal 

22 agency may provide grants to, enter into contracts with, 

23 or otherwise provide funding to such partnerships. 

24 (h) AUTHORITIES.—Nothing in this section estab25 lishes any new legal or regulatory authority of the NaVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:22 Jan 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00184 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5056.IS S5056

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1 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or of the 

2 Regional Ocean Partnerships designated under subsection 

3 (b), other than— 

4 (1) the authority of the Administrator to pro5 vide amounts to the partnerships; and 

6 (2) the authority of the partnerships to provide 

7 grants and enter into contracts under subsection (e). 

8 (i) FUNDING.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Of amounts authorized to be 

10 appropriated to the National Oceanic and Atmos11 pheric Administration, the Administrator may make 

12 the following amounts available to Regional Ocean 

13 Partnerships designated under subsection (b) or des14 ignated fiscal management entities of such partner15 ships to carry out activities of the partnerships 

16 under this subtitle: 

17 (A) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2021. 

18 (B) $10,100,000 for fiscal year 2022. 

19 (C) $10,202,000 for fiscal year 2023. 

20 (D) $10,306,040 for fiscal year 2024. 

21 (E) $10,412,160 for fiscal year 2025. 

22 (F) $10,520,404 for fiscal year 2026. 

23 (2) DISTRIBUTION OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts 

24 made available under paragraph (1) shall be divided 


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1 evenly among the Regional Ocean Partnerships des2 ignated under subsection (b). 

3 (3) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts 

4 made available under paragraph (1) shall remain 

5 available until expended. 

6 Subtitle B—Data and Scientific 

7 Coordination 

8 SEC. 611. INCREASED COORDINATION AMONG AGENCIES 

9 WITH RESPECT TO DATA AND MONITORING. 

10 (a) INTERAGENCY OCEAN OBSERVATION COM11 MITTEE.—In addition to its responsibilities as of the date 

12 of the enactment of this Act, and in consultation with the 

13 advisory committee authorized by section 12304(d) of the 

14 Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act of 

15 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3603(d)), the Interagency Ocean Obser16 vation Committee shall— 

17 (1) work with international coordinating bodies, 

18 as necessary, to ensure robust, direct measurements 

19 of the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, and 

20 coasts, including oceanographic data; 

21 (2) coordinate supercomputing capacity, data 

22 storage capacity, and public access across agencies; 

23 and 

24 (3) support cross-agency and multi-platform 

25 synergy, by coordinating overlapping data collection 


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1 by satellites, buoys, submarines, gliders, vessels, and 

2 other data collection vehicles and technologies. 

3 (b) FEDERAL GEOGRAPHIC DATA COMMITTEE.—In 

4 addition to its responsibilities as of the date of the enact5 ment of this Act, and in consultation with the National 

6 Geospatial Advisory Committee, the Federal Geographic 

7 Data Committee shall— 

8 (1) work with international coordinating bodies, 

9 as necessary, to ensure robust, continuous measure10 ments of the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, 

11 and coasts, including satellite and geospatial data; 

12 (2) coordinate supercomputing capacity, data 

13 storage capacity, and public access across agencies; 

14 (3) develop and deploy cross-agency, real-time, 

15 standardized, centralized, archived, open-source, and 

16 publicly available databases (using declassified infor17 mation to the extent possible) for all federally fund18 ed observational and model data, using the example 

19 of the World Ocean Database; and 

20 (4) support new and old data and metadata cer21 tification, quality assurance, quality control, integra22 tion, and archiving. 

23 (c) INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE ON OCEAN AND

24 COASTAL MAPPING.—In addition to its responsibilities as 

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1 tion with the advisory panel authorized by section 

2 12203(g) of the Ocean and Coastal Mapping Integration 

3 Act (33 U.S.C. 3502(g)), the Interagency Committee on 

4 Ocean and Coastal Mapping shall— 

5 (1) work with international coordinating bodies, 

6 as necessary, to ensure robust, continuous satellite 

7 and direct measurements of the Great Lakes, 

8 oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts, including bathy9 metric data; 

10 (2) coordinate supercomputing capacity, data 

11 storage capacity, and public access across agencies; 

12 (3) make recommendations on how to make 

13 data, metadata, and model output accessible to a 

14 broader public audience, including through geo15 graphic information system layers, graphics, and 

16 other visuals; and 

17 (4) develop and initiate a research agenda to 

18 improve understanding of inundation risks to coastal 

19 areas as a result of the climate crisis and to meet 

20 the information needs of decision-makers as such de21 cision-makers consider how to appropriately adapt 

22 and increase resilience to such effects. 


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1 SEC. 612. INTERAGENCY OCEAN EXPLORATION COM2 MITTEE. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall establish 

4 a committee to promote the exploration and improved un5 derstanding of the oceans, to be known as the ‘‘Inter6 agency Ocean Exploration Committee’’. 

7 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Interagency Ocean Explo8 ration Committee shall be composed of not fewer than 1 

9 senior-level representative from each of the following Fed10 eral agencies: 

11 (1) The Department of the Navy. 

12 (2) The Department of the Interior. 

13 (3) The Department of Commerce. 

14 (4) The Coast Guard. 

15 (5) The Office of Management and Budget. 

16 (6) The Council on Environmental Quality. 

17 (7) The Office of Science and Technology Pol18 icy. 

19 (8) The Department of State. 

20 (9) The National Science Foundation. 

21 (10) The National Aeronautics and Space Ad22 ministration. 

23 (11) The Subcommittee on Ocean Science and 

24 Technology of the National Science and Technology 

25 Council. 


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1 (12) Such elements of the intelligence commu2 nity (as defined in section 3 of the National Security 

3 Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003)) as the President con4 siders appropriate. 

5 (c) DUTIES.—The Interagency Ocean Exploration 

6 Committee shall— 

7 (1) cultivate public-private partnerships, includ8 ing with Federal agencies, institutions of higher edu9 cation, nongovernmental organizations, technology 

10 companies, and international partners, to develop 

11 and deploy advanced technologies to explore and 

12 characterize the oceans; and 

13 (2) coordinate the application of existing inno14 vative technologies and development of emerging 

15 technologies to promote the understanding, mapping, 

16 and collection of data describing the oceans and the 

17 changes the oceans are experiencing and are antici18 pated to experience in the future, such as changes 

19 in temperature, salinity, oxygenation, and acidity, 

20 and the biological consequences of those changes. 

21 SEC. 613. COMMITTEE ON OCEAN POLICY. 

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

23 Executive Office of the President a Committee on Ocean 

24 Policy, which— 


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1 (1) succeeds the Ocean Policy Committee estab2 lished on June 19, 2018, by Executive Order 13840 

3 (83 Fed. Reg. 29431; relating to ocean policy); 

4 (2) shall continue the activities of that com5 mittee as it was in existence on the day before the 

6 date of the enactment of this Act; and 

7 (3) shall carry out the functions described in 

8 subsection (b). 

9 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The Committee on Ocean Policy 

10 shall— 

11 (1) facilitate coordination and integration of 

12 Federal activities in ocean and coastal waters to in13 form ocean policy and identify priority ocean re14 search, technology, and data needs; 

15 (2) engage and collaborate with stakeholders, 

16 including Regional Ocean Partnerships, to address 

17 ocean-related matters that may require interagency 

18 or intergovernmental solutions; 

19 (3) evaluate threats to coastal communities 

20 from storm and sea level rise and define, implement, 

21 and coordinate needed policies and programs to ad22 vance national preparedness for and resilience to 

23 more severe storms and rising sea levels; and 

24 (4) coordinate Federal agencies to ensure Fed25 eral activities in ocean and coastal waters promote 


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1 healthy ecosystems for fisheries and wildlife con2 servation that are resilient to the impacts of climate 

3 change and provide for climate benefits. 

4 SEC. 614. BUILDING DATA SOURCES. 

5 (a) ENGAGING INDIGENOUS, SUBSISTENCE, AND

6 FISHING COMMUNITIES.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall es8 tablish opportunities to engage Indigenous, subsist9 ence, and fishing communities to understand the 

10 needs of those communities and to provide improved 

11 products and services that are practical and useful 

12 to those communities, including collecting and inte13 grating traditional ecological data and narrative 

14 records into national and regional datasets. 

15 (2) DATA RIGHTS.—In carrying out paragraph 

16 (1), the Administrator shall— 

17 (A) consider issues relating to data owner18 ship; and 

19 (B) ensure that Indigenous, subsistence, 

20 and fishing communities retain any specific 

21 rights or ownership of data provided to Federal 

22 agencies. 

23 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

24 (1) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 1 year 

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1 ministrator shall submit to Congress a report identi2 fying potential opportunities to encourage voluntary 

3 actions and partnerships between the National Oce4 anic and Atmospheric Administration and non-Fed5 eral partners to increase and enhance data collec6 tion. 

7 (2) OPPORTUNITIES FOR PARTNERSHIP.—The 

8 opportunities described in paragraph (1) may in9 clude opportunities that can be pursued in conjunc10 tion with Federal permits, leases, and other actions 

11 requiring Federal approval or funding, such as 

12 partnering with companies to acquire and share 

13 bathymetric data or supplying fishermen with sen14 sors that can collect data through fishing gear. 

15 SEC. 615. NATIONAL SEA LEVEL RISE RISK ANALYSIS. 

16 (a) PURPOSES.—The Administrator shall establish a 

17 National Coastal Data Information System to— 

18 (1) combine existing observations, modeling, 

19 predictions, products, and services into an integrated 

20 framework for producing and maintaining authori21 tative and timely data, maps, and information serv22 ices that quantify and communicate coastal flood 

23 risk to the States; 

24 (2) develop and strengthen partnerships with 

25 organizations that represent end-users within coastal 


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1 communities, including other Federal agencies, to 

2 better assess information gaps and needs relating to 

3 the risk posed by the rising sea level; and 

4 (3) produce new information, products, and 

5 services, targeted to end-user needs, that allow 

6 coastal communities across the United States to 

7 plan for present and future coastal flood risk. 

8 (b) REPORT.—The Administrator shall, not later 

9 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

10 and every 3 years thereafter, submit to the Committee on 

11 Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and 

12 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

13 of the Senate a report containing a holistic analysis of the 

14 need to expand observations, modeling, predictions, prod15 ucts, and services to— 

16 (1) improve the understanding of changing 

17 coastal flood risk, including the impacts of sea level 

18 rise; and 

19 (2) track and report how observed rates of sea 

20 level rise compare to the sea level rise predictions 

21 published within the National Climate Assessments. 


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1 Subtitle C—Integrated Coastal and 

2 Ocean Observation System 

3 SEC. 621. STAGGERED TERMS FOR NATIONAL INTEGRATED 

4 COASTAL AND OCEAN OBSERVATION SYSTEM 

5 ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 

6 Section 12304(d)(3)(B) of the Integrated Coastal 

7 and Ocean Observation System Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 

8 3603(d)(3)(B)) is amended— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘Members’’ and inserting the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro12 vided in clause (ii), members’’; and 

13 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(ii) STAGGERED TERMS.—The Ad15 ministrator may appoint or reappoint a 

16 member for a partial term of 1 or 2 years 

17 in order to establish a system of staggered 

18 terms. The Administrator may appoint or 

19 reappoint a member under this clause only 

20 once. A member appointed or reappointed 

21 to a partial term under this clause may not 

22 serve more than 1 full term.’’. 


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1 SEC. 622. INTEGRATED COASTAL AND OCEAN OBSERVA2 TION SYSTEM COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS. 

3 Section 12305(a) of the Integrated Coastal and 

4 Ocean Observation System Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 

5 3604(a)) is amended by inserting ‘‘disburse appropriated 

6 funds to,’’ after ‘‘agreements, with,’’. 

7 SEC. 623. REAUTHORIZATION OF INTEGRATED COASTAL 

8 AND OCEAN OBSERVATION SYSTEM ACT OF 

9 2009. 

10 Section 12311 of the Integrated Coastal and Ocean 

11 Observation System Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3610) is 

12 amended by striking ‘‘for fiscal years 2009 through 2013 

13 such sums as are necessary’’ and inserting ‘‘$47,500,000 

14 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025’’. 

15 SEC. 624. ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY– 

16 OCEANS. 

17 (a) AGREEMENT.—Not later than 45 days after the 

18 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 

19 seek to enter into an agreement with the National Acad20 emy of Sciences to conduct the comprehensive assessment 

21 under subsection (b). 

22 (b) COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Under an agreement be24 tween the Administrator and the National Academy 

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1 sessment of the need for and feasibility of estab2 lishing an Advanced Research Projects Agency– 

3 Oceans (in this section referred to as ‘‘ARPA–O’’). 

4 (2) ELEMENTS.—The comprehensive assess5 ment carried out pursuant to paragraph (1) shall in6 clude— 

7 (A) an assessment of how an ARPA–O 

8 could help overcome the long-term and high-risk 

9 technological barriers in the development of 

10 ocean technologies, with the goal of enhancing 

11 the economic, ecological, and national security 

12 of the United States through the rapid develop13 ment of technologies that result in— 

14 (i) improved data collection, moni15 toring, and prediction of the ocean environ16 ment, including sea ice conditions; 

17 (ii) overcoming barriers to the appli18 cation of new and improved technologies, 

19 such as high costs and scale of operational 

20 missions; 

21 (iii) improved management practices 

22 for protecting ecological sustainability; 

23 (iv) improved national security capac24 ity; 


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1 (v) improved technology for fishery 

2 population assessments; 

3 (vi) expedited processes between and 

4 among Federal agencies to successfully 

5 identify, transition, and coordinate re6 search and development output to oper7 ations, applications, commercialization, and 

8 other uses; and 

9 (vii) ensuring that the United States 

10 maintains a technological lead in devel11 oping and deploying advanced ocean tech12 nologies; 

13 (B) an evaluation of the organizational 

14 structures under which an ARPA–O could be 

15 organized, which takes into account— 

16 (i) best practices for new research 

17 programs; 

18 (ii) metrics and approaches for peri19 odic program evaluation; 

20 (iii) capacity to fund and manage ex21 ternal research awards; and 

22 (iv) options for oversight of the activ23 ity through a Federal agency, an inter24 agency organization, nongovernmental orVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:22 Jan 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00198 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5056.IS S5056

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1 ganization, or other institutional arrange2 ment; and 

3 (C) an estimation of the scale of invest4 ment necessary to pursue high priority ocean 

5 technology projects. 

6 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 

7 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall sub8 mit to Congress a report on the comprehensive assessment 

9 conducted under subsection (b). 

10 Subtitle D—Centralized Website for 

11 Resiliency Grants 

12 SEC. 631. CENTRALIZED WEBSITE FOR RESILIENCY 

13 GRANTS. 

14 (a) CENTRALIZED WEBSITE.—Not later than 180 

15 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Ad16 ministrator shall establish a publicly available website that 

17 includes— 

18 (1) hyperlinks to all grant programs adminis19 tered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad20 ministration and hyperlinks to other Federal agen21 cies that offer similar grant programs to assist 

22 States and local communities with resiliency, adapta23 tion, and mitigation of climate change and sea level 

24 rise; and 


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1 (2) with respect to each such grant program, 

2 the contact information for an individual who can 

3 offer assistance to State, Tribal, and local govern4 ments. 

5 (b) OUTREACH.—The Administrator shall conduct 

6 outreach activities to inform State, Tribal, and local gov7 ernments of the resiliency, adaptation, and mitigation 

8 grants. 

9 TITLE VII—COASTAL WETLANDS 

10 SEC. 701. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this title: 

12 (1) COASTAL WETLAND.—The term ‘‘coastal 

13 wetland’’ means estuarine vegetated coastal habitat, 

14 including salt marsh, seagrass, mangrove, and other 

15 vegetated marine habitats. 

16 (2) NATURAL INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 

17 ‘‘natural infrastructure’’ means infrastructure 

18 that— 

19 (A) uses, restores, or emulates natural eco20 logical processes; and 

21 (B)(i) is created through the action of nat22 ural physical, geological, biological, and chem23 ical processes over time; 


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1 (ii) is created by human design, engineer2 ing, and construction to emulate or act in con3 cert with natural processes; or 

4 (iii) involves the use of plants, soils, and 

5 other natural features, including through the 

6 creation, restoration, or preservation of vege7 tated areas using materials appropriate to the 

8 region to manage stormwater and runoff, to at9 tenuate flooding and storm surges, and for 

10 other related purposes. 

11 (3) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 

12 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization that 

13 is described in section 501(c) of the Internal Rev14 enue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under sec15 tion 501(a) of such Code. 

16 (4) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 

17 the Coastal and Estuary Resilience Grant Program 

18 as established by section 702. 

19 (5) RESTORATION.—The term ‘‘restoration’’ 

20 means renewing, enhancing, or replacing degraded, 

21 damaged, vulnerable, or destroyed wetlands to im22 prove the long-term ecosystem function and resil23 ience through active human intervention and action, 

24 such as— 


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1 (A) improving hydrological conditions 

2 (such as by removing tidal barriers, improving 

3 connectivity, or changing water levels); 

4 (B) altering sediment supply (such as 

5 through the beneficial use of dredge material, 

6 thin-layer spraying, or reconnecting river sedi7 ment); 

8 (C) changing salinity characteristics; 

9 (D) improving water quality (such as by 

10 reducing excess nutrients, sedimentation, or 

11 contaminants); 

12 (E) planting of native plants, removal of 

13 invasive species, and other improved manage14 ment practices; 

15 (F) controlling erosion of wetland edges; 

16 and 

17 (G) enabling future inland migration as 

18 sea levels rise, including through the enhance19 ment of adjacent fresh-water wetlands. 

20 SEC. 702. COASTAL AND ESTUARY RESILIENCE GRANT PRO21 GRAM. 

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall es23 tablish a program, to be known as the ‘‘Coastal and Estu24 ary Resilience Grant Program’’, under which the Sec25 retary awards grants to entities that are eligible under 


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1 subsection (b) to fund coastal wetland restoration and nat2 ural infrastructure projects that are eligible under sub3 section (c). 

4 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An entity is eligible to 

5 apply for a grant under the Program if the entity is an 

6 institution of higher education, a nonprofit organization, 

7 a State or local government, or an Indian Tribe. 

8 (c) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—A project is eligible for a 

9 grant under the Program if the project is designed to— 

10 (1) reduce net greenhouse gases through— 

11 (A) the long-term sequestration of addi12 tional carbon dioxide through— 

13 (i) the active restoration of degraded 

14 coastal wetland; and 

15 (ii) the protection of threatened coast16 al wetland; 

17 (B) the halting of ongoing carbon dioxide 

18 emissions, and the resumption of the natural 

19 rate of carbon capture, through the restoration 

20 of drained coastal wetland; or 

21 (C) the halting of ongoing methane emis22 sions, and the resumption of the natural rate of 

23 carbon storage, through the restoration of for24 merly tidal wetland that has lost tidal 


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1 connectivity and become fresh wetland (com2 monly known as ‘‘impounded wetland’’); or 

3 (2) provide for ecosystem adaptation to the ef4 fects of sea level rise and other climate effects 

5 through— 

6 (A) facilitating landward migration of wet7 lands in response to rising sea levels; or 

8 (B) enhancing ecosystem resilience to 

9 flooding, ocean acidification, or coastal storms. 

10 (d) GRANT EVALUATION CRITERIA.—In reviewing 

11 applications for grants under the Program, the Adminis12 trator shall give priority to projects that exhibit the high13 est potential to— 

14 (1) mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in the 

15 long term by— 

16 (A) reducing greenhouse gas emissions; or 

17 (B) capturing and storing greenhouse 

18 gases; 

19 (2) reinforce ecosystem resilience and adapta20 tion by— 

21 (A) preparing for sea level rise in order to 

22 reduce vulnerability to sea level rise and ero23 sion; 

24 (B) supporting resilience against flooding 

25 and sea level rise; or 


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1 (C) restoring or enhancing ecosystem func2 tion; or 

3 (3) provide economic and social co-benefits by— 

4 (A) reducing the potential impact and 

5 damage of storms on the built environment; 

6 (B) advancing environmental justice by re7 ducing the disproportionate impacts of environ8 mental hazards on communities of color, Indige9 nous communities, and low-income commu10 nities; 

11 (C) providing jobs in coastal communities; 

12 (D) prioritizing natural infrastructure; 

13 (E) incorporating collaborative partner14 ships; or 

15 (F) involving local communities in project 

16 planning and implementation. 

17 (e) ELIGIBLE COSTS.—A grant awarded under the 

18 Program shall be available for all phases of the develop19 ment, implementation, and monitoring of projects that are 

20 eligible under subsection (c), including— 

21 (1) preliminary community engagement, plan22 ning, and prioritization; 

23 (2) preliminary design and site assessment, in24 cluding— 

25 (A) assessments of feasibility; 


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1 (B) planning; and 

2 (C) community engagement; 

3 (3) final design and permitting; 

4 (4) restoration and project implementation; and 

5 (5) monitoring, reporting, and stewardship. 

6 (f) REPORTING.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—An entity that receives a 

8 grant under the Program for a project shall— 

9 (A) collect data on the development and 

10 implementation of the project and stewardship 

11 following completion of the project; and 

12 (B) submit that data to the Administrator 

13 for inclusion in the database required by section 

14 703(a). 

15 (2) REPORT AFTER PROJECT COMPLETION.— 

16 Not later than 1 year after the completion of a 

17 project for which a grant is provided under the Pro18 gram, the entity that received the grant shall submit 

19 to the Administrator a report on the outputs, out20 comes, and impacts of the project, including with re21 spect to— 

22 (A) the amount of area restored; 

23 (B) the estimated net climate benefit; 

24 (C) benefits to nearby communities; and 


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1 (D) involvement of partners and commu2 nities. 

3 (g) MONITORING.—The Administrator shall establish 

4 guidelines providing for monitoring a project for which a 

5 grant is provided under the Program for the 10-year pe6 riod after the grant is awarded. 

7 (h) ROLE OF NATIONAL FISH AND WILDLIFE FOUN8 DATION.—In carrying out the Program, the Administrator 

9 may consult, partner, or otherwise coordinate with the Na10 tional Fish and Wildlife Foundation established by section 

11 2(a) of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Estab12 lishment Act (16 U.S.C. 3701(a)). 

13 SEC. 703. DATA COLLECTION. 

14 (a) DATABASE.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 

16 maintain a coastal wetland restoration database to 

17 collect information about projects that receive grants 

18 under the Program. 

19 (2) DESIGN.—The Administrator shall design 

20 the database required by paragraph (1) to collect 

21 performance metrics on the development and imple22 mentation of projects that receive grants under the 

23 Program and stewardship following completion of 

24 such projects to evaluate the success of those 


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1 projects and inform the design of future projects in 

2 an adaptive manner. 

3 (3) INCLUDED METRICS.—The database re4 quired by paragraph (1) shall include standardized 

5 metrics for reporting such as— 

6 (A) acres restored, protected, or created; 

7 (B) habitat type; 

8 (C) restoration technique; 

9 (D) estimated net greenhouse gas reduc10 tion effect; 

11 (E) jobs created; 

12 (F) quantified ecosystem services; 

13 (G) the economic benefits of wetlands; and 

14 (H) other metrics selected by the Adminis15 trator. 

16 (4) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Administrator 

17 shall make products of the database publicly avail18 able and disseminate important findings to the pub19 lic. 

20 (b) INVENTORY OF COASTAL WETLAND.—The Ad21 ministrator shall compile an inventory of coastal wetland. 

22 SEC. 704. OUTREACH AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. 

23 The Administrator shall establish a technical assist24 ance program to help entities outside of the National Oce25 anic and Atmospheric Administration in all phases of 


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1 coastal wetland restoration project work, including out2 reach to potential applicants for grants under section 702. 

3 SEC. 705. ANNUAL RESTORATION AND FUNDING. 

4 (a) ACREAGE REQUIREMENTS.—To the maximum ex5 tent practicable, the Secretary of Commerce shall award 

6 grants under the Program to conduct coastal wetland res7 toration on 1,500,000 acres over 10 years. 

8 (b) FUNDING.—For each of fiscal years 2021 

9 through 2025, there is authorized to be appropriated 

10 $200,000,000 to remain available until expended for the 

11 Administrator to carry out this title. 

12 SEC. 706. PREVAILING WAGE REQUIREMENT. 

13 Any contractor or subcontractor entering into a serv14 ice contract in connection with a project under the Pro15 gram shall— 

16 (1) be treated as a Federal contractor or sub17 contractor for purposes of chapter 67 of title 41, 

18 United States Code (commonly known as the 

19 ‘‘McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act of 

20 1965’’); and 

21 (2) pay each class of employee employed by the 

22 contractor or subcontractor wages and fringe bene23 fits at rates in accordance with prevailing rates for 

24 the class in the locality, or, where a collective-bar25 gaining agreement covers the employee, in accordVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:22 Jan 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00209 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5056.IS S5056

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1 ance with the rates provided for in the agreement, 

2 including prospective wage increases provided for in 

3 the agreement. 

4 SEC. 707. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR COASTAL WET5 LAND RESTORATION; FUNDING. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior shall 

7 conduct coastal wetland restoration on land managed by 

8 the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Serv9 ice or the Director of the National Park Service to achieve 

10 at least 1 of the following: 

11 (1) The sequestration of additional carbon diox12 ide through— 

13 (A) the active restoration of degraded 

14 coastal wetland; and 

15 (B) the protection of threatened coastal 

16 wetland. 

17 (2) The halting of ongoing carbon dioxide emis18 sions, and the resumption of the natural rate of car19 bon capture, through the restoration of drained 

20 coastal wetland. 

21 (3) The halting of ongoing methane emissions, 

22 and the resumption of the natural rate of carbon 

23 storage, through the restoration of formerly tidal 

24 wetland that has lost tidal connectivity and become 


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1 fresh wetland (commonly known as ‘‘impounded wet2 land’’). 

3 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For each 

4 of fiscal years 2021 through 2025, there is authorized to 

5 be appropriated to the Secretary of the Interior— 

6 (1) for coastal wetland restoration on land man7 aged by the Director of the United States Fish and 

8 Wildlife Service, $200,000,000; and 

9 (2) for coastal wetland restoration on land man10 aged by the Director of the National Park Service, 

11 $200,000,000. 

Æ 


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