I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3187 

To authorize the acquisition of land and interests in land to improve the 

conservation of, and to enhance the ecological values and functions of, 

coastal watersheds and estuarine areas to benefit both the environment 

and the economies of coastal communities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 30, 2005 

Mr. SAXTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Resources 

A BILL 

To authorize the acquisition of land and interests in land 

to improve the conservation of, and to enhance the ecological values and functions of, coastal watersheds and 

estuarine areas to benefit both the environment and the 

economies of coastal communities, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Coastal and Estuarine 

5 Land Conservation Program Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Coastal and estuarine areas provide impor4 tant nursery habitat for two-thirds of the commer5 cial fish and shellfish populations of the United 

6 States, provide nesting and foraging habitat for 

7 coastal birds, harbor significant natural plant com8 munities, and serve to facilitate coastal flood control 

9 and pollutant filtration. 

10 (2) Coastal and estuarine areas, in both urban 

11 and rural settings, provide significant opportunities 

12 for recreational and educational activities, including 

13 hunting and fishing, boating, swimming, bird watch14 ing, wildlife observation, restoration, and other ac15 tivities. 

16 (3) The Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 

17 (16 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.) recognizes the national im18 portance of these areas and their ecological vulner19 ability to anthropogenic activities by establishing a 

20 comprehensive Federal-State partnership for pro21 tecting natural reserves and managing growth in 

22 these areas. 

23 (4) The National Estuarine Research Reserve 

24 system established under that Act relies on the pro25 tection of designated areas for long-term protection 

26 and for the conduct of education and research crit-
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1 ical to the protection and conservation of coastal and 

2 estuarine resources. 

3 (5) Intense development pressures within the 

4 coastal zone are driving the need to provide coastal 

5 managers with a wider range of tools to protect and 

6 conserve important coastal and estuarine areas, in7 cluding protection of developed or ecologically de8 graded areas with potential for restoration for eco9 logical or recreational purposes. 

10 (6) Federal-State-nongovernmental organization 

11 pilot projects have already substantially contributed 

12 to the long-term health and viability of coastal and 

13 estuarine systems. 

14 (7) Enhanced protection of estuarine and coast15 al areas can be coordinated through Federal, State, 

16 regional, and local efforts. 

17 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COASTAL AND ESTUARINE 

18 LAND CONSERVATION PROGRAM. 

19 The Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 

20 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 

21 310 the following: 

22 ‘‘COASTAL AND ESTUARINE LAND CONSERVATION

23 PROGRAM

24 ‘‘SEC. 310A. (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary 

25 shall establish, in cooperation with appropriate State, re26 gional, and other units of government, a Coastal and Es-
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1 tuarine Land Conservation Program (in this section re2 ferred to as the ‘Program)’ for the purposes of— 

3 ‘‘(1) ascertaining the environmental integrity of 

4 important coastal and estuarine areas, including 

5 wetlands and forests, that— 

6 ‘‘(A) have significant conservation, recre7 ation, ecological, historical, economic, or aes8 thetic values; and 

9 ‘‘(B) are threatened by conversion from 

10 their natural, undeveloped, or recreational state 

11 to other uses or could be managed or restored 

12 to effectively conserve, enhance, or restore eco13 logical function; and 

14 ‘‘(2) protecting the environmental integrity of 

15 such areas. 

16 ‘‘(b) ADMINISTRATION OF PROGRAM.—The Program 

17 shall be administered by the National Ocean Service of 

18 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

19 through the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Man20 agement. 

21 ‘‘(c) PROPERTY ACQUISITION GRANTS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) GRANTS; PURPOSE.—The Secretary shall 

23 make grants under the Program to coastal states 

24 with approved coastal zone management plans or 

25 National Estuarine Research Reserve units for the 
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1 purpose of assisting such States to acquire property 

2 or interests in property described in subsection (a) 

3 that will further the goals of— 

4 ‘‘(A) a Coastal Zone Management Plan or 

5 Program approved under this title; 

6 ‘‘(B) a National Estuarine Research Re7 serve management plan; or 

8 ‘‘(C) a regional or State watershed protec9 tion or management plan involving coastal 

10 states with approved coastal zone management 

11 plans. 

12 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION TO ACQUISITION FROM WILL13 ING SELLERS.—Property acquisition funded in whole 

14 or in part using a grant received under this sub15 section shall be limited to acquisition from willing 

16 sellers. 

17 ‘‘(d) GRANT PROCESS.—The Secretary shall allocate 

18 funds to coastal states or National Estuarine Research 

19 Reserves under this section through a competitive grant 

20 process in accordance with guidelines that meet the fol21 lowing requirements: 

22 ‘‘(1) The Secretary shall consult with coastal 

23 states coastal zone management programs, National 

24 Estuarine Research Reserve in coastal states, and 

25 the lead agencies designated by Governors of coastal 
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1 states for coordinating the establishment and imple2 mentation of this title (if different from the coastal 

3 zone management program of a State). 

4 ‘‘(2) Each participating coastal state shall iden5 tify priority conservation needs within the State, the 

6 values to be protected by inclusion of lands of the 

7 Program, and the threats to those values that should 

8 be avoided. 

9 ‘‘(3) Each participating coastal state shall 

10 evaluate how the acquisition of property or ease11 ments might impact working waterfront needs. 

12 ‘‘(4) Applicants shall identify the values to be 

13 protected by inclusion of land in the Program, man14 agement activities that are planned and the manner 

15 in which they may affect the values identified, and 

16 any other information from landowners relevant to 

17 administration and management of the land. 

18 ‘‘(5) Awards shall be based on demonstrated 

19 need for protection and ability to successfully lever20 age funds among participating entities, including 

21 Federal programs, regional organizations, State and 

22 other governmental units, landowners, corporations, 

23 or private organizations. 

24 ‘‘(6) An application must be determined to be 

25 consistent with a coastal state’s approved coastal 
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1 zone plan, program, and policies prior to submittal 

2 to the Secretary. 

3 ‘‘(7) Priority shall be given to lands described 

4 in subsection (a) that can be effectively managed 

5 and protected and that have significant ecological or 

6 watershed protection value. 

7 ‘‘(8) In developing guidelines under this section, 

8 the Secretary shall consult with other Federal agen9 cies and nongovernmental entities expert in land ac10 quisition and conservation procedures. 

11 ‘‘(9) Eligible coastal states or National Estua12 rine Research Reserves may allocate grants to local 

13 governments or agencies eligible for assistance under 

14 section 306A(e) and may acquire lands in coopera15 tion with nongovernmental entities and Federal 

16 agencies. 

17 ‘‘(10) The Secretary shall develop performance 

18 measures that will allow periodic evaluation of the 

19 Program’s effectiveness in meeting the purposes of 

20 this section and such evaluation shall be reported to 

21 the Congress. 

22 ‘‘(e) MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may not 

24 make a grant under the Program unless the grant 
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1 funds are matched by non-Federal funds in accord2 ance with this subsection. 

3 ‘‘(2) MAXIMUM FEDERAL SHARE.— 

4 ‘‘(A) 75 PERCENT FEDERAL FUNDS.—No 

5 more than 75 percent of the funding for any 

6 project carried out with a grant under this sec7 tion shall be derived from Federal sources, un8 less such requirement is specifically waived by 

9 the Secretary under subparagraph (B). 

10 ‘‘(B) WAIVER OF REQUIREMENT.—The 

11 Secretary may grant a waiver of the limitation 

12 in subparagraph (A) for underserved commu13 nities, for a community that has an inability to 

14 draw on other sources of funding because of the 

15 small population or low income of the commu16 nity, or for such other reasons, consistent with 

17 the purposes of this title, as the Secretary con18 siders appropriate. 

19 ‘‘(3) OTHER FEDERAL FUNDS.—If a grant 

20 awarded under this section represents only a portion 

21 of the total cost of a project, funding from other 

22 Federal sources may be applied to the cost of the 

23 project. Each portion shall be subject to matching 

24 requirements under the applicable provision of law. 
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1 ‘‘(4) SOURCE OF MATCHING FUNDS.—For pur2 poses of paragraph (2)(A), the non-Federal match 

3 for a project may be determined by taking into ac4 count the following: 

5 ‘‘(A) The value of land or a conservation 

6 easement may be used as the non-Federal 

7 match if the land or easement are identified in 

8 project plans and acquired within 3 years prior 

9 to the submission of the project application or 

10 after the submission of a project application 

11 until the project grant is closed (not to exceed 

12 3 years). The appraised value of the land or 

13 easement at the time of project closing will be 

14 considered the non-Federal match. 

15 ‘‘(B) Costs associated with land acquisi16 tion, land management planning, remediation, 

17 restoration, and enhancement may be used as 

18 non-Federal match if the activities are identi19 fied in the plan and expenses are incurred with20 in the period of the grant award. These costs 

21 may include either case or in-kind contribu22 tions. 

23 ‘‘(f) REGIONAL WATERSHED DEMONSTRATION

24 PROJECT.—The Secretary may provide up to $5,000,000 
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1 for a regional watershed protection demonstration project 

2 that will meet the requirements of this section, and— 

3 ‘‘(1) leverages land acquisition funding from 

4 other Federal land conservation or acquisition pro5 grams such that other Federal contributions, at a 

6 minimum, equal the amounts provided by the Sec7 retary; 

8 ‘‘(2) involves partnerships from a broad spec9 trum of Federal, State, and non-governmental enti10 ties; 

11 ‘‘(3) provides for the creation of conservation 

12 corridors and preservation of unique coastal habitat; 

13 ‘‘(4) protects largely unfragmented habitat 

14 under imminent threat of development or conversion; 

15 ‘‘(5) enhances the network of protected areas 

16 established for long-term research, education, and 

17 stewardship under the National Estuarine Research 

18 Reserve program; and 

19 ‘‘(6) provides a model for future regional water20 shed protection projects. 

21 ‘‘(g) RESERVATION OF FUNDS FOR NATIONAL ESTU22 ARINE RESEARCH RESERVE SITES.—No less than 15 per23 cent of funds made available under this section shall be 

24 available for acquisitions benefiting National Estuarine 

25 Research Reserve acquisitions. 
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1 ‘‘(h) LIMIT ON ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—No more 

2 than 5 percent of the funds made available to the Sec3 retary under this section shall be used by the Secretary 

4 for planning or administration of the Program. The Sec5 retary shall provide a report to the Congress with an ac6 count of all expenditures under the Program for fiscal year 

7 2007, fiscal year 2008, and triennially thereafter. 

8 ‘‘(i) TITLE AND MANAGEMENT OF ACQUIRED PROP9 ERTY.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If any property is acquired 

11 in whole or in part with funds made available 

12 through a grant under this section, the grant recipi13 ent shall provide such assurances as the Secretary 

14 may require that— 

15 ‘‘(A) the title to the property will be held 

16 by the grant recipient or another appropriate 

17 public agency designated by the recipient in 

18 perpetuity; 

19 ‘‘(B) the property will be managed in a 

20 manner that is consistent with the purposes for 

21 which the land entered into the Program and 

22 shall not convert such property to other uses; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(C) if the property or interest in land is 

25 sold, exchanged, or divested, funds equal to the 
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1 correct value will be returned to the Secretary, 

2 for re-distribution in the grant process. 

3 ‘‘(2) CONSERVATION EASEMENT.—In this sub4 section, the term ‘conservation easement’ includes an 

5 easement, recorded deed, or interest deed where the 

6 grantee acquires all rights, title, and interest in a 

7 property, that do not conflict with the goals of this 

8 title except those rights, title, and interests that may 

9 run with the land that are expressly reserved by a 

10 grantor and are agreed to at the time of purchase. 

11 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

12 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary— 

13 ‘‘(1) $60,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2007 

14 through 2011 to carry out this section (other than 

15 subsection (f)), to remain available without fiscal 

16 year limitation; and 

17 ‘‘(2) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2007 to carry 

18 out subsection (f), to remain available without fiscal 

19 year limitation.’’. 

20 SEC. 4. ASSISTANCE FROM OTHER AGENCIES. 

21 Section 310(a) of the Coastal Zone Management Act 

22 of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1456c(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘any 

23 qualified person for the purposes of carrying out this sub24 section.’’ and inserting ‘‘any other Federal agencies (in25 cluding interagency financing of Coastal America activi-
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1 ties) and any other qualified person for the purposes of 

2 carrying out this section.’’. 

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