II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1373 

To designate the Gulf of Mexico Alliance as a Regional Coordination Partnership of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 15, 2017 

Mr. WICKER (for himself, Mr. COCHRAN, and Mr. CASSIDY) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To designate the Gulf of Mexico Alliance as a Regional 

Coordination Partnership of the National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration, 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 ‘‘Gulf States Protection 

5 and Restoration Coordination Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS; PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The Gulf of Mexico is a valuable resource 

9 of national and international importance, continuVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Jun 21, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1373.IS S1373

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1 ously serving the people of the United States and 

2 other countries as an important source of food, eco3 nomic productivity, recreation, beauty, and enjoy4 ment. 

5 (2) Over many years, the resource productivity 

6 and water quality of the Gulf of Mexico and its wa7 tershed have been diminished by point and nonpoint 

8 source pollution, increasing population demands, 

9 economic development, and natural and man-made 

10 hazard events. 

11 (3) The protection of the Gulf of Mexico re12 gional ecosystem has been traditionally underserved 

13 and overlooked compared to other great water bodies 

14 of the United States, even though the region ac15 counts for 17 percent of United States gross domes16 tic product and would rank as the 7th largest econ17 omy in the world. 

18 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con19 gress that the United States should seek to attain coordi20 nation of the protection and restoration efforts of the Gulf 

21 of Mexico in order to reduce duplication of efforts and 

22 maximize efficiencies through a collaborative regional ef23 fort by the Gulf of Mexico Alliance, in consultation with 

24 Federal agencies and State and local authorities. 


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1 (c) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act and the 

2 amendments made by this Act are as follows: 

3 (1) To expand and strengthen cooperative vol4 untary efforts to protect and restore the Gulf of 

5 Mexico. 

6 (2) To expand Federal support for monitoring, 

7 management, and restoration activities in the Gulf 

8 of Mexico and its watershed. 

9 (3) To commit the United States to a com10 prehensive cooperative program to achieve improved 

11 water quality in, and improvements in the produc12 tivity of living resources of, the Gulf of Mexico. 

13 (4) To establish a Gulf of Mexico Alliance to 

14 coordinate Federal and State authorities with other 

15 voluntary efforts for the collaborative management 

16 of the large marine ecosystem, thereby reducing du17 plication of efforts and maximizing opportunities to 

18 leverage restoration support in the Gulf of Mexico 

19 region. 

20 SEC. 3. GULF STATES PROTECTION AND RESTORATION CO21 ORDINATION. 

22 The Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 

23 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

24 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 320. GULF STATES PROTECTION AND RESTORATION 

2 COORDINATION. 

3 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Adminis5 trator’ means the Administrator of the National 

6 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

7 ‘‘(2) ALLIANCE MANAGEMENT TEAM.—The 

8 term ‘Alliance Management Team’ means the gov9 erning body of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance consisting 

10 of the designated voting members representing the 

11 Governors of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mis12 sissippi, and Florida. 

13 ‘‘(3) GULF OF MEXICO ALLIANCE.—The term 

14 ‘Gulf of Mexico Alliance’ means the formal collabo15 rative organization of Federal, State, local, and pri16 vate participants established by the 5 Gulf States in 

17 2004 as a nonregulatory, inclusive network of part18 ners to provide a broad geographic focus on the pri19 mary environmental issues affecting the Gulf of 

20 Mexico. 

21 ‘‘(4) GULF OF MEXICO ECOSYSTEM.—The term 

22 ‘Gulf of Mexico ecosystem’ means the ecosystem of 

23 the Gulf of Mexico and its watershed. 

24 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION OF GULF OF MEXICO ALLI25 ANCE.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) DESIGNATION AS A REGIONAL COORDINA2 TION PARTNERSHIP.—The Gulf of Mexico Alliance is 

3 designated as a Regional Coordination Partnership 

4 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis5 tration. 

6 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The Gulf of Mexico Al7 liance shall be— 

8 ‘‘(A) headed by a Director who, by reason 

9 of management experience and technical exper10 tise relating to the Gulf of Mexico, is highly 

11 qualified to direct the development of plans and 

12 programs on a variety of Gulf of Mexico issues, 

13 as determined by the Alliance Management 

14 Team; and 

15 ‘‘(B) located in a State all, or a portion of 

16 the coastline, border the Gulf of Mexico. 

17 ‘‘(3) FUNCTIONS.—The Gulf of Mexico Alliance 

18 shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) promote coordination of the actions 

20 of State agencies in the States that border the 

21 Gulf of Mexico and other authorities with the 

22 actions of the appropriate officials of the Fed23 eral agencies and State and local authorities in 

24 the Gulf of Mexico region in developing strate25 gies— 


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1 ‘‘(i) to improve the water quality, pro2 tect nonregulated living resources, increase 

3 valuable habitats, and enhance coastal re4 silience in the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(ii) to obtain the support of appro7 priate officials; 

8 ‘‘(B) in cooperation with appropriate Fed9 eral, State, and local authorities, develop and 

10 implement specific action plans to carry out the 

11 Gulf of Mexico Alliance regional protection and 

12 restoration coordination goals; 

13 ‘‘(C) coordinate and implement priority 

14 plans and projects, and facilitate science, re15 search, modeling, monitoring, data collection, 

16 and other activities that support the Gulf of 

17 Mexico Alliance’s goals through the provision of 

18 grants under subsection (c); 

19 ‘‘(D) implement outreach programs for 

20 public information, education, and participation 

21 to foster stewardship of the resources of the 

22 Gulf of Mexico; 

23 ‘‘(E) develop and make available, through 

24 publications, technical assistance, and other ap25 propriate means, information pertaining to the 


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1 environmental quality and living resources of 

2 the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem; 

3 ‘‘(F) serve as the liaison with, and provide 

4 information to, the Mexican members of the 

5 Gulf of Mexico States Accord and Mexican 

6 counterparts; and 

7 ‘‘(G) focus the efforts and resources of the 

8 Gulf of Mexico Alliance on activities that will 

9 result in measurable improvements to water 

10 quality and living resources of the Gulf of Mex11 ico ecosystem by coordinating protection and 

12 restoration programs to minimize duplication 

13 and maximize leveraging opportunities. 

14 ‘‘(c) GRANTS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Gulf of Mexico Alli16 ance may provide grants to nonprofit organizations, 

17 State and local governments, colleges, universities, 

18 interstate agencies, and individuals to carry out this 

19 section for use in— 

20 ‘‘(A) monitoring the water quality and liv21 ing resources of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem; 

22 ‘‘(B) researching the effects of natural and 

23 human-induced environmental changes on the 

24 water quality and living resources of the Gulf of 

25 Mexico ecosystem; 


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1 ‘‘(C) developing and executing cooperative 

2 strategies that address the water quality, coast3 al resilience, and living resource needs in the 

4 Gulf of Mexico ecosystem; 

5 ‘‘(D) developing and implementing locally 

6 based protection and restoration programs or 

7 projects within a watershed that complement 

8 such strategies, including the creation, restora9 tion, protection, or enhancement of habitat as10 sociated with the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem; and 

11 ‘‘(E) eliminating or reducing nonpoint 

12 sources that discharge pollutants that contami13 nate the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem, including 

14 activities to eliminate leaking septic systems 

15 and construct connections to local sewage sys16 tems. 

17 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Administrative 

18 costs in the form of salaries, overhead, or indirect 

19 costs for services provided and charged against pro20 grams or projects carried out using funds made 

21 available through a grant under this subsection shall 

22 not exceed 25 percent of the amount of the grant. 

23 ‘‘(d) REPORTS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than Decem25 ber 30, 2017, and annually thereafter, the Director 


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1 of the Alliance shall submit to the Administrator 

2 and make available to the public a report that de3 scribes— 

4 ‘‘(A) each project and activity funded 

5 under this section during the previous fiscal 

6 year; 

7 ‘‘(B) the goals and objectives of those 

8 projects and activities; and 

9 ‘‘(C) the net benefits of projects and activi10 ties funded under this section during previous 

11 fiscal years. 

12 ‘‘(2) ASSESSMENT.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than April 

14 30, 2020, and every 3 years thereafter, the Ad15 ministrator, in coordination with the Alliance 

16 Management Team, shall complete an assess17 ment on the effectiveness of the Gulf of Mexico 

18 Alliance’s ability to coordinate regional prior19 ities and submit to Congress a comprehensive 

20 report on such assessment. 

21 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—The assessment 

22 and report described in subparagraph (A) 

23 shall— 


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1 ‘‘(i) assess the overall status of coordi2 nated restoration and protection efforts in 

3 the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem; 

4 ‘‘(ii) assess the effectiveness of the 

5 Gulf of Mexico Alliance management strat6 egies being implemented, and the extent to 

7 which the priority needs of the region are 

8 being met through that implementation; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(iii) make recommendations for the 

11 improved coordination among the regu12 latory and nonregulatory programs oper13 ating in the region, including strength14 ening strategies being implemented or 

15 adopting improved strategies. 

16 ‘‘(e) BUDGET ITEM.—The Administrator, in the an17 nual submission to Congress of the budget of the National 

18 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shall include a 

19 funding line item request for the Gulf of Mexico Alliance 

20 as a separate budget line item. 

21 ‘‘(f) LIMITATION ON REGULATORY AUTHORITY.— 

22 Nothing in this section establishes any new legal or regu23 latory authority of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

24 Administration or of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance, other 


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1 than the authority to provide grants in accordance with 

2 this section. 

3 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

5 to remain available until expended— 

6 ‘‘(1) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2018; 

7 ‘‘(2) $5,100,000 for fiscal year 2019; 

8 ‘‘(3) $5,202,000 for fiscal year 2020; 

9 ‘‘(4) $5,306,040 for fiscal year 2021; 

10 ‘‘(5) $5,412,160 for fiscal year 2022; and 

11 ‘‘(6) $5,520,404 for fiscal year 2023.’’. 

Æ 


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