I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5535

To enhance and restore the coastal resources of the United States.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 24, 2000

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

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the

Committees on Science, and Resources, for a period to be subsequently

determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To enhance and restore the coastal resources of the United

States.

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 Resources En5 hancement and Restoration Act of 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 2. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION RESEARCH

2 GRANTS FOR COASTAL ENGINEERING AND

3 SHORELINE PROTECTION.

4 Section 3 of the National Science Foundation Act of

5 1950 (42 U.S.C. 1862) is amended by adding at the end

6 the following:

7 ‘‘(h) Beginning in fiscal year 2001, not less than 10

8 percent of the amounts appropriated for a fiscal year for

9 making grants for engineering research under subsection

10 (a)(1) shall be used by the Foundation for making grants

11 for coastal engineering and coastline protection research.’’.

12 SEC. 3. SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS IN

13 COASTAL AREAS.

14 Section 313 of the Federal Water Pollution Control

15 Act (33 U.S.C. 1323) is amended by adding at the end

16 the following:

17 ‘‘(c) ARTIFICIAL REEFS AND AQUATIC HABITAT

18 RESTORATION PROJECTS.—A department, agency, or in19 strumentality of the Federal Government that is found to

20 have violated this Act in connection with the discharge or

21 runoff of pollutants into coastal waters of the United

22 States and that, as a result of the violation, is ordered

23 to undertake a supplemental environmental program in

24 lieu of paying fines shall be given the option of con25 structing artificial reefs and undertaking aquatic habitat

26 restoration projects.’’.
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1 SEC. 4. ACCESS TO PUBLICLY OWNED SHORES.

2 (a) ELIGIBILITY OF SHORELINE PROTECTION

3 PROJECTS.—Subsection (d) of the first section of the Act

4 entitled ‘‘An Act authorizing Federal participation in the

5 cost of protecting the shores of publicly owned property’’,

6 approved August 13, 1946 (33 U.S.C. 426d), is amended

7 by adding at the end the following: ‘‘In making determina8 tions under this subsection, the Secretary shall consider

9 a publicly owned shore with insufficient public access (as

10 determined in accordance with rules issued by the Sec11 retary) to be a privately owned shore.’’.

12 (b) COST SHARING.—Section 103(d) of the Water

13 Resources Development Act of 1986 (33 U.S.C. 2213(d))

14 is amended by adding at the end the following:

15 ‘‘(3) PRIVATELY OWNED SHORES DEFINED.—In

16 this subsection, the term ‘privately owned shores’ in17 cludes a publicly owned shore with insufficient public

18 access, as determined in accordance with rules

19 issued by the Secretary.’’.

20 (c) RULES.—The Secretary of the Army shall issue

21 rules to carry out the amendments made by this sub22 section. In issuing such rules, the Secretary shall seek to

23 ensure public access to every one-half mile of publicly

24 owned shore for which assistance is provided by the Sec25 retary. The Secretary may allow for exceptions to such ac-
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1 cess requirements in cases of shores located in areas of

2 extreme environmental sensitivity.

3 SEC. 5. BEACH NOURISHMENT ACCOUNT.

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the

5 Treasury a separate account to be known as the Beach

6 Nourishment Account (in this section referred to as the

7 ‘‘account’’), which shall consist of such funds as may be

8 deposited or credited to the account under this section.

9 (b) SOURCE OF FUNDS FOR ACCOUNT.—For fiscal

10 year 2001 and each fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary

11 of the Treasury shall periodically transfer to the account

12 amounts equivalent to 2 percent of the funds deposited

13 in the general fund of the Treasury under section 9 of

14 the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1338).

15 (c) USE OF ACCOUNT.—Funds in the account shall

16 be available without further appropriation—

17 (1) in the amounts specified in section 6, to the

18 Secretary of Commerce and the Administrator of the

19 National Aeronautics and Space Administration to

20 carry out the pilot program authorized by section 6;

21 and

22 (2) in the amounts remaining after funds are

23 made available under paragraph (1), to the Sec24 retary of the Army to carry out projects for beach
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1 nourishment, shore protection, and beach erosion

2 control;

3 Funds in the account shall remain available until ex4 pended.

5 (d) APPLICABILITY OF REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec6 retary of the Army shall carry out beach nourishment,

7 shore protection, and beach erosion control projects using

8 amounts in the account in accordance with the cost-shar9 ing requirements under section 103 of the Water Re10 sources Development Act of 1986 (33 U.S.C. 2213) and

11 other requirements applicable to such projects.

12 (e) REPORTING OF TRANSACTIONS.—Receipts, obli13 gations, and expenditures of funds in the account shall

14 be reported in annual estimates submitted to Congress by

15 the Secretary of the Army.

16 (f) INVESTMENT.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas18 ury shall invest such portion of the account estab19 lished by subsection (a) as is not, in the judgment

20 of the Secretary, required to meet current with21 drawals. Such investments may be made only in in22 terest-bearing obligations of the United States. For

23 such purpose, such obligations may be acquired—

24 (A) on original issue at the issue price; or
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1 (B) by purchase of outstanding obligations

2 at the market price.

3 (2) SALE OF OBLIGATIONS.—Any obligation ac4 quired by the account may be sold at the market

5 price.

6 (3) INTEREST ON CERTAIN PROCEEDS.—The

7 interest on, and the proceeds from the sale or re8 demption of, any obligations held in the account

9 shall be credited to and form part of the account.

10 SEC. 6. COMPREHENSIVE OCEAN OBSERVING SYSTEM

11 PILOT PROGRAM.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce (act13 ing through the Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmos14 phere) and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics

15 and Space Administration shall jointly carry out a pilot

16 program to institute the mission of the Global Ocean Ob17 serving System in the United States by establishing a

18 comprehensive monitoring network of ocean conditions.

19 (b) PARTNERSHIPS.—In carrying out the pilot pro20 gram, the Secretary and the Administrator shall enter into

21 partnerships with local and regional interests to monitor

22 and collect the widest range of data possible about the

23 coastal oceans and inland waterways in order to make

24 such information available to interested persons in real

25 time or near real time.
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1 (c) INFORMATION TO BE COLLECTED.—Information

2 collected under the pilot program shall include the fol3 lowing:

4 (1) Wave heights, periods, swell direction and

5 water temperature.

6 (2) Coastal currents and their directions.

7 (3) Large mammal movement via implanted

8 sensors.

9 (4) Sewage outfall movement.

10 (5) Water quality, such as bacteria counts, sedi11 ment movement, and red tides.

12 (6) Beaconed fishing boat tracking (for track13 ing illegal foreign whalers).

14 (7) Oil spill tracking.

15 (8) Beach erosion data.

16 (9) Weather.

17 (10) River mouth outflow sediment observation.

18 (11) Global Information System coastal map19 ping.

20 (d) FEDERAL COOPERATION.—The Secretary and

21 the Administrator shall carry out the pilot project in co22 operation with the Geological Survey, the Navy, and the

23 Environmental Protection Agency.

24 (e) REGIONAL TEST PROJECTS.—In carrying out the

25 pilot program, the Secretary and the Administrator shall
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1 establish 2 regional test projects. One of the test projects

2 shall be located at the Southern California Bight from

3 Encinitas, Mexico, to Point Dume, California, with Or4 ange County, California, serving as the focal point. The

5 second test project shall be carried out at a location to

6 be determined by the Secretary and the Administrator.

7 (f) COORDINATION OF EXISTING EFFORTS.—In car8 rying out the pilot program, the Secretary and the Admin9 istrator shall not replace or duplicate existing efforts of

10 Federal, State, and local entities in monitoring ocean con11 ditions, but shall seek to coordinate such efforts and to

12 obtain information that is not currently collected.

13 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be available

15 from the Beach Nourishment Account established by

16 section 5 $4,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2001

17 through 2006 to carry out this section.

18 (2) ALLOCATION.—Of the amounts made avail19 able under paragraph (1), $2,000,000 per fiscal year

20 shall be available for carrying out each of the 2 re21 gional test projects referred to in subsection (e).

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