I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2548 

To amend the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 to require establishment 

of a Working Waterfront Grant Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 21, 2009 

Ms. PINGREE of Maine (for herself, Ms. BORDALLO, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. 

DELAHUNT, Mr. FARR, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. KENNEDY, 

Mr. KLEIN of Florida, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MCINTYRE, 

Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. THOMPSON of California, and 

Mr. WITTMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 to 

require establishment of a Working Waterfront Grant 

Program, 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 ‘‘Keep America’s Water5 fronts Working Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. WORKING WATERFRONT PROGRAM. 

2 The Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 

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

4 the following: 

5 ‘‘WORKING WATERFRONT GRANT PROGRAM

6 ‘‘SEC. 320. (a) FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.— 

7 ‘‘(1) The Congress finds the following: 

8 ‘‘(A) Water-dependent commercial activi9 ties are the economic and cultural heart of 

10 many coastal communities. These activities in11 clude commercial fishing, recreational fishing, 

12 tourism, aquaculture, boatbuilding, transpor13 tation, and many other water-dependent busi14 nesses. 

15 ‘‘(B) Water-dependent commercial activi16 ties depend on coastal access in the form of 

17 docks, wharfs, lifts, wet and dry marinas, boat 

18 ramps, boat hauling, repair, and construction 

19 facilities, commercial fishing facilities, and 

20 other support structures on, over, or adjacent 

21 to navigable bodies of water. 

22 ‘‘(C) The coastal zone across the United 

23 States is experiencing rising property values 

24 and taxes, and related development pressure, as 

25 more people move to the coastal zone, and as 


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1 coastal areas experience a demographic shift fa2 voring wealthier citizens. 

3 ‘‘(D) Privately owned access areas for 

4 water-dependent commercial activity in many 

5 States are under increasing threat from private 

6 residential development and other conversion. 

7 ‘‘(E) Loss of access for water-dependent 

8 commercial activity would have economically 

9 and culturally devastating consequences for 

10 many coastal communities. 

11 ‘‘(2) The purpose of this section is to preserve, 

12 protect, and expand coastal access for persons en13 gaged in water-dependent commercial activities in14 cluding commercial fishing, recreational fishing, 

15 aquaculture, boatbuilding, or other water-dependent 

16 coastal-related businesses. 

17 ‘‘(b) GRANT PROGRAM.— 

18 ‘‘(1) The Secretary shall establish a Working 

19 Waterfront Grant Program, in cooperation with ap20 propriate State, regional, and other units of govern21 ment, under which the Secretary may make a grant 

22 to any coastal state for the purpose of implementing 

23 a working waterfront plan approved by the Secretary 

24 under subsection (c). 


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1 ‘‘(2) Subject to the availability of appropria2 tions, the Secretary shall award matching grants 

3 under the program through a regionally equitable, 

4 competitive funding process. 

5 ‘‘(3) In awarding a grant to an eligible coastal 

6 state, the Secretary shall consider— 

7 ‘‘(A) the economic and cultural significance 

8 of working waterfront to the coastal state; 

9 ‘‘(B) the demonstrated working waterfront 

10 needs of the coastal state as outlined by a 

11 working waterfront plan approved for the coast12 al state under subsection (c), and the value of 

13 the proposed project for the implementation of 

14 such Plan; 

15 ‘‘(C) the ability to successfully leverage 

16 funds among participating entities, including 

17 Federal programs, regional organizations, State 

18 and other government units, landowners, cor19 porations, or private organizations; 

20 ‘‘(D) the potential for rapid turnover in 

21 the ownership of working waterfront in the 

22 coastal state, and where applicable the need for 

23 coastal states to respond quickly when prop24 erties in existing or potential working water25 front areas or public access areas as identified 


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1 in the working waterfront plan submitted by 

2 the coastal state come under threat or become 

3 available; 

4 ‘‘(E) the impact of the working waterfront 

5 plan approved for the coastal state under sub6 section (c) on the coastal ecosystem and the 

7 users of the coastal ecosystem; and 

8 ‘‘(F) the extent of the historic connection 

9 between working waterfronts and the local com10 munities within the coastal state. 

11 ‘‘(4) The Secretary shall approve or reject an 

12 application for such a grant within 30 days after re13 ceiving an application for the grant. 

14 ‘‘(c) WORKING WATERFRONT PLANS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) To qualify for a grant under subsection 

16 (b), a coastal state must submit and have approved 

17 by the Secretary a comprehensive working water18 front plan in accordance with this subsection or be 

19 in the process of developing such a plan and have an 

20 established working waterfront program at the State 

21 or local level. 

22 ‘‘(2) Such plan— 

23 ‘‘(A) must provide for preservation and ex24 pansion of access to coastal waters to persons 

25 engaged in commercial fishing, recreational 


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1 fishing, aquaculture, boatbuilding, or other 

2 water-dependent coastal-related business; 

3 ‘‘(B) shall include— 

4 ‘‘(i) an assessment of the economic, 

5 social, cultural, and historic value of work6 ing waterfront to the coastal state; 

7 ‘‘(ii) a description of relevant State 

8 and local laws and regulations affecting 

9 working waterfront in the geographic areas 

10 identified in the working waterfront plan; 

11 ‘‘(iii) identification of geographic 

12 areas where working waterfronts are cur13 rently under threat of conversion to uses 

14 incompatible with commercial fishing, rec15 reational fishing, aquaculture, 

16 boatbuilding, or other water-dependent 

17 coastal-related business, and the level of 

18 that threat; 

19 ‘‘(iv) identification of geographic areas 

20 with a historic connection to working wa21 terfronts where working waterfronts are 

22 not currently available, and, where appro23 priate, an assessment of the environmental 

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1 ment of working waterfronts on the coastal 

2 ecosystem; 

3 ‘‘(v) identification of other working 

4 waterfront needs including improvements 

5 to existing working waterfronts and work6 ing waterfront areas; 

7 ‘‘(vi) for areas identified under 

8 clauses (iii), (iv) and (v), identification of 

9 current availability and potential for ex10 pansion of public access to coastal waters; 

11 ‘‘(vii) a strategic and prioritized plan 

12 for the preservation, expansion, and im13 provement of working waterfronts in the 

14 coastal state, including reasonable and ap15 propriate provisions for the preservation 

16 and expansion of public access to coastal 

17 waters; 

18 ‘‘(viii) a description of the degree of 

19 community support for such strategic plan; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(ix) a contingency plan for properties 

22 that revert to the coastal state pursuant to 

23 determinations made by the coastal state 

24 under subsection (g)(4)(C); 


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1 ‘‘(C) may be part of the management pro2 gram approved under section 306; 

3 ‘‘(D) shall utilize to the maximum extent 

4 practicable existing information contained in 

5 relevant surveys, plans, or other strategies to 

6 fulfill the information requirements under this 

7 paragraph; and 

8 ‘‘(E) shall incorporate the policies and reg9 ulations adopted by communities under local 

10 working waterfront plans or strategies in exist11 ence prior to the date of enactment of this sec12 tion. 

13 ‘‘(3) A working waterfront plan— 

14 ‘‘(A) shall be effective for purposes of this 

15 section for the 5-year period beginning on the 

16 date it is approved by the Secretary; 

17 ‘‘(B) must be updated and re-approved by 

18 the Secretary before the end of such period; and 

19 ‘‘(C) shall be complimentary to and incor20 porate the policies and objectives of regional or 

21 local working waterfront plans as in effect be22 fore the date of enactment of this section or as 

23 subsequently revised. 

24 ‘‘(4) The Secretary may— 


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1 ‘‘(A) award planning grants to coastal 

2 states for the purpose of developing or revising 

3 comprehensive working waterfront plans; and 

4 ‘‘(B) award grants consistent with the pur5 poses of this section to States undertaking the 

6 working waterfront planning process under this 

7 section, for the purpose of preserving and pro8 tecting working waterfronts during such proc9 ess. 

10 ‘‘(5) A coastal state is encouraged to— 

11 ‘‘(A) develop a working waterfront plan 

12 under this subsection, using a process that in13 volves the public and stakeholders; and 

14 ‘‘(B) coordinate development and imple15 mentation of such a plan with other coastal 

16 management plans, regulations, and activities of 

17 the coastal state. 

18 ‘‘(d) USES, TERMS, AND CONDITIONS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) Each grant made by the Secretary under 

20 this section shall be subject to such terms and condi21 tions as may be appropriate to ensure that the grant 

22 is used for purposes consistent with this section. 

23 ‘‘(2) A grant under this section may be used— 

24 ‘‘(A) to acquire a working waterfront, or 

25 an interest in a working waterfront; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) to make improvements to a working 

2 waterfront, including the construction or repair 

3 of wharfs, boat ramps, or related facilities. 

4 ‘‘(e) PUBLIC ACCESS REQUIREMENT.—A working 

5 waterfront project funded by grants made under this sec6 tion must provide for expansion or improvement of reason7 able and appropriate public access to coastal waters at or 

8 in the vicinity of a working waterfront, except for commer9 cial fishing or other industrial access points where the 

10 coastal state determines that public access would be un11 safe. 

12 ‘‘(f) LIMITATIONS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a 

14 grant awarded under this section may be used to 

15 purchase working waterfront or an interest in work16 ing waterfront, including an easement, only from a 

17 willing seller and at fair market value. 

18 ‘‘(2) A grant awarded under this section may 

19 be used to acquire working waterfront or an interest 

20 in working waterfront at less than fair market value 

21 only if the owner certifies to the Secretary that the 

22 sale is being entered into willingly and without coer23 cion. 

24 ‘‘(3) No Federal, State, or local entity may ex25 ercise the power of eminent domain to secure title to 


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1 any property or facilities in connection with a 

2 project carried out under this section. 

3 ‘‘(g) ALLOCATION OF GRANTS TO LOCAL GOVERN4 MENTS AND OTHER ENTITIES.— 

5 ‘‘(1) The Secretary shall encourage coastal 

6 states to broadly allocate amounts received as grants 

7 under this section among working waterfronts iden8 tified in working waterfront plans approved under 

9 subsection (c). 

10 ‘‘(2) Subject to the approval of the Secretary, 

11 a coastal state may, as part of an approved working 

12 waterfront plan, designate as a qualified holder any 

13 unit of local government or nonprofit organization. 

14 ‘‘(3) A coastal state or a qualified holder des15 ignated by a coastal state that is the recipient of a 

16 grant made under this section may allocate to a unit 

17 of local government, non-profit organization, fishing 

18 cooperative, or other entity, a portion of any grant 

19 made under this section for the purpose of carrying 

20 out this section, except that such an allocation shall 

21 not relieve the coastal state of the responsibility for 

22 ensuring that any funds so allocated are applied in 

23 furtherance of the coastal state’s approved working 

24 waterfront plan. 


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1 ‘‘(4) A qualified holder may hold title to or in2 terest in property acquired under this section, except 

3 that— 

4 ‘‘(A) all persons holding title to or interest 

5 in working waterfront affected by a grant under 

6 this section, including a qualified holder, private 

7 citizen, private business, non-profit organiza8 tion, fishing cooperative, or other entity, shall 

9 enter into a working waterfront covenant; 

10 ‘‘(B) such covenant shall be held by the 

11 coastal state or a qualified holder designated 

12 under paragraph (2); 

13 ‘‘(C) if the coastal state determines, on the 

14 record after an opportunity for a hearing, that 

15 the working waterfront covenant has been vio16 lated— 

17 ‘‘(i) all right, title, and interest in and 

18 to the working waterfront covered by such 

19 covenant shall, except as provided in sub20 paragraph (D), revert to the coastal state; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(ii) the coastal state shall have the 

23 right of immediate entry onto the working 

24 waterfront. 


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1 ‘‘(D) If a coastal state makes a determina2 tion under subparagraph (C), the coastal state 

3 may convey or authorize the qualified holder to 

4 convey the working waterfront or interest in 

5 working waterfront to another qualified holder. 

6 ‘‘(E) Nothing in this subsection waives any 

7 legal requirement under any Federal or State 

8 law. 

9 ‘‘(h) MATCHING CONTRIBUTIONS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 

11 Secretary shall require that each coastal state that 

12 receives a grant under this section, or a qualified 

13 holder designated by that coastal state under sub14 section (g), shall provide matching funds in an 

15 amount equal to at least 25 percent of the total cost 

16 of the project carried out with the grant. 

17 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may waive the application 

18 of paragraph (1) for any qualified holder that is an 

19 underserved community, a community that has an 

20 inability to draw on other sources of funding because 

21 of the small population or low income of the commu22 nity, or for other reasons the Secretary considers ap23 propriate. 

24 ‘‘(3) A local community designated as a quali25 fied holder under subsection (g) may utilize funds or 


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1 other in-kind contributions donated by a non-govern2 mental partner to satisfy the matching funds re3 quirement under this subsection. 

4 ‘‘(4) As a condition of receipt of a grant under 

5 this section, the Secretary shall require that a coast6 al state provide to the Secretary such assurances as 

7 the Secretary determines are sufficient to dem8 onstrate that the share of the cost of each eligible 

9 project that is not funded by the grant awarded 

10 under this section has been secured. 

11 ‘‘(5) If financial assistance under this section 

12 represents only a portion of the total cost of a 

13 project, funding from other Federal sources may be 

14 applied to the cost of the project. Each portion shall 

15 be subject to match requirements under the applica16 ble provision of law. 

17 ‘‘(6) The Secretary shall treat as non-Federal 

18 match the value of a working waterfront or interest 

19 in a working waterfront, including conservation and 

20 other easements, that is held in perpetuity by a 

21 qualified holder, if the working waterfront or inter22 est is identified in the application for the grant and 

23 acquired by the qualified holder within 3 years be24 fore submission of the application, or within 3 years 

25 after the submission of the application and before 


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1 the end of the grant award period. Such value shall 

2 be determined by an appraisal performed at such 

3 time before the award of the grant as the Secretary 

4 considers appropriate. 

5 ‘‘(7) The Secretary shall treat as non-Federal 

6 match the costs associated with acquisition of a 

7 working waterfront or an interest in a working wa8 terfront, and the costs of restoration, enhancement, 

9 or other improvement to a working waterfront, if the 

10 activities are identified in the project application and 

11 the costs are incurred within the period of the grant 

12 award, or, for working waterfront described in para13 graph (6), within the same time limits described in 

14 that paragraph. These costs may include either cash 

15 or in-kind contributions. 

16 ‘‘(i) LIMIT ON ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—No more 

17 than 5 percent of the funds made available to the Sec18 retary under this section may be used by the Secretary 

19 for planning or administration of the program under this 

20 section. 

21 ‘‘(j) OTHER TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASSIST22 ANCE.—The Secretary shall–— 

23 ‘‘(1) assist coastal states in identifying and ob24 taining other sources of available Federal technical 

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1 vision of a working waterfront plan and the imple2 mentation of an approved working waterfront plan; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(2) provide technical assistance to States for 

5 the development and revision of comprehensive work6 ing waterfront plans, which may include, subject to 

7 the availability of appropriations, planning grants 

8 and assistance and feasibility studies. 

9 ‘‘(k) REPORTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) The Secretary shall— 

11 ‘‘(A) develop performance measures to 

12 evaluate and report on the effectiveness of the 

13 program under this section in accomplishing the 

14 purpose of this section; and 

15 ‘‘(B) submit to Congress a biennial report 

16 that includes such evaluations, an account of all 

17 expenditures, and descriptions of all projects 

18 carried out using grants awarded under this 

19 section. 

20 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may submit the biennial re21 port under paragraph (1)(B) by including it in the 

22 biennial report required under section 316. 

23 ‘‘(l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

24 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

25 out this section $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2010, 


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1 $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2011, and $75,000,000 for 

2 each of fiscal years 2012 and 2013. 

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

4 ‘‘(1) The term ‘qualified holder’ means a coast5 al state or a unit of local or coastal state govern6 ment or a non-profit organization designated by a 

7 coastal state under subsection (g). 

8 ‘‘(2) The term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary, 

9 acting through the National Oceanic and Atmos10 pheric Administration. 

11 ‘‘(3) The term ‘working waterfront’ means real 

12 property (including support structures over water 

13 and other facilities) that provides access to coastal 

14 waters to persons engaged in commercial fishing, 

15 recreational fishing business, boatbuilding, aqua16 culture, or other water-dependent coastal-related 

17 business and is used for, or that supports, commer18 cial fishing, recreational fishing, boatbuilding, aqua19 culture, or other water-dependent coastal-related 

20 business. 

21 ‘‘(4) The term ‘working waterfront covenant’ 

22 means an agreement in recordable form between the 

23 owner of working waterfront and one or more quali24 fied holders, that provides such assurances as the 

25 Secretary may require that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the title to or interest in the working 

2 waterfront will be held by a grant recipient or 

3 qualified holder in perpetuity, except as pro4 vided in subparagraph (C); 

5 ‘‘(B) the working waterfront will be man6 aged in a manner that is consistent with the 

7 purposes for which the property is acquired 

8 pursuant to this section, and the property will 

9 not be converted to any use that is inconsistent 

10 with the purpose of this section; 

11 ‘‘(C) if the title to or interest in the work12 ing waterfront is sold or otherwise exchanged— 

13 ‘‘(i) all working waterfront owners 

14 and qualified holders involved in such sale 

15 or exchange shall accede to such agree16 ment; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) funds equal to the fair market 

18 value of the working waterfront or interest 

19 in working waterfront shall be paid to the 

20 Secretary by parties to the sale or ex21 change, and such funds shall, at the dis22 cretion of the Secretary, be paid to the 

23 coastal state in which the working water24 front is located for use in the implementa25 tion of the working waterfront plan of the 


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1 State approved by the Secretary under this 

2 section; and 

3 ‘‘(D) such covenant is subject to enforce4 ment and oversight by the coastal state or by 

5 another person as determined appropriate by 

6 the Secretary.’’. 

Æ 


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