I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1762 

To establish a Gulf Coast Restoration Fund, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 5, 2011 

Mr. BONNER (for himself, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Ms. SEWELL, Mrs. ROBY, Mr. BROOKS, Mr. MILLER of Florida, 

Mr. PALAZZO, Mr. HARPER, Mr. NUNNELEE, Mr. POE of Texas, Mr. 

PAUL, and Mr. SOUTHERLAND) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in 

addition to the Committees on Natural Resources and Energy and Commerce, 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 establish a Gulf Coast Restoration Fund, 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 Coast Restoration 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GULF COAST RESTORATION FUND. 

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

3 Treasury of the United States a fund to be known as the 

4 Gulf Coast Restoration Fund. 

5 (b) TRANSFERS TO FUND.—Notwithstanding any 

6 other provision of law, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 

7 deposit into the Fund amounts equal to not less than 80 

8 percent of any amounts collected by the United States be9 fore, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act 

10 as penalties, settlements, or fines under sections 309 and 

11 311 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 

12 U.S.C. 1319, 1321) in relation to the Gulf oil spill. 

13 (c) AUTHORIZED USES.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Fund shall be available 

15 to the Task Force, as provided in appropriations 

16 Acts, only for activities related to Gulf coast eco17 nomic development, tourism promotion, and eco18 system restoration. 

19 (2) GRANTS TO STATES.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall 

21 distribute the amounts made available for ex22 penditure from the Fund to the Gulf States to 

23 be used in accordance with this subsection. 

24 (B) ALLOCATION AMONG STATES.—The 

25 Task Force shall allocate the amounts to be dis26 tributed to each Gulf State under this paraVerDate Mar 15 2010 16:52 May 09, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1762.IH H1762

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1 graph such that no single Gulf State receives 

2 less than 5 percent, nor more than 30 percent, 

3 of the available amounts. 

4 (C) ALLOCATION WITHIN STATES.—The 

5 Governor of each Gulf State shall allocate 

6 amounts distributed to the State as follows: 

7 (i) Not more than 20 percent of such 

8 amounts may be used by the Governor for 

9 statewide economic development, tourism 

10 promotion, and ecosystem restoration ac11 tivities. 

12 (ii) Not less than 80 percent of such 

13 amounts shall be distributed to local gov14 ernments in counties directly affected by 

15 the Gulf oil spill for local economic devel16 opment, tourism promotion, and ecosystem 

17 restoration activities. 

18 SEC. 3. GULF COAST RESTORATION TASK FORCE. 

19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Gulf 

20 Coast Restoration Task Force. 

21 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Task Force shall consist of 

22 the following members, or in the case of a Federal agency, 

23 a designee at the level of Assistant Secretary or the equiv24 alent: 

25 (1) The Secretary of the Interior. 


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1 (2) The Secretary of Commerce. 

2 (3) The Secretary of the Army. 

3 (4) The Attorney General. 

4 (5) The Secretary of Homeland Security. 

5 (6) The Administrator of the Environmental 

6 Protection Agency. 

7 (7) The Commandant of the Coast Guard. 

8 (8) The Secretary of Transportation. 

9 (9) The Secretary of Agriculture. 

10 (10) The Secretary of the Navy. 

11 (11) Two representatives of each of the Gulf 

12 States, appointed by the Governor of each such 

13 State. 

14 (12) Two representatives, from within each of 

15 the Gulf States, of local governments having juris16 diction over areas directly affected by the Gulf oil 

17 spill, appointed by the Governor of each State, re18 spectively. 

19 (c) DUTIES.—The Task Force shall administer the 

20 Fund in accordance with section 2. 

21 SEC. 4. REPORT. 

22 Not later than 180 days after receiving funds under 

23 section 2, the Governor of each Gulf State shall submit 

24 to Congress a report describing the use of such funds. 


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1 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act, the following definitions apply: 

3 (1) ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION.—The term 

4 ‘‘ecosystem restoration’’ means any projects and ac5 tivities for the conservation, protection, or restora6 tion of coastal areas, including wetlands; the mitiga7 tion of damage to fish, wildlife, or natural resources; 

8 the planning assistance and the administrative costs 

9 of complying with this section; or the implementa10 tion of a federally approved marine, coastal, or com11 prehensive conservation management plan. 

12 (2) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Gulf 

13 Coast Restoration Fund established by section 2(a). 

14 (3) GULF OIL SPILL.—The term ‘‘Gulf oil spill’’ 

15 means the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico caused by 

16 the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater Horizon 

17 that began on April 20, 2010. 

18 (4) GULF STATES.—The term ‘‘Gulf States’’ 

19 means the States of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, 

20 Mississippi, and Texas. 

21 (5) TASK FORCE.—The term ‘‘Task Force’’ 

22 means the Gulf Coast Restoration Task Force estab23 lished by section 3(a). 

Æ 


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