II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1674 

To amend and reauthorize certain provisions relating to Long Island Sound 

restoration and stewardship. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 24, 2015 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and Mr. 

MURPHY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To amend and reauthorize certain provisions relating to Long 

Island Sound restoration and stewardship. 

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Long Island Sound 

3 Restoration and Stewardship Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS. 

5 (a) LONG ISLAND SOUND RESTORATION PRO6 GRAM.—Section 119 of the Federal Water Pollution Con7 trol Act (33 U.S.C. 1269) is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (b), by striking the subsection 

9 designation and heading and all that follows through 

10 ‘‘The Office shall’’ and inserting the following: 


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1 ‘‘(b) OFFICE.— 

2 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator 

3 shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) continue to carry out the conference 

5 study; and 

6 ‘‘(B) establish an office, to be located on 

7 or near Long Island Sound. 

8 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATION AND STAFFING.—The 

9 Office shall’’; 

10 (2) in subsection (c)— 

11 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

12 by striking ‘‘Management Conference of the 

13 Long Island Sound Study’’ and inserting ‘‘con14 ference study’’; 

15 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

16 (i) in each of subparagraphs (A) 

17 through (G), by striking the commas at 

18 the end of the subparagraphs and inserting 

19 semicolons; 

20 (ii) in subparagraph (H), by striking 

21 ‘‘, and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

22 (iii) in subparagraph (I), by striking 

23 the period at the end and inserting a semi24 colon; and 


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1 (iv) by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(J) environmental impacts on the Long 

4 Island Sound watershed, including— 

5 ‘‘(i) the identification and assessment 

6 of vulnerabilities in the watershed; 

7 ‘‘(ii) the development and implementa8 tion of adaptation strategies to reduce 

9 those vulnerabilities; and 

10 ‘‘(iii) the identification and assess11 ment of the impacts of sea level rise on 

12 water quality, habitat, and infrastructure; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(K) planning initiatives for Long Island 

15 Sound that identify the areas that are most 

16 suitable for various types or classes of activities 

17 in order to reduce conflicts among uses, reduce 

18 adverse environmental impacts, facilitate com19 patible uses, or preserve critical ecosystem serv20 ices to meet economic, environmental, security, 

21 or social objectives;’’; 

22 (C) by striking paragraph (4) and insert23 ing the following: 

24 ‘‘(4) develop and implement strategies to in25 crease public education and awareness with respect 


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1 to the ecological health and water quality conditions 

2 of Long Island Sound;’’; 

3 (D) in paragraph (5), by inserting ‘‘study’’ 

4 after ‘‘conference’’; 

5 (E) in paragraph (6)— 

6 (i) by inserting ‘‘(including on the 

7 Internet)’’ after ‘‘the public’’; and 

8 (ii) by inserting ‘‘study’’ after ‘‘con9 ference’’; and 

10 (F) by striking paragraph (7) and insert11 ing the following: 

12 ‘‘(7) monitor the progress made toward meeting 

13 the identified goals, actions, and schedules of the 

14 Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan, 

15 including through the implementation and support 

16 of a monitoring system for the ecological health and 

17 water quality conditions of Long Island Sound; 

18 and’’; 

19 (3) in subsection (d)(3), in the second sentence, 

20 by striking ‘‘50 per centum’’ and inserting ‘‘60 per21 cent’’; 

22 (4) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub23 section (i); and 

24 (5) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(f) REPORT.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 

3 after the date of enactment of the Long Island 

4 Sound Restoration and Stewardship Act, and bienni5 ally thereafter, the Director of the Office, in con6 sultation with the Governor of each Long Island 

7 Sound State, shall submit to Congress a report 

8 that— 

9 ‘‘(A) summarizes and assesses the progress 

10 made by the Office and the Long Island Sound 

11 States in implementing the Long Island Sound 

12 Comprehensive Conservation and Management 

13 Plan, including an assessment of the progress 

14 made toward meeting the performance goals 

15 and milestones contained in the Plan; 

16 ‘‘(B) assesses the key ecological attributes 

17 that reflect the health of the ecosystem of the 

18 Long Island Sound watershed; 

19 ‘‘(C) describes any substantive modifica20 tions to the Long Island Sound Comprehensive 

21 Conservation and Management Plan made dur22 ing the 2-year period preceding the date of sub23 mission of the report; 

24 ‘‘(D) provides specific recommendations to 

25 improve progress in restoring and protecting 


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1 the Long Island Sound watershed, including, as 

2 appropriate, proposed modifications to the Long 

3 Island Sound Comprehensive Conservation and 

4 Management Plan; 

5 ‘‘(E) identifies priority actions for imple6 mentation of the Long Island Sound Com7 prehensive Conservation and Management Plan 

8 for the 2-year period following the date of sub9 mission of the report; and 

10 ‘‘(F) describes the means by which Federal 

11 funding and actions will be coordinated with the 

12 actions of the Long Island Sound States and 

13 other entities. 

14 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Adminis15 trator shall make the report described in paragraph 

16 (1) available to the public, including on the Internet. 

17 ‘‘(g) ANNUAL BUDGET PLAN.—The President shall 

18 submit, together with the annual budget of the United 

19 States Government submitted under section 1105(a) of 

20 title 31, United States Code, information regarding each 

21 Federal department and agency involved in the protection 

22 and restoration of the Long Island Sound watershed, in23 cluding— 

24 ‘‘(1) an interagency crosscut budget that dis25 plays for each department and agency— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the amount obligated during the pre2 ceding fiscal year for protection and restoration 

3 projects and studies relating to the watershed; 

4 ‘‘(B) the estimated budget for the current 

5 fiscal year for protection and restoration 

6 projects and studies relating to the watershed; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(C) the proposed budget for succeeding 

9 fiscal years for protection and restoration 

10 projects and studies relating to the watershed; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(2) a summary of any proposed modifications 

13 to the Long Island Sound Comprehensive Conserva14 tion and Management Plan for the following fiscal 

15 year. 

16 ‘‘(h) FEDERAL ENTITIES.— 

17 ‘‘(1) COORDINATION.—The Administrator shall 

18 coordinate the actions of all Federal departments 

19 and agencies that impact water quality in the Long 

20 Island Sound watershed in order to improve the 

21 water quality and living resources of the watershed. 

22 ‘‘(2) METHODS.—In carrying out this section, 

23 the Administrator, acting through the Director of 

24 the Office, may— 


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1 ‘‘(A) enter into interagency agreements; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(B) make intergovernmental personnel 

4 appointments. 

5 ‘‘(3) FEDERAL PARTICIPATION IN WATERSHED

6 PLANNING.—A Federal department or agency that 

7 owns or occupies real property, or carries out activi8 ties, within the Long Island Sound watershed shall 

9 participate in regional and subwatershed planning, 

10 protection, and restoration activities with respect to 

11 the watershed. 

12 ‘‘(4) CONSISTENCY WITH COMPREHENSIVE CON13 SERVATION AND MANAGEMENT PLAN.—To the max14 imum extent practicable, the head of each Federal 

15 department and agency that owns or occupies real 

16 property, or carries out activities, within the Long 

17 Island Sound watershed shall ensure that the prop18 erty and all activities carried out by the department 

19 or agency are consistent with the Long Island Sound 

20 Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan 

21 (including any related subsequent agreements and 

22 plans).’’. 

23 (b) LONG ISLAND SOUND STEWARDSHIP PRO24 GRAM.— 


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1 (1) LONG ISLAND SOUND STEWARDSHIP ADVI2 SORY COMMITTEE.—Section 8 of the Long Island 

3 Sound Stewardship Act of 2006 (33 U.S.C. 1269 

4 note; Public Law 109–359) is amended— 

5 (A) in subsection (g), by striking ‘‘2011’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘2020’’; and 

7 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(h) NONAPPLICABILITY OF FACA.—The Federal 

9 Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply 

10 to— 

11 ‘‘(1) the Advisory Committee; or 

12 ‘‘(2) any board, committee, or other group es13 tablished under this Act.’’. 

14 (2) REPORTS.—Section 9(b)(1) of the Long Is15 land Sound Stewardship Act of 2006 (33 U.S.C. 

16 1269 note; Public Law 109–359) is amended in the 

17 matter preceding subparagraph (A) by striking 

18 ‘‘2011’’ and inserting ‘‘2020’’. 

19 (3) AUTHORIZATION.—Section 11 of the Long 

20 Island Sound Stewardship Act of 2006 (33 U.S.C. 

21 1269 note; Public Law 109–359) is amended— 

22 (A) by striking subsection (a); 

23 (B) by redesignating subsections (b) 

24 through (d) as subsections (a) through (c), re25 spectively; and 


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1 (C) in subsection (a) (as so redesignated), 

2 by striking ‘‘under this section each’’ and in3 serting ‘‘to carry out this Act for a’’. 

4 (4) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

5 by this subsection take effect on October 1, 2011. 

6 SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro8 priated to the Administrator of the Environmental Protec9 tion Agency such sums as are necessary for each of fiscal 

10 years 2015 through 2020 for the implementation of— 

11 (1) section 119 of the Federal Water Pollution 

12 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1269), other than subsection 

13 (d) of that section; and 

14 (2) the Long Island Sound Stewardship Act of 

15 2006 (33 U.S.C. 1269 note; Public Law 109–359). 

16 (b) LONG ISLAND SOUND GRANTS.—There is author17 ized to be appropriated to the Administrator of the Envi18 ronmental Protection Agency to carry out section 119(d) 

19 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 

20 1269(d)) $40,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2015 

21 through 2020. 

22 (c) LONG ISLAND SOUND STEWARDSHIP GRANTS.— 

23 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Adminis24 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency to carry 

25 out the Long Island Sound Stewardship Act of 2006 (33 


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1 U.S.C. 1269 note; Public Law 109–359) $25,000,000 for 

2 each of fiscal years 2016 through 2020. 

Æ 


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