II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2025 

To promote the protection and conservation of United States ocean, coastal, 

and Great Lakes ecosystems, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To promote the protection and conservation of United States 

ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes ecosystems, 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 ‘‘National Oceans and 

5 Coastal Security Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) COASTAL SHORELINE COUNTY.—The term 

9 ‘‘coastal shoreline county’’ has the meaning given 

10 the term by the Administrator of the Federal EmerVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:27 Sep 12, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2025.IS S2025

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1 gency Management Agency for purposes of admin2 istering the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 

3 (42 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.). 

4 (2) COASTAL STATE.—The term ‘‘coastal 

5 State’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘coastal 

6 state’’ in section 304 of the Coastal Zone Manage7 ment Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1453). 

8 (3) CORPUS.—The term ‘‘corpus’’, with respect 

9 to the Fund, means an amount equal to the Federal 

10 payments to the Fund, amounts contributed to the 

11 Fund from non-Federal sources, and appreciation 

12 from capital gains and reinvestment of income. 

13 (4) FOUNDATION.—The term ‘‘Foundation’’ 

14 means the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation 

15 established by section 2(a) of the National Fish and 

16 Wildlife Foundation Establishment Act (16 U.S.C. 

17 3701(a)). 

18 (5) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Na19 tional Oceans and Coastal Security Fund established 

20 under section 4(a). 

21 (6) INCOME.—The term ‘‘income’’, with respect 

22 to the Fund, means an amount equal to the divi23 dends and interest accruing from investments of the 

24 corpus of the Fund. 


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1 (7) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

2 has the meaning given that term in section 4 of the 

3 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

4 Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 

5 (8) SECRETARY.—Except as otherwise specifi6 cally provided, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec7 retary of Commerce. 

8 (9) TIDAL SHORELINE.—The term ‘‘tidal shore9 line’’ has the meaning given that term pursuant to 

10 section 923.110(c)(2)(i) of title 15, Code of Federal 

11 Regulations, or a similar successor regulation. 

12 SEC. 3. PURPOSES AND AGREEMENTS. 

13 (a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to pro14 tect, conserve, and restore the oceans, coasts, and Great 

15 Lakes of the United States, ensuring present and future 

16 generations will benefit from the full range of ecological, 

17 economic, social, and recreational opportunities and serv18 ices these resources are capable of providing. 

19 (b) AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary and the Founda20 tion may enter into such agreements as may be necessary 

21 to carry out the purposes of this Act. 

22 SEC. 4. NATIONAL OCEANS AND COASTAL SECURITY FUND. 

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary and the Foun24 dation are authorized to establish the National Oceans and 


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1 Coastal Security Fund as a tax exempt fund to further 

2 the purposes of this Act. 

3 (b) DEPOSITS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be deposited into 

5 the Fund, which shall constitute the Fund’s assets 

6 amounts as follows: 

7 (A) Amounts appropriated or otherwise 

8 made available to carry out this Act. 

9 (B) Amounts earned through investment 

10 under subsection (c). 

11 (2) PROHIBITIONS ON DONATIONS FROM FOR12 EIGN GOVERNMENTS.—No amounts donated by a 

13 foreign government, as defined in section 7342 of 

14 title 5, United States Code, may be deposited into 

15 the Fund. 

16 (c) INVESTMENTS.—The Foundation shall invest the 

17 Fund corpus and income for the benefit of the Fund. 

18 (d) REQUIREMENTS.—Any amounts received by the 

19 Foundation pursuant to this Act shall be subject to the 

20 provisions of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation 

21 Establishment Act (16 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.), except the 

22 provisions of— 

23 (1) section 4(e)(1)(B) of that Act (16 U.S.C. 

24 3703(e)(1)(B)); and 


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1 (2) section 10(a) of that Act (16 U.S.C. 

2 3709(a)). 

3 (e) WITHDRAWALS AND EXPENDITURES.— 

4 (1) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—Each fiscal year, 

5 the Foundation shall, in consultation with the Sec6 retary, allocate an amount equal to not less than 3 

7 percent and not more than 7 percent of the corpus 

8 of the Fund and the income generated from the 

9 Fund from the current fiscal year. 

10 (2) EXPENDITURE.—Except as provided in 

11 paragraph (3), of the amounts allocated under para12 graph (1) for each fiscal year— 

13 (A) at least 59 percent shall be used by the 

14 Foundation to award grants to coastal States 

15 under section 6(b); 

16 (B) at least 39 percent shall be allocated 

17 by the Foundation to award grants under sec18 tion 6(c); and 

19 (C) no more than 2 percent may be used 

20 by the Secretary and the Foundation for ad21 ministrative expenses to carry out this Act, 

22 which amount shall be divided between the Sec23 retary and the Foundation pursuant to an 

24 agreement reached and documented by both the 

25 Secretary and the Foundation. 


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1 (3) PROGRAM ADJUSTMENTS.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—In any fiscal year in 

3 which the amount described in subparagraph 

4 (B) is less than $100,000,000, the Foundation, 

5 in consultation with the Secretary, may elect 

6 not to use any of the amounts allocated under 

7 paragraph (1) for that fiscal year to award 

8 grants under subsection (b) or (c) of section 6. 

9 (B) DETERMINATION AMOUNT.—The 

10 amount described in this subparagraph for a 

11 fiscal year is the amount that is equal to the 

12 sum of— 

13 (i) the amount that is 5 percent of the 

14 corpus of the Fund; and 

15 (ii) the aggregate amount of income 

16 the Foundation expects to be generated 

17 from the Fund in that fiscal year. 

18 (f) RECOVERY OF PAYMENTS.—After notice and an 

19 opportunity for a hearing, the Secretary is authorized to 

20 recover any Federal payments under this section if the 

21 Foundation— 

22 (1) makes a withdrawal or expenditure of the 

23 corpus of the Fund or the income of the Fund that 

24 is not consistent with the requirements of section 5; 

25 or 


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1 (2) fails to comply with a procedure, measure, 

2 method, or standard established under section 

3 6(a)(1). 

4 SEC. 5. ELIGIBLE USES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Amounts in the Fund may be allo6 cated by the Foundation to support programs and activi7 ties intended to protect, conserve, and restore ocean and 

8 coastal resources and coastal infrastructure, including 

9 baseline scientific research, ocean observing, and other 

10 programs and activities carried out in coordination with 

11 Federal and State departments or agencies, including the 

12 following: 

13 (1) Ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes restoration 

14 and protection, including efforts to address potential 

15 impacts of sea level change, changes in ocean chem16 istry, and changes in ocean temperature. 

17 (2) Restoration, protection, or maintenance of 

18 living ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources and 

19 their habitats. 

20 (3) Planning for and managing coastal develop21 ment to enhance ecosystem integrity or minimize im22 pacts from sea level change and coastal erosion. 

23 (4) Analyses of current and anticipated impacts 

24 of ocean acidification and potential responses. 


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1 (5) Projects to address management issues 

2 which are regional or interstate in scope. 

3 (6) Efforts that contribute to the understanding 

4 of ecological, economic, and societal threats faced by 

5 changes to the oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes. 

6 (7) Efforts to better understand the processes 

7 that govern the fate and transport of petroleum hy8 drocarbons released into the marine environment 

9 from natural and anthropogenic sources, including 

10 spills and spill response and preparedness tech11 nologies. 

12 (8) Efforts to preserve, protect, and expand 

13 coastal access for persons engaged in water-depend14 ent commercial activities including commercial fish15 ing, recreational fishing businesses, aquaculture, 

16 boatbuilding, or other water-dependent coastal-re17 lated businesses. 

18 (9) Efforts to assist coastal States in strength19 ening, stabilizing, hardening, elevating, relocating, or 

20 otherwise enhancing the resiliency of bridges, roads, 

21 pedestrian walkways, and bicycle transportation fa22 cilities, and associated infrastructure, that are al23 ready subject to or face increased future risks of 

24 coastal flooding, coastal erosion, or sea level change. 


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1 (10) Acquiring property or interests in property 

2 if— 

3 (A) the area is located within a coastal 

4 shoreline county or adjacent county; 

5 (B) the funds made available under this 

6 subtitle are used to acquire land or interest in 

7 land by purchase, exchange, or donation from a 

8 willing seller; 

9 (C) the Governor of the State in which the 

10 property or interests in property are acquired 

11 approves of the acquisition; and 

12 (D) such property or interest is acquired in 

13 a manner that will ensure such property or in14 terest will be administered to support the pur15 poses of this Act. 

16 (11) Protection and relocation of critical coastal 

17 public infrastructure affected by erosion or sea level 

18 change. 

19 (b) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—An amount from the 

20 Fund may not be allocated to fund a project or activity 

21 described in paragraph (10) or (11) of subsection (a) un22 less non-Federal contributions in an amount equal to 30 

23 percent or more of the cost of such project or activity is 

24 made available to carry out such project or activity. 


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1 (c) PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR LITIGA2 TION.—No funds made available under this Act may be 

3 used to fund litigation over any matter. 

4 SEC. 6. GRANTS. 

5 (a) ADMINISTRATION OF GRANTS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

7 funds are deposited into the Fund and made avail8 able to the Foundation for administrative purposes, 

9 the Foundation shall establish the following: 

10 (A) Application and review procedures for 

11 the awarding of grants under this section, in12 cluding requirements ensuring that any 

13 amounts awarded under such subsections may 

14 only be used for an eligible use described under 

15 section 5. 

16 (B) Selection procedures and criteria for 

17 the awarding of grants under this section 

18 that— 

19 (i) require consultation with the Sec20 retary and the Secretary of the Interior; 

21 and 

22 (ii) prioritize projects where non-Fed23 eral partners have committed to share the 

24 cost of the project. 


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1 (C) Eligibility criteria for awarding 

2 grants— 

3 (i) under subsection (b) to coastal 

4 States; and 

5 (ii) under subsection (c) to entities in6 cluding States, Indian tribes, regional bod7 ies, associations, non-governmental organi8 zations, and academic institutions. 

9 (D) Performance accountability and moni10 toring measures for programs and activities 

11 funded by a grant awarded under subsection (b) 

12 or (c). 

13 (E) Procedures and methods to ensure ac14 curate accounting and appropriate administra15 tion of grants awarded under this section, in16 cluding standards of recordkeeping. 

17 (F) Procedures to carry out audits of the 

18 Fund as necessary, but not less frequently than 

19 once every 5 years. 

20 (G) Procedures to carry out audits of the 

21 recipients of grants under this section. 

22 (H) Procedures to make publicly available 

23 on the Internet a list of all projects funded by 

24 the Fund, that includes at a minimum the 


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1 grant recipient, grant amount, project descrip2 tion, and project status. 

3 (2) APPROVAL.—The Foundation shall submit 

4 to the Secretary for approval each procedure, meas5 ure, method, and standard established under para6 graph (1). 

7 (b) GRANTS TO COASTAL STATES.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (3), 

9 the Foundation shall award grants of amounts allo10 cated under section 4(e)(2)(A) to eligible coastal 

11 States that have a coastal management program ap12 proved under the Coastal Zone Management Act of 

13 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.), based on the fol14 lowing formula: 

15 (A) Fifty percent of the funds are allocated 

16 equally among such coastal States. 

17 (B) Twenty-five percent of the funds are 

18 allocated on the basis of the ratio of tidal shore19 line miles in a coastal State to the tidal shore20 line miles of all coastal States. 

21 (C) Twenty-five percent of the funds are 

22 allocated on the basis of the ratio of population 

23 density of the coastal shoreline counties of a 

24 coastal State to the population density of all 

25 coastal shoreline counties. 


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1 (2) ELIGIBLE COASTAL STATE DEFINED.—In 

2 this subsection, the term ‘‘eligible coastal State’’ 

3 means— 

4 (A) a coastal State that has a coastal man5 agement program approved under the Coastal 

6 Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 

7 1451 et seq.); or 

8 (B) during the period beginning on the 

9 date of the enactment of this Act and ending on 

10 December 31, 2018, a coastal State that had, 

11 during the period beginning January 1, 2008, 

12 and ending on the date of the enactment of this 

13 Act, a coastal management program approved 

14 under the Coastal Zone Management Act of 

15 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.). 

16 (3) MAXIMUM ALLOCATION TO STATES.—Not17 withstanding paragraph (1), not more than 10 per18 cent of the total funds distributed under this sub19 section may be allocated to any single State. Any 

20 amount exceeding this limit shall be redistributed 

21 among the remaining eligible coastal States accord22 ing to the formula established under paragraph (1). 

23 (4) MAXIMUM ALLOCATION TO CERTAIN GEO24 GRAPHIC AREAS.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding para2 graph (1), each geographic area described in 

3 subparagraph (B) may not receive more than 1 

4 percent of the total funds distributed under this 

5 subsection. Any amount exceeding this limit 

6 shall be redistributed among the remaining eli7 gible coastal States according to the formula es8 tablished under paragraph (1). 

9 (B) GEOGRAPHIC AREAS DESCRIBED.— 

10 The geographic areas described in this subpara11 graph are the following: 

12 (i) American Samoa. 

13 (ii) The Commonwealth of the North14 ern Mariana Islands. 

15 (iii) Guam. 

16 (iv) Puerto Rico. 

17 (v) The Virgin Islands. 

18 (5) REQUIREMENT TO SUBMIT PLANS.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive 

20 a grant under this subsection, a coastal State 

21 shall submit to the Secretary, and the Secretary 

22 shall review for approval, a 5-year plan, which 

23 shall include the following: 


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1 (i) Criteria to determine eligibility for 

2 entities which may receive grants under 

3 this subsection. 

4 (ii) A description of the competitive 

5 process the coastal State will use in allo6 cating funds received from the Fund, ex7 cept in the case of allocating funds under 

8 paragraph (7), which shall include— 

9 (I) a description of the relative 

10 roles in the State competitive process 

11 of the State coastal zone management 

12 program approved under the Coastal 

13 Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 

14 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.) and any State 

15 Sea Grant Program; and 

16 (II) a demonstration that such 

17 competitive process is consistent with 

18 the application and review procedures 

19 established by the Foundation under 

20 subsection (a)(1). 

21 (iii) A process to certify that the 

22 project or program and the awarding of a 

23 contract for the expenditure of amounts re24 ceived under this paragraph are consistent 

25 with the standard procurement rules and 


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1 regulations governing a comparable project 

2 or program in that State, including all ap3 plicable competitive bidding and audit re4 quirements. 

5 (iv) Procedures to make publicly avail6 able on the Internet a list. 

7 (B) UPDATES.—As a condition of receiving 

8 a grant under this subsection, a coastal State 

9 shall submit to the Secretary, not less fre10 quently than once every 5 years, an update to 

11 the plan submitted by the coastal State under 

12 subparagraph (A) for the 5-year period imme13 diately following the most recent submittal 

14 under this paragraph. 

15 (6) OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.—In 

16 determining whether to approve a plan or an update 

17 to a plan described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of 

18 paragraph (5), the Secretary shall provide the oppor19 tunity for, and take into consideration, public input 

20 and comment on the plan. 

21 (7) INDIAN TRIBES.—As a condition on receipt 

22 of a grant under this subsection, a State that re23 ceives a grant under this subsection shall ensure 

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1 pate in the competitive process described in the 

2 State’s plan under paragraph (5)(A)(ii). 

3 (c) NATIONAL GRANTS FOR OCEANS, COASTS, AND

4 GREAT LAKES.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Foundation may use 

6 amounts allocated under section 4(e)(2)(B) to award 

7 grants according to the procedures established in 

8 subsection (a) to support activities consistent with 

9 section 5. 

10 (2) ADVISORY PANEL.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Foundation shall 

12 establish an advisory panel to conduct reviews 

13 of applications for grants under paragraph (1) 

14 and the Foundation shall consider the rec15 ommendations of the advisory panel with re16 spect to such applications. 

17 (B) MEMBERSHIP.—The advisory panel es18 tablished under subparagraph (A) shall include 

19 persons representing— 

20 (i) dependent industries; 

21 (ii) geographic regions; 

22 (iii) nonprofit organizations; and 

23 (iv) academic institutions. 


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1 SEC. 7. ANNUAL REPORT. 

2 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR ANNUAL REPORT.—Subject 

3 to subsection (c), beginning with fiscal year 2017, not 

4 later than 60 days after the end of each fiscal year, the 

5 Foundation shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, 

6 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Com7 mittee on Natural Resources of the House of Representa8 tives a report on the operation of the Fund during that 

9 fiscal year. 

10 (b) CONTENT.—Each annual report submitted under 

11 subsection (a) for a fiscal year shall include— 

12 (1) a full and complete statement of the re13 ceipts, including the source of all receipts, expendi14 tures, and investments of the Fund; 

15 (2) a statement of the amounts deposited in the 

16 Fund and the balance remaining in the Fund at the 

17 end of the fiscal year; and 

18 (3) a description of the expenditures made from 

19 the Fund for the fiscal year, including the purpose 

20 of the expenditures. 

21 (c) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN YEARS.—For any fis22 cal year in which the amount described in section 

23 4(e)(3)(B) is less than $100,000,000, the Foundation, in 

24 consultation with the Secretary, may elect not to submit 

25 an annual report under this section for such fiscal year. 


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1 SEC. 8. FUNDING. 

2 (a) OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF LEASE REV3 ENUE.—Section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 

4 Act (43 U.S.C. 1337) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘(q) DEPOSITS IN THE NATIONAL OCEANS AND

7 COASTAL SECURITY FUND.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning with the first 

9 fiscal year beginning after the date of the enactment 

10 of the National Oceans and Coastal Security Act, 

11 the Secretary shall deposit 12.5 percent of the rev12 enue paid to the United States under this section in 

13 the National Oceans and Coastal Security Fund es14 tablished pursuant to section 4 of that Act. 

15 ‘‘(2) FINES COLLECTED FOR VIOLATIONS OF

16 FEDERAL LAW.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning with the 

18 first fiscal year beginning after the date of the 

19 enactment of the National Oceans and Coastal 

20 Security Act, the President shall ensure that 10 

21 percent of the civil penalties paid to the United 

22 States for a violation of a law set out under 

23 subparagraph (B) or for a violation of any re24 quirement or prohibition of any rule, order, or 

25 permit promulgated, issued, or approved under 

26 such a law that occurs on the outer Continental 


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1 Shelf are deposited in the National Oceans and 

2 Coastal Security Fund. 

3 ‘‘(B) LAWS.—The laws set out under this 

4 subparagraph are the following: 

5 ‘‘(i) The Federal Water Pollution 

6 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) other 

7 than penalties provided for under section 

8 311 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 1321). 

9 ‘‘(ii) The Comprehensive Environ10 mental Response, Compensation, and Li11 ability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et 

12 seq.). 

13 ‘‘(iii) Chapter 601 of title 49, United 

14 States Code. 

15 ‘‘(iv) The Act of March 3, 1899 (30 

16 Stat. 1151, chapter 425; 33 U.S.C. 401 et 

17 seq.).’’. 

Æ 


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