II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2194 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior, through the Coastal Program 

of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, to work with willing 

partners and provide support to efforts to assess, protect, restore, and 

enhance important coastal areas that provide fish and wildlife habitat 

on which Federal trust species depend, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 23, 2021 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself and Mr. GRAHAM) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 

Public Works 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior, through the 

Coastal Program of the United States Fish and Wildlife 

Service, to work with willing partners and provide support to efforts to assess, protect, restore, and enhance 

important coastal areas that provide fish and wildlife 

habitat on which Federal trust species depend, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Coastal Habitat Con3 servation Act of 2021’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

6 (1) an effective means of conserving and recov7 ering Federal trust species and promoting self-sus8 taining populations of those species is to protect, 

9 conserve, restore, and enhance the habitats of the 

10 species; 

11 (2) coastal ecosystems are highly dynamic areas 

12 that provide valuable breeding, nursery, staging, and 

13 resting areas for a rich diversity of fish, shellfish, 

14 migratory birds, and mammals; 

15 (3) coastal areas support— 

16 (A) 40 percent of the refuges within the 

17 National Wildlife Refuge System; 

18 (B) 40 percent of the threatened species or 

19 endangered species, including 75 percent of the 

20 listed mammals and birds, under the Endan21 gered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 

22 seq.); and 

23 (C) 50 percent of the fisheries conservation 

24 activities of the Service; 

25 (4) although coastal counties make up only 10 

26 percent of total contiguous United States land area, 


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1 coastal areas are home to more than 40 percent of 

2 the human population of the United States, which is 

3 placing enormous pressure on coastal ecosystems; 

4 (5) because coastal deterioration can cause 

5 fragmentation and landward migration of coastal 

6 ecosystems, as well as create new habitats along 

7 shorelines, it has become necessary to incorporate 

8 adaptation assistance into coastal ecosystem man9 agement strategies; 

10 (6) in addition to serving as fish and wildlife 

11 habitat, coastal ecosystems— 

12 (A) serve as an important source of food; 

13 (B) protect coastal communities, including 

14 infrastructure in those communities, against 

15 floods; 

16 (C) filter polluted runoff; and 

17 (D) provide valuable commercial and rec18 reational benefits to coastal communities and 

19 the United States; 

20 (7)(A) fish and wildlife conservation is a re21 sponsibility shared by citizens and government; and 

22 (B) public-private partnerships should be sup23 ported through technical assistance and financial as24 sistance to conduct coastal habitat assessment, proVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2194.IS S2194

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1 tection, planning, restoration, and enhancement 

2 projects in coastal ecosystems; 

3 (8) successful fish and wildlife conservation in4 creasingly relies on interdependent partnerships in 

5 which priority setting, planning, and conservation 

6 delivery are collaborative endeavors; 

7 (9) since 1985, the Service has administered 

8 the Coastal Program through which the Service 

9 works with willing partners to assess, protect, plan, 

10 restore, and enhance coastal ecosystems, including 

11 coastal wetlands and watersheds, uplands, and ripar12 ian and in-stream habitats, that provide significant 

13 benefits to Federal trust species; 

14 (10) through the Coastal Program, the Service 

15 provides strategic conservation planning and design 

16 at the regional and landscape scales, and integrates 

17 the resources of the Service to address priorities 

18 identified by partners; and 

19 (11) the Coastal Program of the Service com20 plements and enhances the National Coastal Wet21 lands Conservation Grant Program under section 

22 305 of the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection 

23 and Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 3954), which pro24 vides matching grants to coastal States to support 


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1 long-term conservation of coastal wetlands and asso2 ciated habitats. 

3 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to legisla4 tively authorize the Coastal Program of the Service in ef5 fect as of the date of enactment of this Act to conduct 

6 collaborative landscape-level planning and on-the-ground 

7 coastal habitat protection, restoration, and enhancement 

8 projects in priority coastal areas to conserve and recover 

9 Federal trust species. 

10 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act: 

12 (1) COASTAL AREA.—The term ‘‘coastal area’’ 

13 means a marine or freshwater area within or adja14 cent to a coastal State, including— 

15 (A) a coastal wetland or watershed; 

16 (B) coastal water; 

17 (C) a coastal bay; 

18 (D) a coastline; and 

19 (E) an estuary and associated upland. 

20 (2) COASTAL ECOSYSTEM.—The term ‘‘coastal 

21 ecosystem’’ means an ecological community that pro22 vides fish and wildlife habitat in coastal areas. 

23 (3) COASTAL HABITAT ASSESSMENT.—The 

24 term ‘‘coastal habitat assessment’’ means the proc25 ess of evaluating the physical, chemical, and biologiVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2194.IS S2194

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1 cal function of a coastal site to determine the value 

2 of the site to fish and wildlife. 

3 (4) COASTAL HABITAT ENHANCEMENT.—The 

4 term ‘‘coastal habitat enhancement’’ means the ma5 nipulation of the physical, chemical, or biological 

6 characteristics of a coastal ecosystem to increase or 

7 decrease specific biological functions that make the 

8 ecosystem valuable to fish and wildlife. 

9 (5) COASTAL HABITAT PLANNING.—The term 

10 ‘‘coastal habitat planning’’ means the process of de11 veloping a comprehensive plan that— 

12 (A) characterizes a coastal ecosystem; 

13 (B) sets protection, restoration, or en14 hancement goals, and identifies the priorities of 

15 those goals; 

16 (C) describes conservation strategies and 

17 methodologies; 

18 (D) establishes a timetable for implementa19 tion of the plan; and 

20 (E) identifies roles of participants and 

21 stakeholders. 

22 (6) COASTAL HABITAT PROTECTION.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘coastal 

24 habitat protection’’ means a long-term action to 


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1 safeguard habitats of importance to fish and 

2 wildlife species in a coastal ecosystem. 

3 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘coastal habi4 tat protection’’ includes activities to support es5 tablishment of conservation easements or fee6 title acquisition by Federal and non-Federal 

7 partners. 

8 (7) COASTAL HABITAT RESTORATION.—The 

9 term ‘‘coastal habitat restoration’’ means the manip10 ulation of the physical, chemical, or biological char11 acteristics of a coastal ecosystem with the goal of re12 turning, to the maximum extent practicable, the full 

13 natural biological functions to lost or degraded na14 tive habitat. 

15 (8) COASTAL STATE.—The term ‘‘coastal 

16 State’’ means— 

17 (A) a State in, or bordering on, the Atlan18 tic, Pacific, or Arctic Ocean, the Gulf of Mex19 ico, the Long Island Sound, or 1 or more of the 

20 Great Lakes; 

21 (B) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 

22 (C) Guam; 

23 (D) American Samoa; 

24 (E) the Commonwealth of the Northern 

25 Mariana Islands; 


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1 (F) the Federated States of Micronesia; 

2 (G) the Republic of the Marshall Islands; 

3 (H) the Republic of Palau; and 

4 (I) the United States Virgin Islands. 

5 (9) FEDERAL TRUST SPECIES.—The term 

6 ‘‘Federal trust species’’ means— 

7 (A) a species listed as a threatened species 

8 or an endangered species under the Endangered 

9 Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); 

10 (B) a species of migratory bird; 

11 (C) a species of interjurisdictional fish; 

12 (D) any species of marine mammal, as 

13 identified by the Secretary; and 

14 (E) any other species of concern, as deter15 mined by the Secretary. 

16 (10) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—The term ‘‘fi17 nancial assistance’’ means Federal funding support 

18 provided to eligible recipients through a grant or co19 operative agreement. 

20 (11) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

21 means the Secretary of the Interior. 

22 (12) SERVICE.—The term ‘‘Service’’ means the 

23 United States Fish and Wildlife Service. 

24 (13) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The term 

25 ‘‘technical assistance’’ means a collaboration, faciliVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2194.IS S2194

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1 tation, or consulting action relating to a habitat pro2 tection, planning, restoration, or enhancement 

3 project or initiative in which the Service contributes 

4 scientific knowledge, skills, and expertise to a project 

5 or program. 

6 SEC. 4. COASTAL PROGRAM. 

7 The Secretary shall carry out the Coastal Program 

8 within the Service— 

9 (1) to identify the most important natural re10 source problems and solutions in priority coastal eco11 systems in partnership with— 

12 (A) Federal, State, local, and Tribal gov13 ernments; 

14 (B) nongovernmental institutions; 

15 (C) nonprofit organizations; 

16 (D) private individuals; and 

17 (E) corporations; 

18 (2) to provide technical assistance and financial 

19 assistance through partnerships with Federal, State, 

20 local, and Tribal governments, nongovernmental in21 stitutions, nonprofit organizations, private individ22 uals, and corporations to conduct voluntary coastal 

23 habitat assessment, protection, planning, restoration, 

24 and enhancement projects on public land or private 

25 land; 


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1 (3) to ensure the health and resilience of coast2 al ecosystems through adaptive management proce3 dures based on the best available science; 

4 (4) to build the capacity of Federal, State, 

5 local, and Tribal governments, nongovernmental in6 stitutions, nonprofit organizations, private individ7 uals, and corporations to carry out environmental 

8 conservation and stewardship measures; 

9 (5) to assist in the development and implemen10 tation of monitoring protocols to ensure the success 

11 of coastal ecosystem restoration and enhancement 

12 measures; and 

13 (6) to collaborate and share information with 

14 partners and the public relating to best management 

15 practices for the conservation, restoration, and en16 hancement of coastal ecosystems. 

17 SEC. 5. REPORTS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

19 date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

20 the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Service, 

21 shall submit to the Committees on Appropriations and En22 vironment and Public Works of the Senate and the Com23 mittees on Appropriations and Natural Resources of the 

24 House of Representatives, and make available to the pubVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2194.IS S2194

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1 lic on the website of the Service, a report on the Coastal 

2 Program carried out under this Act. 

3 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—Each report submitted under 

4 subsection (a) shall assess on regional and nationwide 

5 bases— 

6 (1) Coastal Program work on coastal eco7 systems; 

8 (2) progress made by the Coastal Program to9 ward identifying the most important natural re10 source problems and solutions in priority ecosystems; 

11 and 

12 (3) prospects for, and success of, protecting, re13 storing, and enhancing coastal ecosystems. 

14 (c) INCLUSIONS.—Each report submitted under sub15 section (a) shall include— 

16 (1) quantitative information on coastal areas 

17 protected, restored, or enhanced; 

18 (2) funds appropriated to the Coastal Program 

19 that have been expended or leveraged; 

20 (3) a description of adaptive management prac21 tices implemented; and 

22 (4) recommendations, if any, for additional re23 search, management, or legislation needed to fully— 

24 (A) address problems and implement solu25 tions in coastal ecosystems; and 


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1 (B) achieve the objectives of this Act. 

2 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

3 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

4 this Act— 

5 (1) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 

6 (2) $21,250,000 for fiscal year 2023; 

7 (3) $22,500,000 for fiscal year 2024; 

8 (4) $23,750,000 for fiscal year 2025; and 

9 (5) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2026. 

Æ 


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