I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3115 

To direct the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to make grants to State and local governments and nongovernmental organizations for purposes of carrying out climate-resilient living 

shoreline projects that protect coastal communities by supporting ecosystem functions and habitats with the use of natural materials and 

systems, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 5, 2019 

Mr. PALLONE (for himself, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. 

BONAMICI, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. SOTO, 

Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Ms. LEE of California, and Mrs. DAVIS of California) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To direct the Administrator of the National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration to make grants to State and 

local governments and nongovernmental organizations for 

purposes of carrying out climate-resilient living shoreline 

projects that protect coastal communities by supporting 

ecosystem functions and habitats with the use of natural 

materials and systems, 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 ‘‘Living Shorelines Act 

3 of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. LIVING SHORELINE GRANT PROGRAM. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall 

6 make grants to eligible entities for purposes of— 

7 (1) designing and implementing large- and 

8 small-scale, climate-resilient living shoreline projects; 

9 and 

10 (2) applying innovative uses of natural mate11 rials and systems to protect coastal communities, 

12 habitats, and natural system functions. 

13 (b) PROJECT PROPOSALS.—To be eligible to receive 

14 a grant under this section, an eligible entity shall— 

15 (1) submit to the Administrator a proposal for 

16 a living shoreline project, including monitoring, data 

17 collection, and measurable performance criteria with 

18 respect to the project; and 

19 (2) demonstrate to the Administrator that the 

20 entity has any permits or other authorizations from 

21 local, State, and Federal government agencies nec22 essary to carry out the living shoreline project or 

23 provide evidence demonstrating general support from 

24 such agencies. 

25 (c) PROJECT SELECTION.— 


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1 (1) DEVELOPMENT OF CRITERIA.—The Admin2 istrator shall select eligible entities to receive grants 

3 under this section based on criteria developed by the 

4 Administrator, in consultation with relevant offices 

5 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis6 tration, such as the Office of Habitat Conservation, 

7 the Office for Coastal Management, and the Res8 toration Center. 

9 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing criteria 

10 under paragraph (1) to evaluate a proposed living 

11 shoreline project, the Administrator shall take into 

12 account— 

13 (A) the potential of the project to protect 

14 the community and maintain the viability of the 

15 environment, such as through protection of eco16 system functions, environmental benefits, or 

17 habitat types, in the area where the project is 

18 to be carried out; 

19 (B) the historic and future environmental 

20 conditions of the project site, particularly those 

21 environmental conditions affected by climate 

22 change; 

23 (C) the ecological benefits of the project; 

24 and 


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1 (D) the ability of the entity proposing the 

2 project to demonstrate the potential of the 

3 project to protect the coastal community where 

4 the project is to be carried out, including 

5 through— 

6 (i) mitigating the effects of erosion; 

7 (ii) attenuating the impact of coastal 

8 storms and storm surge; 

9 (iii) mitigating shoreline flooding; 

10 (iv) mitigating the effects of sea level 

11 rise and extreme tides; 

12 (v) sustaining, protecting, or restoring 

13 the functions and habitats of coastal eco14 systems; or 

15 (vi) such other forms of coastal pro16 tection as the Administrator considers ap17 propriate. 

18 (3) PRIORITY.—In selecting living shoreline 

19 projects to receive grants under this section, the Ad20 ministrator shall give priority consideration to a pro21 posed project to be conducted in an area— 

22 (A) for which the President has declared, 

23 during the 10-year period preceding the submis24 sion of the proposal for the project under sub25 section (b), that a major disaster exists pursuVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3115.IH H3115

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1 ant to section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford 

2 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 

3 (42 U.S.C. 5170) because of a hurricane, trop4 ical storm, coastal storm, or flooding; or 

5 (B) that has a documented history of 

6 coastal erosion or frequent coastal inundation 

7 during that 10-year period. 

8 (4) MINIMUM STANDARDS.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

10 shall develop minimum standards to be used in 

11 selecting eligible entities to receive grants under 

12 this section, taking into account— 

13 (i) the considerations described in 

14 paragraph (2); and 

15 (ii) the need for such standards to be 

16 general enough to accommodate concerns 

17 relating to specific project sites. 

18 (B) CONSULTATIONS.—In developing stan19 dards under subparagraph (A), the Adminis20 trator— 

21 (i) shall consult with relevant offices 

22 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

23 Administration, such as the Office of Habi24 tat Conservation, the Office for Coastal 


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1 Management, and the Restoration Center; 

2 and 

3 (ii) may consult with— 

4 (I) relevant interagency councils, 

5 such as the Estuary Habitat Restora6 tion Council; 

7 (II) State coastal management 

8 agencies; and 

9 (III) relevant nongovernmental 

10 organizations. 

11 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—A grant awarded under this 

12 section to an eligible entity to carry out a living shoreline 

13 project may be used by the eligible entity only— 

14 (1) to carry out the project, including adminis15 tration, design, permitting, entry into negotiated in16 direct cost rate agreements, and construction; and 

17 (2) to monitor, collect, and report data on the 

18 performance (including performance over time) of 

19 the project, in accordance with standards issued by 

20 the Administrator under subsection (f)(2). 

21 (e) COST-SHARING.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para23 graph (2), an eligible entity that receives a grant 

24 under this section to carry out a living shoreline 

25 project shall provide, from non-Federal sources, 


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1 funds or other resources (such as land or conserva2 tion easements or in-kind matching from private en3 tities) valued at not less than 50 percent of the total 

4 cost, including administrative costs, of the project. 

5 (2) REDUCED MATCHING REQUIREMENT FOR

6 CERTAIN COMMUNITIES.—The Administrator may 

7 reduce or waive the matching requirement under 

8 paragraph (1) for an eligible entity representing a 

9 community or nonprofit organization if— 

10 (A) the eligible entity submits to the Ad11 ministrator in writing— 

12 (i) a request for such a reduction and 

13 the amount of the reduction; and 

14 (ii) a justification for why the entity 

15 cannot meet the matching requirement; 

16 and 

17 (B) the Administrator agrees with the jus18 tification. 

19 (f) MONITORING AND REPORTING.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall re21 quire each eligible entity receiving a grant under this 

22 section (or a representative of the entity) to carry 

23 out a living shoreline project— 

24 (A) to transmit to the Administrator data 

25 collected under the project; 


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1 (B) to monitor the project and to collect 

2 data on— 

3 (i) the ecological benefits of the 

4 project and the protection provided by the 

5 project for the coastal community where 

6 the project is carried out, including 

7 through— 

8 (I) mitigating the effects of ero9 sion; 

10 (II) attenuating the impact of 

11 coastal storms and storm surge; 

12 (III) mitigating shoreline flood13 ing; 

14 (IV) mitigating the effects of sea 

15 level rise and extreme tides; 

16 (V) sustaining, protecting, or re17 storing the functions and habitats of 

18 coastal ecosystems; or 

19 (VI) such other forms of coastal 

20 protection as the Administrator con21 siders appropriate; and 

22 (ii) the performance of the project in 

23 providing such protection; 

24 (C) to make data collected under the 

25 project available on a publicly accessible interVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3115.IH H3115

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1 net website of the National Oceanic and Atmos2 pheric Administration; and 

3 (D) not later than one year after the entity 

4 receives the grant, and annually thereafter until 

5 the completion of the project, to submit to the 

6 Administrator a report on— 

7 (i) the measures described in subpara8 graph (B); and 

9 (ii) the effectiveness of the project in 

10 increasing protection of the coastal com11 munity where the project is carried out 

12 through living shorelines techniques, in13 cluding— 

14 (I) a description of— 

15 (aa) the project; 

16 (bb) the activities carried 

17 out under the project; and 

18 (cc) the techniques and ma19 terials used in carrying out the 

20 project; and 

21 (II) data on the performance of 

22 the project in providing protection to 

23 that coastal community. 

24 (2) GUIDELINES.—In developing guidelines re25 lating to paragraph (1)(C), the Administrator shall 


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1 consider how additional data could safely be col2 lected before and after major disasters or severe 

3 weather events to measure project performance and 

4 project recovery. 

5 (3) STANDARDS.— 

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

7 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

8 Administrator shall, in consultation with rel9 evant offices of the National Oceanic and At10 mospheric Administration, relevant interagency 

11 councils, and relevant nongovernmental organi12 zations, issue standards for the monitoring, col13 lection, and reporting under subsection (d)(2) 

14 of data regarding the performance of living 

15 shoreline projects for which grants are awarded 

16 under this section. 

17 (B) REPORTING.—The standards issued 

18 under subparagraph (A) shall require an eligi19 ble entity receiving a grant under this section 

20 to report the data described in that subpara21 graph to the Administrator on a regular basis. 

22 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

23 are authorized to be appropriated $50,000,000 to the Ad24 ministrator for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2025 

25 for purposes of carrying out this section. 


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1 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis3 trator’’ means the Administrator of the National 

4 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

5 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti6 ty’’ means any of the following: 

7 (A) A unit of a State or local government. 

8 (B) An organization described in section 

9 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

10 that is exempt from taxation under section 

11 501(a) of such Code. 

12 (C) An Indian Tribe (as defined in section 

13 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu14 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)). 

15 (3) LIVING SHORELINE PROJECT.—The term 

16 ‘‘living shoreline project’’— 

17 (A) means a project that— 

18 (i) restores or stabilizes a shoreline, 

19 including marshes, wetlands, and other 

20 vegetated areas that are part of the shore21 line ecosystem, by using natural materials 

22 and systems to create buffers to attenuate 

23 the impact of coastal storms, currents, 

24 flooding, and wave energy and to prevent 


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1 or minimize shoreline erosion while sup2 porting coastal ecosystems and habitats; 

3 (ii) incorporates as many natural ele4 ments as possible, such as native wetlands, 

5 submerged aquatic plants, oyster shells, 

6 native grasses, shrubs, or trees; 

7 (iii) utilizes techniques that incor8 porate ecological and coastal engineering 

9 principles in shoreline stabilization; and 

10 (iv) to the extent possible, maintains 

11 or restores existing natural slopes and con12 nections between uplands and adjacent 

13 wetlands or surface waters; 

14 (B) may include the use of— 

15 (i) natural elements, such as sand, 

16 wetland plants, logs, oysters or other shell17 fish, submerged aquatic vegetation, native 

18 grasses, shrubs, trees, or coir fiber logs; 

19 (ii) project elements that provide eco20 logical benefits to coastal ecosystems and 

21 habitats in addition to shoreline protection; 

22 and 

23 (iii) structural materials, such as 

24 stone, concrete, wood, vinyl, oyster domes, 


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1 or other approved engineered structures in 

2 combination with natural materials; and 

3 (C) may include a project that expands 

4 upon or restores natural living shorelines or ex5 isting living shoreline projects. 

6 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

7 the several States, the District of Columbia, the 

8 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States 

9 Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the 

10 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

Æ 


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