I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5453 

To amend the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 to authorize assistance 

to coastal states to develop coastal climate change adaptation plans 

pursuant to approved management programs approved under section 

306, to minimize contributions to climate change, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2008 

Mrs. CAPPS (for herself, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. SAXTON, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. 

PALLONE, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. FARR, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, 

Ms. MATSUI, and Mr. HINCHEY) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 to 

authorize assistance to coastal states to develop coastal 

climate change adaptation plans pursuant to approved 

management programs approved under section 306, to 

minimize contributions to climate change, 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 ‘‘Coastal State Climate 

5 Change Planning Act of 2008’’. 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
2 

•HR 5453 IH

1 SEC. 2. PLANNING FOR CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE COASTAL 

2 ZONE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Coastal Zone Management 

4 Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.) is amended by add5 ing at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION PLANNING

7 ‘‘SEC. 320. (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

8 establish consistent with the national policies set forth in 

9 section 303 a coastal climate change adaptation planning 

10 and response program to— 

11 ‘‘(1) provide assistance to coastal states to vol12 untarily develop coastal climate change adaptation 

13 plans pursuant to approved management programs 

14 approved under section 306, to minimize contribu15 tions to climate change and to prepare for and re16 duce the negative consequences that may result from 

17 climate change in the coastal zone; and 

18 ‘‘(2) provide financial and technical assistance 

19 and training to enable coastal states to implement 

20 plans developed pursuant to this section through 

21 coastal states’ enforceable policies. 

22 ‘‘(b) GUIDELINES.—Within 180 days after the date 

23 of enactment of this section, the Secretary, in consultation 

24 with the coastal states, shall issue guidelines for the imple25 mentation of the grant program established under sub26 section (c). 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
3 

•HR 5453 IH

1 ‘‘(c) CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION PLANNING

2 GRANTS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, subject to 

4 the availability of appropriations, may make a grant 

5 to any coastal state for the purpose of developing cli6 mate change adaptation plans pursuant to guidelines 

7 issued by the Secretary under subsection (b). 

8 ‘‘(2) PLAN CONTENT.—A plan developed with a 

9 grant under this section shall include the following: 

10 ‘‘(A) Identification of public facilities and 

11 public services, coastal resources of national 

12 significance, coastal waters, energy facilities, or 

13 other water uses located in the coastal zone 

14 that are likely to be impacted by climate 

15 change. 

16 ‘‘(B) Adaptive management strategies for 

17 land use to respond or adapt to changing envi18 ronmental conditions, including strategies to 

19 protect biodiversity and establish habitat buffer 

20 zones, migration corridors, and climate refugia. 

21 ‘‘(C) Requirements to initiate and main22 tain long-term monitoring of environmental 

23 change to assess coastal zone adaptation and to 

24 adjust when necessary adaptive management 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
4 

•HR 5453 IH

1 strategies and new planning guidelines to attain 

2 the policies under section 303. 

3 ‘‘(3) STATE HAZARD MITIGATION PLANS.— 

4 Plans developed with a grant under this section shall 

5 be consistent with State hazard mitigation plans de6 veloped under State or Federal law. 

7 ‘‘(4) ALLOCATION.—Grants under this section 

8 shall be available only to coastal states with manage9 ment programs approved by the Secretary under sec10 tion 306 and shall be allocated among such coastal 

11 states in a manner consistent with regulations pro12 mulgated pursuant to section 306(c). 

13 ‘‘(5) PRIORITY.—In the awarding of grants 

14 under this subsection the Secretary may give priority 

15 to any coastal state that has received grant funding 

16 to develop program changes pursuant to paragraphs 

17 (1), (2), (3), (5), (6), (7), and (8) of section 309(a). 

18 ‘‘(6) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 

19 may provide technical assistance to a coastal state 

20 consistent with section 310 to ensure the timely de21 velopment of plans supported by grants awarded 

22 under this subsection. 

23 ‘‘(7) FEDERAL APPROVAL.—In order to be eligi24 ble for a grant under subsection (d), a coastal state 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
5 

•HR 5453 IH

1 must have its plan developed under this section ap2 proved by the Secretary. 

3 ‘‘(d) COASTAL ADAPTATION PROJECT GRANTS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, subject to 

5 the availability of appropriations, may make grants 

6 to any coastal state that has a climate change adap7 tation plan approved under subsection (c)(7), in 

8 order to support projects that implement strategies 

9 contained within such plans. 

10 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec11 retary within 90 days after approval of the first plan 

12 approved under subsection (c)(7), shall publish in 

13 the Federal Register requirements regarding appli14 cations, allocations, eligible activities, and all terms 

15 and conditions for grants awarded under this sub16 section. No less than 30 percent, and no more than 

17 50 percent, of the funds appropriated in any fiscal 

18 year for grants under this subsection shall be award19 ed through a merit-based competitive process. 

20 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary 

21 may award grants to coastal states to implement 

22 projects in the coastal zone to address stress factors 

23 in order to improve coastal climate change adapta24 tion, including the following: 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
6 

•HR 5453 IH

1 ‘‘(A) Activities to address physical disturb2 ances within the coastal zone, especially activi3 ties related to public facilities and public serv4 ices, tourism, sedimentation, and other factors 

5 negatively impacting coastal waters, and fish6 eries-associated habitat destruction or alter7 ation. 

8 ‘‘(B) Monitoring, control, or eradication of 

9 disease organisms and invasive species. 

10 ‘‘(C) Activities to address the loss, deg11 radation or fragmentation of wildlife habitat 

12 through projects to establish marine and terres13 trial habitat buffers, wildlife refugia or net14 works thereof, and preservation of migratory 

15 wildlife corridors and other transition zones. 

16 ‘‘(D) Implementation of projects to reduce, 

17 mitigate, or otherwise address likely impacts 

18 caused by natural hazards in the coastal zone, 

19 including sea level rise, coastal inundation, 

20 coastal erosion and subsidence, severe weather 

21 events such as cyclonic storms, tsunamis and 

22 other seismic threats, and fluctuating Great 

23 Lakes water levels. 

24 ‘‘(E) Provide technical training and assist25 ance to local coastal policy makers to increase 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
7 

•HR 5453 IH

1 awareness of science, management, and tech2 nology information related to climate change 

3 and adaptation strategies.’’. 

4 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

5 318(a) of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 

6 U.S.C. 1464) is further amended by adding at the end 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘(4) for grants under section 320(c) and (d), 

9 such sums as are necessary.’’. 

10 (c) INTENT OF CONGRESS.—Nothing in this section 

11 shall be construed to require any coastal state to amend 

12 or modify its approved management program pursuant to 

13 section 306(e) of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 

14 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1455(e)), or to extend the enforceable 

15 policies of a coastal state beyond the coastal zone as iden16 tified in the coastal state’s approved management pro17 gram. 

Æ 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS