I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4698 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to establish a program to build 

upon and help coordinate funding for restoration and protection efforts 

at the Federal, regional, State, and local level for the four-State Delaware 

Basin, including all of Delaware Bay and portions of Delaware, New 

Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, located in the Delaware River 

watershed, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 25, 2010 

Mr. CASTLE (for himself, Mr. DENT, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. HOLT, and Mr. 

SESTAK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined 

by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to establish a program 

to build upon and help coordinate funding for restoration 

and protection efforts at the Federal, regional, State, 

and local level for the four-State Delaware Basin, including all of Delaware Bay and portions of Delaware, New 

Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, located in the 

Delaware River watershed, 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 ‘‘Delaware River Basin 

3 Conservation Act of 2010’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) The Delaware River Basin is a national 

7 treasure of great cultural, environmental, and eco8 logical importance. 

9 (2) The Delaware River Basin contains over 

10 12,500 square miles of land in Delaware, New Jer11 sey, New York, and Pennsylvania, nearly 800 square 

12 miles of bay, and more than 2,000 tributary rivers 

13 and streams. 

14 (3) The Basin is home to more than 8,000,000 

15 people who depend on the Delaware River and Bay 

16 as an economic engine, a place of recreation, and a 

17 vital habitat for fish and wildlife. 

18 (4) The Basin provides clean drinking water to 

19 more than 15,000,000 people. New York City relies 

20 on the Delaware River Basin for half of its drinking 

21 water supply. A study conducted by the City of 

22 Philadelphia Water Department determined that the 

23 most significant threat to its drinking water supply 

24 is forest clearing in the Upper Basin. 

25 (5) Almost 180 species of fish and wildlife are 

26 considered special status species in the Basin due to 


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1 habitat loss and degradation. Sturgeon, eastern oys2 ter, and red knots have been identified as unique 

3 species in need of habitat improvement. 

4 (6) The Basin provides habitat for over 200 

5 fish species, both residents and migrants, and in6 cludes significant recreational fisheries. The Basin is 

7 also a prolific source of eastern oyster, blue crab, 

8 and the largest population of the American horse9 shoe crab. 

10 (7) Current oyster landings in the Delaware 

11 Bay are at 100,000 bushels, down from 500,000 

12 harvested in the 1980s due, in part, to polluted 

13 water and disease. 

14 (8) The Delaware Bay has the second largest 

15 concentration of shorebirds in North America and is 

16 designated as one of the four most important 

17 shorebird migration sites in the world. 

18 (9) The Basin has 1,000,000 acres of wetlands, 

19 more than 126,000 acres of which are recognized as 

20 internationally important. Fifty percent of the Basin 

21 is covered by forest. This landscape provides essen22 tial ecosystem services, including recreation, com23 mercial, and water quality benefits. 

24 (10) Much of the remaining exemplary natural 

25 landscape is vulnerable to further degradation. The 


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1 Basin gains approximately 14 square miles of devel2 oped land annually. With new development, urban 

3 watersheds are increasingly covered by impervious 

4 surfaces, amplifying the amount of polluted runoff 

5 into rivers and streams. 

6 (11) The Delaware River is the longest 

7 undammed river east of the Mississippi, and a crit8 ical component of the National Wild and Scenic 

9 River System in the Northeast. 

10 (12) Management of water volume in the Basin 

11 is critical to flood mitigation and habitat for fish 

12 and wildlife. Following three major floods along the 

13 River since 2004, the governors of Delaware, New 

14 Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, have called for 

15 natural flood control measures to combat the prob16 lem, including restoring the function of riparian cor17 ridors. 

18 (13) The Delaware River Port Complex (includ19 ing docking facilities in Delaware, New Jersey, and 

20 Pennsylvania) is the largest freshwater port in the 

21 world. The Port of Philadelphia handles the largest 

22 volume of international tonnage and 70 percent of 

23 the oil shipped to the east coast. The Port of Wil24 mington, a full-service deepwater port and marine 

25 terminal, is the busiest terminal on the Delaware 


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1 River handling over 400 vessels per year with an an2 nual import/export cargo tonnage of over 4,000,000 

3 tons. 

4 (14) The Delaware Estuary, where fresh water 

5 from the Delaware River mixes with salt water from 

6 the Atlantic Ocean, is one of the largest and most 

7 complex of the 28 estuaries in the National Estuary 

8 Program, and the Partnership for the Delaware Es9 tuary works to improve the environmental health of 

10 the Delaware Estuary. 

11 (15) The Delaware River Basin Commission is 

12 a Federal-interstate compact government agency 

13 charged with overseeing a unified approach to man14 aging the river system and implements important 

15 water resources management projects and activities 

16 throughout the Basin that are in the national inter17 est. 

18 (16) Restoration in the Basin is presently sup19 ported through several State and Federal agency 

20 programs. Funding for these important programs 

21 should continue and complement the establishment 

22 of the Delaware River Basin Restoration Program. 

23 The Program and associated funding for the Basin 

24 is intended to build upon and help coordinate resVerDate Nov 24 2008 06:48 Feb 26, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4698.IH H4698

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1 toration and protection funding mechanisms at the 

2 Federal, regional, State, and local level. 

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act, the following definitions apply: 

5 (1) BASIN.—The term ‘‘Basin’’ means the four6 State Delaware Basin including all of Delaware Bay 

7 and portions of Delaware, New Jersey, New York, 

8 and Pennsylvania, located in the Delaware River wa9 tershed. 

10 (2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

11 the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife 

12 Service. 

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

14 means the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, a 

15 congressionally chartered foundation established 

16 under the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation 

17 Establishment Act (16 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.). 

18 (4) GRANT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Grant Pro19 gram’’ refers to the Delaware River Basin Restora20 tion Grant Program. 

21 (5) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 

22 the Delaware River Basin Restoration Program. 

23 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

24 the Secretary of the Interior. 


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1 (7) SERVICE.—The term ‘‘Service’’ means the 

2 United States Fish and Wildlife Service. 

3 SEC. 4. PROGRAM ESTABLISHMENT. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 

5 funds are made available for this purpose, the Secretary 

6 shall establish a program, through the Director, that shall 

7 be known as the ‘‘Delaware River Basin Restoration Pro8 gram’’. The Director shall— 

9 (1) work in consultation with existing manage10 ment structures, including representatives of the 

11 Partnership for the Delaware Estuary and the Dela12 ware River Basin Commission, and other Federal, 

13 State, local government, regional, and nonprofit or14 ganizations, as appropriate, to identify, prioritize, 

15 and implement restoration and protection activities 

16 within the Basin; 

17 (2) adopt a single plan that includes a shared 

18 set of priorities for implementation of the Program; 

19 (3) establish the Grant Program; and 

20 (4) provide for technical assistance in accord21 ance with this Act. 

22 (b) COORDINATION.—In establishing the Program, 

23 the Director shall consult, as appropriate, with— 

24 (1) Federal agencies, including the Environ25 mental Protection Agency, National Oceanic AtmosVerDate Nov 24 2008 20:57 Feb 26, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4698.IH H4698

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1 pheric Administration, Natural Resource Conserva2 tion Service, United States Army Corps of Engi3 neers, the National Park Service, and any other rel4 evant agencies; 

5 (2) Basin States which include Delaware, New 

6 Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania; 

7 (3) the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary; 

8 (4) the Delaware River Basin Commission; 

9 (5) fish and wildlife joint venture partnerships 

10 in existence on the date of the enactment of this Act 

11 as well as those formed after such date; and 

12 (6) other public agencies and organizations with 

13 authorities for planning and implementation of con14 servation strategies in the Basin. 

15 (c) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Program in16 clude— 

17 (1) to coordinate restoration and protection ac18 tivities among Federal agencies, State, local and re19 gional entities, and conservation partners throughout 

20 the Basin; 

21 (2) to carry out coordinated restoration and 

22 protection activities throughout the Basin and the 

23 States to— 

24 (A) sustain and enhance habitat restora25 tion and protection activities; 


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1 (B) sustain and enhance water quality im2 provements, including drinking water; 

3 (C) sustain and enhance water manage4 ment and flood control improvements to benefit 

5 fish and wildlife habitat; 

6 (D) improve opportunities for public access 

7 and recreation in the Basin; 

8 (E) encourage environmentally sensitive 

9 land use planning and development; 

10 (F) increase the capacity to implement co11 ordinated restoration and protection activities 

12 in Basin by conducting public outreach and 

13 education, and promoting citizen involvement; 

14 and 

15 (G) coordinate, conduct, and support plan16 ning, studies, monitoring, and research nec17 essary to carry out coordinated restoration and 

18 protection activities; and 

19 (3) to provide competitive grants and for tech20 nical assistance for restoration and protection activi21 ties in Basin with priority given to activities with 

22 multiple benefits, including habitat, water quality, 

23 and flood protection. 


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1 SEC. 5. GRANTS AND ASSISTANCE. 

2 (a) DELAWARE RIVER BASIN RESTORATION PRO3 GRAM.—To the extent that funds are available for this 

4 purpose, the Director shall establish a ‘‘Delaware River 

5 Basin Restoration Grant Program’’ to provide competitive 

6 matching grants of varying amounts to State and local 

7 governments, nonprofit organizations, community organi8 zations, universities, and others to carry out activities for 

9 the purposes set forth in section 4. 

10 (b) CRITERIA.—The Director, in consultation with 

11 the organizations listed in section 4(b), shall develop cri12 teria for the Grant Program to help ensure that activities 

13 funded under this section address one or more of the fol14 lowing: 

15 (1) Restore or protect fish and wildlife species 

16 and their habitats. 

17 (2) Improve or protect water quality by reduc18 ing nonpoint and point source pollutants. 

19 (3) Reduce or improve management of water 

20 volume and flooding. 

21 (4) Address priority needs or actions identified 

22 in the single plan adopted under section 4(a)(2). 

23 (5) Include activities with multiple benefits in 

24 Basin, including habitat, water quality, and flood 

25 protection. 

26 (c) COST SHARING.— 


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1 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 

2 the cost of a project funded under the Grant Pro3 gram shall not exceed 75 percent of the total cost 

4 of the activity. 

5 (2) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal 

6 share of the cost of a project funded under the 

7 Grant Program may be provided in cash or in the 

8 form of an in-kind contribution of services or mate9 rials. 

10 (d) ADMINISTRATION.—The Director may enter into 

11 an agreement with the National Fish and Wildlife Foun12 dation or another organization with the proper expertise 

13 to manage the Grant Program. If selected, the Foundation 

14 or other organization shall receive in lump sum, invest and 

15 reinvest funds for the Grant Program, and otherwise ad16 minister the Grant Program to support partnerships be17 tween the public and private sectors that further the pur18 poses of this Act. Amounts received by the Foundation 

19 under this section shall be subject to the provisions of the 

20 National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Establishment Act 

21 (16 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.), excluding section 3709(a) of 

22 that Act. 

23 (e) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Director may 

24 provide or provide for technical assistance, on a nonreim25 bursable basis, to other Federal agencies, State and local 


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1 governments, nonprofit organizations, community organi2 zations, universities, and others to carry out the purposes 

3 of the Program. 

4 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro6 priated to the Secretary $5,000,000 for each of fiscal 

7 years 2011 through 2016 to carry out this Act. 

8 (b) PROPORTIONATE USE.—Of the amount appro9 priated, at least 75 percent shall be used to carry out the 

10 Grant Program and to provide or provide for technical as11 sistance under section 5. 

12 SEC. 7. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

13 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact14 ment of this Act and annually thereafter, the Secretary 

15 shall submit to Congress a report on the implementation 

16 of the Act, including what projects have been funded 

17 under this Act. 

Æ 


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