I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5344 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 19, 2010 

Mr. KRATOVIL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

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. 

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 Habitat Con5 servation Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

3 (1) an effective means of conserving and recov4 ering Federal trust species and promoting self-sus5 taining populations of those species is to protect, 

6 conserve, restore, and enhance the habitats of the 

7 species; 

8 (2) coastal ecosystems are highly dynamic areas 

9 that provide valuable breeding, nursery, staging, and 

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

11 migratory birds, and mammals; 

12 (3) coastal areas support 40 percent of the ref13 uges within the National Wildlife Refuge System, 40 

14 percent of the endangered and threatened species 

15 (including 75 percent of the listed mammals and 

16 birds), and 50 percent of the fisheries conservation 

17 activities of the Service; 

18 (4) although coastal counties make up only 17 

19 percent of total contiguous United States land area, 

20 coastal areas are home to more than 53 percent of 

21 the human population of the United States, which is 

22 placing enormous pressure on coastal ecosystems; 

23 (5) during the 2 decades after the date of en24 actment of this Act, human populations in coastal 

25 areas are projected to increase by approximately 25 

26 percent, along with associated development and acVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:27 May 20, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5344.IH H5344

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1 tivities that threaten the health of coastal eco2 systems; 

3 (6) because coastal deterioration can cause 

4 fragmentation and landward migration of coastal 

5 ecosystems as well as create new habitats along 

6 shorelines, it has become necessary to incorporate 

7 adaptation assistance into coastal ecosystem man8 agement strategies; 

9 (7) in addition to value as fish and wildlife 

10 habitat, coastal ecosystems— 

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

12 (B) protect coastal communities against 

13 floods; 

14 (C) filter polluted runoff; and 

15 (D) provide valuable commercial and rec16 reational benefits to coastal communities and 

17 the United States; 

18 (8)(A) fish and wildlife conservation is a re19 sponsibility shared by citizens and government; and 

20 (B) public-private partnerships should be sup21 ported through technical and financial assistance to 

22 conduct assessment, protection, planning, restora23 tion, and enhancement of coastal ecosystems; 

24 (9) successful fish and wildlife conservation in25 creasingly relies on interdependent partnerships in 


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1 which priority setting, planning, and conservation 

2 delivery are collaborative endeavors; 

3 (10) since 1985, the Service has administered a 

4 coastal program through which the Service has 

5 worked with willing partners to assess, protect, plan, 

6 restore, and enhance coastal ecosystems, including 

7 coastal wetland and watersheds, upland, and ripar8 ian and in-stream habitats, that provide significant 

9 benefits to Federal trust species; 

10 (11) through that coastal program, the Service 

11 provides strategic conservation planning and design 

12 at the regional and landscape scales, and integrates 

13 the resources of the Service to address priorities 

14 identified by partners; and 

15 (12) the coastal program of the Service com16 plements and enhances the National Coastal Wet17 lands Conservation Grant Program under section 

18 305 of the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection 

19 and Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 3954), which pro20 vides matching grants to coastal States to support 

21 long-term conservation of coastal wetland and asso22 ciated habitats. 

23 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to legisla24 tively authorize the coastal program of the Service in ef25 fect as of the date of enactment of this Act to conduct 


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1 collaborative, long-term, landscape-level planning and on2 the-ground habitat protection, restoration, and enhance3 ment projects in priority coastal areas to conserve and re4 cover Federal trust species. 

5 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

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

8 includes— 

9 (A) a coastal wetland or watershed; 

10 (B) coastal water; 

11 (C) a coastline; and 

12 (D) an estuary and associated upland. 

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

14 ecosystem’’ means an ecological community that pro15 vides fish and wildlife habitat in coastal areas. 

16 (3) COASTAL HABITAT ASSESSMENT.—The 

17 term ‘‘coastal habitat assessment’’ means the proc18 ess of evaluating the physical, chemical, and biologi19 cal function of a coastal site to determine the value 

20 of the site to fish and wildlife. 

21 (4) COASTAL HABITAT ENHANCEMENT.—The 

22 term ‘‘coastal habitat enhancement’’ means the ma23 nipulation of the physical, chemical, or biological 

24 characteristics of a coastal ecosystem to increase or 


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1 decrease specific biological functions that make the 

2 ecosystem valuable to fish and wildlife. 

3 (5) COASTAL HABITAT PLANNING.—The term 

4 ‘‘coastal habitat planning’’ means the process of de5 veloping a comprehensive plan that— 

6 (A) characterizes a coastal ecosystem; 

7 (B) sets long-term protection, restoration, 

8 or enhancement goals; 

9 (C) describes conservation strategies and 

10 methodologies; 

11 (D) establishes a timetable for implementa12 tion of the plan; and 

13 (E) identifies roles of sponsors and partici14 pants. 

15 (6) COASTAL HABITAT PROTECTION.— 

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

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

18 safeguard habitats of importance to fish and 

19 wildlife species in a coastal ecosystem. 

20 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘coastal habi21 tat protection’’ includes activities to support es22 tablishment of conservation easements or fee23 title acquisition by Federal and non-Federal 

24 partners. 


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1 (7) COASTAL HABITAT RESTORATION.—The 

2 term ‘‘coastal habitat restoration’’ means the manip3 ulation of the physical, chemical, or biological char4 acteristics of a coastal ecosystem with the goal of re5 turning, to the maximum extent practicable, the full 

6 natural biological functions to lost or degraded na7 tive habitat. 

8 (8) FEDERAL TRUST SPECIES.—The term 

9 ‘‘Federal trust species’’ means— 

10 (A) a species listed as threatened or en11 dangered under the Endangered Species Act of 

12 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); 

13 (B) a species of migratory bird; 

14 (C) a species of interjurisdictional fish; 

15 (D) any species of marine mammal identi16 fied by the Secretary; and 

17 (E) any other species of concern, as deter18 mined by the Secretary. 

19 (9) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—The term ‘‘finan20 cial assistance’’ means Federal funding support pro21 vided to eligible recipients through a grant or coop22 erative agreement. 

23 (10) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

24 means the Secretary of the Interior. 


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

2 United States Fish and Wildlife Service. 

3 (12) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The term 

4 ‘‘technical assistance’’ means a collaboration, facili5 tation, or consulting action relating to a habitat pro6 tection, planning, restoration, or enhancement 

7 project or initiative in which the Service contributes 

8 scientific knowledge, skills, and expertise to a project 

9 or program. 

10 (13) VOLUNTEER.—The term ‘‘volunteer’’ 

11 means a person that is committed to performing a 

12 task without remuneration. 

13 SEC. 4. COASTAL PROGRAM. 

14 The Secretary shall carry out the Coastal Program 

15 within the Service— 

16 (1) to identify the most important natural re17 source problems and solutions in priority coastal eco18 systems in partnership with— 

19 (A) Federal, State, local, and tribal gov20 ernments; 

21 (B) nongovernmental institutions; 

22 (C) nonprofit organizations; and 

23 (D) private individuals or corporate enti24 ties; 


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1 (2) to provide technical and financial support 

2 through partnerships with Federal, State, local, and 

3 tribal governments, nongovernmental institutions, 

4 nonprofit organizations, and private individuals for 

5 the conduct of voluntary habitat assessment, protec6 tion, planning, restoration, and enhancement 

7 projects on public or private land; 

8 (3) to assist in the development and implemen9 tation of monitoring protocols and adaptive manage10 ment procedures to ensure the long-term success of 

11 coastal ecosystem conservation and restoration 

12 measures; and 

13 (4) to collaborate and share information with 

14 partners and the public regarding methods and mod15 els for the conservation, restoration, and enhance16 ment of coastal ecosystems. 

17 SEC. 5. YOUTH INVOLVEMENT. 

18 In administering the Coastal Program, the Secretary 

19 shall, to the maximum extent practicable (including con20 sideration of cost-effectiveness), employ youth volunteers 

21 and organizations that provide service opportunities to 

22 youths to carry out nonhazardous habitat restoration and 

23 enhancement activities. 


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1 SEC. 6. REPORTS. 

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

3 date of enactment of this Act and biennially thereafter, 

4 the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Appro5 priations and Environment and Public Works of the Sen6 ate, and the Committees on Appropriations and Natural 

7 Resources of the House of Representatives, and make 

8 available to the public, a report on the Coastal Program 

9 carried out under this Act. 

10 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The report shall assess, as of 

11 the date of submission of the report, on statewide and na12 tionwide bases— 

13 (1) the state of coastal ecosystems; 

14 (2) progress made toward identifying the most 

15 important natural resource problems and solutions 

16 in priority ecosystems; and 

17 (3) long-term prospects for and success of pro18 tecting, restoring, and enhancing coastal ecosystems. 

19 (c) INCLUSIONS.—The report shall include— 

20 (1) quantitative information on areas protected, 

21 restored, or enhanced; 

22 (2) Federal funds expended or leveraged; 

23 (3) a description of adaptive management prac24 tices implemented; 

25 (4) a description of the number of volunteers 

26 and contributions of those volunteers; and 


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1 (5) recommendations of the Secretary, if any, 

2 for additional research, management, or legislation 

3 needed to fully— 

4 (A) address problems and implement solu5 tions in coastal ecosystems; and 

6 (B) achieve the objectives of this Act. 

7 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

8 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

9 this Act such sums as are necessary for each of fiscal 

10 years 2011 through 2015. 

Æ 


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