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[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5266 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5266

 To reauthorize the National Estuary Programs, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 30, 2014

Mr. LoBiondo (for himself, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Mr. Posey, and Mr. 
Murphy of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
           the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To reauthorize the National Estuary Programs, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. COMPETITIVE AWARDS.

    Section 320(g) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 
U.S.C. 1330(g)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) Competitive awards.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Of the amount made available 
                under subsection (i)(2)(B), the Administrator shall 
                make competitive awards under this paragraph.
                    ``(B) Application for awards.--The Administrator 
                shall solicit applications for awards under this 
                paragraph from State, interstate, and regional water 
                pollution control agencies and entities, State coastal 
                zone management agencies, interstate agencies, other 
                public or nonprofit private agencies, institutions, 
                organizations, and individuals.
                    ``(C) Selection of recipients.--In selecting award 
                recipients under this paragraph, the Administrator 
                shall select recipients that are best able to address 
                urgent and challenging issues that threaten the 
                ecological and economic well-being of coastal areas. 
                Such issues shall include--
                            ``(i) extensive seagrass habitat losses 
                        resulting in significant impacts on fisheries 
                        and water quality;
                            ``(ii) recurring harmful algae blooms, 
                        unusual marine mammal mortalities;
                            ``(iii) invasive exotic species which can 
                        threaten wastewater systems and cause other 
                        damage;
                            ``(iv) jellyfish proliferation limiting 
                        community access to water during peak tourism 
                        seasons;
                            ``(v) flooding which may be related to sea 
                        level rise or wetland degradation or loss; or
                            ``(vi) low dissolved oxygen conditions in 
                        estuarine waters and related nutrient 
                        management.
                    ``(D) Priority.--The Administrator shall give 
                priority for the competitive awards described in 
                subparagraph (A) to national estuary programs that are 
                not part of the Geographic Programs as described in the 
                explanatory statement referred to in section 4 of the 
                Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014 (Public Law 113-
                76; 128 Stat. 7 and printed on page H978 of the 
                Congressional Record on January 15, 2014).''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    Section 320 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 
1330) is amended by striking subsection (i) and inserting the 
following:
    ``(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            ``(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated 
        to the Administrator $27,000,000, for each of fiscal years 2014 
        through 2018 for--
                    ``(A) expenses relating to the administration of 
                grants or awards by the Administrator under this 
                section, including the award and oversight of grants 
                and awards, except that such expenses shall not exceed 
                5 percent of the amount appropriated under this 
                subsection; and
                    ``(B) making grants and awards under subsection 
                (g).
            ``(2) Allocations.--
                    ``(A) Conservation and management plan.--The 
                Administrator shall provide not less than 80 percent of 
                the amounts made available for this section for each 
                fiscal year referred to in paragraph (1) for the 
                development, implementation, and monitoring of each 
                conservation and management plan eligible for grant 
                assistance under subsection (g)(2).
                    ``(B) Competitive awards.--The Administrator shall 
                provide not less than 15 percent of the amounts made 
                available for this section in each fiscal year to make 
                competitive awards described in subsection (g)(3).''.
                                 <all>
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