I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5205 

To establish the Coastal Management Fellowship and the Digital Coast 

Fellowship, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 15, 2023 

Ms. BONAMICI (for herself and Mrs. GONZA ́LEZ-COLO ́N) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To establish the Coastal Management Fellowship and the 

Digital Coast Fellowship, 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 Fellowships 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) COASTAL STATE.—The term ‘‘coastal 

9 State’’— 


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1 (A) means a State of the United States in, 

2 or bordering on, the Atlantic, Pacific, or Arctic 

3 Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, the Long Island 

4 Sound, or one or more of the Great Lakes; and 

5 (B) includes Puerto Rico, the United 

6 States Virgin Islands, Guam, the Common7 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and 

8 American Samoa. 

9 (2) FELLOW.—The term ‘‘fellow’’ means an in10 dividual awarded a fellowship under section 5. 

11 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

12 the Secretary of Commerce. 

13 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COASTAL MANAGEMENT FEL14 LOWSHIP. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established a fellowship 

16 program, to be known as the ‘‘Coastal Management Fel17 lowship’’. 

18 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Coastal Man19 agement Fellowship are— 

20 (1) to provide on-the-job training, professional 

21 mentoring, and educational opportunities in coastal 

22 management and policy to qualified individuals as 

23 described in section 5; 

24 (2) to direct essential workforce assistance to 

25 coastal States to support coastal management efVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:25 Aug 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5205.IH H5205

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1 forts, including building local-level capacity to adapt 

2 to coastal vulnerabilities; and 

3 (3) to encourage the next generation of coastal 

4 professionals to engage in public service work to help 

5 the United States better manage coastal resources 

6 and protect coastal communities. 

7 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF DIGITAL COAST FELLOWSHIP. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established a fellowship 

9 program, to be known as the ‘‘Digital Coast Fellowship’’. 

10 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Digital Coast 

11 Fellowship are— 

12 (1) to provide on-the-job training, professional 

13 mentoring, and educational opportunities in coastal 

14 management and policy to qualified individuals as 

15 described in section 5; 

16 (2) to provide assistance to coastal States and 

17 partner organizations to help advance the goals of 

18 the Digital Coast program established under section 

19 4 of the Digital Coast Act (16 U.S.C. 1467); and 

20 (3) to encourage the next generation of coastal 

21 professionals to engage in public service work to help 

22 the United States better manage coastal resources 

23 and protect coastal communities. 


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1 SEC. 5. FELLOWSHIPS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award fellow3 ships under the Coastal Management Fellowship and the 

4 Digital Coast Fellowship in accordance with this section. 

5 (b) QUALIFICATIONS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

7 fellowships under this section to individuals selected 

8 from among individuals who— 

9 (A) have successfully completed a covered 

10 degree or will complete a covered degree before 

11 the start of the fellowship; and 

12 (B) have demonstrated— 

13 (i) an interest in pursuing a career in 

14 coastal or marine— 

15 (I) science; 

16 (II) policy; 

17 (III) management; or 

18 (IV) law; 

19 (ii) outstanding potential for such a 

20 career; 

21 (iii) leadership potential or experience; 

22 (iv) a commitment to or significant in23 terest in public service; 

24 (v) proficient skills in writing and oral 

25 communication; and 


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1 (vi) such other attributes as the Sec2 retary determines appropriate. 

3 (2) DEFINITION OF COVERED DEGREE.—In this 

4 subsection, the term ‘‘covered degree’’ means a grad5 uate degree from an accredited United States insti6 tution, the curriculum for which covers topics rel7 evant to coastal management, as determined by the 

8 Secretary. 

9 (c) REQUIREMENT OF GEOGRAPHIC BALANCE.—The 

10 Secretary shall award fellowships under this section in a 

11 manner that is geographically balanced. 

12 (d) TERM OF FELLOWSHIP.—A fellowship awarded 

13 under this section shall be for a term of not more than 

14 2 years. 

15 (e) STIPEND.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each fellow shall receive an 

17 annual stipend of not less than $47,000, which the 

18 Secretary shall regularly review and periodically ad19 just, as determined appropriate by the Secretary— 

20 (A) to be commensurate with other similar 

21 fellowships; and 

22 (B) to account for changes in cost of living 

23 and inflation. 

24 (2) LOCALITY PAY.—The Secretary shall in25 clude a pay adjustment as part of the stipends deVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:25 Aug 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5205.IH H5205

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1 scribed in paragraph (1) that is comparable to the 

2 locality pay adjustment for the locality pay area in 

3 which the host office of the fellow is located, as de4 termined under section 531.603 of title 5, Code of 

5 Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation). 

6 (f) STATUS OF FELLOWS.—Except as provided in 

7 subsection (h)(3), fellows shall not be considered to be 

8 Federal employees. 

9 (g) DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—During fiscal year 2023 and 

11 any fiscal year thereafter, the head of any Federal 

12 agency may appoint, without regard to the provi13 sions of subchapter I of chapter 33 of title 5, United 

14 States Code, other than sections 3303 and 3328 of 

15 that title, a candidate who meets the qualifications 

16 described in paragraph (2) directly to a position with 

17 the Federal agency for which the candidate meets 

18 Office of Personnel Management qualification stand19 ards. 

20 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—Paragraph (1) applies 

21 with respect to a former fellow who has successfully 

22 fulfilled the requirements of the fellowship. 

23 (3) LIMITATION.—The direct hire authority 

24 under paragraph (1) shall be exercised with respect 

25 to a specific qualified candidate not later than 2 


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1 years after the date on which the candidate com2 pleted a fellowship awarded under this section. 

3 (h) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts authorized to be ap4 propriated under section 6 shall be used for— 

5 (1) the award of fellowships under this section, 

6 including stipends paid to fellows and other relevant 

7 benefits offered to fellows, including health insur8 ance, as identified by the Secretary; 

9 (2) administrative costs associated with the 

10 Coastal Management Fellowship and the Digital 

11 Coast Fellowship; 

12 (3) relocation and travel expenses paid to fel13 lows, who shall be considered to be Federal employ14 ees for purposes of section 3375 of title 5, United 

15 States Code; 

16 (4) professional development opportunities for 

17 fellows, including costs associated with trainings, 

18 certifications, classes, or other opportunities to ad19 vance— 

20 (A) the professional skills of each fellow; or 

21 (B) the ability of each fellow to support 

22 the needs of the host office; and 

23 (5) such other costs of the Coastal Management 

24 Fellowship and the Digital Coast Fellowship as the 

25 Secretary may identify. 


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1 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec3 retary for the uses described in section 5(h) $1,910,000 

4 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028. 

Æ 


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