I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4876

To establish the Long Island Sound Stewardship Initiative. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 20, 2004

Mr. SIMMONS (for himself, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. SHAYS, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. 

KING of New York, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. 

BISHOP of New York, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. ENGEL, and Mr. CROWLEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 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 establish the Long Island Sound Stewardship Initiative.

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 ‘‘Long Island Sound 

5 Stewardship Act of 2004’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
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1 (1) Long Island Sound is a national treasure of 

2 great cultural, environmental, and ecological impor3 tance; 

4 (2) 8,000,000 people live within the Long Is5 land Sound watershed and 28,000,000 people (ap6 proximately 10 percent of the population of the 

7 United States) live within 50 miles of Long Island 

8 Sound; 

9 (3) activities that depend on the environmental 

10 health of Long Island Sound contribute more than 

11 $5,000,000,000 each year to the regional economy; 

12 (4) the portion of the shoreline of Long Island 

13 Sound that is accessible to the general public (esti14 mated at less than 20 percent of the total shoreline) 

15 is not adequate to serve the needs of the people liv16 ing in the area; 

17 (5) existing shoreline facilities are in many 

18 cases overburdened and underfunded; 

19 (6) large parcels of open space already in public 

20 ownership are strained by the effort to balance the 

21 demand for recreation with the needs of sensitive 

22 natural resources; 

(7) approximately 1 23 ⁄3 of the tidal marshes of 

24 Long Island Sound have been filled, and much of 

25 the remaining marshes have been ditched, dyked, or 
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1 impounded, reducing the ecological value of the 

2 marshes; and 

3 (8) much of the remaining exemplary natural 

4 landscape is vulnerable to further development. 

5 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to estab6 lish the Long Island Sound Stewardship Initiative to iden7 tify, protect, and enhance sites within the Long Island 

8 Sound ecosystem with significant ecological, educational, 

9 open space, public access, or recreational value through 

10 a bi-State network of sites best exemplifying these values. 

11 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

12 In this Act, the following definitions apply: 

13 (1) ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT.—The term 

14 ‘‘adaptive management’’ means a scientific proc15 ess—

16 (A) for—

17 (i) developing predictive models; 

18 (ii) making management policy deci19 sions based upon the model outputs; 

20 (iii) revising the management policies 

21 as data become available with which to 

22 evaluate the policies; and 

23 (iv) acknowledging uncertainty, com24 plexity, and variance in the spatial and 

25 temporal aspects of natural systems; and 
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1 (B) that requires that management be 

2 viewed as experimental. 

3 (2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis4 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ5 mental Protection Agency. 

6 (3) COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Committee’’ 

7 means the Long Island Sound Stewardship Advisory 

8 Committee established by section 5(a). 

9 (4) REGION.—The term ‘‘Region’’ means the 

10 Long Island Sound Stewardship Initiative Region es11 tablished by section 4(a). 

12 (5) STATES.—The term ‘‘States’’ means the 

13 States of Connecticut and New York. 

14 (6) STEWARDSHIP SITE.—The term ‘‘steward15 ship site’’ means a site that—

16 (A) qualifies for identification by the Com17 mittee under section 8; and 

18 (B) is an area of land or water or a com19 bination of land and water—

20 (i) that is in the Region; and 

21 (ii) that is—

22 (I) Federal, State, local, or tribal 

23 land or water; 

24 (II) land or water owned by a 

25 nonprofit organization; or 
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1 (III) privately owned land or 

2 water. 

3 (7) SYSTEMATIC SITE SELECTION.—The term 

4 ‘‘systematic site selection’’ means a process of select5 ing stewardship sites that—

6 (A) has explicit goals, methods, and cri7 teria; 

8 (B) produces feasible, repeatable, and de9 fensible results; 

10 (C) provides for consideration of natural, 

11 physical, and biological patterns; 

12 (D) addresses reserve size, replication, 

13 connectivity, species viability, location, and pub14 lic recreation values; 

15 (E) uses geographic information systems 

16 technology and algorithms to integrate selection 

17 criteria; and 

18 (F) will result in achieving the goals of 

19 stewardship site selection at the lowest cost. 

20 (8) THREAT.—The term ‘‘threat’’ means a 

21 threat that is likely to destroy or seriously degrade 

22 a conservation target or a recreation area. 
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1 SEC. 4. LONG ISLAND SOUND STEWARDSHIP INITIATIVE 

2 REGION. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

4 States the Long Island Sound Stewardship Initiative Re5 gion. 

6 (b) BOUNDARIES.—The Region shall encompass the 

7 immediate coastal upland and underwater areas along 

8 Long Island Sound, including those portions of the Sound 

9 with coastally influenced vegetation, as described on the 

10 map entitled the ‘‘Long Island Sound Stewardship Re11 gion’’ and dated April 21, 2004. 

12 SEC. 5. LONG ISLAND SOUND STEWARDSHIP ADVISORY 

13 COMMITTEE. 

14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com15 mittee to be known as the ‘‘Long Island Sound Steward16 ship Advisory Committee’’. 

17 (b) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of the Com18 mittee shall be the Director of the Long Island Sound Of19 fice of the Environmental Protection Agency, or a designee 

20 of the Director. 

21 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—

22 (1) COMPOSITION.—

23 (A) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.—

24 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Chairperson 

25 shall appoint the members of the Com26 mittee in accordance with this subsection 
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1 and section 320(c) of the Federal Water 

2 Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1330(c)). 

3 (ii) ADDITIONAL MEMBERS.—In addi4 tion to the requirements described in 

5 clause (i), the Committee shall include—

6 (I) a representative from the Re7 gional Plan Association; 

8 (II) a representative of the ma9 rine trade organizations; and 

10 (III) a representative of private 

11 landowner interests. 

12 (B) REPRESENTATION.—In appointing 

13 members to the Committee, the Chairperson 

14 shall consider—

15 (i) Federal, State, and local govern16 ment interests; 

17 (ii) the interests of nongovernmental 

18 organizations; 

19 (iii) academic interests; and 

20 (iv) private interests. 

21 (2) DATE OF APPOINTMENTS.—Not later than 

22 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

23 appointment of all members of the Committee shall 

24 be made. 

25 (d) TERM; VACANCIES.—
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1 (1) TERM.—

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—A member shall be ap3 pointed for a term of 4 years. 

4 (B) MULTIPLE TERMS.—A person may be 

5 appointed as a member of the Committee for 

6 more than 1 term. 

7 (2) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Committee 

8 shall—

9 (A) be filled not later than 90 days after 

10 the vacancy occurs; 

11 (B) not affect the powers of the Com12 mittee; and 

13 (C) be filled in the same manner as the 

14 original appointment was made. 

15 (3) STAFF.—

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Chairperson of the 

17 Committee may appoint and terminate per18 sonnel as necessary to enable the Committee to 

19 perform the duties of the Committee. 

20 (B) PERSONNEL AS FEDERAL EMPLOY21 EES.—

22 (i) IN GENERAL.—Any personnel of 

23 the Committee who are employees of the 

24 Committee shall be employees under sec25 tion 2105 of title 5, United States Code, 
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1 for purposes of chapters 63, 81, 83, 84, 

2 85, 87, 89, and 90 of that title. 

3 (ii) MEMBERS OF COMMITTEE.—

4 Clause (i) does not apply to members of 

5 the Committee. 

6 (e) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 30 days after 

7 the date on which all members of the Committee have been 

8 appointed, the Committee shall hold the initial meeting of 

9 the Committee. 

10 (f) MEETINGS.—The Committee shall meet at the 

11 call of the Chairperson, but no fewer than 4 times each 

12 year. 

13 (g) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of the 

14 Committee shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number 

15 of members may hold hearings. 

16 SEC. 6. DUTIES OF THE COMMITTEE. 

17 The Committee shall—

18 (1) consistent with the guidelines described in 

19 section 8—

20 (A) evaluate applications from government 

21 or nonprofit organizations qualified to hold con22 servation easements for funds to purchase land 

23 or development rights for stewardship sites; 
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1 (B) evaluate applications to develop and 

2 implement management plans to address 

3 threats; 

4 (C) evaluate applications to act on oppor5 tunities to protect and enhance stewardship 

6 sites; and 

7 (D) recommend that the Administrator 

8 award grants to qualified applicants; 

9 (2) recommend guidelines, criteria, schedules, 

10 and due dates for evaluating information to identify 

11 stewardship sites; 

12 (3) publish a list of sites that further the pur13 poses of this Act, provided that owners of sites shall 

14 be—

15 (A) notified prior to the publication of the 

16 list; and 

17 (B) allowed to decline inclusion on the list; 

18 (4) raise awareness of the values of and threats 

19 to these sites; and 

20 (5) leverage additional resources for improved 

21 stewardship of the Region. 

22 SEC. 7. POWERS OF THE COMMITTEE. 

23 (a) HEARINGS.—The Committee may hold such hear24 ings, meet and act at such times and places, take such 
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1 testimony, and receive such evidence as the Committee 

2 considers advisable to carry out this Act. 

3 (b) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Committee may secure 

5 directly from a Federal agency such information as 

6 the Committee considers necessary to carry out this 

7 Act. 

8 (2) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara10 graph (C), on request of the Chairperson of the 

11 Committee, the head of a Federal agency shall 

12 provide the information requested by the Chair13 person to the Committee. 

14 (B) ADMINISTRATION.—The furnishing of 

15 information by a Federal agency to the Com16 mittee shall not be considered a waiver of any 

17 exemption available to the agency under section 

18 552 of title 5, United States Code. 

19 (C) INFORMATION TO BE KEPT CONFIDEN20 TIAL.—

21 (i) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of 

22 section 1905 of title 18, United States 

23 Code—
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1 (I) the Committee shall be con2 sidered an agency of the Federal Gov3 ernment; and 

4 (II) any individual employed by 

5 an individual, entity, or organization 

6 that is a party to a contract with the 

7 Committee under this Act shall be 

8 considered an employee of the Com9 mittee. 

10 (ii) PROHIBITION ON DISCLOSURE.—

11 Information obtained by the Committee, 

12 other than information that is available to 

13 the public, shall not be disclosed to any 

14 person in any manner except to an em15 ployee of the Committee as described in 

16 clause (i), for the purpose of receiving, re17 viewing, or processing the information. 

18 (c) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Committee may use the 

19 United States mails in the same manner and under the 

20 same conditions as other agencies of the Federal Govern21 ment. 

22 (d) DONATIONS.—The Committee may accept, use, 

23 and dispose of donations of services or property that ad24 vance the goals of the Long Island Sound Stewardship Ini25 tiative. 
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1 SEC. 8. STEWARDSHIP SITES. 

2 (a) APPLICATION FOR IDENTIFICATION AS A STEW3 ARDSHIP SITE.—Subsequent to the identification of the 

4 initial stewardship sites under subsection (c), owners of 

5 sites may submit applications to the Committee in accord6 ance with subsection (d) to have the sites identified as 

7 stewardship sites. 

8 (b) IDENTIFICATION.—The Committee shall review 

9 the applications submitted by owners of potential steward10 ship sites to determine whether the sites shall be identified 

11 as exhibiting values consistent with the purposes of this 

12 Act. 

13 (c) INITIAL SITES.—

14 (1) INDENTIFICATION.—

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall 

16 identify 20 initial Long Island Sound steward17 ship sites from applications to the Committee 

18 that the Committee has determined—

19 (i)(I) are natural resource-based 

20 recreation areas; or 

21 (II) are exemplary natural areas with 

22 ecological value; and 

23 (ii) best promote the purposes of this 

24 Act. 
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1 (B) EXEMPTION.—Applications under sub2 paragraph (A) shall not be subject to the site 

3 identification process under subsection (d). 

4 (2) EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS FOR

5 INITIAL SITES.—In identifying initial sites under 

6 paragraph (1), the Committee shall exert due dili7 gence to recommend an equitable distribution of 

8 funds between the States for the initial sites. 

9 (d) SITE IDENTIFICATION PROCESS.—

10 (1) NATURAL RESOURCE-BASED RECREATION

11 AREAS.—The Committee shall identify additional 

12 recreation areas with potential as stewardship sites 

13 using a selection technique that includes—

14 (A) public access; 

15 (B) community support; 

16 (C) areas with high population density; 

17 (D) environmental justice (as defined in 

18 section 385.3 of title 33, Code of Federal Regu19 lations (or successor regulations)); 

20 (E) connectivity to existing protected areas 

21 and open spaces; 

22 (F) cultural, historic, and scenic areas; and 

23 (G) other criteria developed by the Com24 mittee. 
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1 (2) NATURAL AREAS WITH ECOLOGICAL

2 VALUE.—The Committee shall identify additional 

3 natural areas with ecological value and potential as 

4 stewardship sites—

5 (A) based on measurable conservation tar6 gets for the Region; and 

7 (B) following a process for prioritizing new 

8 sites using systematic site selection, which shall 

9 include—

10 (i) ecological uniqueness; 

11 (ii) species viability; 

12 (iii) habitat heterogeneity; 

13 (iv) size; 

14 (v) quality; 

15 (vi) connectivity to existing protected 

16 areas and open spaces; 

17 (vii) land cover; 

18 (viii) scientific, research, or edu19 cational value; 

20 (ix) threats; and 

21 (x) other criteria developed by the 

22 Committee. 

23 (3) DEVIATION FROM PROCESS.—

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Committee may 

25 identify as a potential stewardship site, a site 
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1 that does not meet the criteria in paragraph (1) 

2 or (2) or reject a site selected under paragraph 

3 (1) or (2), if the Committee—

4 (i) chooses a site that makes signifi5 cant ecological or recreational contribu6 tions to the Region; and 

7 (ii) publishes the reasons that the 

8 Committee decided to deviate from the sys9 tematic site selection process. 

10 (4) PUBLIC COMMENT.—In identifying potential 

11 stewardship sites, the Committee may consider pub12 lic comments. 

13 (e) GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR MANAGEMENT.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall use an 

15 adaptive management framework to identify the best 

16 policy initiatives and actions through—

17 (A) definition of strategic goals; 

18 (B) definition of policy options for methods 

19 to achieve strategic goals; 

20 (C) establishment of measures of success; 

21 (D) identification of uncertainties; 

22 (E) development of informative models of 

23 policy implementation; 

24 (F) separation of the landscape into geo25 graphic units; 
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1 (G) monitoring key responses at different 

2 spatial and temporal scales; and 

3 (H) evaluation of outcomes and incorpora4 tion into management strategies. 

5 (2) APPLICATION OF ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT

6 FRAMEWORK.—The Committee shall apply the 

7 adaptive management framework to the process for 

8 updating the list of recommended stewardship sites. 

9 SEC. 9. REPORTS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—For each of fiscal years 2006 

11 through 2013, the Committee shall submit to the Adminis12 trator an annual report that contains—

13 (1) a detailed statement of the findings and 

14 conclusions of the Committee since the last report; 

15 (2) a description of all sites recommended by 

16 the Committee to be approved as stewardship sites; 

17 (3) the recommendations of the Committee for 

18 such legislation and administrative actions as the 

19 Committee considers appropriate; and 

20 (4) in accordance with subsection (b), the rec21 ommendations of the Committee for the awarding of 

22 grants. 

23 (b) GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR RECOMMENDA24 TIONS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall rec2 ommend that the Administrator award grants to 

3 qualified applicants to help to secure and improve 

4 the open space, public access, or ecological values of 

5 stewardship sites, through—

6 (A) purchase of the property of the site; 

7 (B) purchase of relevant property rights of 

8 the site; or 

9 (C) entering into any other binding legal 

10 arrangement that ensures that the values of the 

11 site are sustained, including entering into an 

12 arrangement with a land manager or owner to 

13 develop or implement an approved management 

14 plan that is necessary for the conservation of 

15 natural resources. 

16 (2) EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—

17 The Committee shall exert due diligence to rec18 ommend an equitable distribution of funds between 

19 the States. 

20 (c) ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATOR.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

22 receiving a report under subsection (a), the Adminis23 trator shall—

24 (A) review the recommendations of the 

25 Committee; and 
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1 (B) take actions consistent with the rec2 ommendations of the Committee, including the 

3 approval of identified stewardship sites and the 

4 award of grants, unless the Administrator 

5 makes a finding that any recommendation is 

6 unwarranted by the facts. 

7 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

8 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

9 shall develop and publish a report that—

10 (A) assesses the current resources of and 

11 threats to Long Island Sound; 

12 (B) assesses the role of the Long Island 

13 Sound Stewardship Initiative in protecting 

14 Long Island Sound; 

15 (C) establishes guidelines, criteria, sched16 ules, and due dates for evaluating information 

17 to identify stewardship sites; 

18 (D) includes information about any grants 

19 that are available for the purchase of land or 

20 property rights to protect stewardship sites; 

21 (E) accounts for funds received and ex22 pended during the previous fiscal year; 

23 (F) shall be made available to the public 

24 on the Internet and in hardcopy form; and 
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1 (G) shall be updated at least every other 

2 year, except that information on funding and 

3 any new stewardship sites identified shall be 

4 published more frequently. 

5 SEC. 10. PRIVATE PROPERTY PROTECTION. 

6 (a) ACCESS TO PRIVATE PROPERTY.—Nothing in 

7 this Act—

8 (1) requires any private property owner to allow 

9 public access (including Federal, State, or local gov10 ernment access) to the private property; or 

11 (2) modifies any provision of Federal, State, or 

12 local law with regard to public access to or use of 

13 private property, except as entered into by voluntary 

14 agreement of the owner or custodian of the property. 

15 (b) LIABILITY.—Approval of the Long Island Sound 

16 Stewardship Initiative Region does not create any liability, 

17 or have any effect on any liability under any other law, 

18 of any private property owner with respect to any person 

19 injured on the private property. 

20 (c) RECOGNITION OF AUTHORITY TO CONTROL LAND

21 USE.—Nothing in this Act modifies the authority of Fed22 eral, State, or local governments to regulate land use. 

23 (d) PARTICIPATION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY OWNERS

24 IN THE LONG ISLAND SOUND STEWARDSHIP INITIATIVE

25 REGION.—Nothing in this Act requires the owner of any 
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1 private property located within the boundaries of the Re2 gion to participate in or be associated with the Initiative. 

3 (e) EFFECT OF ESTABLISHMENT.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The boundaries approved for 

5 the Region represent the area within which Federal 

6 funds appropriated for the purpose of this Act may 

7 be expended. 

8 (2) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The establish9 ment of the Region and the boundaries of the Re10 gion does not provide any regulatory authority not 

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

12 land use in the Region by any management entity, 

13 except for such property rights as may be purchased 

14 from or donated by the owner of the property (in15 cluding the Federal Government or a State or local 

16 government, if applicable). 

17 SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro19 priated to carry out this Act $40,000,000 for each of fiscal 

20 years 2006 through 2013. 

21 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—For each fiscal year, funds 

22 made available under subsection (a) shall be used by the 

23 Administrator, after reviewing the recommendations of the 

24 Committee submitted under section 9, for—

25 (1) acquisition of land and interests in land; 
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1 (2) development and implementation of site 

2 management plans; 

3 (3) site enhancements to reduce threats or pro4 mote stewardship; and 

5 (4) administrative expenses of the Committee. 

6 (c) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost 

7 of an activity carried out using any assistance or grant 

8 under this Act shall not exceed 75 percent of the total 

9 cost of the activity. 

10 SEC. 12. LONG ISLAND SOUND AUTHORIZATION OF APPRO11 PRIATIONS. 

12 Section 119(f) of the Federal Water Pollution Con13 trol Act (33 U.S.C. 1269(f)) is amended by striking 

14 ‘‘2005’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘2009’’. 

15 SEC. 13. TERMINATION OF COMMITTEE. 

16 The Committee shall terminate on December 31, 

17 2013.

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