I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1261 
To amend title 54, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of the 
Interior to make financial assistance to States under the Land and 
Water Conservation Fund available for water quality projects, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 12, 2025 
Mr. MAST introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To amend title 54, United States Code, to authorize the 
Secretary of the Interior to make financial assistance 
to States under the Land and Water Conservation Fund 
available for water quality projects, and for other pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Land and Water Con-
servation Fund Water Amendments Act of 2025’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO STATES FOR WATER 
QUALITY PROJECTS. 
Section 200305 of title 54, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) in subsection (a), in the second sentence, by 
inserting ‘‘and water quality improvement’’ after 
‘‘outdoor recreation’’; 
(2) in subsection (d), by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(5) WATER QUALITY.—A comprehensive state-
wide outdoor recreation plan shall identify— 
‘‘(A) any body of water within the bound-
aries of the State for which a State water qual-
ity control plan has been developed pursuant to 
section 303(d) of the Federal Water Pollution 
Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1313(d)); and 
‘‘(B) any proposed water quality project 
(as defined in subsection (e)(4)(A)) to be con-
ducted with respect to a body of water that is 
identified under subparagraph (A).’’; and 
(3) in subsection (e)— 
(A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘AND DE-
VELOPMENT OF BASIC OUTDOOR RECREATION 
FACILITIES’’ and inserting ‘‘, DEVELOPMENT 
OF BASIC OUTDOOR RECREATION FACILITIES, 
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AND
CONDUCT
OF
WATER
QUALITY 
PROJECTS’’; 
(B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and 
(3)’’ and inserting ‘‘, (3), and (4)’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(4) WATER QUALITY PROJECTS.— 
‘‘(A) DEFINITION
OF
WATER
QUALITY 
PROJECT.—In this paragraph, the term ‘water 
quality project’ means any project identified in 
a State water quality control plan developed for 
the purpose of restoring any body of water that 
is identified by the State under section 303(d) 
of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 
U.S.C. 1313(d)) as being impaired. 
‘‘(B) 
FINANCIAL
ASSISTANCE.—Under 
paragraph (1), the Secretary may provide finan-
cial assistance for the conduct of water quality 
projects. 
‘‘(C) NON-FEDERAL SHARE CREDIT.—The 
Secretary may credit toward the non-Federal 
share required under subsection (c) funds allo-
cated by a State for the conduct of a water 
quality project. 
‘‘(D) 
CONSULTATION.—The 
Secretary 
shall consult with the Administrator of the En-
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vironmental Protection Agency in carrying out 
this paragraph. 
‘‘(E) LIMITATIONS.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—In providing fi-
nancial assistance to water quality projects 
under this paragraph, the Secretary shall 
only provide financial assistance to water 
quality projects that seek to improve water 
quality by improving, restoring, remedi-
ating, or developing natural hydrological 
systems, such as— 
‘‘(I) wetlands; 
‘‘(II) marshes; 
‘‘(III) living shorelines; 
‘‘(IV) 
near-shore 
estuarine 
waters; or 
‘‘(V) any other naturally occur-
ring hydrological features the Sec-
retary determines to be necessary for 
the purpose of reducing nutrient 
loads. 
‘‘(ii) NO
REIMBURSEMENT.—Funds 
made available for a water quality project 
under this paragraph may not be used to 
reimburse the cost of any water quality 
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project that has already been completed or 
is otherwise fully funded. 
‘‘(iii) EFFECT.—Nothing in this para-
graph— 
‘‘(I) expands the authority of the 
Federal Government over nonnav-
igable waters; or 
‘‘(II) authorizes the Secretary to 
regulate the conduct of water quality 
projects.’’. 
Æ 
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