I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7106 
To amend the National Oceans and Coastal Security Act to make 
improvements to that Act, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 29, 2024 
Mr. BEYER (for himself and Mrs. GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in 
addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a pe-
riod to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for con-
sideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the National Oceans and Coastal Security Act 
to make improvements to that Act, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘National Oceans and 
Coastal Security Improvements Act of 2024’’. 
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SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO NATIONAL OCEANS AND COAST-
AL SECURITY ACT. 
(a) REFERENCES.—Except as otherwise specifically 
provided, whenever in this section an amendment or repeal 
is expressed in terms of an amendment to or a repeal of 
a provision, the reference shall be considered to be made 
to a provision of the National Oceans and Coastal Security 
Act (16 U.S.C. 7501 et seq.). 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 902 (16 U.S.C. 7501) is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 902. DEFINITIONS. 
‘‘In this title: 
‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—Except as otherwise 
specifically provided, the term ‘Administrator’ means 
the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and 
Atmosphere and Administrator of the National Oce-
anic and Atmospheric Administration. 
‘‘(2) BLUE CARBON BENEFITS.—The term ‘blue 
carbon benefits’ means the carbon sequestered and 
stored by coastal and marine ecosystems, including 
salt marshes, mangroves, and seagrasses. 
‘‘(3) COASTAL
COUNTY.—The term ‘coastal 
county’ has the meaning given the term by the Na-
tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 
the document entitled ‘NOAA’s List of Coastal 
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Counties for the Bureau of the Census’ (or similar 
successor document). 
‘‘(4) 
COASTAL
INDIAN
TRIBE.—The 
term 
‘coastal Indian Tribe’ means an Indian Tribe with 
respect to which the following is located, in whole or 
in part, within a coastal State: 
‘‘(A) Land held by the Indian Tribe— 
‘‘(i) in fee; or 
‘‘(ii) subject to restriction against 
alienation under the laws of the United 
States. 
‘‘(B) Land held in trust by the United 
States for the benefit of the Indian Tribe. 
‘‘(C) A reservation, pueblo, or rancheria or 
the Indian Tribe. 
‘‘(5) COASTAL
STATE.—The term ‘coastal 
State’ has the meaning given the term ‘State’ in sec-
tion 103 of the Estuary Restoration Act (33 U.S.C. 
2902). 
‘‘(6) FOUNDATION.—The term ‘Foundation’ 
means the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation 
established by section 2(a) of the National Fish and 
Wildlife Foundation Establishment Act (16 U.S.C. 
3701(a)). 
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‘‘(7) FUND.—The term ‘Fund’ means the Na-
tional Oceans and Coastal Security Fund established 
under section 904(a). 
‘‘(8) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian Tribe’ 
has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 
Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 
‘‘(9) NATIVE
HAWAIIAN
ORGANIZATION.—The 
term ‘Native Hawaiian organization’ has the mean-
ing given the term in section 3 of the NATIVE Act 
(25 U.S.C. 4352). 
‘‘(10) TIDAL
SHORELINE.—The term ‘tidal 
shoreline’ means a ‘tidal shoreline’ or a ‘Great Lake 
shoreline’ as such terms are used in section 
923.110(c)(2)(i) of title 15, Code of Federal Regula-
tions, or a similar successor regulation.’’. 
(c) EXPENDITURES.—Section 904(d) (16 U.S.C. 
7503(d)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(d) EXPENDITURES.—Of the amounts deposited in, 
or appropriated or otherwise made available to, the Fund 
for each fiscal year— 
‘‘(1) not more than a total of 5 percent may be 
used by the Administrator and the Foundation for 
administrative expenses to carry out this title, which 
such amount shall be divided between the Adminis-
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trator and the Foundation pursuant to a docu-
mented agreement between the Administrator and 
the Foundation; and 
‘‘(2) if the total of such amounts is— 
‘‘(A) $50,000,000 or less, any remaining 
amounts may only be used by the Foundation 
to award grants under section 906(c); or 
‘‘(B) $50,000,000 or more— 
‘‘(i) at least $50,000,000 shall be 
used by the Foundation to award grants 
under section 906(c); and 
‘‘(ii) of any remaining amounts— 
‘‘(I) 80 percent of such amounts 
may be used by the Administrator to 
award grants under section 906(b); 
and 
‘‘(II) 20 percent of such amounts 
may be used by the Foundation to 
award grants under section 906(c).’’. 
(d) ELIGIBLE USES.—Section 905 (16 U.S.C. 7504) 
is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 905. ELIGIBLE USES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Amounts in the Fund may be 
used by the Administrator and the Foundation to award 
grants under subsection (b) or (c) of section 906, respec-
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tively, to support programs and activities intended to pro-
tect, conserve, restore, and better understand and use 
ocean and coastal resources and coastal infrastructure. 
‘‘(b) PROGRAMS
AND ACTIVITIES.—The programs 
and activities described in subsection (a) including the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(1) Ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes restora-
tion and protection, including efforts to address po-
tential impacts of sea level change, sedimentation, 
erosion, changes in ocean chemistry, hurricanes and 
other extreme weather, flooding, tsunamis, and 
changes in ocean temperature on natural resources, 
communities, and coastal economies. 
‘‘(2) Restoration, protection, or maintenance of 
living ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources and 
their habitats, including habitats and ecosystems 
that provide blue carbon benefits. 
‘‘(3) Monitoring, spatial planning, data-sharing, 
and other efforts that contribute to the under-
standing of ecological, economic, and societal threats 
driven by changes to the oceans, coasts, and Great 
Lakes. 
‘‘(4) Projects to assist water-dependent com-
mercial activities including commercial fishing, rec-
reational fishing businesses, aquaculture, boat build-
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ing, or other marine-based recreational businesses 
and tourism, minimize or avoid coastal hazards and 
adapt to changes to the oceans, coasts, and Great 
Lakes. 
‘‘(5) Planning, design, and implementation of 
climate-resilient natural and nature-based infra-
structure projects, including projects to deploy nat-
ural or nature-based features to enhance the resil-
iency of public infrastructure. 
‘‘(6) Projects to protect, modify, reposition, or 
relocate critical coastal transportation, emergency 
response, drinking water, electrical, and other public 
infrastructure that are subject to or face increased 
future risks from coastal hazards. 
‘‘(7) Planning for and managing coastal devel-
opment to enhance ecosystem and community resil-
ience and to minimize or avoid the impacts from 
coastal hazards, including sea level change, hurri-
canes and other extreme weather, flooding, and 
coastal erosion. 
‘‘(8) Projects to address management, planning, 
or resiliency and readiness issues that are regional 
or interstate in scope, including regional ocean part-
nerships or similar entities. 
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‘‘(9) Development and regular updates of com-
prehensive resilience, adaptation, and mitigation 
plans, including updating 5-year plans under sub-
section (b)(3)(C), which involve robust engagement 
with community stakeholders. 
‘‘(10) Community-led strategic relocation ef-
forts. 
‘‘(11) Acquisition of property or an interest in 
property if— 
‘‘(A) the property is located within a coast-
al county; 
‘‘(B) such property or interest in property 
is acquired through purchase, exchange, or do-
nation from a willing party; 
‘‘(C) the head of an agency designated as 
a lead agency by the coastal State, coastal In-
dian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization in 
which the property or interest in property is ac-
quired approves of the acquisition; and 
‘‘(D) such property or interest in property 
is acquired in a manner that ensures such prop-
erty or interest in property will be administered 
to support the purposes of this title. 
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‘‘(c) PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR LITIGA-
TION AND LOBBYING.—No funds made available under 
this title may be used to fund— 
‘‘(1) any activity related to litigation; or 
‘‘(2) any activity the purpose of which is to in-
fluence legislation pending before Congress.’’. 
(e) GRANTS.— 
(1) ADMINISTRATION.—Section 906(a)(1) (16 
U.S.C. 7505(a)(1)) is amended— 
(A) by amending subparagraph (B) to read 
as follows: 
‘‘(B) Selection procedures and criteria for 
the awarding of grants under this section that 
require consultation with the Administrator and 
the Secretary of the Interior.’’; 
(B) in subparagraph (C)— 
(i) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘, coastal 
Indian Tribes, and Native Hawaiian orga-
nizations’’ after ‘‘coastal States’’; and 
(ii) by amending clause (ii) to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(ii) under subsection (c), as appro-
priate, to entities including States, local 
governments, Indian Tribes, regional and 
interstate collaboratives, associations, non-
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profit and for-profit private entities, pub-
lic-private partnerships, academic institu-
tions, Indigenous communities, and Native 
Hawaiian organizations.’’; 
(C) in subparagraph (F), by striking ‘‘year 
if grants have been awarded in that year’’ and 
inserting ‘‘5 years’’; and 
(D) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(I) Procedures and accounting method-
ology to quantify blue carbon benefits for the 
purposes of the annual report required under 
section 907.’’. 
(2) COASTAL
GRANTS.—Section 906(b) (16 
U.S.C. 7505(b)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(b) COASTAL GRANTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in con-
sultation with the Foundation, shall award grants to 
each eligible coastal State, coastal Indian Tribe, and 
Native Hawaiian organization from the amount 
made available under section 904(d) in accordance 
with the following: 
‘‘(A) 35 percent of such amount shall be 
allocated equally among coastal States. 
‘‘(B) 30 percent of such amount shall be 
allocated to coastal States on the basis of the 
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ratio of the tidal shoreline miles of a coastal 
State to the tidal shoreline miles of all coastal 
States. 
‘‘(C) 20 percent of such amount shall be 
allocated to coastal States on the basis of the 
ratio of the population of the coastal counties of 
a coastal State to the total population of the 
coastal counties of all coastal States, based on 
the most recent data available from the United 
States Census Bureau. 
‘‘(D) 15 percent of such amount shall be 
allocated equally among coastal Indian Tribes 
and Native Hawaiian organizations. 
‘‘(2) MAXIMUM
ALLOCATION
TO
COASTAL 
STATES.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sub-
paragraphs (A) through (C) of paragraph (1), 
not more than 5 percent of the total amount 
awarded under this subsection may be allocated 
to any one coastal State. 
‘‘(B) 
REDISTRIBUTION.—The 
Adminis-
trator shall develop guidelines regarding the re-
distribution of any amount greater than the 
maximum allocation described in subparagraph 
(A). 
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‘‘(3) APPLICATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for a 
grant under this subsection, a coastal State, 
coastal Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian orga-
nization shall submit to the Administrator an 
application in such form, at such time, and con-
taining such information as the Administrator 
determines appropriate. 
‘‘(B) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for a 
grant under this subsection, a coastal State, 
coastal Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian orga-
nization shall have 1 of the following: 
‘‘(i) A Coastal Zone Management Pro-
gram approved under section 306 of the 
Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 
U.S.C. 1455). 
‘‘(ii) A 5-year plan approved under 
paragraph (4). 
‘‘(C) UPDATES.—As a condition of being 
awarded a grant under this subsection, a coast-
al State, coastal Indian Tribe, or Native Hawai-
ian organization that is eligible for a grant 
under this subsection pursuant to subparagraph 
(B)(ii) shall submit to the Administrator not 
less frequently than once every 5 years an up-
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‘‘(B) A description of the process the 
coastal State, coastal Indian Tribe, or Native 
Hawaiian organization will use to allocate 
amounts awarded to the coastal State, coastal 
Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization 
under paragraph (1), which shall include an af-
firmation that such process is consistent with 
the application and review procedures estab-
lished by the Administrator and Foundation 
under subsection (a)(1). 
‘‘(C) Criteria to determine which entities 
are eligible to participate in the process of the 
coastal State, coastal Indian Tribe, or Native 
Hawaiian organization described in subpara-
graph (B). 
‘‘(D) A process to certify that each project 
or program funded under this subsection with 
respect to the coastal State, coastal Indian 
Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization and 
each contract awarded pursuant to each such 
project or program is consistent with the stand-
ard procurement rules and regulations gov-
erning a comparable project or program of the 
coastal State, coastal Indian Tribe, or Native 
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Hawaiian organization, including all applicable 
competitive bidding and audit requirements. 
‘‘(E) Procedures to make publicly available 
on the internet a list of each project or program 
funded under this subsection with respect to the 
coastal State, coastal Indian Tribe, or Native 
Hawaiian organization, including, at a min-
imum, the recipient, amount, project descrip-
tion, and project status. 
‘‘(5) DEADLINE.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 60 
days after the date on which the Administrator 
receives an application for a grant under this 
subsection, the Administrator, in consultation 
with the Foundation, shall approve or deny 
such application. 
‘‘(B) DENIAL.—If the Administrator de-
nies an application for a grant under this sub-
section, the Administrator, in consultation with 
the Foundation, shall provide to the relevant 
coastal State, coastal Indian Tribe, or Native 
Hawaiian organization feedback regarding such 
denial. 
‘‘(6) NONPARTICIPATION.—In any fiscal year, if 
an eligible coastal State, coastal Indian Tribe, or 
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Native Hawaiian organization declines a grant 
award under this subsection, the amount that would 
have been allocated to the coastal State, coastal In-
dian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization shall be 
reallocated to award grants under subsection (c).’’. 
(3) NATIONAL GRANTS FOR OCEANS, COASTS, 
AND
GREAT
LAKES.—Section 906(c) (16 U.S.C. 
7505(c)) is amended— 
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘The Ad-
ministrator and the Foundation’’ and inserting 
‘‘The Foundation, in consultation with the Ad-
ministrator,’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) in subparagraph (B)— 
(I) in clause (ii), by striking 
‘‘and’’ at the end; 
(II) by redesignating clause (iii) 
as clause (v); and 
(III) by inserting after clause (ii) 
the following: 
‘‘(iii) nonprofit organizations; 
‘‘(iv) Indian Tribes, Indigenous com-
munities, and Native Hawaiian organiza-
tions; and’’; and 
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(ii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(C) CAP ON FUNDING.—The amount of a 
grant awarded under this subsection shall not 
count toward the cap on funding to coastal 
States, coastal Indian Tribes, or Native Hawai-
ian organizations through grants awarded 
under subsection (b).’’. 
(f) ANNUAL REPORT.—Section 907 (16 U.S.C. 7506) 
is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘Subject to 
subsection (c), beginning’’ and inserting ‘‘Begin-
ning’’; and 
(2) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking the pe-
riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(4) an estimate of blue carbon benefits.’’. 
(g) FUNDING.—Section 908 (16 U.S.C. 7507) is 
amended by striking ‘‘such sums as are necessary for fis-
cal years 2017, 2018, and 2019 for this title’’ and insert-
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ing ‘‘$200,000,000 to carry out this title for each of fiscal 
years 2025 through 2029’’. 
Æ 
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