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(3) Collaborations and partnerships between in-
stitutions of higher education and Federal agencies 
help ensure digital data focused on coastal manage-
ment issues are communicated effectively between 
such entities. 
(4) More than half of all people of the United 
States (153,000,000) currently live on or near a 
coast and an additional 12,000,000 are expected in 
the next decade. 
(5) Coastal counties in the United States aver-
age 300 persons per square mile, compared with the 
national average of 98. 
(6) On a typical day, more than 1,540 permits 
for construction of single-family homes are issued in 
coastal counties, combined with other commercial, 
retail, and institutional construction to support this 
population. 
(7) Over half of the economic productivity of 
the United States is located within coastal regions. 
(8) Highly accurate, high-resolution remote 
sensing and other geospatial data play an increas-
ingly important role in decision making and manage-
ment of the coastal zone and economy, including 
for— 
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(A) flood and coastal storm surge pre-
diction; 
(B) hazard risk and vulnerability assess-
ment; 
(C) emergency response and recovery plan-
ning; 
(D) community resilience to longer range 
coastal change; 
(E) local planning and permitting; 
(F) habitat and ecosystem health assess-
ments; and 
(G) landscape change detection. 
SEC. 302. DEFINITIONS. 
In this subtitle: 
(1) COASTAL REGION.—The term ‘‘coastal re-
gion’’ means the area of United States waters ex-
tending inland from the shoreline to include coastal 
watersheds and seaward to the territorial sea. 
(2) 
COASTAL
STATE.—The 
term 
‘‘coastal 
State’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘coastal 
state’’ in section 304 of the Coastal Zone Manage-
ment Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1453). 
(3) 
FEDERAL
GEOGRAPHIC
DATA
COM-
MITTEE.—The term ‘‘Federal Geographic Data 
Committee’’ means the interagency committee that 
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promotes the coordinated development, use, sharing, 
and dissemination of geospatial data on a national 
basis. 
(4) 
REMOTE
SENSING
AND
OTHER 
GEOSPATIAL.—The term ‘‘remote sensing and other 
geospatial’’ means collecting, storing, retrieving, or 
disseminating graphical or digital data depicting 
natural or manmade physical features, phenomena, 
or boundaries of the Earth and any information re-
lated thereto, including surveys, maps, charts, sat-
ellite and airborne remote sensing data, images, 
LiDAR, and services performed by professionals 
such as surveyors, photogrammetrists, hydrog-
raphers, geodesists, cartographers, and other such 
services. 
(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Ad-
ministrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration. 
SEC. 303. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DIGITAL COAST. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 
a program for the provision of an enabling platform 
that integrates geospatial data, decision-support 
tools, training, and best practices to address coastal 
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management issues and needs. Under the program, 
the Secretary shall strive to enhance resilient com-
munities, ecosystem values, and coastal economic 
growth and development by helping communities ad-
dress their issues, needs, and challenges through 
cost-effective and participatory solutions. 
(2) DESIGNATION.—The program established 
under paragraph (1) shall be known as the ‘‘Digital 
Coast’’ (in this section referred to as the ‘‘pro-
gram’’). 
(b) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out the 
program, the Secretary shall ensure that the program pro-
vides data integration, tool development, training, docu-
mentation, dissemination, and archiving by— 
(1) making data and resulting integrated prod-
ucts developed under this section readily accessible 
via the Digital Coast Internet website of the Na-
tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the 
GeoPlatform.gov and data.gov Internet websites, and 
such other information distribution technologies as 
the Secretary considers appropriate; 
(2) developing decision-support tools that use 
and display resulting integrated data and provide 
training on use of such tools; 
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(3) documenting such data to Federal Geo-
graphic Data Committee standards; and 
(4) archiving all raw data acquired under this 
title at the appropriate National Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration data center or such other 
Federal data center as the Secretary considers ap-
propriate. 
(c) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall coordinate 
the activities carried out under the program to optimize 
data collection, sharing and integration, and to minimize 
duplication by— 
(1) consulting with coastal managers and deci-
sion makers concerning coastal issues, and sharing 
information and best practices, as the Secretary con-
siders appropriate, with— 
(A) coastal States; 
(B) local governments; and 
(C) representatives of academia, the pri-
vate sector, and nongovernmental organizations; 
(2) consulting with other Federal agencies, in-
cluding interagency committees, on relevant Federal 
activities, including activities carried out under the 
Ocean and Coastal Mapping Integration Act (33 
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the Coastal Zone Management 
Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.), the Integrated 
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