‘‘(A) to acquire a working waterfront, or 
an interest in a working waterfront; or 
‘‘(B) to make improvements to a working 
waterfront, including the construction or repair 
of wharfs, boat ramps, or related facilities. 
‘‘(e) PUBLIC ACCESS REQUIREMENT.—A working 
waterfront project funded by grants made under this sec-
tion must provide for expansion or improvement of reason-
able and appropriate public access to coastal waters at or 
in the vicinity of a working waterfront, except for commer-
cial fishing or other industrial access points where the 
coastal state determines that public access would be un-
safe. 
‘‘(f) LIMITATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a 
grant awarded under this section may be used to 
purchase working waterfront or an interest in work-
ing waterfront, including an easement, only from a 
willing seller and at fair market value. 
‘‘(2) A grant awarded under this section may 
be used to acquire working waterfront or an interest 
in working waterfront at less than fair market value 
only if the owner certifies to the Secretary that the 
sale is being entered into willingly and without coer-
cion. 
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‘‘(3) No Federal, State, or local entity may ex-
ercise the power of eminent domain to secure title to 
any property or facilities in connection with a 
project carried out under this section. 
‘‘(g) ALLOCATION OF GRANTS TO LOCAL GOVERN-
MENTS AND OTHER ENTITIES.— 
‘‘(1) The Secretary shall encourage coastal 
states to broadly allocate amounts received as grants 
under this section among working waterfronts iden-
tified in working waterfront plans approved under 
subsection (c). 
‘‘(2) Subject to the approval of the Secretary, 
a coastal state may, as part of an approved working 
waterfront plan, designate as a qualified holder any 
unit of State or local government or nongovernment 
organization, if the coastal state is ultimately re-
sponsible for ensuring that the property will be man-
aged in a manner that is consistent with the pur-
poses for which the land entered into the program. 
‘‘(3) A coastal state or a qualified holder des-
ignated by a coastal state may allocate to a unit of 
local government, nongovernmental organization, 
fishing cooperative, or other entity, a portion of any 
grant made under this section for the purpose of 
carrying out this section, except that such an alloca-
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tion shall not relieve the coastal state of the respon-
sibility for ensuring that any funds so allocated are 
applied in furtherance of the coastal state’s approved 
working waterfront plan. 
‘‘(4) A qualified holder may hold title to or in-
terest in property acquired under this section, except 
that— 
‘‘(A) all persons holding title to or interest 
in working waterfront affected by a grant under 
this section, including a qualified holder, private 
citizen, private business, nonprofit organization, 
fishing cooperative, or other entity, shall enter 
into a working waterfront covenant; 
‘‘(B) such covenant shall be held by the 
coastal state or a qualified holder designated 
under paragraph (2); 
‘‘(C) if the coastal state determines, on the 
record after an opportunity for a hearing, that 
the working waterfront covenant has been vio-
lated— 
‘‘(i) all right, title, and interest in and 
to the working waterfront covered by such 
covenant shall, except as provided in sub-
paragraph (D), revert to the coastal state; 
and 
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‘‘(ii) the coastal state shall have the 
right of immediate entry onto the working 
waterfront. 
‘‘(D) If a coastal state makes a determina-
tion under subparagraph (C), the coastal state 
may convey or authorize the qualified holder to 
convey the working waterfront or interest in 
working waterfront to another qualified holder. 
‘‘(E) Nothing in this subsection waives any 
legal requirement under any Federal or State 
law. 
‘‘(h) MATCHING CONTRIBUTIONS.— 
‘‘(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 
Secretary shall require that each coastal state that 
receives a grant under this section, or a qualified 
holder designated by that coastal state under sub-
section (g), shall provide matching funds in an 
amount equal to at least 25 percent of the total cost 
of the project carried out with the grant. 
‘‘(2) The Secretary may waive the application 
of paragraph (1) for any qualified holder that is an 
underserved community, a community that has an 
inability to draw on other sources of funding because 
of the small population or low income of the commu-
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nity, or for other reasons the Secretary considers ap-
propriate. 
‘‘(3) A local community designated as a quali-
fied holder under subsection (g) may utilize funds or 
other in-kind contributions donated by a nongovern-
mental partner to satisfy the matching funds re-
quirement under this subsection. 
‘‘(4) As a condition of receipt of a grant under 
this section, the Secretary shall require that a coast-
al state provide to the Secretary such assurances as 
the Secretary determines are sufficient to dem-
onstrate that the share of the cost of each eligible 
project that is not funded by the grant awarded 
under this section has been secured. 
‘‘(5) If financial assistance under this section 
represents only a portion of the total cost of a 
project, funding from other Federal sources may be 
applied to the cost of the project. Each portion shall 
be subject to match requirements under the applica-
ble provision of law. 
‘‘(6) The Secretary shall treat as non-Federal 
match the value of a working waterfront or interest 
in a working waterfront, including conservation and 
other easements, that is held in perpetuity by a 
qualified holder, if the working waterfront or inter-
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est is identified in the application for the grant and 
acquired by the qualified holder within 3 years of 
the grant award date, or within 3 years after the 
submission of the application and before the end of 
the grant award period. Such value shall be deter-
mined by an appraisal performed at such time before 
the award of the grant as the Secretary considers 
appropriate. 
‘‘(7) The Secretary shall treat as non-Federal 
match the costs associated with acquisition of a 
working waterfront or an interest in a working wa-
terfront, and the costs of restoration, enhancement, 
or other improvement to a working waterfront, if the 
activities are identified in the project application and 
the costs are incurred within the period of the grant 
award, or, for working waterfront described in para-
graph (6), within the same time limits described in 
that paragraph. These costs may include either cash 
or in-kind contributions. 
‘‘(i) LIMIT ON ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—No more 
than 5 percent of the funds made available to the Sec-
retary under this section may be used by the Secretary 
for planning or administration of the program under this 
section. 
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‘‘(j) OTHER TECHNICAL
AND FINANCIAL ASSIST-
ANCE.— 
‘‘(1) Up to 5 percent of the funds appropriated 
under this section may be used by the Secretary for 
purposes of providing technical assistance as de-
scribed in this subsection. 
‘‘(2) The Secretary shall— 
‘‘(A) provide technical assistance to coastal 
states and local governments in identifying and 
obtaining other sources of available Federal 
technical and financial assistance for the devel-
opment and revision of a working waterfront 
plan and the implementation of an approved 
working waterfront plan; 
‘‘(B) provide technical assistance to States 
and local governments for the development, im-
plementation, and revision of comprehensive 
working waterfront plans, which may include, 
subject to the availability of appropriations, 
planning grants and assistance, pilot projects, 
feasibility studies, and other projects necessary 
to further the purposes of this section; 
‘‘(C) assist States in developing other tools 
to protect working waterfronts; and 
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‘‘(D) collect and disseminate to States 
guidance for best storm water management 
practices in regards to working waterfronts. 
‘‘(k) REPORTS.— 
‘‘(1) The Secretary shall— 
‘‘(A) develop performance measures to 
evaluate and report on the effectiveness of the 
program under this section in accomplishing the 
purpose of this section; and 
‘‘(B) submit to Congress a biennial report 
that includes such evaluations, an account of all 
expenditures, and descriptions of all projects 
carried out using grants awarded under this 
section. 
‘‘(2) The Secretary may submit the biennial re-
port under paragraph (1)(B) by including it in the 
biennial report required under section 316. 
‘‘(l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 
out this section $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2012, 
$50,000,000 for fiscal year 2013, and $75,000,000 for 
each of fiscal years 2014 and 2015. 
‘‘(m) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘qualified holder’ means a coast-
al state or a unit of local or coastal state govern-
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ment or a non-State organization designated by a 
coastal state under subsection (g). 
‘‘(2) The term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary, 
acting through the National Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration. 
‘‘(3) The term ‘working waterfront’ means real 
property (including support structures over water 
and other facilities) that provides access to coastal 
waters to persons engaged in commercial fishing, 
recreational fishing businesses, boatbuilding, aqua-
culture, or other water-dependent, coastal-related 
business and is used for, or that supports, commer-
cial 
fishing, 
recreational 
fishing 
businesses, 
boatbuilding, aquaculture, or other water-dependent, 
coastal-related business. 
‘‘(4) The term ‘working waterfront covenant’ 
means an agreement in recordable form between the 
owner of working waterfront and one or more quali-
fied holders, that provides such assurances as the 
Secretary may require that— 
‘‘(A) the title to or interest in the working 
waterfront will be held by a grant recipient or 
qualified holder in perpetuity, except as pro-
vided in subparagraph (C); 
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‘‘(B) the working waterfront will be man-
aged in a manner that is consistent with the 
purposes for which the property is acquired 
pursuant to this section, and the property will 
not be converted to any use that is inconsistent 
with the purpose of this section; 
‘‘(C) if the title to or interest in the work-
ing waterfront is sold or otherwise exchanged— 
‘‘(i) all working waterfront owners 
and qualified holders involved in such sale 
or exchange shall accede to such agree-
ment; and 
‘‘(ii) funds equal to the fair market 
value of the working waterfront or interest 
in working waterfront shall be paid to the 
Secretary by parties to the sale or ex-
change, and such funds shall, at the dis-
cretion of the Secretary, be paid to the 
coastal state in which the working water-
front is located for use in the implementa-
tion of the working waterfront plan of the 
State approved by the Secretary under this 
section; and 
‘‘(D) such covenant is subject to enforce-
ment and oversight by the coastal state or by 
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another person as determined appropriate by 
the Secretary.’’. 
Æ 
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