I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4092 
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior, through the Coastal Program 
of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, to work with willing 
partners and provide support to efforts to assess, protect, restore, and 
enhance important coastal areas that provide fish and wildlife habitat 
on which Federal trust species depend, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 23, 2021 
Mr. HUFFMAN (for himself and Miss GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior, through the 
Coastal Program of the United States Fish and Wildlife 
Service, to work with willing partners and provide sup-
port to efforts to assess, protect, restore, and enhance 
important coastal areas that provide fish and wildlife 
habitat on which Federal trust species depend, 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 ‘‘Coastal Habitat Con-
servation Act of 2021’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 
(1) an effective means of conserving and recov-
ering Federal trust species and promoting self-sus-
taining populations of those species is to protect, 
conserve, restore, and enhance the habitats of the 
species; 
(2) coastal ecosystems are highly dynamic areas 
that provide valuable breeding, nursery, staging, and 
resting areas for a rich diversity of fish, shellfish, 
migratory birds, and mammals; 
(3) coastal areas support— 
(A) 40 percent of the refuges within the 
National Wildlife Refuge System; 
(B) 40 percent of the threatened species or 
endangered species, including 75 percent of the 
listed mammals and birds, under the Endan-
gered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 
seq.); and 
(C) 50 percent of the fisheries conservation 
activities of the Service; 
(4) although coastal counties make up only 10 
percent of total contiguous United States land area, 
coastal areas are home to more than 40 percent of 
the human population of the United States, which is 
placing enormous pressure on coastal ecosystems; 
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(5) because coastal deterioration can cause 
fragmentation and landward migration of coastal 
ecosystems, as well as create new habitats along 
shorelines, it has become necessary to incorporate 
adaptation assistance into coastal ecosystem man-
agement strategies; 
(6) in addition to serving as fish and wildlife 
habitat, coastal ecosystems— 
(A) serve as an important source of food; 
(B) protect coastal communities, including 
infrastructure in those communities, against 
floods; 
(C) filter polluted runoff; and 
(D) provide valuable commercial and rec-
reational benefits to coastal communities and 
the United States; 
(7)(A) fish and wildlife conservation is a re-
sponsibility shared by citizens and government; and 
(B) public-private partnerships should be sup-
ported through technical assistance and financial as-
sistance to conduct coastal habitat assessment, pro-
tection, planning, restoration, and enhancement 
projects in coastal ecosystems; 
(8) successful fish and wildlife conservation in-
creasingly relies on interdependent partnerships in 
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which priority setting, planning, and conservation 
delivery are collaborative endeavors; 
(9) since 1985, the Service has administered 
the Coastal Program through which the Service 
works with willing partners to assess, protect, plan, 
restore, and enhance coastal ecosystems, including 
coastal wetlands and watersheds, uplands, and ripar-
ian and in-stream habitats, that provide significant 
benefits to Federal trust species; 
(10) through the Coastal Program, the Service 
provides strategic conservation planning and design 
at the regional and landscape scales, and integrates 
the resources of the Service to address priorities 
identified by partners; and 
(11) the Coastal Program of the Service com-
plements and enhances the National Coastal Wet-
lands Conservation Grant Program under section 
305 of the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection 
and Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 3954), which pro-
vides matching grants to coastal States to support 
long-term conservation of coastal wetlands and asso-
ciated habitats. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to legisla-
tively authorize the Coastal Program of the Service in ef-
fect as of the date of enactment of this Act to conduct 
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collaborative landscape-level planning and on-the-ground 
coastal habitat protection, restoration, and enhancement 
projects in priority coastal areas to conserve and recover 
Federal trust species. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) COASTAL AREA.—The term ‘‘coastal area’’ 
means a marine or freshwater area within or adja-
cent to a coastal State, including— 
(A) a coastal wetland or watershed; 
(B) coastal water; 
(C) a coastal bay; 
(D) a coastline; and 
(E) an estuary and associated upland. 
(2) COASTAL ECOSYSTEM.—The term ‘‘coastal 
ecosystem’’ means an ecological community that pro-
vides fish and wildlife habitat in coastal areas. 
(3) 
COASTAL
HABITAT
ASSESSMENT.—The 
term ‘‘coastal habitat assessment’’ means the proc-
ess of evaluating the physical, chemical, and biologi-
cal function of a coastal site to determine the value 
of the site to fish and wildlife. 
(4) COASTAL
HABITAT
ENHANCEMENT.—The 
term ‘‘coastal habitat enhancement’’ means the ma-
nipulation of the physical, chemical, or biological 
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characteristics of a coastal ecosystem to increase or 
decrease specific biological functions that make the 
ecosystem valuable to fish and wildlife. 
(5) COASTAL HABITAT PLANNING.—The term 
‘‘coastal habitat planning’’ means the process of de-
veloping a comprehensive plan that— 
(A) characterizes a coastal ecosystem; 
(B) sets protection, restoration, or en-
hancement goals, and identifies the priorities of 
those goals; 
(C) describes conservation strategies and 
methodologies; 
(D) establishes a timetable for implementa-
tion of the plan; and 
(E) identifies roles of participants and 
stakeholders. 
(6) COASTAL HABITAT PROTECTION.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘‘coastal 
habitat protection’’ means a long-term action to 
safeguard habitats of importance to fish and 
wildlife species in a coastal ecosystem. 
(B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘coastal habi-
tat protection’’ includes activities to support es-
tablishment of conservation easements or fee- 
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title acquisition by Federal and non-Federal 
partners. 
(7) COASTAL
HABITAT
RESTORATION.—The 
term ‘‘coastal habitat restoration’’ means the manip-
ulation of the physical, chemical, or biological char-
acteristics of a coastal ecosystem with the goal of re-
turning, to the maximum extent practicable, the full 
natural biological functions to lost or degraded na-
tive habitat. 
(8) 
COASTAL
STATE.—The 
term 
‘‘coastal 
State’’ means— 
(A) a State in, or bordering on, the Atlan-
tic, Pacific, or Arctic Ocean, the Gulf of Mex-
ico, the Long Island Sound, or 1 or more of the 
Great Lakes; 
(B) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 
(C) Guam; 
(D) American Samoa; 
(E) the Commonwealth of the Northern 
Mariana Islands; 
(F) the Federated States of Micronesia; 
(G) the Republic of the Marshall Islands; 
(H) the Republic of Palau; and 
(I) the United States Virgin Islands. 
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(9) FEDERAL
TRUST
SPECIES.—The term 
‘‘Federal trust species’’ means— 
(A) a species listed as a threatened species 
or an endangered species under the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); 
(B) a species of migratory bird; 
(C) a species of interjurisdictional fish; 
(D) any species of marine mammal, as 
identified by the Secretary; and 
(E) any other species of concern, as deter-
mined by the Secretary. 
(10) FINANCIAL
ASSISTANCE.—The term ‘‘fi-
nancial assistance’’ means Federal funding support 
provided to eligible recipients through a grant or co-
operative agreement. 
(11) 
SECRETARY.—The 
term 
‘‘Secretary’’ 
means the Secretary of the Interior. 
(12) SERVICE.—The term ‘‘Service’’ means the 
United States Fish and Wildlife Service. 
(13) 
TECHNICAL
ASSISTANCE.—The 
term 
‘‘technical assistance’’ means a collaboration, facili-
tation, or consulting action relating to a habitat pro-
tection, planning, restoration, or enhancement 
project or initiative in which the Service contributes 
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scientific knowledge, skills, and expertise to a project 
or program. 
SEC. 4. COASTAL PROGRAM. 
The Secretary shall carry out the Coastal Program 
within the Service— 
(1) to identify the most important natural re-
source problems and solutions in priority coastal eco-
systems in partnership with— 
(A) Federal, State, local, and Tribal gov-
ernments; 
(B) nongovernmental institutions; 
(C) nonprofit organizations; 
(D) private individuals; and 
(E) corporations; 
(2) to provide technical assistance and financial 
assistance through partnerships with Federal, State, 
local, and Tribal governments, nongovernmental in-
stitutions, nonprofit organizations, private individ-
uals, and corporations to conduct voluntary coastal 
habitat assessment, protection, planning, restoration, 
and enhancement projects on public land or private 
land; 
(3) to ensure the health and resilience of coast-
al ecosystems through adaptive management proce-
dures based on the best available science; 
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(4) to build the capacity of Federal, State, 
local, and Tribal governments, nongovernmental in-
stitutions, nonprofit organizations, private individ-
uals, and corporations to carry out environmental 
conservation and stewardship measures; 
(5) to assist in the development and implemen-
tation of monitoring protocols to ensure the success 
of coastal ecosystem restoration and enhancement 
measures; and 
(6) to collaborate and share information with 
partners and the public relating to best management 
practices for the conservation, restoration, and en-
hancement of coastal ecosystems. 
SEC. 5. REPORTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 
the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Service, 
shall submit to the Committees on Appropriations and En-
vironment and Public Works of the Senate and the Com-
mittees on Appropriations and Natural Resources of the 
House of Representatives, and make available to the pub-
lic on the website of the Service, a report on the Coastal 
Program carried out under this Act. 
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(b) REQUIREMENTS.—Each report submitted under 
subsection (a) shall assess on regional and nationwide 
bases— 
(1) Coastal Program work on coastal eco-
systems; 
(2) progress made by the Coastal Program to-
ward identifying the most important natural re-
source problems and solutions in priority ecosystems; 
and 
(3) prospects for, and success of, protecting, re-
storing, and enhancing coastal ecosystems. 
(c) INCLUSIONS.—Each report submitted under sub-
section (a) shall include— 
(1) quantitative information on coastal areas 
protected, restored, or enhanced; 
(2) funds appropriated to the Coastal Program 
that have been expended or leveraged; 
(3) a description of adaptive management prac-
tices implemented; and 
(4) recommendations, if any, for additional re-
search, management, or legislation needed to fully— 
(A) address problems and implement solu-
tions in coastal ecosystems; and 
(B) achieve the objectives of this Act. 
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SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this Act— 
(1) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 
(2) $21,250,000 for fiscal year 2023; 
(3) $22,500,000 for fiscal year 2024; 
(4) $23,750,000 for fiscal year 2025; and 
(5) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2026. 
Æ 
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