I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4738 
To require the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Administrator 
of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to establish 
a constituent-driven program to provide a digital information platform 
capable of efficiently integrating coastal data with decision-support tools, 
training, and best practices and to support collection of priority coastal 
geospatial data to inform and improve local, State, regional, and Federal 
capacities to manage the coastal region, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 14, 2016 
Mr. RUPPERSBERGER (for himself and Mr. YOUNG of Alaska) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To require the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the 
Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration, to establish a constituent-driven program 
to provide a digital information platform capable of effi-
ciently integrating coastal data with decision-support 
tools, training, and best practices and to support collec-
tion of priority coastal geospatial data to inform and 
improve local, State, regional, and Federal capacities to 
manage the coastal region, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Digital Coast Act of 
2016’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) The Digital Coast is a model approach for 
effective Federal partnerships with State and local 
government, nongovernmental organizations, and the 
private sector. 
(2) Access to current, accurate, uniform, and 
standards-based geospatial information, tools, and 
training to characterize the United States coastal re-
gion is critical for public safety and for the environ-
ment, infrastructure, and economy of the United 
States. 
(3) 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. 
(4) Coastal counties in the United States aver-
age 300 persons per square mile, compared with the 
national average of 98. 
(5) On a typical day, more than 1,540 permits 
for construction of single-family homes are issued in 
coastal counties, combined with other commercial, 
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retail, and institutional construction to support this 
population. 
(6) Over half of the economic productivity of 
the United States is located within coastal regions. 
(7) Highly accurate, high-resolution remote 
sensing and other geospatial data play an increas-
ingly important role in decisionmaking and manage-
ment of the coastal zone and economy, including 
for— 
(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. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) COASTAL REGION.—The term ‘‘coastal re-
gion’’ means the area of United States waters ex-
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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 
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. 
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(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Ad-
ministrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration. 
SEC. 4. 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 
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 archive by— 
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(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; 
(3) documenting such data to Federal Geo-
graphic Data Committee standards; and 
(4) archiving all raw data acquired under this 
Act 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-
sionmakers concerning coastal issues, and sharing 
information and best practices, as the Secretary con-
siders appropriate, with— 
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(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 
Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act of 2009 
(33 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.), and the Hydrographic 
Services Improvement Act of 1998 (33 U.S.C. 892 
et seq.); 
(3) participating, pursuant to section 216 of the 
E-Government Act of 2002 (Public Law 107–347; 
44 U.S.C. 3501 note), in the establishment of such 
standards and common protocols as the Secretary 
considers necessary to assure the interoperability of 
remote sensing and other geospatial data with all 
users of such information within— 
(A) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration; 
(B) other Federal agencies; 
(C) State and local government; and 
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(D) the private sector; and 
(4) coordinating with, seeking assistance and 
cooperation of, and providing liaison to the Federal 
Geographic Data Committee pursuant to Office of 
Management and Budget Circular A–16 and Execu-
tive Order 12906 of April 14, 1994 (59 Fed. Reg. 
17671), as amended by Executive Order 13286 of 
March 5, 2003 (68 Fed. Reg. 10619). 
(d) FILLING NEEDS AND GAPS.—In carrying out the 
program, the Secretary shall— 
(1) maximize the use of remote sensing and 
other geospatial data collection activities conducted 
for other purposes and under other authorities; 
(2) focus on filling data needs and gaps for 
coastal management issues, including with respect to 
areas that, as of the date of the enactment of this 
Act, were underserved by coastal data and the areas 
of the Arctic that are under the jurisdiction of the 
United States; 
(3) pursuant to the Ocean and Coastal Map-
ping Integration Act (33 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), sup-
port continue improvement in existing efforts to co-
ordinate the acquisition and integration of key data 
sets needed for coastal management and other pur-
poses, including— 
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