I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3228 
To direct the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Administrator of 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to improve 
science, data, and services that enable sound decision making in response 
to coastal flood risk, including impacts of sea level rise, storm events, 
changing Great Lakes water levels, and land subsidence. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 13, 2021 
Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ (for herself, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. TLAIB, and Mr. COHEN) 
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 period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the 
Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration, to improve science, data, and services 
that enable sound decision making in response to coastal 
flood risk, including impacts of sea level rise, storm 
events, changing Great Lakes water levels, and land sub-
sidence. 
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 ‘‘National Coastal Resil-
ience Data and Services Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DECLARATION OF POLICY. 
It is the policy of the United States to bolster adapta-
tion and increase resilience by preparing for and pro-
tecting against the social, economic, and environmental 
impacts of coastal flood risk, including impacts of sea level 
rise, storm events, changing Great Lakes water levels, and 
land subsidence, in all coastal and Great Lakes States and 
territories by supporting actions that— 
(1) improve, create, and make investments in 
authoritative forecasts, predictions, projections, and 
services, including sustaining and enhancing under-
lying observing and spatial reference systems, map-
ping and geospatial services, modeling, product de-
velopment and delivery, including probabilistic as-
sessment of risks, and providing engagement and 
technical assistance to all levels of government, trib-
al governments, and to vulnerable and historically 
marginalized and overburdened communities; 
(2) convene and engage users and providers of 
relevant data and services, including Federal agen-
cies, State, local, tribal, and territorial governments, 
academia, the commercial sector, nonprofit and phil-
anthropic organizations, environmental justice orga-
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nizations, and international partners to work to-
gether to identify needs and potential solutions, fill 
gaps in services, and provide technical assistance to 
inform decision making; and 
(3) promote a coordinated, whole of government 
approach to ensuring that our citizens have the 
coastal data and services needed to increase our na-
tional resilience. 
SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Coastal flood risk, including the impacts of 
sea level rise, dramatic shifts in Great Lakes water 
levels, land subsidence, and damage from high tide 
flooding and storm events are severely impacting 
coastal States, territories, communities, economies, 
and ecosystems. 
(2) Millions of people and billions of dollars in 
critical infrastructure are at risk due to the threat 
of coastal floods, the impacts of which are predicted 
to be more frequent and severe in the future and 
present a crisis on the coast that threatens national 
and economic security. 
(3) According to the National Oceanic and At-
mospheric Administration— 
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(A) the 2020 United States Atlantic hurri-
cane season was the most active on record with 
30 named storms, 7 of which were billion-dollar 
disasters exceeding $40 billion in total dam-
ages; and 
(B) the United States annual high tide 
flooding frequency is accelerating and has more 
than doubled since 2000 due to rising relative 
sea levels, with United States coastal commu-
nities today experiencing an average of 2 to 6 
high tide flooding days each year and expected 
to experience an increase to between 7 and 15 
days each year by 2030 and between 25 and 75 
days each year by 2050. 
(4) Our societal response to these threats re-
quires sound decision making within many sectors of 
our society, including those concerned with human 
health, social equity, insurance, finance, infrastruc-
ture investments, building codes, engineering design, 
zoning, urban planning, transportation, marine com-
merce, emergency preparedness, disaster response 
and recovery, ecosystem restoration, marine resource 
management, marine conservation, and more. 
(5) Each of these endeavors requires accurate 
and authoritative data, observations, modeling, map-
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ping, and services that quantify and clearly commu-
nicate the drivers of coastal flood risk, including sea 
level rise, to improve understanding of present day 
and future flood risk at the coast and enable sound 
public policy and risk-informed decision making. 
(6) A whole of government approach is required 
to understand and combat the crisis on the coast. As 
is the case with the delivery of data and services to 
support decision making with respect to severe 
weather, hurricanes, inland flooding, and space 
weather, many Federal agencies have key contribu-
tions to make. The leadership role of the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (in this 
Act referred to as the ‘‘NOAA’’) is critical given the 
agency’s mission and extensive expertise. 
(7) In addition to State, local, tribal, and terri-
torial governments, the private sector, and other 
constituencies, many Federal agencies rely on the 
data and services of the NOAA to inform their mis-
sions and investments. 
(8) In addition to being users of NOAA data 
and services, other Federal agencies conduct or sup-
port observations, modeling, research, and other ac-
tivities that contribute to and inform the coastal 
forecasts, data, and services provided by the NOAA. 
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(9) Strengthening and sustaining the programs, 
networks, observations, and modeling of the NOAA 
to support improved coastal flood risk products and 
services is an urgent national priority. Doing so will 
materially benefit the myriad economic and resource 
management sectors that are being impacted by 
coastal flooding, sea level rise, changing Great Lakes 
water levels, and land subsidence. 
(10) There is an urgent need for the NOAA, in 
partnership with other Federal agencies, to expand 
and enhance observations, mapping, modeling, and 
services that inform the public and decision makers 
about risk from coastal flooding, sea level rise, 
changing Great Lakes water levels, and land subsid-
ence by— 
(A) identifying and leveraging existing ca-
pacities and capabilities to assess and predict 
coastal flood risk and its impacts; and 
(B) convening a national effort to deliver 
enhanced authoritative and science-based prod-
ucts, services, and technical assistance. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act— 
(1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad-
ministrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos-
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pheric Administration and Under Secretary of Com-
merce for Oceans and Atmosphere; and 
(2) the term ‘‘coastal State’’ has the same 
meaning as defined in section 304 of the Coastal 
Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1453) 
and includes the District of Columbia. 
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF NOAA ACTIVITIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce, act-
ing through the Administrator of the National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration, shall, in consultation 
with other Federal agencies, develop within the NOAA a 
comprehensive suite of products and services with respect 
to coastal flood, sea level rise, Great Lakes water level, 
and vertical land motion data, and conduct the research 
and development necessary to support products and serv-
ices that— 
(1) augment existing capacities and combine ex-
isting observations, modeling, predictions, and prod-
ucts and services into a coordinated decision-support 
framework; 
(2) produce and maintain authoritative and 
timely data, maps, and information services, includ-
ing improving existing and new information products 
and services targeted to end user needs, that allow 
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