Title: Long Island Sound Restoration and Stewardship Act
Policy area: Environmental Protection

Summary:
Long Island Sound Restoration and Stewardship Act
This bill reauthorizes the Management Conference of the Long Island Sound Study, the Long Island Sound Stewardship Act of 2006, the Long Island Sound Grants, and Long Island Sound Stewardship Grants through FY2023.
The bill amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to direct the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of the Management Conference of the Long Island Sound Study to include in studies on strengthening the implementation of the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan for Long Island Sound: (1) environmental impacts on the sound watershed; and (2) planning initiatives that identify areas most suitable for various activities in order to reduce conflicts among uses, reduce adverse environmental impacts, facilitate compatible uses, or preserve critical ecosystem services.
The office must: (1) develop and implement strategies to increase education and awareness about the ecological health and water quality of the sound; and (2) monitor progress toward meeting the goals, actions, and schedules of the plan.
The limit on the federal share for certain grants for projects and studies to help implement the plan is revised by increasing the limit for grants other than citizen involvement and education grants.
A federal agency that owns or occupies real property, or carries out activities, within the sound watershed must: (1) participate in regional and subwatershed planning, protection, and restoration activities; and (2) ensure that the property and activities are consistent with the plan to the maximum extent practicable.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 675 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 675

  To amend and reauthorize certain provisions relating to Long Island 
                   Sound restoration and stewardship.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 21, 2017

  Mrs. Gillibrand (for herself, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Blumenthal, and Mr. 
    Murphy) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend and reauthorize certain provisions relating to Long Island 
                   Sound restoration and stewardship.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Long Island Sound Restoration and 
Stewardship Act''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS.

    (a) Long Island Sound Restoration Program.--Section 119 of the 
Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1269) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b), by striking the subsection 
        designation and heading and all that follows through ``The 
        Office shall'' and inserting the following:
    ``(b) Office.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--The Administrator shall--
                    ``(A) continue to carry out the conference study; 
                and
                    ``(B) establish an office, to be located on or near 
                Long Island Sound.
            ``(2) Administration and staffing.--The Office shall'';
            (2) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 
                striking ``Management Conference of the Long Island 
                Sound Study'' and inserting ``conference study'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) in each of subparagraphs (A) through 
                        (G), by striking the commas at the end of the 
                        subparagraphs and inserting semicolons;
                            (ii) in subparagraph (H), by striking ``, 
                        and'' and inserting a semicolon;
                            (iii) in subparagraph (I), by striking the 
                        period at the end and inserting a semicolon; 
                        and
                            (iv) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(J) environmental impacts on the Long Island 
                Sound watershed, including--
                            ``(i) the identification and assessment of 
                        vulnerabilities in the watershed;
                            ``(ii) the development and implementation 
                        of adaptation strategies to reduce those 
                        vulnerabilities; and
                            ``(iii) the identification and assessment 
                        of the impacts of sea level rise on water 
                        quality, habitat, and infrastructure; and
                    ``(K) planning initiatives for Long Island Sound 
                that identify the areas that are most suitable for 
                various types or classes of activities in order to 
                reduce conflicts among uses, reduce adverse 
                environmental impacts, facilitate compatible uses, or 
                preserve critical ecosystem services to meet economic, 
                environmental, security, or social objectives;'';
                    (C) by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the 
                following:
            ``(4) develop and implement strategies to increase public 
        education and awareness with respect to the ecological health 
        and water quality conditions of Long Island Sound;'';
                    (D) in paragraph (5), by inserting ``study'' after 
                ``conference'';
                    (E) in paragraph (6)--
                            (i) by inserting ``(including on the 
                        Internet)'' after ``the public''; and
                            (ii) by inserting ``study'' after 
                        ``conference''; and
                    (F) by striking paragraph (7) and inserting the 
                following:
            ``(7) monitor the progress made toward meeting the 
        identified goals, actions, and schedules of the Comprehensive 
        Conservation and Management Plan, including through the 
        implementation and support of a monitoring system for the 
        ecological health and water quality conditions of Long Island 
        Sound; and'';
            (3) in subsection (d)(3), in the second sentence, by 
        striking ``50 per centum'' and inserting ``60 percent'';
            (4) by redesignating subsection (f) as subsection (i); and
            (5) by inserting after subsection (e) the following:
    ``(f) Report.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
        enactment of the Long Island Sound Restoration and Stewardship 
        Act, and biennially thereafter, the Director of the Office, in 
        consultation with the Governor of each Long Island Sound State, 
        shall submit to Congress a report that--
                    ``(A) summarizes and assesses the progress made by 
                the Office and the Long Island Sound States in 
                implementing the Long Island Sound Comprehensive 
                Conservation and Management Plan, including an 
                assessment of the progress made toward meeting the 
                performance goals and milestones contained in the Plan;
                    ``(B) assesses the key ecological attributes that 
                reflect the health of the ecosystem of the Long Island 
                Sound watershed;
                    ``(C) describes any substantive modifications to 
                the Long Island Sound Comprehensive Conservation and 
                Management Plan made during the 2-year period preceding 
                the date of submission of the report;
                    ``(D) provides specific recommendations to improve 
                progress in restoring and protecting the Long Island 
                Sound watershed, including, as appropriate, proposed 
                modifications to the Long Island Sound Comprehensive 
                Conservation and Management Plan;
                    ``(E) identifies priority actions for 
                implementation of the Long Island Sound Comprehensive 
                Conservation and Management Plan for the 2-year period 
                following the date of submission of the report; and
                    ``(F) describes the means by which Federal funding 
                and actions will be coordinated with the actions of the 
                Long Island Sound States and other entities.
            ``(2) Public availability.--The Administrator shall make 
        the report described in paragraph (1) available to the public, 
        including on the Internet.
    ``(g) Annual Budget Plan.--The President shall submit, together 
with the annual budget of the United States Government submitted under 
section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, information regarding 
each Federal department and agency involved in the protection and 
restoration of the Long Island Sound watershed, including--
            ``(1) an interagency crosscut budget that displays for each 
        department and agency--
                    ``(A) the amount obligated during the preceding 
                fiscal year for protection and restoration projects and 
                studies relating to the watershed;
                    ``(B) the estimated budget for the current fiscal 
                year for protection and restoration projects and 
                studies relating to the watershed; and
                    ``(C) the proposed budget for succeeding fiscal 
                years for protection and restoration projects and 
                studies relating to the watershed; and
            ``(2) a summary of any proposed modifications to the Long 
        Island Sound Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan for 
        the following fiscal year.
    ``(h) Federal Entities.--
            ``(1) Coordination.--The Administrator shall coordinate the 
        actions of all Federal departments and agencies that impact 
        water quality in the Long Island Sound watershed in order to 
        improve the water quality and living resources of the 
        watershed.
            ``(2) Methods.--In carrying out this section, the 
        Administrator, acting through the Director of the Office, may--
                    ``(A) enter into interagency agreements; and
                    ``(B) make intergovernmental personnel 
                appointments.
            ``(3) Federal participation in watershed planning.--A 
        Federal department or agency that owns or occupies real 
        property, or carries out activities, within the Long Island 
        Sound watershed shall participate in regional and subwatershed 
        planning, protection, and restoration activities with respect 
        to the watershed.
            ``(4) Consistency with comprehensive conservation and 
        management plan.--To the maximum extent practicable, the head 
        of each Federal department and agency that owns or occupies 
        real property, or carries out activities, within the Long 
        Island Sound watershed shall ensure that the property and all 
        activities carried out by the department or agency are 
        consistent with the Long Island Sound Comprehensive 
        Conservation and Management Plan (including any related 
        subsequent agreements and plans).''.
    (b) Long Island Sound Stewardship Program.--
            (1) Long island sound stewardship advisory committee.--
        Section 8 of the Long Island Sound Stewardship Act of 2006 (33 
        U.S.C. 1269 note; Public Law 109-359) is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (g), by striking ``2011'' and 
                inserting ``2023''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(h) Nonapplicability of FACA.--The Federal Advisory Committee Act 
(5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to--
            ``(1) the Advisory Committee; or
            ``(2) any board, committee, or other group established 
        under this Act.''.
            (2) Reports.--Section 9(b)(1) of the Long Island Sound 
        Stewardship Act of 2006 (33 U.S.C. 1269 note; Public Law 109-
        359) is amended in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) by 
        striking ``2011'' and inserting ``2023''.
            (3) Authorization.--Section 11 of the Long Island Sound 
        Stewardship Act of 2006 (33 U.S.C. 1269 note; Public Law 109-
        359) is amended--
                    (A) by striking subsection (a);
                    (B) by redesignating subsections (b) through (d) as 
                subsections (a) through (c), respectively; and
                    (C) in subsection (a) (as so redesignated), by 
                striking ``under this section each'' and inserting ``to 
                carry out this Act for a''.
            (4) Effective date.--The amendments made by this subsection 
        take effect on October 1, 2011.

SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION.

    (a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated to the 
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency such sums as are 
necessary for each of fiscal years 2018 through 2023 for the 
implementation of--
            (1) section 119 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 
        (33 U.S.C. 1269), other than subsection (d) of that section; 
        and
            (2) the Long Island Sound Stewardship Act of 2006 (33 
        U.S.C. 1269 note; Public Law 109-359).
    (b) Long Island Sound Grants.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
Agency to carry out section 119(d) of the Federal Water Pollution 
Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1269(d)) $40,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
2018 through 2023.
    (c) Long Island Sound Stewardship Grants.--There is authorized to 
be appropriated to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
Agency to carry out the Long Island Sound Stewardship Act of 2006 (33 
U.S.C. 1269 note; Public Law 109-359) $25,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2018 through 2023.
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