Title: National Oceans and Coastal Security Improvements Act of 2019
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources

Summary:
National Oceans and Coastal Security Improvements Act of 2019
This bill revises the National Ocean and Coastal Security Fund. (The fund supports programs and activities to protect, conserve, and restore ocean and coastal resources and coastal infrastructure.)
Specifically, the bill

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4093 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4093

To improve the National Oceans and Coastal Security Act, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 30, 2019

   Mr. Beyer (for himself and Mr. Rooney of Florida) 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 improve the National Oceans and Coastal Security Act, and for other 
                               purposes.

    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 ``National Oceans and Coastal Security 
Improvements Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO THE NATIONAL OCEANS AND COASTAL SECURITY ACT.

    (a) Definition of Tidal Shoreline Refined.--Section 902 of the 
National Oceans and Coastal Security Act (16 U.S.C. 7501) is amended--
            (1) by amending paragraph (7) to read as follows:
            ``(7) Tidal shoreline.--The term `tidal shoreline' means a 
        `tidal shoreline' or a `Great Lake shoreline' as such terms are 
        used in section 923.110(c)(2)(i) of title 15, Code of Federal 
        Regulations, or a similar successor regulation.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(8) Indian tribe.--The term `Indian Tribe' has the 
        meaning given that term in section 4 of the Indian Self-
        Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304).''.
    (b) Improvements to National Oceans and Coastal Security Fund.--
            (1) Establishment of fund required.--Subsection (a) of 
        section 904 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 7503) is amended by 
        inserting ``and jointly manage'' after ``establish''.
            (2) Deposits.--Paragraph (1) of subsection (b) of section 
        904 is amended to read as follows:
            ``(1) In general.--There shall be deposited into the Fund, 
        which shall constitute the assets of the Fund, amounts as 
        follows:
                    ``(A) Amounts transferred to the Fund under section 
                908.
                    ``(B) Such other amounts as may be appropriated or 
                otherwise made available to carry out this Act.''.
            (3) Expenditures.--Strike subsection (d) of section 904 and 
        insert the following:
    ``(d) Expenditure.--
            ``(1) Of the amounts deposited into the Fund for each 
        fiscal year, if those funds are equal to or greater than 
        $100,000,000--
                    ``(A) not more than 80 percent may be used for the 
                award of grants under subsection (b) of section 906;
                    ``(B) not more than 20 percent may be used for the 
                award of grants under subsection (c) of such section; 
                and
                    ``(C) no more than 4 percent may be used by the 
                Administrator and the Foundation for administrative 
                expenses to carry out this chapter, which amount shall 
                be divided between the Administrator and the Foundation 
                pursuant to an agreement reached and documented by both 
                the Administrator and the Foundation.
            ``(2) Of the amounts deposited into the Fund for each 
        fiscal year, if those funds are less than $100,000,000, all 
        funds shall be used for the award of grants under subsection 
        (c) of section 906 and no more than 4 percent may be used by 
        the Administrator and the Foundation for administrative 
        expenses to carry out this chapter, which amount shall be 
        divided between the Administrator and the Foundation pursuant 
        to an agreement reached and documented by both the 
        Administrator and the Foundation.''.
    (c) Eligible Uses of the Fund.--Section 905 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 
7504) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 905. ELIGIBLE USES.

    ``(a) In General.--Amounts in the Fund may be allocated by the 
Administrator and the Foundation to support programs and activities 
intended to protect, conserve, restore, better understand, and utilize 
ocean and coastal resources and coastal infrastructure, including 
scientific research, resiliency and spatial planning, data-sharing, and 
other programs and activities carried out in coordination with Federal 
and State departments or agencies, including the following:
            ``(1) Ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes restoration and 
        protection, including efforts to address potential impacts of 
        sea level change, sedimentation, erosion, changes in ocean 
        chemistry, hurricanes and other extreme weather, flooding, and 
        changes in ocean temperature to natural resources, communities, 
        and coastal economies.
            ``(2) Restoration, protection, or maintenance of living 
        ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources and their habitats.
            ``(3) Planning for and managing coastal development to 
        enhance ecosystem and community integrity, or to minimize 
        impacts from sea level change, hurricanes and other extreme 
        weather, flooding, and coastal erosion.
            ``(4) Projects to address management, planning, or 
        resiliency and readiness issues which are regional or 
        interstate in scope, such as regional ocean partnerships or 
        similar bodies.
            ``(5) Efforts that contribute to the understanding of 
        ecological, economic, societal, and national security threats 
        driven by changes to the oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes.
            ``(6) Efforts to preserve, protect, and collect data, 
        including but not limited to public ocean and coastal data 
        portals, that would support sustainable water-dependent 
        commercial activities including commercial fishing, 
        recreational fishing businesses, aquaculture, boat building, or 
        other coastal-related businesses.
            ``(7) Efforts to assist coastal States in strengthening, 
        stabilizing, hardening, elevating, modifying, repositioning, or 
        otherwise enhancing the resiliency of critical coastal 
        transportation, emergency response, water, electrical, and 
        other infrastructure, that are already subject to or face 
        increased future risks of hurricanes, coastal flooding, coastal 
        erosion, or sea level change to ensure the economic security, 
        safety, and ecological well-being of the coasts of the United 
        States.
            ``(8) Acquiring property or interests in property if--
                    ``(A) the area is located within a coastal county 
                or adjacent county;
                    ``(B) the funds made available under this subtitle 
                are used to acquire land or interest in land by 
                purchase, exchange, or donation from a willing seller;
                    ``(C) the Governor of the State in which the 
                property or interests in property are acquired approves 
                of the acquisition; and
                    ``(D) such property or interest is acquired in a 
                manner that will ensure such property or interest will 
                be administered to support the purposes of this Act.
            ``(9) Protection and modification of critical coastal 
        public infrastructure affected by erosion, hurricanes or other 
        extreme weather, flooding, or sea level change.
            ``(10) Assistance for small businesses and communities that 
        are dependent on coastal tourism as eligible efforts that help 
        coastal economies minimize impacts from sea level rise and 
        disasters.
            ``(11) Projects that reinforce wastewater and stormwater 
        infrastructure as eligible critical infrastructure projects (as 
        compared to just general water infrastructure, which can also 
        include drinking water systems).
            ``(12) Technical assistance to help develop comprehensive 
        resilience and mitigation plans as an eligible funding effort.
    ``(b) Matching Requirement.--The Administrator and the Foundation 
shall require a non-Federal match for all awards made under section 
906(c) from the Fund.
    ``(c) Prohibition on Use of Funds for Litigation.--No funds made 
available under this Act may be used to fund litigation against the 
Federal Government.''.
    (d) Grants.--
            (1) Administration.--Subsection (a)(1) of section 906 of 
        such Act (16 U.S.C. 7505) is amended--
                    (A) by amending subparagraph (B) to read as 
                follows:
                    ``(B) Selection procedures and criteria for the 
                awarding of grants under this section that require 
                consultation with the Administrator and the Secretary 
                of the Interior.'';
                    (B) by amending subparagraph (C)(ii) to read as 
                follows:
                            ``(ii) under subsection (c) to entities 
                        including States, local governments, regional 
                        and interstate collaboratives, associations, 
                        nonprofit and for-profit private entities, 
                        public-private partnerships, academic 
                        institutions, and Indian Tribes.'';
                    (C) in subparagraph (F), by striking ``year if 
                grants have been awarded in that year'' and inserting 
                ``five years''.
            (2) Grants to coastal states.--Subsection (b) of section 
        906 is amended to read as follows:
    ``(b) Grants to Coastal States.--
            ``(1) In general.--Subject to section 904(d)(1) and 
        paragraphs (3) and (4) of this subsection, the Administrator 
        and the Foundation shall award grants to eligible coastal 
        States based on the following formula:
                    ``(A) Fifty percent of the funds are allocated 
                equally among such coastal States.
                    ``(B) Twenty-five percent of the funds are 
                allocated on the basis of the ratio of tidal shoreline 
                miles in a coastal State to the tidal shoreline miles 
                of all coastal States.
                    ``(C) Twenty-five percent of the funds are 
                allocated on the basis of the ratio of population 
                density of the coastal counties of a coastal State to 
                the average population density of all coastal counties 
                based on the most recent data available by the U.S. 
                Census Bureau.
            ``(2) Eligible coastal states.--For purposes of this 
        subsection, an eligible coastal State is any coastal State as 
        defined in section 1453 of this title.
            ``(3) Maximum allocation to states.--Notwithstanding 
        paragraph (1), not more than 5 percent of the total funds 
        distributed under this subsection may be allocated to any 
        single State. Any amount exceeding this limit shall be 
        redistributed equally among the remaining eligible coastal 
        States.
            ``(4) Requirement to submit plans.--
                    ``(A) In general.--To be eligible to receive a 
                grant under this subsection, an eligible coastal State 
                shall submit to the Administrator for review and 
                approval, a 5-year plan, which shall include the 
                following:
                            ``(i) Criteria to determine eligibility for 
                        entities which may receive grants under this 
                        subsection.
                            ``(ii) A description of the competitive 
                        process the coastal State will use in 
                        allocating funds received from the Fund, except 
                        in the case of allocating funds under paragraph 
                        (7), which shall include--
                                    ``(I) a description of the relative 
                                roles in the State competitive process 
                                of the State coastal zone management 
                                program approved under the Coastal Zone 
                                Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1451 
                                et seq.), if the coastal State has such 
                                a plan, and any State Sea Grant 
                                Program, if the state has such program; 
                                and
                                    ``(II) a demonstration that such 
                                competitive process is consistent with 
                                the application and review procedures 
                                established by the Administrator and 
                                Foundation under subsection (a)(1).
                            ``(iii) A process to certify that the 
                        project or program and the awarding of a 
                        contract for the expenditure of amounts 
                        received under this paragraph are consistent 
                        with the standard procurement rules and 
                        regulations governing a comparable project or 
                        program in that State, including all applicable 
                        competitive bidding and audit requirements.
                            ``(iv) Procedures to make publicly 
                        available on the internet a list of all 
                        projects supported by the Fund, that includes 
                        at a minimum the grant recipient, grant amount, 
                        project description, and project status.
                    ``(B) Updates.--As a condition of receiving a grant 
                under this subsection, a coastal State shall submit to 
                the Administrator, not less frequently than once every 
                5 years, an update to the plan submitted by the coastal 
                State under subparagraph (A) for the 5-year period 
                immediately following the most recent submittal under 
                this paragraph.
            ``(5) Opportunity for public comment.--In determining 
        whether to approve a plan or an update to a plan described in 
        subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (5), the Administrator or 
        the Foundation shall provide the opportunity for, and take into 
        consideration, public input and comment on the plan.
            ``(6) Indian tribes.--As a condition on receipt of a grant 
        under this subsection, a State that receives a grant under this 
        subsection shall ensure that Indian Tribes in the State are 
        eligible to participate in the competitive process described in 
        the State's plan under paragraph (5)(A)(ii).
            ``(7) Nonparticipation by a state.--In any year, if an 
        eligible coastal State or geographic area described in 
        paragraph (4)(B) does not submit the plan required by paragraph 
        (5) or declines the funds distributed under this subsection, 
        the funds that would have been allocated to the State or area 
        shall be redistributed equally among the remaining eligible 
        coastal States and geographic areas.''.
            (3) National grants for oceans, coasts, and great lakes.--
        Subsection (c)(2) of such section is amended--
                    (A) in subparagraph (B)--
                            (i) in clause (ii), by striking ``; and'' 
                        and inserting a semicolon;
                            (ii) by redesignating clause (iii) as 
                        clause (iv); and
                            (iii) by inserting after clause (ii) the 
                        following:
                            ``(iii) nongovernmental organizations; 
                        and''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(C) Cap on state funding.--The amount of a grant 
                awarded under this subsection shall not count toward 
                the cap on funding to States through grants awarded 
                under subsection (b).''.
    (e) Funding.--Section 908 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 7507) is amended 
to read as follows:

``SEC. 908. FUNDING.

    ``There is authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000 for this 
title for fiscal year 2020 and each fiscal year thereafter.''.
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