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Protect and Restore America's Estuaries Act

S. 3171 · 116th Congress · Jan 9, 2020 · Lineage

A BILL

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to reauthorize the National Estuary Program, and for other purposes.

1. Short title

This Act may be cited as the “Protect and Restore America's Estuaries Act”.

2. National Estuary Program

Section 320 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1330) is amended—
(1)
in subsection (a)(2)(B), by striking “and Peconic Bay, New York” and inserting “Peconic Bay, New York; Casco Bay, Maine; Tampa Bay, Florida; Coastal Bend, Texas; San Juan Bay, Puerto Rico; Tillamook Bay, Oregon; Piscataqua Region, New Hampshire; Barnegat Bay, New Jersey; Maryland Coastal Bays, Maryland; Charlotte Harbor, Florida; Mobile Bay, Alabama; Morro Bay, California; and Lower Columbia River, Oregon and Washington”;
(2)
in subsection (b)(4)—
(A)
by striking “management plan that recommends” and inserting “management plan that—

“(A) recommends”

(B)
by adding at the end the following:

“(B) addresses the effects of recurring extreme weather events on the estuary, including the identification and assessment of vulnerabilities in the estuary and the development and implementation of adaptation strategies; and

“(C) increases public education and awareness of the ecological health and water quality conditions of the estuary;”

(3)
in subsection (c)(5), by inserting “nonprofit organizations,” after “educational institutions,”;
(4)
in subsection (g)(4)—
(A)
in subparagraph (A), by striking “subsection (i)(2)(B)” and inserting “subsection (i)(3)(B)”; and
(B)
in subparagraph (C)—
(i)
in the matter preceding clause (i), in the first sentence—
(I)
by inserting “, emerging,” after “urgent”;
(II)
by striking “coastal areas” and inserting “estuaries of national significance”;
(ii)
in clause (vi), by inserting “, extreme weather,” after “sea level rise”;
(iii)
by redesignating clauses (vi) and (vii) as clauses (ix) and (x), respectively; and
(iv)
by inserting after clause (v) the following:

“(vi) stormwater runoff;

“(vii) accelerated land loss;

“(viii) problems resulting from urbanization and population growth, including—

“(I) increased demand for sewage treatment;

“(II) loss of forests and natural soil; and

“(III) increased amounts of impervious surfaces that affect water quality;”

(5)
in subsection (i)—
(A)
by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (3); and
(B)
in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking “There is authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator $26,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2017 through 2021 for—” and inserting the following:

“(A) $26,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2017 through 2021; and

“(B) $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026.

“(2) Purposes described—The purposes referred to in paragraph (1) are—”