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To amend the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 to allow the Secretary of Commerce to establish a Coastal and Estuarine Resilience and Restoration Program, and for other purposes.

H.R. 7801 · 117th Congress · May 17, 2022 · Lineage

A BILL

Section 1 Coastal and Estuarine Resilience and Restoration Program

Section 307A of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1456–1) is amended—
(1)
by striking the heading and inserting “Coastal and Estuarine Resilience and Restoration Program”;
(2)
by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

“(a) In general—The Secretary may conduct a Coastal and Estuarine Resilience and Restoration Program, in cooperation with State, regional, and other units of government and the National Estuarine Research Reserves, for the purposes of—

“(1) protecting important coastal and estuarine areas that—

“(A) have significant conservation, recreation, coastal access, ecological, historical, or aesthetic value;

“(B) are threatened by conversion from their natural, undeveloped, or recreational state to other uses; or

“(C) could be managed or restored to effectively conserve, enhance, or restore ecological function or mitigate climate change; or

“(2) restoring developed property in vulnerable coastal and estuarine areas to a natural state to restore ecological function, allow for shoreline migration, and protect coastal communities.”

(3)
in subsection (c)—
(A)
by amending paragraph (7) to read as follows:

“(7) Priority shall be given to lands that—

“(A) can be effectively managed and protected and that have significant recreation, ecological, historical, cultural, aesthetic, or community protection value;

“(B) to the maximum extent practicable, benefit communities that may not have adequate resources to prepare for or respond to coastal hazards or to access coastline, including low-income communities; and

“(C)

“(i) are under an imminent threat of conversion to a use that will degrade or otherwise diminish their natural, undeveloped, or recreational state;

“(ii) serve to mitigate the adverse impacts caused by coastal population growth in the coastal environment;

“(iii) are within or adjacent to a national estuarine research reserve designated under section 315, a national wildlife refuge, or a national estuary program, or are proposed for designation as such a reserve or other such protected area; or

“(iv) are under threat due to climate change or may serve to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change, including through the storage of blue carbon, and to facilitate inland migration of coastal ecosystems in response to sea level rise.”

(B)
in paragraph (10), by striking “triennially” and inserting “every 5 years”;
(4)
in subsection (f)—
(A)
in paragraph (2)(B), by inserting “for any territory of the United States that is unable to provide such match,” after “community,”; and
(B)
in paragraph (4)—
(i)
in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking “meets the criteria set forth in section 2(b)” and inserting “the goals set forth in subsection (b)”;
(ii)
by striking subparagraph (B) and redesignating subparagraph (C) as subparagraph (B);
(iii)
in subparagraph (B) (as so redesignated), by striking “described in (A)” and inserting “described in subparagraph (A)”; and
(iv)
by inserting at the end the following new subparagraph:

“(C) The value of ecosystem services that the acquired land provides, including as a buffer for storm surge, habitat for economically valuable species, and as blue carbon sink.”

(5)
in subsection (g), by striking “15” and inserting “20”;
(6)
in subsection (h), by striking the second sentence; and
(7)
in subsection (l), by striking “fiscal years 2009 through 2013” and inserting “fiscal years 2022 through 2026”.

Sec. 2 Amendments to National Estuarine Research Reserve System program

(a)
Designation of additional reserves— Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall designate not less than 5 new national estuarine reserves under section 315 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1461). In making such designations, the Administrator shall prioritize designations to achieve the following with respect to the National Estuarine Research Reserve System:
(1)
Full representation of biogeographic regions, States, and Territories.
(2)
The presence of a national estuarine reserve in each coastal State or Territory (as that term is defined in that Act).
(b)
Guidelines for tracking and modeling the impacts of climate change— Section 315(c) of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1461(c)) is amended—
(1)
by redesignating paragraphs (3) through (5) as paragraphs (4) through (6); and
(2)
by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:

“(3) the establishment of coordinated long-term data monitoring and methods throughout the System for tracking and modeling the impacts of climate change on estuarine systems, including impacts on lake levels and sea levels;”

(c)
Land acquisition and construction— Section 315 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1461) is amended by striking (g) and adding at the end the following:

“(g) Land Acquisition and construction—The Secretary may use funds authorized under section 318 for land acquisition and the construction and renovations of facilities required to meet delivery of System programs and services, or to meet changing needs of program under this title.

“(h) Requirements for use of funds—In using funds under subsection (g), the Secretary shall—

“(1) provide science-based information and technical assistance to coastal stakeholders and decisionmakers;

“(2) leverage the capabilities of nationwide protected area networks to address challenging coastal management issues such as climate change and vulnerability of coastal ecosystems and communities to coastal hazards;

“(3) serve as living laboratories and preferred places for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research and fellowships on coastal and estuarine systems;

“(4) serve as critical sentinel sites for detecting environmental change and developing and demonstrating adaptation and mitigation strategies;

“(5) identify priority places for land acquisition, especially those lands required to enhance resilience to environmental change; and

“(6) engage coastal communities, stakeholders, and the public in education programs to increase scientific literacy of coastal environments, and to develop and train capable environmental stewards.

“(i) Systemwide Elements of the National Estuarine Research Reserve System—The Secretary shall coordinate systemwide programs and activities in the System including—

“(1) the centralized management and dissemination of data from System observation and monitoring networks;

“(2) a competitive grant program employing the collaborative research model on coastal research and management priorities to be conducted at research reserve sites focused on the priorities determined by the Secretary; and

“(3) establish the Margaret A. Davidson Graduate Research Fellowship Program to address key coastal management questions and the coastal research and management priorities of the Reserve System and its place-based sites to help scientists and communities understand the coastal challenges that may influence future policy and management strategies.

“(j) Place-Based Program Elements of the National Estuarine Research Reserve System—Each National Estuarine Research Reserve shall establish and maintain place-based program elements that include—

“(1) a research, monitoring, and observation network that detects environmental change and informs suitable adaptation and mitigation strategies where appropriate, and that supports systemwide activities stated in subsection (e);

“(2) education, outreach, and interpretive programs that communicate the value and changing dynamics of coastal systems;

“(3) stewardship programs that provide science-based tools, habitat management, and restoration and that provide resources and information to inform coastal management;

“(4) coastal training programs that provide technical assistance to coastal communities, resource managers, and coastal decisionmakers; and

“(5) the lands and facilities that support such accessible research, monitoring, stewardship, education, and coastal training activities.

“(k) Authorization of appropriations—There are hereby authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary $47,000,000 for each of fiscal year 2022 through 2026 to provide financial assistance under this section.

“(l) Definitions—In this section, the following definitions apply:

“(1) Collaborative research—The term collaborative research means the engagement of local decisionmakers and stakeholders directly in the research process so that their knowledge and needs will inform research questions, data analysis, and use of the products generated by the research.

“(2) Sentinel site—The term sentinel site means a site with long-term research and monitoring capability to detect, document, and respond to emerging environmental changes that impact natural and human systems.”