116th CONGRESS 1st Session |
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to reauthorize the National Estuary Program, and for other purposes.
July 25, 2019
Mr. Malinowski (for himself, Mrs. Fletcher, and Mr. Graves of Louisiana) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to reauthorize the National Estuary Program, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
This Act may be cited as the “Protect and Restore America's Estuaries Act”.
SEC. 2. Management conference.
Section 320(a)(2)(B) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1330(a)(2)(B)) is amended 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”.
SEC. 3. Purposes of conference.
Section 320(b)(4) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1330(b)(4)) is amended—
(1) by striking “management plan that recommends” and inserting “management plan that—
(2) 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;”.
SEC. 4. Members of conference.
Section 320(c)(5) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1330(c)(5)) is amended by inserting “nonprofit organizations,” after “educational institutions,”.
Section 320(g)(4)(C) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1330(g)(4)(C)) is amended—
(1) in the matter preceding clause (i)—
(A) by inserting “, emerging,” after “urgent”; and
(B) by inserting “or that relate to coastal resiliency” after “coastal areas”;
(2) by redesignating clauses (vi) and (vii) as clauses (viii) and (ix), respectively, and inserting after clause (v) the following:
(3) in clause (viii), as so redesignated, by inserting “, extreme weather,” after “sea level rise”.
SEC. 6. Authorization of appropriations.
Section 320(i)(1) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1330(i)(1)) is amended by striking “$26,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2017 through 2021” and inserting “$50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026”.