113 S2306 IS: Delaware River Basin Conservation Act of 2014
U.S. Senate
2014-05-08
text/xml
EN
Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
1.
This Act may be cited as the
Delaware River Basin Conservation Act of 2014
.
2.
Congress finds that—
(1)
the Delaware
River Basin is a national treasure of great cultural, environmental, and
ecological importance;
(2)
the Basin
contains over 12,500 square miles of land in the States of Delaware, New
Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, including nearly 800 square miles of
bay
and more than 2,000 tributary rivers and streams;
(3)
the Basin is home to more than 8,000,000
people who depend on the Delaware River and the Delaware Bay as an
economic
engine, a place of recreation, and a vital habitat for fish and
wildlife;
(4)
the Basin
provides clean drinking water to more than 15,000,000 people, including
New
York City, which relies on the Basin for approximately half of the
drinking
water supply of the city, and Philadelphia, whose most significant threat
to
the drinking water supply of the city is forest clearing in the Upper
Basin,
according to a study conducted by the Philadelphia Water Department;
(5)
almost 180
species of fish and wildlife are considered special status species in the
Basin
due to habitat loss and degradation, particularly sturgeon, eastern
oyster, and
red knots, which have been identified as unique species in need of habitat
improvement;
(6)
the Basin
provides habitat for over 200 resident and migrant fish species, includes
significant recreational fisheries, and is a prolific source of eastern
oyster,
blue crab, and the largest population of the American horseshoe crab;
(7)
as of the
date of enactment of this Act, oyster landings in the Delaware Bay are at
100,000 bushels, down from the 500,000 bushels that were harvested in the
1980s, due, in part, to water pollution and disease;
(8)
the Delaware
Bay has the second largest concentration of shorebirds in North America
and is
designated as 1 of the 4 most important shorebird migration sites in the
world;
(9)
the Basin, 50
percent of which is forested, also has 1,000,000 acres of wetland, more
than
126,000 acres of which are recognized as internationally important,
resulting
in a landscape that provides essential ecosystem services, including
recreation, commercial, and water quality benefits;
(10)
much of the
remaining exemplary natural landscape in the Basin is vulnerable to
further
degradation, as the Basin gains approximately 14 square miles of developed
land
annually, and with new development, urban watersheds are increasingly
covered
by impervious surfaces, amplifying the quantity of polluted runoff into
rivers
and streams;
(11)
the Delaware
River is the longest undammed river east of the Mississippi, and a
critical
component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System in the
Northeast;
(12)
management of water volume in the Basin is
critical to flood mitigation and habitat for fish and wildlife, and
following 3
major floods along the Delaware River since 2004, the Governors of the
States
of Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania have called for
natural
flood damage reduction measures to combat the problem, including restoring
the
function of riparian corridors;
(13)
the Delaware
River Port Complex (including docking facilities in the States of
Delaware, New
Jersey, and Pennsylvania) is the largest freshwater port in the world, the
Port
of Philadelphia handles the largest volume of international tonnage and 70
percent of the oil shipped to the East Coast, and the Port of Wilmington,
a
full-service deepwater port and marine terminal, is the busiest terminal
on the
Delaware River, handling more than 400 vessels per year with an annual
import/export cargo tonnage of more than 4,000,000 tons;
(14)
the Delaware
Estuary, where freshwater from the Delaware River mixes with saltwater
from the
Atlantic Ocean, is 1 of the largest and most complex of the 28 estuaries
in the
National Estuary Program, and the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary
works to
improve the environmental health of the Delaware Estuary;
(15)
the Delaware
River Basin Commission is a Federal-interstate compact government agency
charged with overseeing a unified approach to managing the river system
and
implementing important water resources management projects and activities
throughout the Basin that are in the national interest; and
(16)
restoration
activities in the Basin are supported through several Federal and State
agency
programs, and funding for those important programs should continue and
complement the establishment of the Delaware River Basin Restoration
Program,
which is intended to build on and help coordinate restoration and
protection
funding mechanisms at the Federal, State, regional, and local levels.
3.
In this Act:
(1)
The
term Basin means the 4-State Delaware Basin region, including all
of Delaware Bay and portions of the States of Delaware, New Jersey, New
York,
and Pennsylvania located in the Delaware River watershed.
(2)
The term Basin State means each of the States
of Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.
(3)
The
term Director means the Director of the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service.
(4)
The
term Foundation means the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, a
congressionally chartered foundation established by section 2 of the
National
Fish and Wildlife Foundation Establishment Act (16 U.S.C. 3701).
(5)
The term grant program means the Delaware
River Basin restoration grant program established under section 5.
(6)
The
term program means the Delaware River Basin restoration program
established under section 4.
(7)
Restoration
and protection
The term restoration and protection
means the conservation, protection, and enhancement of fish and wildlife,
as
well as the habitats of fish and wildlife.
(8)
The
term Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior, acting through
the Director.
(9)
The
term Service means the United States Fish and Wildlife
Service.
4.
(a)
Not
later than 180 days after amounts are made available to carry out this
Act, the
Secretary shall establish a program to be known as the Delaware River
Basin restoration program
.
(b)
In
carrying out the program, the Secretary shall—
(1)
draw on
existing and new management plans for the Basin, or portions of the Basin,
and
work in consultation with applicable management entities, including
representatives of the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, the Delaware
River
Basin Commission, the Federal Government, and other State and local
governments, and regional and nonprofit organizations, as appropriate, to
identify, prioritize, and implement restoration and protection activities
within the Basin;
(2)
adopt a Basin-wide strategy that—
(A)
supports the implementation of a shared set
of science-based restoration and protection activities developed in
accordance
with paragraph (1);
(B)
targets cost-effective conservation
projects; and
(C)
supports
measurable conservation efforts;
(3)
establish the
grant program in accordance with section 5; and
(4)
provide for
technical assistance in accordance with this Act.
(c)
In
establishing the program, the Secretary shall consult, as appropriate,
with—
(1)
the heads of Federal agencies,
including—
(A)
the Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency;
(B)
the Administrator of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration;
(C)
the Chief of the Natural Resource
Conservation Service;
(D)
the Chief of Engineers of the Corps of
Engineers; and
(E)
the head of any other applicable
agency;
(2)
the Governors of the Basin States;
(3)
the
Partnership for the Delaware Estuary;
(4)
the Delaware
River Basin Commission;
(5)
fish and wildlife joint venture
partnerships; and
(6)
other public
agencies and organizations with authority for the planning and
implementation
of conservation strategies in the Basin.
(d)
The
purposes of the program include—
(1)
coordinating
restoration and protection activities among Federal, State, local, and
regional
entities and conservation partners throughout the Basin;
(2)
carrying out
coordinated restoration and protection activities throughout the Basin and
Basin States—
(A)
to sustain
and enhance fish and wildlife habitat restoration and protection
activities;
(B)
to improve
and maintain water quality to support fish and wildlife, as well as the
habitats of fish and wildlife;
(C)
to sustain
and enhance water management and flood damage mitigation improvements to
benefit fish and wildlife habitat;
(D)
to improve
opportunities for public access and recreation in the Basin;
(E)
to encourage
environmentally sensitive land use planning and development;
(F)
to increase
the capacity to implement coordinated restoration and protection
activities in
the Basin by conducting public outreach and education and promoting
citizen
involvement; and
(G)
to increase
scientific capacity to support the planning, monitoring, and research
activities necessary to carry out coordinated restoration and protection
activities; and
(3)
providing
competitive grants for technical assistance to carry out restoration and
protection activities in the Basin, with priority given to activities with
multiple benefits, as described in paragraph (2).
5.
(a)
Delaware
river basin restoration program
To the extent that funds are available to
carry out this section, the Secretary shall establish a grant program to
be
known as the Delaware River Basin restoration grant program
to
provide competitive matching grants of varying amounts to State and local
governments, nonprofit organizations, community organizations,
institutions of
higher education, and other eligible entities to carry out activities
described
in section 4(d).
(b)
The
Secretary, in consultation with the organizations described in section
4(c),
shall develop criteria for the grant program to help ensure that
activities
funded under this section accomplish 1 or more of the following:
(1)
Restoration
or protection of fish and wildlife and the habitats of fish and
wildlife.
(2)
Improvement
or protection of water quality by reducing pollutants and restoring
headwater
areas and drinking water basins.
(3)
Improvement of the management of water
volume and mitigation of flood damage to support the ecological needs of
fish
and wildlife and the habitats of fish and wildlife.
(4)
Inclusion of
priority needs or actions identified in the Basin-wide strategy adopted
under
section 4(b)(2).
(5)
Inclusion of
restoration and protection activities with multiple benefits in the Basin,
including habitat, water quality, and flood damage mitigation.
(c)
(1)
The Federal share of
the cost of a project funded under the grant program shall not exceed 50
percent of the total cost of the activity, as determined by the
Secretary.
(2)
The non-Federal share
of the cost of a project funded under the grant program may be provided in
cash
or in the form of an in-kind contribution of services or materials.
(d)
(1)
The Secretary may enter into an agreement to manage the
grant program with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation or a similar
organization that offers grant management services.
(2)
If
the Secretary enters into an agreement under paragraph (1), the
organization
selected shall—
(A)
for each
fiscal year, receive amounts to carry out this section in an advance
payment of
the entire amount on October 1, or as soon as practicable thereafter, of
that
fiscal year;
(B)
invest and
reinvest those amounts for the benefit of the grant program; and
(C)
otherwise
administer the grant program to support partnerships between the public
and
private sectors in accordance with this Act.
(3)
If
the Secretary enters into an agreement with the Foundation under paragraph
(1),
any amounts received by the Foundation under this section shall be subject
to
the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Establishment Act (16 U.S.C.
3701 et
seq.), excluding section 10(a) of that Act (16 U.S.C. 3709(a)).
(e)
The Secretary may
provide, or provide for, technical assistance to carry out this section,
on a
nonreimbursable basis, to—
(1)
other Federal agencies;
(2)
State and local governments;
(3)
nonprofit organizations;
(4)
community organizations;
(5)
institutions of higher education; or
(6)
other entities, as the Secretary determines
to be appropriate.
6.
Not later than 180
days after the date of enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the
Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the implementation of this
Act,
including a description of each project that has received funding under
this
Act.
7.
Authorization
of appropriations
(a)
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary
to carry out this Act $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2015 through
2020.
(b)
Of
any amount made available for each fiscal year, the Secretary shall use at
least 75 percent to carry out the grant program and to provide, or provide
for,
technical assistance under section 5(e).