[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4607 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4607

  To amend the Estuary Restoration Act of 2000 to modify requirements 
     that apply to projects carried out under the estuary habitat 
 restoration program established by the Secretary of the Army, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 24, 2016

Mr. Huffman (for himself and Mr. Denham) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, 
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 amend the Estuary Restoration Act of 2000 to modify requirements 
     that apply to projects carried out under the estuary habitat 
 restoration program established by the Secretary of the Army, 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. ESTUARY HABITAT RESTORATION.

    (a) Cost Sharing.--Section 104(d) of the Estuary Restoration Act of 
2000 (33 U.S.C. 2903(d)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (3)--
                    (A) by striking ``The non-Federal share'' and 
                inserting the following:
                    ``(A) In general.--The non-Federal share''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) Provision of land by nongovernmental 
                organizations.--A nongovernmental organization allowed 
                to serve as a non-Federal interest for a project under 
                subsection (f)(2) may provide lands owned and managed 
                by a legally constituted public body (including a 
                federally recognized Indian tribe) for habitat or fish 
                and wildlife conservation if the public body 
                responsible for the lands executes a legally binding 
                agreement with the nongovernmental interest under which 
                the public body agrees to--
                            ``(i) operate and maintain the project, or 
                        allow the nongovernmental organization to 
                        operate and maintain the project; and
                            ``(ii) retain the land in public ownership 
                        for uses compatible with the project.''.
    (b) Cooperation of Non-Federal Interests.--Section 104(f) of such 
Act (33 U.S.C. 2903(f)) is amended--
            (1) by striking paragraph (1)(B) and inserting the 
        following:
                    ``(B) provide for operation, maintenance, and 
                monitoring of the project.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Project agreements.--For a project carried out under 
        this title, the requirements of section 103(j)(1) of the Water 
        Resources Development Act of 1986 (33 U.S.C. 2213(j)(1)) may be 
        fulfilled by a nongovernmental organization serving as the non-
        Federal interest for the project under paragraph (2).''.
    (c) Guidelines for Project Implementation.--Section 104 of such Act 
(33 U.S.C. 2903) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(h) Guidelines for Project Implementation.--
            ``(1) Issuance.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall issue 
        guidelines for implementing estuary habitat restoration 
        projects under this title.
            ``(2) Purposes.--In issuing the guidelines, the Secretary 
        shall make every effort to streamline implementation 
        requirements and reduce overhead costs of estuary habitat 
        restoration projects under this title, including by maximizing 
        consistency with the requirements of restoration programs 
        administered by other Federal agencies, including the Community 
        Restoration Program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
        Administration and the North American Wetlands Conservation Act 
        grant program of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
            ``(3) Public participation; revisions.--The Secretary shall 
        develop and revise the guidelines through a public process, 
        with the frequency of revision to be determined by the 
        Secretary.''.
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