[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 944 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 944

  To reauthorize the National Estuary Program, and for other purposes.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 12, 2015

  Mr. LoBiondo (for himself, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Mr. Posey, Mr. 
Murphy of Florida, and Mr. Jolly) introduced the following bill; which 
   was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  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,

SECTION 1. COMPETITIVE AWARDS.

    Section 320(g) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 
U.S.C. 1330(g)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) Competitive awards.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Using the amounts made available 
                under subsection (i)(2)(B), the Administrator shall 
                make competitive awards under this paragraph.
                    ``(B) Application for awards.--The Administrator 
                shall solicit applications for awards under this 
                paragraph from State, interstate, and regional water 
                pollution control agencies and entities, State coastal 
                zone management agencies, interstate agencies, other 
                public or nonprofit private agencies, institutions, 
                organizations, and individuals.
                    ``(C) Selection of recipients.--In selecting award 
                recipients under this paragraph, the Administrator 
                shall select recipients that are best able to address 
                urgent and challenging issues that threaten the 
                ecological and economic well-being of coastal areas. 
                Such issues shall include--
                            ``(i) extensive seagrass habitat losses 
                        resulting in significant impacts on fisheries 
                        and water quality;
                            ``(ii) recurring harmful algae blooms;
                            ``(iii) unusual marine mammal mortalities;
                            ``(iv) invasive exotic species that may 
                        threaten wastewater systems and cause other 
                        damage;
                            ``(v) jellyfish proliferation limiting 
                        community access to water during peak tourism 
                        seasons;
                            ``(vi) flooding that may be related to sea 
                        level rise or wetland degradation or loss; and
                            ``(vii) low dissolved oxygen conditions in 
                        estuarine waters and related nutrient 
                        management.''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    Section 320 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 
1330) is amended by striking subsection (i) and inserting the 
following:
    ``(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            ``(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated 
        to the Administrator $27,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 
        through 2020 for--
                    ``(A) expenses relating to the administration of 
                grants or awards by the Administrator under this 
                section, including the award and oversight of grants 
                and awards, except that such expenses may not exceed 5 
                percent of the amount appropriated under this 
                subsection for a fiscal year; and
                    ``(B) making grants and awards under subsection 
                (g).
            ``(2) Allocations.--
                    ``(A) Conservation and management plans.--Not less 
                than 80 percent of the amount made available under this 
                subsection for a fiscal year shall be used by the 
                Administrator for the development, implementation, and 
                monitoring of each of the conservation and management 
                plans eligible for grant assistance under subsection 
                (g)(2).
                    ``(B) Competitive awards.--Not less than 15 percent 
                of the amount made available under this subsection for 
                a fiscal year shall be used by the Administrator for 
                making competitive awards described in subsection 
                (g)(4).''.
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