[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1523 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1523

  To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to reauthorize the 
           National Estuary Program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 8, 2015

 Mr. Whitehouse (for himself and Mr. Vitter) introduced the following 
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment 
                            and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  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,

SECTION 1. NATIONAL ESTUARY PROGRAM REAUTHORIZATION; COMPETITIVE 
              AWARDS.

    Section 320 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 
1330) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (g), 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.--The Administrator 
                shall select award recipients under this paragraph 
                that, as determined by the Administrator, are best able 
                to address urgent and challenging issues that threaten 
                the ecological and economic well-being of coastal 
                areas, including--
                            ``(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.''; and
            (2) 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) making grants and awards under subsection 
                (g); and
                    ``(B) expenses relating to the administration of 
                grants or awards by the Administrator under this 
                section, including the award and oversight of grants 
                and awards, subject to the condition that such expenses 
                may not exceed 5 percent of the amount appropriated 
                under this subsection for a fiscal year.
            ``(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 conservation and management plan 
                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 under subsection (g)(4).''.
                                 <all>