[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 194 (Monday, November 16, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H5739-H5741]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           DIGITAL COAST ACT

  Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (S. 1069) to require the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the 
Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 
to establish a constituent-driven program to provide a digital 
information platform capable of efficiently integrating coastal data 
with decision-support tools, training, and best practices and to 
support collection of priority coastal geospatial data to inform and 
improve local, State, regional, and Federal capacities to manage the 
coastal region, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                S. 1069

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Digital Coast Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) The Digital Coast is a model approach for effective 
     Federal partnerships with State and local government, 
     nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector.
       (2) Access to current, accurate, uniform, and standards-
     based geospatial information, tools, and training to 
     characterize the United States coastal region is critical for 
     public safety and for the environment, infrastructure, and 
     economy of the United States.
       (3) More than half of all people of the United States 
     (153,000,000) currently live on or near a coast and an 
     additional 12,000,000 are expected in the next decade.
       (4) Coastal counties in the United States average 300 
     persons per square mile, compared with the national average 
     of 98.
       (5) On a typical day, more than 1,540 permits for 
     construction of single-family homes are issued in coastal 
     counties, combined with other commercial, retail, and 
     institutional construction to support this population.
       (6) Over half of the economic productivity of the United 
     States is located within coastal regions.
       (7) Highly accurate, high-resolution remote sensing and 
     other geospatial data play an increasingly important role in 
     decision making and management of the coastal zone and 
     economy, including for--
       (A) flood and coastal storm surge prediction;
       (B) hazard risk and vulnerability assessment;
       (C) emergency response and recovery planning;
       (D) community resilience to longer range coastal change;
       (E) local planning and permitting;
       (F) habitat and ecosystem health assessments; and
       (G) landscape change detection.

     SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Coastal region.--The term ``coastal region'' means the 
     area of United States waters extending inland from the 
     shoreline to include coastal watersheds and seaward to the 
     territorial sea.
       (2) Coastal state.--The term ``coastal State'' has the 
     meaning given the term ``coastal state'' in section 304 of 
     the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1453).
       (3) Federal geographic data committee.--The term ``Federal 
     Geographic Data Committee'' means the interagency committee 
     that promotes the coordinated development, use, sharing, and 
     dissemination of geospatial data on a national basis.
       (4) Remote sensing and other geospatial.--The term ``remote 
     sensing and other geospatial'' means collecting, storing, 
     retrieving, or disseminating graphical or digital data 
     depicting natural or manmade physical features, phenomena, or 
     boundaries of the Earth and any information related thereto, 
     including surveys, maps, charts, satellite and airborne 
     remote sensing data, images, LiDAR, and services performed by 
     professionals such as surveyors,

[[Page H5740]]

     photogrammetrists, hydrographers, geodesists, cartographers, 
     and other such services.
       (5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of Commerce, acting through the Administrator of the National 
     Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

     SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DIGITAL COAST.

       (a) Establishment.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish a program 
     for the provision of an enabling platform that integrates 
     geospatial data, decision-support tools, training, and best 
     practices to address coastal management issues and needs. 
     Under the program, the Secretary shall strive to enhance 
     resilient communities, ecosystem values, and coastal economic 
     growth and development by helping communities address their 
     issues, needs, and challenges through cost-effective and 
     participatory solutions.
       (2) Designation.--The program established under paragraph 
     (1) shall be known as the ``Digital Coast'' (in this section 
     referred to as the ``program'').
       (b) Program Requirements.--In carrying out the program, the 
     Secretary shall ensure that the program provides data 
     integration, tool development, training, documentation, 
     dissemination, and archive by--
       (1) making data and resulting integrated products developed 
     under this section readily accessible via the Digital Coast 
     internet website of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
     Administration, the GeoPlatform.gov and data.gov internet 
     websites, and such other information distribution 
     technologies as the Secretary considers appropriate;
       (2) developing decision-support tools that use and display 
     resulting integrated data and provide training on use of such 
     tools;
       (3) documenting such data to Federal Geographic Data 
     Committee standards; and
       (4) archiving all raw data acquired under this Act at the 
     appropriate National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
     data center or such other Federal data center as the 
     Secretary considers appropriate.
       (c) Coordination.--The Secretary shall coordinate the 
     activities carried out under the program to optimize data 
     collection, sharing, and integration, and to minimize 
     duplication by--
       (1) consulting with coastal managers and decision makers 
     concerning coastal issues, and sharing information and best 
     practices, as the Secretary considers appropriate, with--
       (A) coastal States;
       (B) local governments; and
       (C) representatives of academia, the private sector, and 
     nongovernmental organizations;
       (2) consulting with other Federal agencies, including 
     interagency committees, on relevant Federal activities, 
     including activities carried out under the Ocean and Coastal 
     Mapping Integration Act (33 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the Coastal 
     Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.), the 
     Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act of 2009 
     (33 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.), and the Hydrographic Services 
     Improvement Act of 1998 (33 U.S.C. 892 et seq.);
       (3) participating, pursuant to section 216 of the E-
     Government Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-347; 44 U.S.C. 3501 
     note), in the establishment of such standards and common 
     protocols as the Secretary considers necessary to assure the 
     interoperability of remote sensing and other geospatial data 
     with all users of such information within--
       (A) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;
       (B) other Federal agencies;
       (C) State and local government; and
       (D) the private sector;
       (4) coordinating with, seeking assistance and cooperation 
     of, and providing liaison to the Federal Geographic Data 
     Committee pursuant to Office of Management and Budget 
     Circular A-16 and Executive Order 12906 of April 11, 1994 (59 
     Fed. Reg. 17671), as amended by Executive Order 13286 of 
     February 28, 2003 (68 Fed. Reg. 10619); and
       (5) developing and maintaining a best practices document 
     that sets out the best practices used by the Secretary in 
     carrying out the program and providing such document to the 
     United States Geological Survey, the Corps of Engineers, and 
     other relevant Federal agencies.
       (d) Filling Needs and Gaps.--In carrying out the program, 
     the Secretary shall--
       (1) maximize the use of remote sensing and other geospatial 
     data collection activities conducted for other purposes and 
     under other authorities;
       (2) focus on filling data needs and gaps for coastal 
     management issues, including with respect to areas that, as 
     of the date of the enactment of this Act, were underserved by 
     coastal data and the areas of the Arctic that are under the 
     jurisdiction of the United States;
       (3) pursuant to the Ocean and Coastal Mapping Integration 
     Act (33 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), support continue improvement in 
     existing efforts to coordinate the acquisition and 
     integration of key data sets needed for coastal management 
     and other purposes, including--
       (A) coastal elevation data;
       (B) land use and land cover data;
       (C) socioeconomic and human use data;
       (D) critical infrastructure data;
       (E) structures data;
       (F) living resources and habitat data;
       (G) cadastral data; and
       (H) aerial imagery; and
       (4) integrate the priority supporting data set forth under 
     paragraph (3) with other available data for the benefit of 
     the broadest measure of coastal resource management 
     constituents and applications.
       (e) Financial Agreements and Contracts.--
       (1) In general.--In carrying out the program, the 
     Secretary--
       (A) may enter into financial agreements to carry out the 
     program, including--
       (i) support to non-Federal entities that participate in 
     implementing the program; and
       (ii) grants, cooperative agreements, interagency 
     agreements, contracts, or any other agreement on a 
     reimbursable or non-reimbursable basis, with other Federal, 
     tribal, State, and local governmental and nongovernmental 
     entities; and
       (B) may, to the maximum extent practicable, enter into such 
     contracts with private sector entities for such products and 
     services as the Secretary determines may be necessary to 
     collect, process, and provide remote sensing and other 
     geospatial data and products for purposes of the program.
       (2) Fees.--
       (A) Assessment and collection.--The Secretary may, to the 
     extent provided in advance in appropriations Acts, assess and 
     collect fees for the conduct of any training, workshop, or 
     conference that advances the purposes of the program.
       (B) Amounts.--The amount of a fee under this paragraph may 
     not exceed the sum of costs incurred, or expected to be 
     incurred, by the Secretary as a direct result of the conduct 
     of the training, workshop, or conference, including for 
     subsistence expenses incidental to the training, workshop, or 
     conference, as applicable.
       (C) Use of fees.--Amounts collected by the Secretary in the 
     form of fees under this paragraph shall be available to the 
     extent and in such amounts as are provided in advance in 
     appropriations Acts for--
       (i) the costs incurred for conducting an activity described 
     in subparagraph (A); or
       (ii) the expenses described in subparagraph (B).
       (3) Survey and mapping.--Contracts entered into under 
     paragraph (1)(B) shall be considered ``surveying and 
     mapping'' services as such term is used in and as such 
     contracts are awarded by the Secretary in accordance with the 
     selection procedures in chapter 11 of title 40, United States 
     Code.
       (f) Ocean Economy.--The Secretary may establish publically 
     available tools that track ocean and Great Lakes economy data 
     for each coastal State.
       (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized 
     to be appropriated to the Secretary $4,000,000 for each 
     fiscal year 2021 through 2025 to carry out the program.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Huffman) and the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Bishop) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material on the measure under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the Digital Coast Act, which passed the Senate by 
unanimous consent, is an important piece of legislation, one which we 
passed here in the House as part of the Coastal and Great Lakes 
Communities Enhancement Act back in December of 2019.
  The importance of data in today's world can't be overstated, nor can 
the role of the climate crisis. NOAA's Digital Coast Partnership 
supports coastal managers with the data they need to confront today's 
challenges with intensifying storms, coastal flooding, sea level rise, 
and coastal economic development.
  Digital Coast is a web-based platform containing data, tools, and 
training resources to support our coastal managers. This includes 
economic data, satellite imagery, visualization tools, and predictive 
tools gathered from hundreds of sources across academia, non-
governmental, Federal, State, Tribal, and county partners. The Digital 
Coast Partnership also provides coastal managers with collaborative 
events like conferences, workshops, and meetings where these managers 
can focus on important issues like coastal resilience, ocean planning, 
and habitat protection.
  This commonsense, good governance legislation would formally 
authorize a program that has been proven to work. The National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration estimates that the Digital Coast 
Partnership currently produces a 3:1 benefit-to-cost ratio, and they 
predict that this ratio will increase to over 5:1 by fiscal year 2028.

[[Page H5741]]

  Let's continue to support this amazing program and make the Digital 
Coast Act into public law.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume 
to the gentlewoman from Puerto Rico (Miss Gonzalez-Colon), who will 
explain and introduce this particular bill. The gentlewoman is someone 
on our committee who clearly understands the significance of mapping, 
especially for storm preparations and flood management and everything 
else.
  I wish to congratulate Miss Gonzalez-Colon because she is the only 
one of us on the floor who just recently was returned here for a 4-year 
term.
  Miss GONZALEZ-COLON of Puerto Rico. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking 
Member Bishop for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of S. 1069. This 
legislation authorizes NOAA's Digital Coast Program and ensures coastal 
communities have up-to-date data and tools to prepare for storms, 
manage floods, restore shorelines, and plan for long-term coastal 
resilience.
  NOAA's Digital Coast Program has been extremely valuable for 
jurisdictions like Puerto Rico, where we have 799 miles of coastline 
and 62 percent of our population lives in coastal municipalities. For 
instance, after Hurricane Maria devastated the island with powerful 
storm surge and flash floods, Digital Coast staffers updated their 
Coastal Flood Exposure Mapper to incorporate high-resolution flood maps 
for the territory. They also held training sessions on flood mapping 
and resilient infrastructure, allowing officials to visualize storm 
surge, high tide flooding, sea level rise, and tsunami scenarios in 
order to increase our preparedness for such events.
  This bill would build upon this work, authorizing NOAA to continue 
providing comprehensive mapping information that allows planners and 
coastal managers across the Nation to make accurate decisions and smart 
investments. This bill will also require NOAA to focus additional data 
collection efforts on underserved coastal areas.
  As Puerto Rico's sole representative in Congress, I know firsthand 
the importance of having reliable coastal data to help respond to 
emergencies, to build resilience, and manage water resources. 
Therefore, I strongly urge my colleagues to support S. 1069.
  Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Maryland (Mr. Ruppersberger) to speak on this bill.
  (Mr. RUPPERSBERGER asked and was given permission to revise and 
extend his remarks.)
  Mr. RUPPERSBERGER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Digital 
Coast Act, a bipartisan and bicameral bill that I have put forth for 
consideration by this Chamber the last 10 years. I have spent a decade 
pushing this legislation because, while it is critical to coastal 
communities like mine in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, we all have a 
stake in protecting America's shorelines. But it is not just about 
protecting our environment, it is about protecting our economy. Our 
country's 95,000 miles of shoreline are home to more than 42 percent of 
our country's population and millions of businesses that supply most of 
our gross domestic product.
  This bill's Republican House cosponsor, Mr.   Don Young, represents 
Alaska, a State with 44,000 miles of coastline. The fishing industry is 
their largest private-sector employer.
  Every day, planners in our hometowns are asking questions such as: 
What is the storm surge in this community?
  Or: How much is this bluff going to erode?
  Or: What are the water level trends at the marina where we want to 
build a new dock?
  Unfortunately, the current coastal maps and geospatial data they are 
relying on for answers are woefully inaccurate, outdated, and 
nonexistent. The Digital Coast Act will allow professionals at 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to begin a 
comprehensive mapping process of our Nation's fragile shorelines.

  Coastal communities will be able to use the data to better prepare 
for storms, manage floods, restore ecosystems, and plan smarter 
developments near America's coasts, harbors, ports, and shorelines. In 
Alaska, better mapping will improve search and rescue operations.
  Also, NOAA will train decision makers at the local and State level on 
how to use the data sets to answer questions about storm surge, 
erosion, and water level trends. The data will also be available on 
NOAA's website for free and easy public access so that every citizen 
can leverage the expertise of the Federal Government.
  This bill is more important now than it was a decade ago when I first 
introduced it. We are seeing more storms that are stronger, and sea 
level rise is accelerating. We can't wait any longer.
  In addition to Congressman   Don Young, I thank Chairman Grijalva and 
Ranking Member Bishop for their work in bringing this bill to the 
floor. Finally, I thank Senators Tammy Baldwin and Lisa Murkowski for 
championing this bill in the Senate.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this bipartisan, 
commonsense investment in our Nation's coastal communities.
  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my 
time.
  The Digital Coast Act will enhance Federal, State, Tribal, and local 
authorities' decisionmaking regarding coastal resiliency, mapping, and 
infrastructure planning. It is one of these good measures that we need 
to support. I truly support it. It deals with the entire coast of the 
Nation. It deals with the coasts in other areas that are not yet part 
of the 50 States--yet--and it deals with the Great Salt Lake. I am 
sorry, it deals with the Great Lakes.
  What I am saying is the only way you could improve this stupid thing 
is if you added the Great Salt Lake into it as well. But as part of the 
Intermountain West, I'm used to being ignored by the rest of Congress 
as they go merrily on their way, not realizing the kind of value that 
we have in the Intermountain West.
  So despite that flaw in this particular piece of legislation, I 
support it wholeheartedly and I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on 
this particular piece.
  Mr. Speaker, I inquire of the gentleman from California if he has any 
further speakers.
  Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers.
  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I request an ``aye'' vote, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Huffman) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, S. 1069, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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