United States HR 3596: Keep America’s Waterfronts Working Act

Status: Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 116-295. (as of 2019-11-15)

State: United States · Session: 116 · Bill: HR 3596

Subjects: Aquaculture, Congressional oversight, Department of Commerce, Executive agency funding and structure, Government lending and loan guarantees, Government studies and investigations, Government trust funds, Hunting and fishing, Intergovernmental relations, Marine and coastal resources, fisheries, Marine and inland water transportation, Navigation, waterways, harbors, Outdoor recreation, Performance measurement, State and local finance, State and local government operations, Water resources funding

Sponsors: Chellie Pingree, Derek Kilmer, Ed Case, Elaine G. Luria, FRANK PALLONE, Harley Rouda, Jared F. Golden, Jared Huffman, Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, Robert J. Wittman, Salud O. Carbajal, Tulsi Gabbard, William R. Keating

Bill Text

I 
116THCONGRESS 
1
STSESSION 
H. R. 3596 
To  amend  the  Coastal  Zone  Management  Act  of  1972  to  establish  a  Working  
Waterfront  Task  Force  and  a  working  waterfronts  grant  program,  and  
for other purposes. 
IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  
JUNE28, 2019 
Ms.  P
INGREE(for  herself,  Mr.  WITTMAN,  Mr.  HUFFMAN,  Mr.  ROUDA,  Mr.  
C
ARBAJAL,  and  Mr.  KEATING)  introduced  the  following  bill;  which  was  
referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A  BILL  
To  amend  the  Coastal  Zone  Management  Act  of  1972  to  
establish  a  Working  Waterfront  Task  Force  and  a  work-
ing  waterfronts  grant  program,  and  for  other  purposes.  
Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Keep America’s Water-4
fronts Working Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. WORKING WATERFRONTS GRANT PROGRAM. 6
The  Coastal  Zone  Management  Act  of  1972  (16  7
U.S.C.  1451  et  seq.)  is  amended  by  adding  at  the  end  8
the following: 9
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‘‘SEC. 320. WORKING WATERFRONTS GRANT PROGRAM. 1
‘‘(a) F
INDINGS ANDPURPOSE.— 2
‘‘(1)  F
INDINGS.—The  Congress  finds  the  fol-3
lowing: 4
‘‘(A)   Water-dependent   commercial   activi-5
ties   are   the   economic   and   cultural   heart   of   6
many  coastal  communities.  These  activities  in-7
clude   commercial   fishing,   recreational   fishing   8
businesses,  aquaculture,  boatbuilding,  transpor-9
tation,  and  many  other  water-dependent  busi-10
nesses. 11
‘‘(B)  Water-dependent  commercial  activi-12
ties  depend  on  coastal  access  in  the  form  of—  13
‘‘(i)  docks,  wharfs,  boat  lifts,  wet  and  14
dry marinas, and boat ramps; 15
‘‘(ii)   boat   hauling,   repair,   and   con-16
struction facilities; 17
‘‘(iii)  commercial  fishing  facilities;  and  18
‘‘(iv)   other   support   structures   on,   19
over,  or  adjacent  to  navigable  bodies  of  20
water. 21
‘‘(C)  The  coastal  zone  of  the  United  States  22
is  experiencing  rising  property  values  and  taxes,  23
and  related  development  pressure,  as  more  peo-24
ple  move  to  the  coastal  zone  and  as  coastal  25
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areas  experience  a  demographic  shift  favoring  1
wealthier individuals. 2
‘‘(D)  The  coastal  zone  is  facing  numerous  3
challenges  due  to  extreme  weather  events,  sea  4
level rise, and other changes. 5
‘‘(E)   Privately   owned   access   areas   for   6
water-dependent   commercial   activity   in   many   7
States  are  under  increasing  threat  from  private  8
residential  development  and  other  conversion.  9
Such  development  and  investment  is  often  not  10
conducted  in  ways  that  accounts  for  resilience.  11
‘‘(F)  Loss  of  access  for  water-dependent  12
commercial   activity   would   have   economically   13
and   culturally   devastating   consequences   for   14
many coastal communities. 15
‘‘(2)  P
URPOSE.—The  purpose  of  this  section  is  16
to  preserve  and  protect  coastal  access  for  persons  17
engaged   in   water-dependent   commercial   activities,   18
including   commercial   fishing,   recreational   fishing   19
businesses,    aquaculture,    boatbuilding,    or    other    20
water-dependent coastal-related businesses. 21
‘‘(b) W
ORKINGWATERFRONTTASKFORCE.— 22
‘‘(1)  E
STABLISHMENT   AND   FUNCTIONS.—The 23
Secretary  of  Commerce  shall  establish  a  task  force  24
to  work  directly  with  coastal  States,  user  groups,  25
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and coastal stakeholders to identify and address crit-1
ical needs with respect to working waterfronts. 2
‘‘(2)  M
EMBERSHIP.—The  members  of  the  task  3
force  shall  be  appointed  by  the  Secretary  of  Com-4
merce, and shall include— 5
‘‘(A)  experts  in  the  unique  economic,  so-6
cial,   cultural,   ecological,   geographic,   and   re-7
source concerns of working waterfronts; and 8
‘‘(B)   representatives   from   the   National   9
Oceanic  and  Atmospheric  Administration’s  Of-10
fice  of  Coastal  Management,  the  United  States  11
Fish  and  Wildlife  Service,  the  Department  of  12
Agriculture,    the    Environmental    Protection    13
Agency,  the  United  States  Geological  Survey,  14
the  Navy,  the  National  Marine  Fisheries  Serv-15
ice,   the   Economic   Development   Agency,   and   16
such  other  Federal  agencies  as  the  Secretar

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