Gulf of Mexico Marine and Coastal Resources Protection Act

Gulf of Mexico Marine and Coastal Resources Protection Act - Establishes the Gulf of Mexico Marine and Coastal Resources Commission to develop and report to the Congress on an Action Plan to reduce the loss of Louisiana coastal wetlands, returning such lands to a natural and productive state. Requires such Plan to address coastal wetland loss, including the sediment starvation of such wetlands an and analysis of: (1) the need for river water diversion, increased flow, or navigation locks or channels; (2) the feasibility of repairing such lands; and (3) the role of government programs in developing and implementing such Plan. Limits the Federal share of costs to 75 percent except where the Plan benefits a Federal wildlife refuge or lands, in which case the Federal share shall be 100 percent. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1989 through 1992.

 
HR 1070 IH
101st CONGRESS
1st Session
 H. R. 1070
To conserve the marine and coastal resources of the Gulf of Mexico.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 22, 1989
Mr. LIVINGSTON introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the
Committees on Merchant Marine and Fisheries and Public Works and Transportation
A BILL
To conserve the marine and coastal resources of the Gulf of Mexico.
  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 `Gulf of Mexico Marine and Coastal Resources
  Protection Act'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
  The Congress finds that--
  (1) coastal wetlands have a significant national public interest due to
  their ability to reduce coastal storm damage, prevent flooding, filter and
  purify water and provide nursery grounds and habitat for fish and wildlife;
  (2) the national public interest in coastal wetlands requires that the
  protection, restoration, and enhancement of coastal wetlands be made an
  essential element of each revelant Federal agency;
  (3) the State of Louisiana contains about 41 per centum of the Nation's
  coastal wetlands, which have been created by sediment from the Mississippi
  River which drains about 40 per centum of the contiguous United States; and
  (4) the Louisiana coastal wetlands, which are one of the most productive
  ecosystems in the world, produce--
  (A) 27 per centum or 1,700,000,000 pounds annually of the Nation's commercial
  seafood harvest, including 25 to 30 per centum of the shrimp and oyster
  harvest, valued at $680,000,000;
  (B) 98 per centum of the Gulf of Mexico's commercial fisheries species
  and 75 per centum of the volume of the commercial seafood harvest spend
  part of their life cycle in the Louisiana coastal wetlands; and
  (C) 40 per centum of the Nation's fur industry;
  (4) the Louisiana coastal wetlands provide significant national benefits
  in the form of recreational fishing, hunting, boating, and nature observance;
  (5) the Louisiana coastal wetlands are at the southern end of the national
  Mississippi Flyway and constitute important habitat for the breeding,
  wintering, and migration of wild birds;
  (6) in 1978 the Louisiana coastal wetlands were eroding at the alarming
  rate of 50 square miles per year, and this erosion rate is currently
  estimated at 60 square miles per year;
  (7) the loss of the Louisiana coastal wetlands is approximately 80 per centum
  of the national coastal wetlands loss, and constitutes a national emergency;
  (8) while natural subsidence and apparent sea level rise are responsible
  for a part of the Louisiana coastal wetlands loss, the principal causes
  of the Louisiana coastal wetlands loss are from vitally important flood
  protection and economic development activities undertaken by man in the
  national interest--
  (A) levees for flood control in the States of the Mississippi Valley,
  particularly under the Flood Control Act of 1928, have prevented the
  Mississippi River sediment necessary to compensate for subsidence from
  reaching the Louisiana coastal wetlands;
  (B) the levees are also used to enhance national and international navigation
  on the Mississippi River by concentrating the river's flow and velocity
  to reduce dredging cost (scour of channel); and
  (C) the Louisiana coastal wetlands have been criss-crossed with canals,
  including navigation canals, oil rig access canals, and pipeline canals
  for oil and gas production serving activities authorized under the Outer
  Continental Shelf Lands Act, that accounts for a large percentage of the
  Louisiana coastal wetlands loss by allowing--
  (1) saltwater to intrude and kill fresh and brackish wetlands; and
  (2) the canal spoil banks to semi-impound the marsh preventing the flow
  of the sediment into the wetlands necessary to compensate for subsidence
  and kill vegetation by inundation;
  (9) since 1900 Louisiana has lost over 2,100 square miles of coastal
  wetlands, an area 1 2/3  times the size of the State of Rhode Island,
  and unless the Louisiana coastal wetlands loss is remedied the remaining
  Louisiana coastal wetlands and their associated economic benefits will
  disappear in our lifetime;
  (10) the loss of the Louisiana coastal wetlands would be a national
  environmental catastrophe, resulting in the virtual destruction of the
  Gulf of Mexico fisheries;
  (11) to significantly reduce the loss of Louisiana coastal wetlands,
  and to return the coastal wetlands to a natural and productive state,
  will require the multidisciplinary knowledge and efforts of many Federal
  agencies, State agencies, and individuals; and
  (12) a specific and detailed plan of action must be developed, with specific
  recommendations for Federal, State, and private action, to combat the
  Louisiana coastal wetlands loss.
SEC. 3. GULF OF MEXICO MARINE AND COASTAL RESOURCES COMMISSION.
  (a) CREATION- There is hereby created the Gulf of Mexico Marine and Coastal
  Resources Commission, hereafter `Commission', to consist of the following
  members or their designees--
  (1) Co-Chairmen--
  (a) The Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works; and
  (b) The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
  (2) ADVISORY COMMITTEE- Members to consist of the Governor or his designee
  of the following States as nonvoting members of the Commission--
  (a) Florida;
  (b) Alabama;
  (c) Mississippi;
  (d) Louisiana; and
  (e) Texas.
  (3) MEMBERS- The Commission shall consist of the following voting members
  or his designee--
  (a) The Secretary of the Department of Interior;
  (b) The Secretary of the Department of Commerce;
  (c) The Secretary of the Department of Agriculture;
  (d) The Technical Advisor on Coastal Landloss in the Louisiana Office of
  the Governor;
  (e) The Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources;
  (f) The Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries;
  (g) The Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and
  Development;
  (h) The Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality;
  (i) A Representative of the Commercial Fishing Industry to be chosen from
  a list recommended by the oyster, shrimp, and commercial fish associations
  in Louisiana;
  (j) A Representative of the Sports Fishing Industry to be recommended by
  the Gulf Coast Conservation Association;
  (k) A Representative of the hunting community to be recommended by Ducks
  Unlimited of Louisiana;
  (l) A Representative of the Oil and Gas Industry to be recommended by the
  Louisiana Mid Continent Oil and Gas Association;
  (m) A Representative of the Coastal Land Owners recommended by the Louisiana
  Land Owners Association;
  (n) A Representative of the Environmental Community recommended by the
  Louisiana Wildlife Federation;
  (o) The Dean of the Center for Wetland Resources at Louisiana State
  University; and
  (p) The Chairman of the Gulf of Mexico Marine Fisheries Council.
SEC. 4. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.
  The Commission shall develop a specific and comprehensive Action Plan to
  reduce the loss of the Louisiana coastal wetlands and to return the wetlands
  to a natural and productive state, and report, after public comment, the
  Action Plan to Congress. The Action Plan shall be coordinated with the
  plan being developed by the Louisiana Coastal Restoration Policy Committee.
SEC. 5. ACTION PLAN.
  (a) GOAL- The Action Plan shall address coastal wetland loss, including
  the sediment starvation of the Louisiana coastal wetlands. The Action Plan
  shall include an analysis of--
  (1) the need for the diversion of the Mississippi River and Atchafalaya
  River waters and sediment into the Louisiana coastal wetlands;
  (2) the feasibility of repairing and restoring, disturbed, subsided,
  or eroded coastal wetlands;
  (3) regulatory changes necessary to reduce or eliminate the negative
  impacts of man's activities in the coastal wetlands;
  (4) conflicting programs or policies of the Federal Government or State
  government that must be changed to carry out the Action Plan particularly
  whether the mission of the United States Corps of Engineers must be amended
  to include coastal wetland protection, enhancement and restoration as an
  equal element with the navigation and flood control missions of the United
  States Corps of Engineers;
  (5) the specific roles of the Federal Government (by Federal agency),
  State government and the private sector in the development, implementation
  and management of the Action Plan.
  (b) Contents--
  (1) Identify the areas of Louisiana coastal wetlands being lost from
  existing studies and data;
  (2) Determine the causes of Louisiana coastal wetlands loss from existing
  studies and data;
  (3) Recommend and prioritize the specific actions needed to reduce the loss
  of Louisiana coastal wetlands and to return the wetlands to a natural and
  productive state, using existing studies and data to the maximum extent
  possible;
  (4) Determine the technical and engineering requirements and cost of each
  action recommended in 5(b)(3).
  (c) ACTION PLAN CONSIDERATION- The Action Plan shall specifically consider,
  but is not limited to, the following:
  (1) increasing the flow of the Mississippi River waters and sediment
  through the Old River Control Structure into the Atchafalaya River at
  various water stages, particularly the spring flood months;
  (2) opening former distributaries of the Mississippi River and Atchafalaya
  River to move fresh water and sediment into the Louisiana coastal wetlands;
  (3) the construction and operation of freshwater and sediment diversion
  structures on the Mississippi River, the Atchafalaya River, Bayou Lafourche
  and other appropriate waterways, including redesign of planned structures
  to capture bedload sediment;
  (4) placing a navigation lock or other device or redirecting navigation
  on the Mississippi River below New Orleans to move navigation off the
  river to the Gulf of Mexico, and allowing the degrading of levees south
  of the navigation lock or new channel to provide large scale diversions
  of freshwater and bedload sediment into the Louisiana coastal wetlands;
  (5) the benefits and detriments of semi-impoundment marsh management to
  protect against Louisiana coastal wetlands loss;
  (6) fresh water and sediment diversions through existing public works
  projects into the Louisiana coastal wetlands;
  (7) the use of existing navigation channels and waterways to move freshwater
  and sediment into the Louisiana coastal wetlands;
  (8) Barrier Island and shoreline restoration and protection; and
  (9) the use of low level weirs and sills in the lower Mississippi River
  to allow sediment and water flow from the river into wetlands.
SEC. 6. TIME OF ACTION PLAN PREPARATION.
  (a) The Commission shall prepare the Action Plan contents designated under
  sections 5(b)(1)(2) within six months after the enactment of this Act.
  (b) The Commission shall prepare and send to Congress the final Action Plan
  designated in section 5 within two years after the enactment of this Act.
  (c) The Commission shall continue in existence for fifteen years after the
  enactment of this Act to monitor and report every six months to Congress
  on the implementation of the Action Plan.
SEC. 7. NON-FEDERAL CONTRIBUTION.
  (a) Except where the implementation of the Action Plan or projects benefits
  a Federal wildlife refuge or lands, in which case implementation costs
  shall be 100 per centum Federal, not less than 25 per centum of the cost of
  implementing the Action Plan or projects authorized pursuant to the Action
  Plan must be provided by one or more non-Federal sources. For the purpose
  of this Act, the term `non-Federal source' includes State government,
  local government, any private entity or any individual.
  (b) In addition to cash outlays, financial contributions by a non-Federal
  source shall include the value of in kind contributions and real and
  personal property provided by the non-Federal source for the purposes of
  developing and implementing the Action Plan or projects authorized pursuant
  to the Action Plan.
  (c) For the purposes of this Act, in kind contributions may be in the form
  of, but are not limited to, studies and technical research undertaken by
  non-Federal source universities or other entities.
  (d) The expenditure, either directly or indirectly, with respect to an
  Action Plan or projects authorized pursuant to an Action Plan of Federal
  moneys received by a State or local government may not be considered to
  be a financial contribution by a non-Federal source to carry out an Action
  Plan under this Act.
SEC. 8. CONSISTENCY.
  An Action Plan may not provide for, and no person may implement under
  the authority of such a plan, any action that is inconsistent with the
  Louisiana Coastal Management Program in effect under the Coastal Zone
  Management Act of 1972 (16 USC 1451 et seq.).
SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS.
  (a) There is authorized to be appropriated to the Commission for fiscal
  years 1989, 1990, 1991, and 1992 such sums as may be necessary for carrying
  out section 5 and other duties of the Commission.