To authorize the Secretary of the Interior, through the Coastal Program of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, to work with willing partners and provide support to efforts to assess, protect, restore, and enhance important coastal landscapes that provide fish and wildlife habitat on which certain Federal trust species depend, and for other purposes.
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill formally authorizes the existing Coastal Program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) into law. The program conducts collaborative, landscape-level planning and on-the-ground coastal habitat projects including assessment, protection, restoration, and enhancement in priority coastal landscapes. Its goal is to conserve and recover Federal trust species such as migratory birds, threatened and endangered species, interjurisdictional fish, and marine mammals.
Who Benefits and How
Coastal ecosystems and the Federal trust species that depend on them are the primary beneficiaries. State, local, and Tribal governments, nonprofits, and private landowners benefit from USFWS technical and financial assistance for voluntary conservation projects on both public and private land. Coastal states (including U.S. territories) gain access to federally supported habitat planning, restoration, and monitoring programs. The broader public benefits from healthier coastal ecosystems and transparent annual reporting on program progress.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The Secretary of the Interior and the USFWS bear the primary implementation burden, including running the Coastal Program, distributing grants and cooperative agreements, providing technical assistance, and submitting annual reports to Congress. Federal taxpayers bear the cost, with approximately 16.957 million dollars authorized annually for fiscal years 2024-2028. No regulatory burdens are imposed on private parties; participation is voluntary.
Key Provisions
- Authorizes the USFWS Coastal Program to identify threats to priority coastal landscapes and address them through partnerships (Section 4)
- Provides technical and financial assistance for voluntary habitat projects on public and private land (Section 4)
- Defines key terms including coastal ecosystem, coastal habitat types, coastal states (including territories), and Federal trust species (Section 3)
- Requires annual reports to Congress on program progress, expenditures, adaptive management practices, and emerging challenges (Section 5)
- Authorizes 16.957 million dollars per year for fiscal years 2024-2028 (Section 6)
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Legislatively authorizes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Coastal Program to conduct collaborative habitat assessment, protection, restoration, and enhancement projects in priority coastal landscapes to conserve Federal trust species.
Key Policy Areas
Environment, Wildlife Conservation, Government Operations
Primary Purpose
Legislatively authorizes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Coastal Program to conduct collaborative habitat assessment, protection, restoration, and enhancement projects in priority coastal landscapes to conserve Federal trust species.
Policy Domains
Coastal Habitat Conservation Act of 2023
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Coastal ecosystems and Federal trust species
- State/local/Tribal governments
- Nonprofit conservation organizations
- Private landowners participating voluntarily
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Secretary of the Interior / USFWS
- Federal taxpayers
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
Enrolled (Passed Congress)Received; read twice and placed on the calendar
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the …
Additional sponsors: Mr. Moylan, Mr. Kilmer, Mr. LaLota, and Ms. …
Passed House (inferred from enr version)
Passed Senate (inferred from enr version)
Enrolled Bill (inferred from enr version)
Mr. Huffman (for himself and Mrs. González-Colón) introduced the following …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Importers, exporters, and domestic producers affected by trade rules
Coastal program administrators and partners, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Coastal Program
Positive-direction: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Coastal Program
Negative-direction: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Environmental conservation organizations, Environmental conservation partners, Environmental nonprofit organizations
State and local governments in coastal areas
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_service"
- → United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Interior
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A biological community of organisms interacting with each other and their habitats in a coastal landscape.
A portion of a coastal ecosystem within or adjacent to a coastal State containing habitat types including wetlands, rivers, bays, estuaries, seagrass beds, reefs, beaches, dunes, mangroves, and associated uplands.
A state bordering the Atlantic, Pacific, or Arctic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, Long Island Sound, or Great Lakes, plus DC, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, CNMI, FSM, Marshall Islands, Palau, and USVI.
Migratory birds, threatened/endangered species under ESA, interjurisdictional fish, and marine mammals for which the Secretary has management authority.
Collaboration, facilitation, or consulting in which USFWS contributes scientific knowledge, skills, and expertise to coastal habitat projects.
Federal funding provided through grants or cooperative agreements to Federal, State, local, or Tribal governments, nonprofits, and private entities.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology