16 U.S.C. § 1468
In this section:
The term "Administrator" means the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The term "coastal State" has the meaning given the term "Coastal state"1 in section 1453 of this title.
The term "Indian Tribe" has the meaning given that term in section 5304 of title 25.
The term "Regional Ocean Partnership" means a Regional Ocean Partnership designated under subsection (b).
A coastal State or Indian Tribe may form a partnership with-
A partnership formed under paragraph (1) may apply for designation as a Regional Ocean Partnership in such time and manner as determined appropriate by the Secretary if the partnership-
The following entities are designated as Regional Ocean Partnerships:
A partnership established under this section for the purposes described in subsection (d) with respect to a Great Lake may be known as a "Regional Coastal Partnership" or a "Regional Great Lakes Partnership".
A Regional Ocean Partnership shall have a governing body that-
A Regional Ocean Partnership may perform the following functions:
A Regional Ocean Partnership shall maintain mechanisms for coordination, consultation, and engagement with the following:
Nothing in paragraph (1)(B) may be construed as affecting any requirement to consult with Indian Tribes under Executive Order 13175 (25 U.S.C. 5301 note; relating to consultation and coordination with Indian Tribal Governments) or any other applicable law or policy.
A Regional Ocean Partnership may, in coordination with existing Federal, State, and Tribal management programs, from amounts made available to the partnership by the Administrator or the head of another Federal agency, subject to appropriations for such purpose, provide grants and enter into contracts for the purposes described in paragraph (2).
The purposes described in this paragraph include any of the following:
Not later than 5 years after December 23, 2022, the Administrator, in coordination with the Regional Ocean Partnerships, shall submit to Congress a report on the partnerships.
The report required by paragraph (1) shall include the following:
In addition to amounts made available to the Regional Ocean Partnerships by the Administrator under this section, the head of any other Federal agency may provide grants to, enter into contracts with, or otherwise provide funding to such partnerships, subject to availability of appropriations for such purposes.
Nothing in this section establishes any new legal or regulatory authority of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or of the Regional Ocean Partnerships, other than-
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator the following amounts to be made available to the Regional Ocean Partnerships or designated fiscal management entities of such partnerships to carry out activities of such partnerships under this title:
Amounts made available under this subsection shall be divided evenly among the Regional Ocean Partnerships.
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator $1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027 to be distributed to Indian Tribes for purposes of participation in or engagement with the Regional Ocean Partnerships.
1So in original. Probably should be "'coastal state'".
2So in original. Probably should be "coastal State".
16 U.S.C. § 1468
EDITORIAL NOTES
REFERENCES IN TEXTExecutive Order 13175, referred to in subsec. (e)(2), is Ex. Ord. No. 13175, Nov. 6, 2000, 65 F.R. 67249, which is set out as a note under section 5301 of Title 25, Indians.This title, referred to in subsecs. (g)(2)(D), (E) and (j)(1), means title CII of division J of Pub. L. 117-263 which enacted this section and provisions set out as a note below. For complete classification of title CII to the Code, see Tables.
CODIFICATIONSection was enacted as part of the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, and not as part of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 which comprises this chapter.
STATUTORY NOTES AND RELATED SUBSIDIARIES
FINDINGS; PURPOSES Pub. L. 117-263 title CII, §10201, Dec. 23, 2022, 136 Stat. 3961, provided that:"(a) FINDINGS.-Congress makes the following findings:"(1) The ocean and coastal waters and the Great Lakes of the United States are foundational to the economy, security, global competitiveness, and well-being of the United States and continuously serve the people of the United States and other countries as an important source of food, energy, economic productivity, recreation, beauty, and enjoyment. "(2) Over many years, the resource productivity and water quality of the ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes areas of the United States have been diminished by pollution, increasing population demands, economic development, and natural and man-made hazard events, both acute and chronic. "(3) The ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes areas of the United States are managed by State and Federal resource agencies and Indian Tribes and regulated on an interstate and regional scale by various overlapping Federal authorities, thereby creating a significant need for interstate coordination to enhance regional priorities, including the ecological and economic health of those areas."(4) Indian Tribes have unique expertise and knowledge important for the stewardship of the ocean and coastal waters and the Great Lakes of the United States."(b) PURPOSES.-The purposes of this title [enacting this section] are as follows:"(1) To complement and expand cooperative voluntary efforts intended to manage, conserve, and restore ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes areas spanning across multiple State and Indian Tribe jurisdictions."(2) To expand Federal support for monitoring, data management, restoration, research, and conservation activities in ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes areas. "(3) To commit the United States to a comprehensive cooperative program to achieve improved water quality in, and improvements in the productivity of living resources of, oceans, coastal, and Great Lakes ecosystems."(4) To authorize Regional Ocean Partnerships as intergovernmental coordinators for shared regional priorities among States and Indian Tribes relating to the collaborative management of the large marine ecosystems, thereby reducing duplication of efforts and maximizing opportunities to leverage support in the ocean and coastal regions. "(5) To empower States to take a lead role in managing oceans, coastal, and Great Lakes areas. "(6) To incorporate rights of Indian Tribes in the management of oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes resources and provide resources to support Indian Tribe participation in and engagement with Regional Ocean Partnerships."(7) To enable Regional Ocean Partnerships, or designated fiscal management entities of such partnerships, to receive Federal funding to conduct the scientific research, conservation, and restoration activities, and priority coordination on shared regional priorities necessary to achieve the purposes described in paragraphs (1) through (6)."
- Secretary
- The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of Commerce.
- coastal state
- The term "coastal state" means a state of the United States in, or bordering on, the Atlantic, Pacific, or Arctic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, Long Island Sound, or one or more of the Great Lakes. For the purposes of this chapter, the term also includes Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands, and American Samoa.
- coastal waters
- The term "coastal waters" means (A) in the Great Lakes area, the waters within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States consisting of the Great Lakes, their connecting waters, harbors, roadsteads, and estuary-type areas such as bays, shallows, and marshes and (B) in other areas, those waters, adjacent to the shorelines, which contain a measurable quantity or percentage of sea water, including, but not limited to, sounds, bays, lagoons, bayous, ponds, and estuaries.
- coastal zone
- The term "coastal zone" means the coastal waters (including the lands therein and thereunder) and the adjacent shorelands (including the waters therein and thereunder), strongly influenced by each other and in proximity to the shorelines of the several coastal states, and includes islands, transitional and intertidal areas, salt marshes, wetlands, and beaches. The zone extends, in Great Lakes waters, to the international boundary between the United States and Canada and, in other areas, seaward to the outer limit of State title and ownership under the Submerged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.), the Act of March 2, 1917 (48 U.S.C. 749) [48 U.S.C. 731 et seq.], the Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States of America, as approved by the Act of March 24, 1976 [48 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.], or section 1 of the Act of November 20, 1963 (48 U.S.C. 1705), as applicable. The zone extends inland from the shorelines only to the extent necessary to control shorelands, the uses of which have a direct and significant impact on the coastal waters, and to control those geographical areas which are likely to be affected by or vulnerable to sea level rise. Excluded from the coastal zone are lands the use of which is by law subject solely to the discretion of or which is held in trust by the Federal Government, its officers or agents.