Summary#
This bill would create a nonregulatory New York-New Jersey Watershed Restoration Program, run by the Secretary of the Interior through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The program must be established within 180 days of enactment and cover the land and waters that drain into the New York-New Jersey harbor and associated estuaries. The program’s purposes include coordinating and carrying out restoration and protection activities, improving fish and wildlife habitat and water quality, advancing natural climate solutions and living shorelines, supporting public access and recreation consistent with habitat needs, engaging communities (especially those experiencing environmental injustice), increasing scientific capacity, supporting feasibility and planning studies for green infrastructure, and implementing approved regional conservation plans. The bill also creates a voluntary competitive grant program for state, Tribal, and local governments, nonprofits, and other eligible entities. The Secretary must adopt a watershed-wide strategy in consultation with many federal, state, local, and regional partners. The Secretary must report annually to Congress. The Federal Government may not keep land acquired under the Act except to promptly transfer it. The Act would sunset on October 1, 2031.
What it means for you#
- Grants and technical help could be available to eligible entities such as state and local governments, Tribal governments, nonprofits, and colleges to carry out restoration, green infrastructure, and habitat projects in the watershed.
- Projects the program supports include habitat restoration, water quality work, living shorelines, green stormwater infrastructure, public access improvements (where consistent with habitat), monitoring, and planning studies.
- The program is explicitly nonregulatory: it sets up coordination, planning, and grants rather than new permit or enforcement requirements.
- The program directs outreach and engagement with communities facing environmental injustice and seeks to prioritize projects that benefit those communities.
- Grant funds may be managed by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation or a similar organization under terms described in the bill.
Expenses#
- The bill authorizes $20,000,000 per year for each fiscal year 2026 through 2031.
- Not more than 5 percent of amounts made available for each year may be used for administrative costs.
- At least 75 percent of annual amounts must be used for the grant program, including technical assistance.
- Cost-share rules: in general the Federal share of a project is not more than 50 percent of total project cost. For projects that serve small, rural, or disadvantaged communities, the Federal share is 90 percent, and the Secretary may increase that to 100 percent if the recipient would experience substantial hardship. The non-Federal share may be cash or in-kind contributions and is generally up to 50 percent.
- If the Secretary contracts with the Foundation or similar organization to manage grants, those amounts are to be advanced and may be invested for the benefit of the program under the Foundation’s governing statute (with a specified exclusion).
Proponents' View#
The bill frames its goals as coordinating existing restoration plans and partners across the watershed, targeting science-based and cost-effective projects, maximizing conservation outcomes, advancing natural climate solutions and green infrastructure (including living shorelines), improving water quality and habitat, increasing scientific and planning capacity, and prioritizing communities experiencing environmental injustice. The program is presented as a way to fund and organize voluntary restoration and protection work that implements approved regional plans.
Opponents' View#
No publicly available information.