Sponsors (2)
The bill channels federal money and expertise to help coastal states and communities plan and build climate resilience—improving infrastructure, ecosystems, and long‑term monitoring—but access limits, competitive funding, approval requirements, and grant conditions create distributional concerns, potential delays, regulatory burdens, and added federal cost.
Coastal states, local governments, and coastal communities receive federal grants and technical assistance to develop and implement climate adaptation plans and on-the-ground resilience projects (green infrastructure, habitat buffers, sea‑level rise measures), reducing flood and storm damage risk to homes, businesses, and public assets.
Fisheries, coastal ecosystems, and water quality benefit from required long‑term environmental monitoring and planning that supports biodiversity protection, planning for shifts in marine resources, and creation of climate refugia for ocean resilience.
National Estuarine Research Reserves and nonprofits are prioritized for pilot projects, accelerating demonstration and adoption of proven adaptation approaches and helping scale up effective strategies faster.
States without an approved Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) program are ineligible for the grants, leaving some coastal jurisdictions unable to access federal adaptation funding and support.
A competitive funding component (30–50% of funds) may disadvantage smaller or less‑resourced states and rural communities that need predictable formula funding to plan and implement resilience measures.
States must obtain federal approval of plans before becoming eligible for grants, which could delay access to funding and slow the start of urgently needed projects.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Establishes a federal program to help coastal States develop and implement coastal climate adaptation plans with planning and implementation grants and technical assistance.
Introduced April 24, 2025 by Salud Carbajal · Last progress April 24, 2025
Establishes a coastal climate change adaptation and preparedness program within the Coastal Zone Management Act to help coastal States voluntarily develop and carry out climate adaptation plans. The Secretary is directed to provide financial and technical assistance, issue plan-guidelines within 180 days, award planning and implementation grants to States with approved coastal zone management programs, and require plans to identify vulnerable coastal assets, include land- and ocean-based adaptation strategies, and set up long-term monitoring tied to national coastal policies.