Sponsors (21)
The bill directs federal grants, financing tools, technical assistance, and legal protections to help coastal communities preserve working waterfronts and boost climate resilience, but those benefits depend on discretionary appropriations and come with local matching requirements, covenant restrictions, and financing limits that can constrain flexibility and strain local budgets.
Coastal states, local governments, and covered entities can receive federal grants (authorized up to $50M/year FY2025–2029) plus loan‑fund capitalization to preserve, expand, and upgrade working waterfront infrastructure, lowering local capital costs and increasing access to financing for projects.
Fishing, maritime, and waterfront-dependent businesses gain grants and technical assistance to implement climate adaptation and resilience measures (e.g., protections against sea‑level rise and extreme weather), helping sustain operations and reduce disaster risk.
Commercial fishers and waterfront users receive legal safeguards—recordable covenants and reversion provisions—that help keep waterfront properties available for commercial fishing and maritime uses, preserving economic and public access over time.
Covered entities and coastal communities face uncertainty because grant funding and agency actions are subject to annual appropriations and implementation timelines, which can delay or limit near‑term project support.
States and local beneficiaries must provide matching funds (federal share capped at 75%), which can strain tight budgets and slow or block projects in low‑income or resource‑constrained communities.
Recordable covenant and perpetuity/reversion requirements can reduce property owners' flexibility and potentially deter private investment or complicate property transactions on waterfront lands.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a federal Working Waterfronts Task Force to identify threats, recommend agency responsibilities and options, and allows entities to submit waterfront plans for federal approval; agencies must act as practicable subject to appropriations.
Creates a federal Working Waterfronts Task Force charged with identifying and prioritizing economic, cultural, and environmental threats to working waterfronts in coastal states that have approved coastal management programs, and recommending adaptation and mitigation options and agency responsibilities. It also allows covered entities to submit working waterfront plans for federal approval to preserve and expand access to coastal waters; agencies named are directed to implement recommended options as practicable and subject to available appropriations within set timeframes.
Introduced March 3, 2025 by Chellie Pingree · Last progress March 3, 2025