Sponsor
Brian Jeffrey Mast
Representative · R-FL
Representative · R-FL
The bill directs federal grant support toward restoring impaired waters and boosting ecosystem resilience for communities, while reducing local matching barriers — at the cost of increased federal spending, added state/local administrative burdens, and no reimbursement for already-completed projects.
State and local governments can receive federal grants to restore waters listed under the Clean Water Act, enabling local water-quality projects to proceed.
Rural and urban communities will gain improved ecosystem services and greater flood resilience because funding is limited to projects that restore natural hydrological systems (wetlands, living shorelines, estuarine waters).
State and local governments can count state funds used on eligible projects toward the non‑Federal match, lowering local fiscal barriers to accessing federal grants.
Taxpayers may face increased federal spending to support these grant programs, with budgetary impacts depending on appropriation decisions.
State and local governments will need to plan for and track 303(d)-listed waters and proposed projects to qualify, creating additional administrative burden and costs.
Local governments and nonprofits that already completed or fully funded restoration projects are ineligible for reimbursement, leaving early actors without federal support.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Adds Clean Water Act impaired-waters identification to State LWCF plans and authorizes LWCF grants for defined water-quality restoration projects that restore natural hydrological systems.
Official title: To amend title 54, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to make financial assistance to States under the Land and Water Conservation Fund available for water quality projects, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 12, 2025 by Brian Jeffrey Mast · Last progress February 12, 2025
Adds water-quality planning and eligible projects to the Land and Water Conservation Fund Statewide Outdoor Recreation Plan requirements and grant authority. States must identify waters listed as impaired under the Clean Water Act and may propose restoration projects; the Secretary may provide LWCF financial assistance for qualifying water-quality projects that restore or improve natural hydrological systems, with EPA consultation and limits on reimbursing completed or fully funded projects. The change lets State LWCF plans explicitly include certain Clean Water Act 303(d)-listed waters and allows LWCF funds (with federal rules) to help pay for on-the-ground restoration of wetlands, living shorelines, near-shore estuarine waters, marshes and similar natural features intended to reduce nutrient loads and restore water quality. State funds can count toward the non-Federal share; the Secretary is not given new regulatory authority over nonnavigable waters by this amendment.