Sponsors (3)
Official title: Support rural coastal and maritime economic development, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 5, 2025 by Lisa Murkowski · Last progress June 5, 2025
The bill directs substantial federal support toward marine and coastal energy, fisheries, infrastructure, workforce training, and local economic clusters—boosting investment, jobs, and conservation data but increasing federal costs, administrative burdens, and risks that better‑resourced actors or growth pressures could capture benefits at the expense of smaller communities and sensitive ecosystems.
Owners and operators of qualifying hydro and marine energy projects receive a 30% investment tax credit (with elective payment/transferability), substantially lowering upfront capital costs and improving financing for upgrades, innovation, and deployment of new water‑power technologies.
Commercial fishers and processors — especially small and rural operations — gain expanded financing and market support through USDA loan eligibility, inclusion in local food marketing programs, and targeted grants to buy vessels, permits, and build/rehabilitate processing and cold‑storage capacity.
Rural coastal communities and small processors receive infrastructure support (NOAA working waterfront grants, cold‑storage/processing investments) that preserves port access, supports local jobs, and helps retain more seafood sales in domestic markets.
Taxpayers face materially higher federal costs and potential deficit pressure from the mix of a refundable/transferable energy tax credit and multiple new grant/loan authorizations (including multi‑year appropriations and pilot program funding).
Smaller fishery businesses, community groups, and new local programs may lose out because competitive grants and tax‑credit capture tend to favor well‑capitalized or established entities, limiting equitable access to benefits.
The bill creates substantial administrative, compliance, and interagency coordination burdens (Treasury/IRS rules, NEPA/historic reviews, data/reporting, grant administration and transfers), raising costs and risks of delays for both federal staff and applicants.
Based on analysis of 10 sections of legislative text.
Creates a 30% tax credit for qualifying hydropower improvements, expands USDA loan eligibility to commercial fishing and processing, funds rural seafood processing and maritime workforce grants, and creates Ocean Innovation Clusters.
Creates a new 30% investment tax credit for eligible hydropower improvement property and defines qualifying projects (fish passage, water quality, sediment transport, marine energy, and approved remote dams). Expands USDA rural loan programs and marketing authorities to include commercial fishing, fish processing, and related vessels/facilities; funds competitive grants to build or rehabilitate seafood and mariculture processing and cold storage in rural coastal communities; establishes a Maritime Workforce Grant Program administered by MARAD; and creates an Ocean Innovation Clusters designation program at the Department of Commerce to support regional Blue Economy collaboration and innovation. The package aims to support decarbonized and community-serving hydropower upgrades, strengthen domestic seafood processing and mariculture in rural coastal areas, grow the maritime labor pipeline, and foster regionally coordinated ocean-economy innovation hubs. It authorizes multi-year program funding (FY2026–FY2030) and changes multiple statutes to expand loan and grant eligibility for fishers and processors.