Living Shorelines Act
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife.
Living Shorelines Act
This bill directs the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to establish grant programs to support living shoreline projects and research on nature-based infrastructure.
NOAA must award grants to state or local governments, nonprofit organizations, and Indian tribes to (1) implement climate-resilient living shoreline projects; and (2) encourage innovation in the use of natural materials to protect coastal communities, habitats, and natural system functions.
NOAA shall establish an engineering standard applicable to living shoreline projects for each region of the United States and use such standard to select eligible entities to receive such grants.
A grant to carry out a living shoreline project may be used only to
carry out the project, including administration, design, permitting, entry into negotiated indirect cost rate agreements, and construction;
monitor, collect, and report data on the performance of the project, in accordance with the engineering standard; or
incentivize landowners to engage in such projects.
NOAA shall award competitive research grants to eligible entities, including U.S. territories, to carry out projects focused on developing and assessing the effectiveness of innovative approaches to nature-based infrastructure for specified climate-related purposes. NOAA shall award grants to such entities for projects that focus on, among other things
assessing the effectiveness of installed nature-based infrastructure, or
novel approaches to nature-based infrastructure and living shorelines.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on June 29, 2021. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on July 24, 2021: Referred to the Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 117th Congress (2021-22), 362 of the 15,242 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
FRANK PALLONE (D-NJ) introduced it on June 29, 2021, and 2 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 2 Democrats.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on June 29, 2021, 1899 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 1874 days ago, on July 24, 2021.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 117th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2023 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers