Does the National Estuary Program Need to be Reauthorized? (S. 1523)

What is S. 1523?

(Updated March 15, 2018)

This bill was enacted on May 20, 2016

This bill seeks to promote the environmental wellness of estuaries by renewing their federal funding. Recap: estuaries (and nearby wetlands) are the bodies of water where rivers (fresh water) meet the sea (salt water). 

First and foremost, this bill reauthorizes the National Estuary Program (NEP). A part of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the NEP is tasked with making sure that estuaries are clean and able to provide a safe environment for wildlife.

That’s not all. This bill also authorizes and encourages the NEP to promote a new grant program. Applicants competing for the grants would have to demonstrate that they’re tackling issues like:

• The destruction of seagrass
  
• Algae blooms
  
• High mortality rates for marine mammals
  
• Invasive species
  
• Too many jellyfish
  
• Flooding
  
• Low levels of oxygen in estuary waters

To accomplish all of this, the bill allows the Administrator of the EPA to appropriate a cool $27 million for each year from 2016 to 2020. At least 80 percent of this money would have to go to developing and monitoring the programs for which states and regional governments could receive grant money. At least 15 percent would have to go to making the awards themselves.

Argument in favor

This bill provides critical funding to estuaries. Estuaries are home to a whole cornucopia of diverse flora and fauna. We must protect them.

Argument opposed

There are so many other more critical needs that the U.S. should be funding, before it even thinks about pouring money and resources into estuaries.

Impact

Estuaries, the flora and fauna that live in them, people that visit estuaries, surrounding bodies of water, the NEP, and the EPA.

Cost of S. 1523

This bill appropriates $27 million from 2016 to 2020. The CBO estimates that implementing it would take $116 million over the course of the same period.

Additional Info

Of Note: Alright, let’s get this out of the way: middle school biology was a long time ago. You don’t know an isthmus from an estuary. That’s fine.

An estuary is a body of water that’s connected to both rivers and the ocean, though it’s partially enclosed from it. The water in estuaries in brackish—it’s salty, but not as salty as the ocean. Puget Sound in Washington is one. Chesapeake Bay and San Francisco Bay are, too. New York City has seven: the Hudson River, the East River, Long Island Sound, Newark Bay, Upper New York Bay and Jamaica Bay.

Because of their unique water conditions, estuaries play an important role for wildlife. Birds often stop and rest at them while migrating. Many fish depend on them as a spot to reproduce. But they’re also important to humans—you’ll notice that all the estuaries above are home to major U.S. cities—who dump all sorts of noxious stuff into them. Hence their protection by the NEP.

Media:

• Sponsoring Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ) Press Statement
  
• CBO Cost Estimate
  
• National Ocean Service