Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee passed the Keep America’s Waterfronts Working Act (H.R. 3596) – bipartisan legislation aimed at enhancing state initiatives to preserve coastal economies. The bill – led by Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-ME-01) and supported by NMMA – would provide states with funding and necessary tools to identify and protect coastal economies in communities that are particularly vulnerable to negative impacts caused by development and climate change.

Prior to the vote, Representatives Joe Cunningham (D-SC-01) and Garrett Graves (R-LA-06) successfully added an amendment to the bill, which would ensure recreational boating activities are included within the scope of water-dependent industries that the legislation is intended to support. With the addition of the amendment, the legislation would do the following to preserve and expand shoreline access and infrastructure for water-dependent industries:

• Create a task force to work directly with coastal states, user groups, and coastal stakeholders to identify and address pressures facing coastal communities, including economic importance of working waterfronts to communities, threats to working waterfronts from environment changes, trade barriers, sea level rise, ocean acidification, harmful algal blooms, and extreme weather; and
• Provide money for loans and grants to preserve and expand access for water-dependent businesses such as recreational boating, commercial fishing, and aquaculture.

“Thanks to the leadership of Representatives Chellie Pingree, Joe Cunningham, and Garret Graves, the Keep America’s Waterfronts Working Act will now address several of the recreational boating industry’s top conservation and infrastructure needs, helping to ensure our industry’s significant economic impact continues to bolster countless coastal communities,” said Callie Hoyt, NMMA director of federal government relations. “This amendment will provide critical resources to local economies that depend on recreational boating and we encourage all members of Congress to support the legislation.”

Tens of thousands of marine businesses and billions of dollars in economic activity are supported by working waterfronts, making them integral to coastal communities across the country. With $2.9 billion in annual economic activity that supports over 14,000 jobs and 500 marine businesses, Congresswoman Pingree’s district illustrates the breadth of recreational boating as an economic powerhouse and the importance of ensuring the federal government is a good partner in protecting coastal economies.

For more information, please contact NMMA senior vice president of government and legal affairs, Nicole Vasilaros at nvasilaros@nmma.org or NMMA director of federal government relations, Callie Hoyt at choyt@nmma.org.