Keep America’s Waterfronts Working Act of 2025
Keep America’s Waterfronts Working Act of 2025 would amend the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 to create a national program focused on preserving, expanding, and improving access to working waterfronts. The bill establishes a Working Waterfronts Task Force to identify needs and coordinate with multiple federal agencies, and creates a regional grant program and a dedicated loan fund to support state and local efforts. Eligible entities (coastal states, coastal Indian Tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations) would develop approved Working Waterfronts Plans that designate holders and covenants to ensure long-term protection and management of waterfront properties. The act also authorizes a new Preservation Loan Fund to finance acquisitions, improvements, and resilience projects, with subsidies for disadvantaged communities. Overall, the bill aims to prevent the loss of water-dependent uses (fishing, boatbuilding, aquaculture, boating) and to improve public access to coastal waters while addressing climate risks and environmental changes. If enacted, the program would funnel up to $50 million per year (2025–2029) into grants and, via state capitalization grants, into loan funds that support state and local projects. It would impose specific planning, covenants, and reporting requirements, promote public access to waterfronts, and create mechanisms to address conversions of waterfront property and rapid ownership turnover. The bill also emphasizes equity by reserving a portion of funds for disadvantaged communities and for Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations, and it requires interagency coordination and regular reporting to Congress on program results.
Key Points
- 1Task Force and interagency coordination: The Secretary would establish a Working Waterfronts Task Force, drawing on representatives from NOAA, USFWS, USDA, EPA, USGS, Navy, NMFS, EDA, and others, plus Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations. It would identify critical needs, outline options to address them, assign responsible federal agencies, and report to Congress within 18 months, with implementation to follow as funding allows.
- 2Working Waterfronts Plans: Eligible entities must submit a working waterfronts plan (approval valid for 5 years, with 5-year renewals). Plans must preserve and expand access to coastal waters, align with existing plans, involve stakeholders, designate qualified holders, and include comprehensive assessments of economic, social, cultural, and ecological value, threats (sea level rise, extreme weather, environmental changes), public access considerations, and contingency arrangements for covenants.
- 3Grant Program: The Working Waterfronts Grant Program would fund projects to implement or revise plans, acquire waterfront property or interests, construct/repair facilities, or fund climate adaptation and resilience. Grants are competitive, regionally distributed, and subject to matching requirements, with public access provisions and covenants tied to funded projects.
- 4Covenant-based Ownership and Management: Grants require working waterfront covenants—binding, recordable agreements ensuring long-term management and non-conversion. If violations occur, covenants can revert property to the covered entity or be conveyed to a qualified holder, with immediate access rights preserved for the grant administering entity.
- 5Preservation Loan Fund (State Capitalization): Eligible coastal states would receive capitalization grants to establish preservation loan funds. States would deposit these funds, manage loan portfolios, and use repayments and interest to support additional waterfront preservation activities. The program includes a 2-year obligation window for capitalization grants and allows the use of bond revenues or other instruments to finance loans, with requirements on Davis-Bacon wages for related construction.
- 6Disadvantaged Communities: Special loan subsidies are authorized for disadvantaged communities, including principal forgiveness, grants, negative-interest loans, and debt restructuring. Subsidies may not exceed 35% of capitalization grant funds, and a minimum of 12% is required if there are sufficient eligible applications.
- 7Matching and Federal Share: The base federal share for loans and grants is up to 75% of project costs, with waivers possible for disadvantaged communities or other appropriate reasons. Non-federal shares can be in-kind (e.g., appraised value of a waterfront held by a qualified holder) and may be used to meet the match.
- 8Public Access and Acquisition Limits: Projects funded under the grants program must expand, improve, or preserve public access to coastal waters, unless unsafe due to commercial fishing or other factors. Acquisition using grant funds is limited to fair market value purchases from willing sellers or below-market sales under specific conditions.
- 9Authorization and Accountability: The bill authorizes $50 million per year for 2025–2029 to carry out the grant program. It requires biennial reporting to Congress on implementation, outcomes, expenditures, and project details, as well as adherence to environmental, labor, and other applicable requirements (e.g., Davis-Bacon Act for construction).