Land and Water Conservation Fund Water Amendments Act of 2025
The Land and Water Conservation Fund Water Amendments Act of 2025 would change how the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) can be used by states. It authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to provide LWCF financial assistance for water quality projects, expanding eligible purposes beyond outdoor recreation and basic recreation facility development. States would need to integrate water quality planning into their comprehensive statewide outdoor recreation plans, identifying waters listed as impaired under the Clean Water Act (section 303(d)) and any proposed water quality projects for those waters. The bill defines a water quality project as one aimed at restoring impaired waters using natural hydrological systems (e.g., wetlands, marshes, living shorelines, near-shore estuarine waters) and allows crediting state funds toward the non-Federal share. It requires consultation with the Environmental Protection Agency and imposes limits, including that funds cannot reimburse already completed or fully funded projects and that the bill does not expand federal authority over non-navigable waters or regulate project conduct.
Key Points
- 1Expands LWCF eligible uses to include water quality projects, with financial assistance available for such projects.
- 2Requires states’ comprehensive outdoor recreation plans to identify impaired waters (per 303(d)) and proposed water quality projects related to those waters.
- 3Establishes a definition of water quality project and allows the Secretary to fund these projects, including allowing credit for state funds toward the non-Federal share and mandating EPA consultation.
- 4Limits funding to projects that improve water quality through natural hydrological systems (wetlands, marshes, living shorelines, near-shore estuarine waters, etc.) and to project components necessary to reduce nutrient loads.
- 5Prohibits reimbursement for costs of projects that are already completed or fully funded; preserves non-expansion of federal authority over non-navigable waters and does not authorize the Secretary to regulate project conduct.