33 U.S.C. § 2263 : US Code - Section 2263: Study of Corps capability to conserve fish and wildlife

Search 33 U.S.C. § 2263 : US Code - Section 2263: Study of Corps capability to conserve fish and wildlife

(a) Investigation and study
The Secretary shall investigate and study the feasibility of
utilizing the capabilities of the United States Army Corps of
Engineers to conserve fish and wildlife (including their habitats)
where such fish and wildlife are indigenous to the United States,
its possessions, or its territories. The scope of such study shall
include the use of engineering or construction capabilities to
create alternative habitats, or to improve, enlarge, develop, or
otherwise beneficially modify existing habitats of such fish and
wildlife. The study shall be conducted in consultation with the
Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the
Interior, the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Administrator of
the Environmental Protection Agency, and shall be transmitted
within the 30-month period beginning on November 17, 1986, by the
Secretary to Congress, together with the findings, conclusions, and
recommendations of the Chief of Engineers. The Secretary, in
consultation with the Federal officers referred to in the preceding
sentence, shall undertake a continuing review of the matters
covered in the study and shall transmit to Congress, on a biennial
basis, any revisions to the study that may be required as a result
of the review, together with the findings, conclusions, and
recommendations of the Chief of Engineers.
(b) Projects
(1) In general
The Secretary is further authorized to conduct projects of
alternative or beneficially modified habitats for fish and
wildlife, including but not limited to man-made reefs for fish.
There is authorized to be appropriated not to exceed $30,000,000
to carry out such projects. Such projects shall be developed, and
their effectiveness evaluated, in consultation with the Director
of the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Assistant Administrator
for Fisheries of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration. Such projects shall include -
(A) the construction of a reef for fish habitat in Lake Erie
in the vicinity of Buffalo, New York;
(B) the construction of a reef for fish habitat in the
Atlantic Ocean in the vicinity of Fort Lauderdale, Florida;
(C) the construction of a reef for fish habitat in Lake
Ontario in the vicinity of the town of Newfane, New York; and
(D) the construction of reefs and related clean shell
substrate for fish habitat, including manmade 3-dimensional
oyster reefs, in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries in
Maryland and Virginia if the reefs are preserved as permanent
sanctuaries by the non-Federal interests, consistent with the
recommendations of the scientific consensus document on
Chesapeake Bay oyster restoration dated June 1999.
(2) Cost sharing
(A) In general
The non-Federal share of the cost of any project under this
subsection shall be 25 percent.
(B) Form
The non-Federal share may be provided through in-kind
services, including the provision by the non-Federal interest
of shell stock material that is determined by the Chief of
Engineers to be suitable for use in carrying out the project.
(C) Applicability
The non-Federal interest shall be credited with the value of
in-kind services provided on or after October 1, 2000, for a
project described in paragraph (1) completed on or after that
date, if the Secretary determines that the work is integral to
the project.
In carrying out paragraph (4),(!1) the Chief of Engineers may
solicit participation by and the services of commercial watermen in
the construction of the reefs.