§ 2292a — National Coastal Mapping Program

(a) The Secretary is authorized to carry out a national coastal mapping program to provide recurring national coastal mapping along the coasts of the United States to support Corps of Engineers navigation, flood risk management, environmental restoration, and emergency operations missions. (b) In carrying out the program under subsection (a), the Secretary— (1) shall disseminate coastal mapping data and new or advanced geospatial information and remote sensing tools for coastal mapping derived from the analysis of such data to the Corps of Engineers, other Federal agencies, States, and other stakeholders; (2) shall implement coastal surveying based on findings of the national coastal mapping study carried out under section 8110 of the Water Resources Development Act of 2022 (136 Stat. 3702); (3) shall conduct research and development on bathymetric liDAR and ancillary technologies necessary to advance coastal mapping capabilities in order to exploit data with increased efficiently and greater accuracy; (4) with respect to any region affected by a hurricane rated category 3 or higher, shall— (A) conduct coastal mapping of such region; (B) determine volume changes at Federal projects in such region; (C) quantify damage to navigation infrastructure in such region; (D) assess environmental impacts to such region, measure any coastal impacts; and (E) make any data gathered under this paragraph publicly available not later than 2 weeks after the acquisition of such data; (5) at the request of another Federal entity or a State or local government entity, may provide subject matter expertise, mapping services, and technology evolution assistance; (6) may enter into an agreement with another Federal agency or a State agency to accept funds from such agency to expand the coverage of the program to efficiently meet the needs of such agency; (7) shall coordinate with representatives of the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States Geological Survey, and any other representative of a Federal agency that the Secretary determines necessary, to support any relevant Federal, State, or local agency through participation in working groups, committees, and organizations; (8) may maintain the panel of senior leaders established under section 8110(e) of the Water Resources Development Act of 2022; and (9) may convene an annual coastal mapping community of practice meeting to discuss and identify technical topics and challenges to inform such panel in carrying out the duties of such panel. (c) There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section for each fiscal year $15,000,000, to remain available until expended.