33 U.S.C. § 2263 — Study of Corps capability to conserve fish and wildlife

(a) Investigation and study. The Secretary must study whether the Army Corps can conserve fish and wildlife, including habitats, native to the United States, its possessions, or territories. The study must cover engineering or construction to create, improve, enlarge, develop, or otherwise beneficially change habitats. It must be done with the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Director, NOAA fisheries Assistant Administrator, and EPA Administrator. Within 30 months after November 17, 1986, the Secretary must send it to Congress with the Chief of Engineers’ findings, conclusions, and recommendations. The Secretary must keep reviewing these matters and send Congress any needed revisions every two years, with those findings, conclusions, and recommendations. (b) Projects. (1) The Secretary may conduct alternative or beneficially modified fish and wildlife habitat projects, including man-made fish reefs. Up to $120,000,000 is authorized. (2) Projects must be developed and evaluated with the Fish and Wildlife Service Director and NOAA fisheries Assistant Administrator. They must include (A) a fish reef near Buffalo, New York, in Lake Erie; (B) a reef near Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in the Atlantic; (C) a reef near Newfane, New York, in Lake Ontario; and (D) Chesapeake Bay and tributary habitat restoration in Virginia and Maryland, including (i) oyster bars and reefs, (ii) marginal-habitat rehabilitation, (iii) suitable alternative substrate, (iv) oyster-hatchery construction and upgrades, and (v) native-oyster broodstock and monitoring work. (3) The Chesapeake activities must establish permanent sanctuaries and harvest-management areas and follow Chesapeake oyster-resource and fishery restoration plans. (4) The nonfederal share is 25 percent. It may include in-kind services, including suitable shell stock and, for post-June 10, 2014 projects under paragraph (2)(D), cost-effective land conservation or restoration that improves water quality, supports oyster restoration, and is integral to the project. The nonfederal party receives credit for qualifying in-kind services provided on or after October 1, 2000, for a paragraph (1) project completed on or after that date. (5) “Ecological success” means (A) a tenfold increase in native-oyster biomass by 2010 from the 1994 baseline and (B) a sustainable fishery determined by broad scientific and economic agreement. In applying paragraph (4), the Chief of Engineers may seek commercial watermen’s participation and services in building reefs.