THE ESTUARY RESTORATION ACT OF 2000 - USA

The Estuary Restoration Act was signed into law in November of 2000 with strong bipartisan support. The Act makes a federal commitment and encourages public-private partnerships to restore habitat in America's estuaries. The Act:

• Makes restoring America's estuaries a national priority;
• Creates the federal Estuary Habitat Restoration Council;
• Requires the development of an Estuary Habitat Restoration Strategy;
• Sets a goal of restoring one million acres of estuarine habitat by 2010;
• Authorizes $275 million over five years for restoration projects;
• Requires enhanced monitoring, data sharing, and research capabilities.

The purposes of this Act are:

1. to promote the restoration of estuary habitat;
2. to develop a national estuary habitat restoration strategy for creating and maintaining effective estuary habitat restoration partnerships among public agencies at all levels of government and to establish new partnerships between the public and private sectors;
3. to provide Federal assistance for estuary habitat restoration projects and to promote efficient financing of such projects; and
4. to develop and enhance monitoring and research capabilities through the use of the environmental technology innovation program associated with the National Estuarine Research Reserve System established by section 315 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1461) to ensure that estuary habitat restoration efforts are based on sound scientific understanding and innovative technologies.