33 U.S.C. § 2901: Purposes

to promote the restoration of estuary habitat by implementing a coordinated Federal approach to estuary habitat restoration activities, including the use of common monitoring standards and a common system for tracking restoration acreage; to develop and implement 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; to provide Federal assistance for estuary habitat restoration projects through cooperative agreements and to promote efficient financing of such projects; and 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 1461 of title 16 to ensure that estuary habitat restoration efforts are based on sound scientific understanding and innovative technologies. It is the sense of Congress that, to the extent practicable, all equipment and products purchased with funds made available under this Act [see Short Title note above] should be American made. The head of each Federal Agency [sic] providing financial assistance under this Act, to the extent practicable, shall provide to each recipient of the assistance a notice describing the statement made in subsection (a).” The Secretary of Commerce (acting through the Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere) and the Secretary of the Interior (acting through the Director of the Geological Survey) may carry out a long-term estuary assessment project (in this section referred to as the ‘project’) in accordance with the requirements of this section. The purpose of the project shall be to establish a network of strategic environmental assessment and monitoring projects for the Mississippi River south of Vicksburg, Mississippi, and the Gulf of Mexico, in order to develop advanced long-term assessment and monitoring systems and models relating to the Mississippi River and other aquatic ecosystems, including developing equipment and techniques necessary to implement the project. To establish, operate, and implement the project, the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of the Interior may enter into a management agreement with a university-based consortium. $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 to develop the management agreement under subsection (c); and $4,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005 to carry out the project.