16 U.S.C. § 3953

The Secretary, the Director, and the Administrator are directed to enter into an agreement with the Governor, as set forth in paragraph (2) of this subsection, upon notification of the Governor’s willingness to enter into such agreement.

identification of the entire coastal area in the State that contains coastal wetlands;

designation of a single State agency with the responsibility for implementing and enforcing the plan;

section 3952 of this title identification of measures that the State shall take in addition to existing Federal authority to achieve a goal of no net loss of wetlands as a result of development activities, exclusive of any wetlands gains achieved through implementation of ;

a system that the State shall implement to account for gains and losses of coastal wetlands within coastal areas for purposes of evaluating the degree to which the goal of no net loss of wetlands as a result of development activities in such wetlands or other waters has been attained;

satisfactory assurances that the State will have adequate personnel, funding, and authority to implement the plan;

a program to be carried out by the State for the purpose of educating the public concerning the necessity to conserve wetlands;

a program to encourage the use of technology by persons engaged in development activities that will result in negligible impact on wetlands; and

a program for the review, evaluation, and identification of regulatory and nonregulatory options that will be adopted by the State to encourage and assist private owners of wetlands to continue to maintain those lands as wetlands.

If the Governor submits a conservation plan to the Secretary, the Director, and the Administrator for their approval, the Secretary, the Director, and the Administrator shall, within one hundred and eighty days following receipt of such plan, approve or disapprove it.

If the Secretary, the Director, and the Administrator determine that a conservation plan submitted by the Governor does not comply with the requirements of subsection (d) of this section, they shall submit to the Governor a statement explaining why the plan is not in compliance and how the plan should be changed to be in compliance.

If the Governor submits a modified conservation plan to the Secretary, the Director, and the Administrator for their reconsideration, the Secretary, the Director, and Administrator shall have ninety days to determine whether the modifications are sufficient to bring the plan into compliance with requirements of subsection (d) of this section.

If the Secretary, the Director, and the Administrator fail to approve or disapprove the conservation plan, as modified, within the ninety-day period following the date on which it was submitted to them by the Governor, such plan, as modified, shall be deemed to be approved effective upon the expiration of such ninety-day period.

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1 So in original. Probably should be “an”.

Within one hundred and eighty days after entering into the agreement required under subsection (a) of this section, the Secretary, the Director, and the Administrator shall report to the Congress as to the status of a conservation plan approved under this section and the progress of the State in carrying out such a plan, including and  accounting, as required under subsection (c) of this section, of the gains and losses of coastal wetlands as a result of development activities.

Twenty-four months after the initial one hundred and eighty day period set forth in paragraph (1), and at the end of each twenty-four-month period thereafter, the Secretary, the Director, and the Administrator shall, report to the Congress on the status of the conservation plan and provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of the plan in meeting the goal of this section.