Congress extends coastal data program, mandates free access to infrastructure maps
H.R. 4256 — Digital Coast Reauthorization Act of 2025 · Filed by Dave Min (D-CA) · 13 cosponsors · Introduced Jun 30, 2025 · Reported out
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill extends the Digital Coast Act's authorization from 2025 to 2030, and adds two requirements: coastal data must be made 'fully and freely available' (not just accessible), and the program must now collect data on underground infrastructure and subsurface utilities. The bill benefits coastal communities, researchers, and planners by ensuring longer-term funding and more comprehensive geospatial data.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole function is to extend an existing coastal geospatial data program, strengthen public access guarantees, and expand data scope to include subsurface utilities. It is a routine reauthorization with modest scope enhancements.
What the text implies
- Requirement for 'fully and freely available' data may impose new compliance or distribution costs on the administering agency, potentially affecting budget allocation within the program.
- Underground infrastructure and subsurface utility data collection may require new partnerships with utilities and municipalities, expanding the program's operational scope and coordination burden.
- Five-year extension (2025–2030) locks in program funding trajectory but does not guarantee appropriations—reauthorization is necessary but not sufficient for continued operation.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Citizens and coastal communities gain extended access to publicly funded geospatial data, with stronger guarantees of free availability and expanded coverage of underground utilities—information valuable for emergency response, infrastructure planning, and environmental management. No offsetting costs to the public are apparent.
Named in the bill
Digital Coast Act, House Committee on Natural Resources, NOAA (implied administering agency, not named in bill text)
Where it stands
13 cosponsors: 7 Republicans, 6 Democrats.
- Jun 30, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jun 30, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources”
- Sep 3, 2025 — Hearing held · Congress.gov: “Subcommittee Hearings Held”
- Sep 17, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
- Sep 17, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported by Unanimous Consent”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $80,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 8 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Dave Min, the sponsor, reported $552,299 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Management Association of Private Photogrammetrist Surveyors — $80,000 on 2 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 16, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (583 characters) on Jun 3, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 16, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Congress extends coastal data program, mandates free access to infrastructure maps” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr4256 Report an error
The week in bills
One email, Sunday: what Congress passed, what it changed, and who paid.
One link arrives to confirm the address. It is used for this email and nothing else, and every issue carries an unsubscribe link.