1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Creating Opportunity and Sustainability Through Science Act or the COASTS Act . 2. Findings The Congress finds that— (1) coastal cities and communities are particularly vulnerable to hazards and extreme weather events, accelerating the degradation of natural and built infrastructure that coastal economies and populations depend upon; and (2) such degradation harms community resiliency and exposes coastal cities and their inhabitants to more frequent and more severe hazards, impacting the ecosystems that provide livelihoods, food, and energy, and other essential benefits. 3. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research programs (a) Coastal science and assessment: Competitive external research (1) In general The Secretary of Commerce, acting through applicable National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration programs within the National Ocean Service, the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, and the National Marine Fisheries Service, shall carry out an extramural competitively awarded grants program focused on interdisciplinary coastal resilience and sustainability. (2) Objective The objective of the program shall be to develop scalable, best practices— (A) to prepare more resilient, sustainable cities and resilient communities