I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5366 

To require the Secretary of the Commerce, acting through the Administrator 

of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to provide 

grants supporting research on the conservation, restoration, or management of oysters in the Chesapeake Bay. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 9, 2019 

Mr. BROWN of Maryland (for himself, Mr. SARBANES, and Mr. SCOTT of Virginia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Commerce, acting through 

the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to provide grants supporting research on the conservation, restoration, or management 

of oysters in the Chesapeake Bay. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Chesapeake Bay Oys5 ter Research Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 It is the sense of Congress that the Chesapeake Bay 

3 Office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis4 tration shall be the primary representative of the Adminis5 tration in the Chesapeake Bay. 

6 SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR RESEARCHING OYSTERS IN THE 

7 CHESAPEAKE BAY. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of the Com9 merce, acting through the Administrator of the National 

10 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shall establish 

11 a grant program (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Pro12 gram’’) under which the Secretary shall award grants to 

13 eligible entities for the purpose of conducting research on 

14 the conservation, restoration, or management of oysters 

15 in the Chesapeake Bay. 

16 (b) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

17 under this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the 

18 Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, 

19 and containing such information as the Secretary may re20 quire. 

21 (c) ALLOCATION OF GRANT FUNDS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award a 

23 grant under the Program to eligible entities that 

24 submit an application under subsection (b). 

25 (2) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

2 subparagraph (B), the total amount of Federal 

3 funding received under the Program by an eligi4 ble entity may not exceed 85 percent of the 

5 total cost of the research project for which the 

6 funding was awarded. For the purposes of this 

7 subparagraph, the non-Federal share of project 

8 costs may be provided by in-kind contributions 

9 and other noncash support. 

10 (B) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive 

11 all or part of the requirement in subparagraph 

12 (A) if the Secretary determines that no reason13 able means are available through which an eligi14 ble entity applying for a grant under this sec15 tion can meet such requirement and the prob16 able benefit of such research project outweighs 

17 the public interest in such requirement. 

18 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act, the following defini19 tions apply: 

20 (1) ACADEMIC COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘aca21 demic community’’ means faculty, researchers, pro22 fessors, and representatives of State-accredited col23 leges and universities. 

24 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti25 ty’’ means a member of the academic community, 


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1 the seafood industry, a relevant nonprofit organiza2 tion, or a relevant State agency, that is proposing or 

3 conducting a research project on the conservation, 

4 restoration, or management of oysters in the Chesa5 peake Bay developed through consultation with a 

6 member of the academic community, a member of 

7 the seafood industry, a relevant nonprofit organiza8 tion, or a relevant State agency. 

9 (3) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 

10 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization de11 scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 

12 Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under section 

13 501(a) of such Code. 

14 (4) SEAFOOD INDUSTRY.—The term ‘‘seafood 

15 industry’’ means shellfish growers, shellfish har16 vesters, commercial fishermen, and recreational fish17 ermen. 

18 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

19 the Secretary of the Commerce, acting through the 

20 Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos21 pheric Administration. 

22 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

23 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary $2,000,000 


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1 for each of the fiscal years 2020 through 2025 to carry 

2 out this section. 

Æ 


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