I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4043 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Defense 

to establish Southern Sea Otter Military Readiness Areas for national 

defense purposes, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 15, 2012 

Mr. GALLEGLY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Natural 

Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Defense to establish Southern Sea Otter Military Readiness Areas for national defense purposes, and 

for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Military Readiness and 

5 Southern Sea Otter Conservation Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SOUTHERN SEA OTTER MILITARY READINESS AND 

2 CONSERVATION ACT. 

3 (a) FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.—The Congress finds 

4 and declares the following: 

5 (1) The United States Fish and Wildlife Serv6 ice— 

7 (A) developed a relocation and manage8 ment plan for southern sea otters as authorized 

9 by Public Law 99–625 (Nov. 7, 1986, 100 Stat. 

10 3500); 

11 (B) promulgated governing regulations on 

12 August 11, 1987 (52 Fed. Reg. 29754), in ac13 cordance with section 1(b) of Public Law 99– 

14 625; and 

15 (C) has administered the plan since Au16 gust 1987. 

17 (2) National defense-related activities at San 

18 Nicolas Island have not had adverse affects on 

19 southern sea otters, but continued expansion of the 

20 southern sea otter population into the area des21 ignated by Public Law 99–625 as the management 

22 zone may result in national security impacts. Mili23 tary training programs evolve, as they are linked to 

24 real world events, necessitating greater flexibility in 

25 the types and amounts of training events the mili26 tary departments conduct. 


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1 (3) Sikes Act Compliant Integrated Natural Re2 sources Management Plans for military installations 

3 in California adequately address the special manage4 ment needs of threatened and endangered species, 

5 and provide conservation benefits to the near shore 

6 marine environments through watershed and land7 based management actions. 

8 (4) Public Law 99–625 provided the authority 

9 under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and the 

10 Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 for otters 

11 established at San Nicolas Island to be designated a 

12 nonessential experimental population and this des13 ignation should be continued to provide for the flexi14 bility needed for military readiness requirements 

15 guaranteed by Public Law 99–625. 

16 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en17 hance conservation of the southern sea otter and its 

18 growth toward an optimum sustainable population while 

19 allowing reasonable assurances for military readiness ac20 tivities, as defined in section 315(f) of the Bob Stump Na21 tional Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003 

22 (Public Law 107–314; 116 Stat. 2509; 16 U.S.C. 703 

23 note), to continue. 

24 (c) ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SOUTHERN SEA OTTER

25 MILITARY READINESS AREAS.—Chapter 136 of title 10, 


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1 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

2 following new section: 

3 ‘‘§ 2283. Establishment of the Southern Sea Otter 

4 Military Readiness Areas 

5 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Defense 

6 shall establish Southern Sea Otter Military Readiness 

7 Areas for national defense purposes, consisting of— 

8 ‘‘(1) the area that includes Naval Base Ventura 

9 County San Nicolas Island and Begg Rock, and the 

10 adjacent and surrounding waters within the fol11 lowing coordinates: 

12 ‘‘N. Latitude/W. Longitude 

13 ‘‘33°27.8′/119°34.3′ 

14 ‘‘33°20.5′/119°15.5′ 

15 ‘‘33°13.5′/119°11.8′ 

16 ‘‘33°06.5′/119°15.3′ 

17 ‘‘33°02.8′/119°26.8′ 

18 ‘‘33°08.8′/119°46.3′ 

19 ‘‘33°17.2′/119°56.9′ 

20 ‘‘33°30.9′/119°54.2′; 

21 ‘‘(2) that area that includes Naval Base Coro22 nado San Clemente Island and the adjacent and sur23 rounding waters running parallel to shore to 3 nau24 tical miles from the high tide line designated by 33 


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1 C.F.R. part 165 on May 20, 2010, as the San 

2 Clemente Island 3NM Safety Zone; and 

3 ‘‘(3) that area that includes Marine Corps Base 

4 Camp Pendleton and the adjacent waters within the 

5 following coordinates: 

6 ‘‘Latitude/W. Longitude 

7 ‘‘33°26.6′/117°38.9′ 

8 ‘‘33°21.3′/117°45.8′ 

9 ‘‘33°56.2′/117°39.7′ 

10 ‘‘33°6.5′/117°28.5′ 

11 ‘‘33°10.2′/117°23.7′ 

12 ‘‘33°11.8′/117°23.2′ 

13 ‘‘33°26.6′/117°38.9′. 

14 ‘‘(b) ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE SOUTHERN SEA

15 OTTER MILITARY READINESS AREAS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) INCIDENTAL TAKINGS UNDER ENDAN17 GERED SPECIES ACT OF 1973.—Sections 4 and 9 of 

18 the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

19 1533, 1538) shall not apply with respect to the inci20 dental taking of any southern sea otter in the South21 ern Sea Otter Military Readiness Areas in the 

22 course of conducting a military readiness activity. 

23 ‘‘(2) INCIDENTAL TAKINGS UNDER MARINE

24 MAMMAL PROTECTION ACT OF 1972.—Sections 101 

25 and 102 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 


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1 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1371, 1372) shall not apply with 

2 respect to the incidental taking of any southern sea 

3 otter in the Southern Sea Otter Military Readiness 

4 Areas in the course of conducting military readiness 

5 activities. 

6 ‘‘(3) TREATMENT AS SPECIES PROPOSED TO BE

7 LISTED.—For purposes of any military readiness ac8 tivity, any southern sea otter while within the South9 ern Sea Otter Military Readiness Areas shall be 

10 treated for the purposes of section 7 of the Endan11 gered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536) as a 

12 member of a species that is proposed to be listed as 

13 an endangered species or a threatened species under 

14 section 4 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 

15 U.S.C. 1533). 

16 ‘‘(c) REMOVAL.—Nothing in this section or any other 

17 Federal law shall be construed to require that any south18 ern sea otter located within the Southern Sea Otter Mili19 tary Readiness Areas as of the effective date of this sec20 tion or thereafter be removed from the Areas. 

21 ‘‘(d) REVISION OR TERMINATION OF EXCEPTIONS.— 

22 The Secretary of the Interior may revise or terminate the 

23 application of subsection (b) if the Secretary, in consulta24 tion with, and with the concurrence of, the Secretary of 

25 the Navy, determines that military activities authorized 


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1 under subsection (b) are substantially impeding southern 

2 sea otter conservation or the return of southern sea otters 

3 to optimum sustainable population levels. 

4 ‘‘(e) MONITORING.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Navy 

6 shall monitor the Southern Sea Otter Military Read7 iness Areas not less than every three years to meas8 ure the growth or decline of the southern sea otter 

9 population. 

10 ‘‘(2) REPORTS.—Within 24 months after the ef11 fective date of this section and every three years 

12 thereafter, the Secretary of the Navy shall report to 

13 Congress and the public on monitoring undertaken 

14 pursuant to paragraph (1). 

15 ‘‘(f) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER FEDERAL LAW.—Ex16 cept as provided in subsections (a) and (b), nothing in this 

17 section shall be construed as repealing, superseding, or 

18 modifying any provision of Federal law. 

19 ‘‘(g) ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT.— 

20 ‘‘(1) ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT PLAN.—Con21 sistent with Public Law 99–625 and the notice and 

22 comment provisions of chapter 5 of title 5, the Di23 rector of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 

24 and the Director of the National Marine Fisheries 

25 Service, in cooperation with the Marine Mammal 


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1 Commission, shall develop an ecosystem manage2 ment plan that, for waters off the coast of Cali3 fornia, ensures— 

4 ‘‘(A) the recovery of the southern sea 

5 otter; 

6 ‘‘(B) the recovery of the endangered black 

7 abalone and the endangered white abalone; and 

8 ‘‘(C) the commercial harvest of shellfish 

9 fisheries at levels approximating current har10 vests. 

11 ‘‘(2) ASSESSMENT OF CARRYING CAPACITY.— 

12 The Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife 

13 Service shall, within one year after the effective date 

14 of this section, assess the carrying capacity of the 

15 habitat for southern sea otters, including an assess16 ment of the impacts of water quality on that car17 rying capacity and the causes of water quality deg18 radation. 

19 ‘‘(3) CONTINUED IMPLEMENTATION OF EXIST20 ING PLAN.—The Director of the United States Fish 

21 and Wildlife Service shall continue implementing the 

22 relocation and management plan for southern sea ot23 ters authorized by Public Law 99–625 (100 Stat. 

24 3500) until the date the management plan and asVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:41 Feb 16, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4043.IH H4043

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1 sessment required under paragraphs (1) and (2), re2 spectively, are completed. 

3 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) INCIDENTAL TAKING.—The term ‘inci5 dental taking’ means any take of a southern sea 

6 otter that is incidental to, and not the purpose of, 

7 the carrying out of an otherwise lawful activity. 

8 ‘‘(2) OPTIMUM SUSTAINABLE POPULATION.— 

9 The term ‘optimum sustainable population’ means, 

10 with respect to any population stock, the number of 

11 animals that will result in the maximum productivity 

12 of the population or the species, keeping in mind the 

13 carrying capacity of the habitat and the health of 

14 the ecosystem of which they form a constituent ele15 ment. 

16 ‘‘(3) SOUTHERN SEA OTTER.—The term ‘south17 ern sea otter’ means any member of the subspecies 

18 Enhydra lutris nereis. 

19 ‘‘(4) TAKE.—The term ‘take’— 

20 ‘‘(A) when used in reference to activities 

21 subject to regulation by the Endangered Species 

22 Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531–1544) shall have 

23 the meaning given such term in that statute; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(B) when used in reference to activities 

2 subject to regulation by the Marine Mammal 

3 Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1361– 

4 1423h), shall have the meaning given such term 

5 in that statute. 

6 ‘‘(5) MILITARY READINESS ACTIVITY.—The 

7 term ‘military readiness activity’ has the meaning 

8 given that term in section 315(f) of the Bob Stump 

9 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 

10 2003 (Public Law 107–314; 116 Stat. 2509; 16 

11 U.S.C. 703 note), and includes all training and oper12 ations of the Armed Forces that relate to combat, 

13 and the adequate and realistic testing of military 

14 equipment, vehicles, weapons, and sensors for proper 

15 operation and suitability for combat use.’’. 

16 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

17 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 

18 at the end the following: 

‘‘2283. Establishment of the Southern Sea Otter Military Readiness Areas.’’. 

Æ 


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