108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3378

AN ACT

To assist in the conservation of marine turtles and

countries.the nesting habitats of marine turtles in foreign

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3378

AN ACT

To assist in the conservation of marine turtles and the

nesting habitats of marine turtles in foreign countries.

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

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Marine Turtle Con3 servation Act of 2004’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

5 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

6 (1) marine turtle populations have declined to

7 the point that the long-term survival of the logger8 head, green, hawksbill, Kemp’s ridley, olive ridley,

9 and leatherback turtle in the wild is in serious jeop10 ardy;

11 (2) 6 of the 7 recognized species of marine tur12 tles are listed as threatened or endangered species

13 under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16

14 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and all 7 species have been in15 cluded in Appendix I of CITES;

16 (3) because marine turtles are long-lived, late17 maturing, and highly migratory, marine turtles are

18 particularly vulnerable to the impacts of human ex19 ploitation and habitat loss;

20 (4) illegal international trade seriously threat21 ens wild populations of some marine turtle species,

22 particularly the hawksbill turtle;

23 (5) the challenges facing marine turtles are im24 mense, and the resources available have not been

25 sufficient to cope with the continued loss of nesting
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1 habitats caused by human activities and the con2 sequent diminution of marine turtle populations;

3 (6) because marine turtles are flagship species

4 for the ecosystems in which marine turtles are

5 found, sustaining healthy populations of marine tur6 tles provides benefits to many other species of wild7 life, including many other threatened or endangered

8 species;

9 (7) marine turtles are important components of

10 the ecosystems that they inhabit, and studies of wild

11 populations of marine turtles have provided impor12 tant biological insights;

13 (8) changes in marine turtle populations are

14 most reliably indicated by changes in the numbers of

15 nests and nesting females; and

16 (9) the reduction, removal, or other effective

17 addressing of the threats to the long-term viability

18 of populations of marine turtles will require the joint

19 commitment and effort of—

20 (A) countries that have within their bound21 aries marine turtle nesting habitats; and

22 (B) persons with expertise in the conserva23 tion of marine turtles.

24 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to assist

25 in the conservation of marine turtles and the nesting habi-
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1 tats of marine turtles in foreign countries by supporting

2 and providing financial resources for projects to conserve

3 the nesting habitats, conserve marine turtles in those habi4 tats, and address other threats to the survival of marine

5 turtles.

6 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act:

8 (1) CITES.—The term ‘‘CITES’’ means the

9 Convention on International Trade in Endangered

10 Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (27 UST 1087;

11 TIAS 8249).

12 (2) CONSERVATION.—The term ‘‘conservation’’

13 means the use of all methods and procedures nec14 essary to protect nesting habitats of marine turtles

15 in foreign countries and of marine turtles in those

16 habitats, including—

17 (A) protection, restoration, and manage18 ment of nesting habitats;

19 (B) onsite research and monitoring of

20 nesting populations, nesting habitats, annual

21 reproduction, and species population trends;

22 (C) assistance in the development, imple23 mentation, and improvement of national and re24 gional management plans for nesting habitat

25 ranges;
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1 (D) enforcement and implementation of

2 CITES and laws of foreign countries to—

3 (i) protect and manage nesting popu4 lations and nesting habitats; and

5 (ii) prevent illegal trade of marine

6 turtles;

7 (E) training of local law enforcement offi8 cials in the interdiction and prevention of—

9 (i) the illegal killing of marine turtles

10 on nesting habitat; and

11 (ii) illegal trade in marine turtles;

12 (F) initiatives to resolve conflicts between

13 humans and marine turtles over habitat used by

14 marine turtles for nesting;

15 (G) community outreach and education;

16 and

17 (H) strengthening of the ability of local

18 communities to implement nesting population

19 and nesting habitat conservation programs.

20 (3) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Ma21 rine Turtle Conservation Fund established by section

22 5.

23 (4) MARINE TURTLE.—
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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘marine tur2 tle’’ means any member of the family

3 Cheloniidae or Dermochelyidae.

4 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘marine tur5 tle’’ includes—

6 (i) any part, product, egg, or offspring

7 of a turtle described in subparagraph (A);

8 and

9 (ii) a carcass of such a turtle.

10 (5) MULTINATIONAL SPECIES CONSERVATION

11 FUND.—The term ‘‘Multinational Species Conserva12 tion Fund’’ means the fund established under the

13 heading ‘‘multinational species conservation fund’’ in

14 title I of the Department of the Interior and Related

15 Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 (16 U.S.C.

16 4246).

17 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

18 the Secretary of the Interior.

19 SEC. 4. MARINE TURTLE CONSERVATION ASSISTANCE.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of

21 funds and in consultation with other Federal officials, the

22 Secretary shall use amounts in the Fund to provide finan23 cial assistance for projects for the conservation of marine

24 turtles for which project proposals are approved by the

25 Secretary in accordance with this section.
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1 (b) PROJECT PROPOSALS.—

2 (1) ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.—A proposal for a

3 project for the conservation of marine turtles may be

4 submitted to the Secretary by—

5 (A) any wildlife management authority of

6 a foreign country that has within its boundaries

7 marine turtle nesting habitat if the activities of

8 the authority directly or indirectly affect marine

9 turtle conservation; or

10 (B) any other person or group with the

11 demonstrated expertise required for the con12 servation of marine turtles.

13 (2) REQUIRED ELEMENTS.—A project proposal

14 shall include—

15 (A) a statement of the purposes of the

16 project;

17 (B) the name of the individual with overall

18 responsibility for the project;

19 (C) a description of the qualifications of

20 the individuals that will conduct the project;

21 (D) a description of—

22 (i) methods for project implementa23 tion and outcome assessment;

24 (ii) staff and community management

25 for the project; and
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1 (iii) the logistics of the project;

2 (E) an estimate of the funds and time re3 quired to complete the project;

4 (F) evidence of support for the project by

5 appropriate governmental entities of the coun6 tries in which the project will be conducted, if

7 the Secretary determines that such support is

8 required for the success of the project;

9 (G) information regarding the source and

10 amount of matching funding available for the

11 project; and

12 (H) any other information that the Sec13 retary considers to be necessary for evaluating

14 the eligibility of the project for funding under

15 this Act.

16 (c) PROJECT REVIEW AND APPROVAL.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall—

18 (A) not later than 30 days after receiving

19 a project proposal, provide a copy of the pro20 posal to other Federal officials, as appropriate;

21 and

22 (B) review each project proposal in a time23 ly manner to determine whether the proposal

24 meets the criteria specified in subsection (d).
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1 (2) CONSULTATION; APPROVAL OR DIS2 APPROVAL.—Not later than 180 days after receiving

3 a project proposal, and subject to the availability of

4 funds, the Secretary, after consulting with other

5 Federal officials, as appropriate, shall—

6 (A) consult on the proposal with the gov7 ernment of each country in which the project is

8 to be conducted;

9 (B) after taking into consideration any

10 comments resulting from the consultation, ap11 prove or disapprove the project proposal; and

12 (C) provide written notification of the ap13 proval or disapproval to the person that sub14 mitted the project proposal, other Federal offi15 cials, and each country described in subpara16 graph (A).

17 (d) CRITERIA FOR APPROVAL.—The Secretary may

18 approve a project proposal under this section if the project

19 will help recover and sustain viable populations of marine

20 turtles in the wild by assisting efforts in foreign countries

21 to implement marine turtle conservation programs.

22 (e) PROJECT SUSTAINABILITY.—To the maximum

23 extent practicable, in determining whether to approve

24 project proposals under this section, the Secretary shall

25 give preference to conservation projects that are designed
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1 to ensure effective, long-term conservation of marine tur2 tles and their nesting habitats.

3 (f) MATCHING FUNDS.—In determining whether to

4 approve project proposals under this section, the Secretary

5 shall give preference to projects for which matching funds

6 are available.

7 (g) PROJECT REPORTING.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each person that receives

9 assistance under this section for a project shall sub10 mit to the Secretary periodic reports (at such inter11 vals as the Secretary may require) that include all

12 information that the Secretary, after consultation

13 with other government officials, determines is nec14 essary to evaluate the progress and success of the

15 project for the purposes of ensuring positive results,

16 assessing problems, and fostering improvements.

17 (2) AVAILABILITY TO THE PUBLIC.—Reports

18 under paragraph (1), and any other documents re19 lating to projects for which financial assistance is

20 provided under this Act, shall be made available to

21 the public.

22 SEC. 5. MARINE TURTLE CONSERVATION FUND.

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the

24 Multinational Species Conservation Fund a separate ac-
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1 count to be known as the ‘‘Marine Turtle Conservation

2 Fund’’, consisting of—

3 (1) amounts transferred to the Secretary of the

4 Treasury for deposit into the Fund under subsection

5 (e);

6 (2) amounts appropriated to the Fund under

7 section 6; and

8 (3) any interest earned on investment of

9 amounts in the Fund under subsection (c).

10 (b) EXPENDITURES FROM FUND.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), on

12 request by the Secretary, the Secretary of the Treas13 ury shall transfer from the Fund to the Secretary,

14 without further appropriation, such amounts as the

15 Secretary determines are necessary to carry out sec16 tion 4.

17 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of the

18 amounts in the account available for each fiscal

19 year, the Secretary may expend not more than 3

20 percent, or up to $80,000, whichever is greater, to

21 pay the administrative expenses necessary to carry

22 out this Act.

23 (c) INVESTMENT OF AMOUNTS.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas25 ury shall invest such portion of the Fund as is not,
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1 in the judgment of the Secretary of the Treasury,

2 required to meet current withdrawals. Investments

3 may be made only in interest-bearing obligations of

4 the United States.

5 (2) ACQUISITION OF OBLIGATIONS.—For the

6 purpose of investments under paragraph (1), obliga7 tions may be acquired—

8 (A) on original issue at the issue price; or

9 (B) by purchase of outstanding obligations

10 at the market price.

11 (3) SALE OF OBLIGATIONS.—Any obligation ac12 quired by the Fund may be sold by the Secretary of

13 the Treasury at the market price.

14 (4) CREDITS TO FUND.—The interest on, and

15 the proceeds from the sale or redemption of, any ob16 ligations held in the Fund shall be credited to and

17 form a part of the Fund.

18 (d) TRANSFERS OF AMOUNTS.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amounts required to be

20 transferred to the Fund under this section shall be

21 transferred at least monthly from the general fund

22 of the Treasury to the Fund on the basis of esti23 mates made by the Secretary of the Treasury.

24 (2) ADJUSTMENTS.—Proper adjustment shall

25 be made in amounts subsequently transferred to the
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1 extent prior estimates were in excess of or less than

2 the amounts required to be transferred.

3 (e) ACCEPTANCE AND USE OF DONATIONS.—The

4 Secretary may accept and use donations to provide assist5 ance under section 4. Amounts received by the Secretary

6 in the form of donations shall be transferred to the Sec7 retary of the Treasury for deposit in the Fund.

8 SEC. 6. ADVISORY GROUP.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—To assist in carrying out this Act,

10 the Secretary may convene an advisory group consisting

11 of individuals representing public and private organiza12 tions actively involved in the conservation of marine tur13 tles.

14 (b) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—

15 (1) MEETINGS.—The Advisory Group shall—

16 (A) ensure that each meeting of the advi17 sory group is open to the public; and

18 (B) provide, at each meeting, an oppor19 tunity for interested persons to present oral or

20 written statements concerning items on the

21 agenda.

22 (2) NOTICE.—The Secretary shall provide to

23 the public timely notice of each meeting of the advi24 sory group.
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1 (3) MINUTES.—Minutes of each meeting of the

2 advisory group shall be kept by the Secretary and

3 shall be made available to the public.

4 (c) EXEMPTION FROM FEDERAL ADVISORY COM5 MITTEE ACT.—The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5

6 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the advisory group.

7 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

8 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Fund

9 $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2005 through 2009.

10 SEC. 8. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

11 Not later than October 1, 2005, the Secretary shall

12 submit to the Congress a report on the results and effec13 tiveness of the program carried out under this Act, includ14 ing recommendations concerning how this Act might be

15 improved and whether the Fund should be continued in

16 the future.

Passed the House of Representatives June 14, 2004.

Attest:

Clerk.