IB 

Union Calendar No. 290

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3378

[Report No. 108–507] 

To assist in the conservation of marine turtles and the nesting habitats 

of marine turtles in foreign countries. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 28, 2003

Mr. GILCHREST introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Resources 

MAY 20, 2004

Additional sponsors: Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, 

Mr. CASE, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. SHAW, Mr. 

HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. OLVER, Ms. 

BORDALLO, Mr. SAXTON, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. DEUTSCH, 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. FILNER, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of 

California, Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. 

MORAN of Virginia, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. 

ALLEN, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. WELDON of Florida, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. GOSS, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. OWENS, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. WEINER, 

Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. HONDA, 

Ms. NORTON, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. CRENSHAW, and Mr. 

BLUMENAUER

MAY 20, 2004

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 

and ordered to be printed 
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A BILL

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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Marine Turtle Con5 servation Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

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

8 (1) marine turtle populations have declined to 

9 the point that the long-term survival of the logger10 head, green, hawksbill, Kemp’s ridley, olive ridley, 

11 and leatherback turtle in the wild is in serious jeop12 ardy; 

13 (2) 6 of the 7 recognized species of marine tur14 tles are listed as threatened or endangered species 

15 under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 

16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and all 7 species have been in17 cluded in appendix I of CITES; 

18 (3) because marine turtles are long-lived, late19 maturing, and highly migratory, marine turtles are 

20 particularly vulnerable to the impacts of human ex21 ploitation and habitat loss; 
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1 (4) illegal international trade seriously threat2 ens wild populations of some marine turtle species, 

3 particularly the hawksbill turtle; 

4 (5) the challenges facing marine turtles are im5 mense, and the resources available have not been 

6 sufficient to cope with the continued loss of nesting 

7 habitats caused by human activities and the con8 sequent diminution of marine turtle populations; 

9 (6) because marine turtles are flagship species 

10 for the ecosystems in which marine turtles are 

11 found, sustaining healthy populations of marine tur12 tles provides benefits to many other species of wild13 life, including many other threatened or endangered 

14 species; 

15 (7) marine turtles are important components of 

16 the ecosystems that they inhabit, and studies of wild 

17 populations of marine turtles have provided impor18 tant biological insights; 

19 (8) changes in marine turtle populations are 

20 most reliably indicated by changes in the numbers of 

21 nests and nesting females; and 

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

23 addressing of the threats to the long-term viability 

24 of populations of marine turtles will require the joint 

25 commitment and effort of—
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1 (A) countries that have within their bound2 aries marine turtle nesting habitats; and 

3 (B) persons with expertise in the conserva4 tion of marine turtles. 

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

6 in the conservation of marine turtles and the nesting habi7 tats of marine turtles in foreign countries by supporting 

8 and providing financial resources for projects to conserve 

9 the nesting habitats, conserve marine turtles in those habi10 tats, and address other threats to the survival of marine 

11 turtles. 

12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

13 In this Act: 

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

15 Convention on International Trade in Endangered 

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

17 TIAS 8249). 

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

19 means the use of all methods and procedures nec20 essary to protect nesting habitats of marine turtles 

21 in foreign countries and of marine turtles in those 

22 habitats, including—

23 (A) protection, restoration, and manage24 ment of nesting habitats; 
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1 (B) onsite research and monitoring of 

2 nesting populations, nesting habitats, annual 

3 reproduction, and species population trends; 

4 (C) assistance in the development, imple5 mentation, and improvement of national and re6 gional management plans for nesting habitat 

7 ranges; 

8 (D) enforcement and implementation of 

9 CITES and laws of foreign countries to—

10 (i) protect and manage nesting popu11 lations and nesting habitats; and 

12 (ii) prevent illegal trade of marine 

13 turtles; 

14 (E) training of local law enforcement offi15 cials in the interdiction and prevention of—

16 (i) the illegal killing of marine turtles 

17 on nesting habitat; and 

18 (ii) illegal trade in marine turtles; 

19 (F) initiatives to resolve conflicts between 

20 humans and marine turtles over habitat used by 

21 marine turtles for nesting; 

22 (G) community outreach and education; 

23 and 
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1 (H) strengthening of the ability of local 

2 communities to implement nesting population 

3 and nesting habitat conservation programs. 

4 (3) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Ma5 rine Turtle Conservation Fund established by section 

6 5. 

7 (4) MARINE TURTLE.—

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘marine tur9 tle’’ means any member of the family 

10 Cheloniidae or Dermochelyidae. 

11 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘marine tur12 tle’’ includes—

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

14 of a turtle described in subparagraph (A); 

15 and 

16 (ii) a carcass of such a turtle. 

17 (5) MULTINATIONAL SPECIES CONSERVATION

18 FUND.—The term ‘‘Multinational Species Conserva19 tion Fund’’ means the fund established under the 

20 heading ‘‘multinational species conservation fund’’ in 

21 title I of the Department of the Interior and Related 

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

23 4246). 

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

25 the Secretary of the Interior. 
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1 SEC. 4. MARINE TURTLE CONSERVATION ASSISTANCE. 

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

3 funds and in consultation with other Federal officials, the 

4 Secretary shall use amounts in the Fund to provide finan5 cial assistance for projects for the conservation of marine 

6 turtles for which project proposals are approved by the 

7 Secretary in accordance with this section. 

8 (b) PROJECT PROPOSALS.—

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

10 project for the conservation of marine turtles may be 

11 submitted to the Secretary by—

12 (A) any wildlife management authority of 

13 a foreign country that has within its boundaries 

14 marine turtle nesting habitat if the activities of 

15 the authority directly or indirectly affect marine 

16 turtle conservation; or 

17 (B) any other person or group with the 

18 demonstrated expertise required for the con19 servation of marine turtles. 

20 (2) REQUIRED ELEMENTS.—A project proposal 

21 shall include—

22 (A) a statement of the purposes of the 

23 project; 

24 (B) the name of the individual with overall 

25 responsibility for the project; 
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1 (C) a description of the qualifications of 

2 the individuals that will conduct the project; 

3 (D) a description of—

4 (i) methods for project implementa5 tion and outcome assessment; 

6 (ii) staff and community management 

7 for the project; and 

8 (iii) the logistics of the project; 

9 (E) an estimate of the funds and time re10 quired to complete the project; 

11 (F) evidence of support for the project by 

12 appropriate governmental entities of the coun13 tries in which the project will be conducted, if 

14 the Secretary determines that such support is 

15 required for the success of the project; 

16 (G) information regarding the source and 

17 amount of matching funding available for the 

18 project; and 

19 (H) any other information that the Sec20 retary considers to be necessary for evaluating 

21 the eligibility of the project for funding under 

22 this Act. 

23 (c) PROJECT REVIEW AND APPROVAL.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall—
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1 (A) not later than 30 days after receiving 

2 a project proposal, provide a copy of the pro3 posal to other Federal officials, as appropriate; 

4 and 

5 (B) review each project proposal in a time6 ly manner to determine whether the proposal 

7 meets the criteria specified in subsection (d). 

8 (2) CONSULTATION; APPROVAL OR DIS9 APPROVAL.—Not later than 180 days after receiving 

10 a project proposal, and subject to the availability of 

11 funds, the Secretary, after consulting with other 

12 Federal officials, as appropriate, shall—

13 (A) consult on the proposal with the gov14 ernment of each country in which the project is 

15 to be conducted; 

16 (B) after taking into consideration any 

17 comments resulting from the consultation, ap18 prove or disapprove the project proposal; and 

19 (C) provide written notification of the ap20 proval or disapproval to the person that sub21 mitted the project proposal, other Federal offi22 cials, and each country described in subpara23 graph (A). 

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

25 approve a project proposal under this section if the project 
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1 will help recover and sustain viable populations of marine 

2 turtles in the wild by assisting efforts in foreign countries 

3 to implement marine turtle conservation programs. 

4 (e) PROJECT SUSTAINABILITY.—To the maximum 

5 extent practicable, in determining whether to approve 

6 project proposals under this section, the Secretary shall 

7 give preference to conservation projects that are designed 

8 to ensure effective, long-term conservation of marine tur9 tles and their nesting habitats.

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

11 approve project proposals under this section, the Secretary 

12 shall give preference to projects for which matching funds 

13 are available. 

14 (g) PROJECT REPORTING.—

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

16 assistance under this section for a project shall sub17 mit to the Secretary periodic reports (at such inter18 vals as the Secretary may require) that include all 

19 information that the Secretary, after consultation 

20 with other government officials, determines is nec21 essary to evaluate the progress and success of the 

22 project for the purposes of ensuring positive results, 

23 assessing problems, and fostering improvements. 

24 (2) AVAILABILITY TO THE PUBLIC.—Reports 

25 under paragraph (1), and any other documents re-
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1 lating to projects for which financial assistance is 

2 provided under this Act, shall be made available to 

3 the public. 

4 SEC. 5. MARINE TURTLE CONSERVATION FUND. 

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

6 Multinational Species Conservation Fund a separate ac7 count to be known as the ‘‘Marine Turtle Conservation 

8 Fund’’, consisting of—

9 (1) amounts transferred to the Secretary of the 

10 Treasury for deposit into the Fund under subsection 

11 (e); 

12 (2) amounts appropriated to the Fund under 

13 section 6; and 

14 (3) any interest earned on investment of 

15 amounts in the Fund under subsection (c). 

16 (b) EXPENDITURES FROM FUND.—

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

18 request by the Secretary, the Secretary of the Treas19 ury shall transfer from the Fund to the Secretary, 

20 without further appropriation, such amounts as the 

21 Secretary determines are necessary to carry out sec22 tion 4. 

23 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of the 

24 amounts in the account available for each fiscal 

25 year, the Secretary may expend not more than 3 
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1 percent, or up to $80,000, whichever is greater, to 

2 pay the administrative expenses necessary to carry 

3 out this Act. 

4 (c) INVESTMENT OF AMOUNTS.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas6 ury shall invest such portion of the Fund as is not, 

7 in the judgment of the Secretary of the Treasury, 

8 required to meet current withdrawals. Investments 

9 may be made only in interest-bearing obligations of 

10 the United States. 

11 (2) ACQUISITION OF OBLIGATIONS.—For the 

12 purpose of investments under paragraph (1), obliga13 tions may be acquired—

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

15 (B) by purchase of outstanding obligations 

16 at the market price. 

17 (3) SALE OF OBLIGATIONS.—Any obligation ac18 quired by the Fund may be sold by the Secretary of 

19 the Treasury at the market price. 

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

21 the proceeds from the sale or redemption of, any ob22 ligations held in the Fund shall be credited to and 

23 form a part of the Fund. 

24 (d) TRANSFERS OF AMOUNTS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amounts required to be 

2 transferred to the Fund under this section shall be 

3 transferred at least monthly from the general fund 

4 of the Treasury to the Fund on the basis of esti5 mates made by the Secretary of the Treasury. 

6 (2) ADJUSTMENTS.—Proper adjustment shall 

7 be made in amounts subsequently transferred to the 

8 extent prior estimates were in excess of or less than 

9 the amounts required to be transferred. 

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

11 Secretary may accept and use donations to provide assist12 ance under section 4. Amounts received by the Secretary 

13 in the form of donations shall be transferred to the Sec14 retary of the Treasury for deposit in the Fund. 

15 SEC. 6. ADVISORY GROUP. 

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

17 the Secretary may convene an advisory group consisting 

18 of individuals representing public and private organiza19 tions actively involved in the conservation of marine tur20 tles. 

21 (b) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—

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

23 (A) ensure that each meeting of the advi24 sory group is open to the public; and 
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1 (B) provide, at each meeting, an oppor2 tunity for interested persons to present oral or 

3 written statements concerning items on the 

4 agenda. 

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

6 the public timely notice of each meeting of the advi7 sory group. 

8 (3) MINUTES.—Minutes of each meeting of the 

9 advisory group shall be kept by the Secretary and 

10 shall be made available to the public. 

11 (c) EXEMPTION FROM FEDERAL ADVISORY COM12 MITTEE ACT.—The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

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

14 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

15 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Fund 

16 $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2005 through 2009. 

17 SEC. 8. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

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

19 submit to the Congress a report on the results and effec20 tiveness of the program carried out under this Act, includ21 ing recommendations concerning how this Act might be 

22 improved and whether the Fund should be continued in 

23 the future.

Union Calendar No. 290

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3378

[Report No. 108–507] 

A BILL

To assist in the conservation of marine turtles and 

countries. the nesting habitats of marine turtles in foreign 

MAY 20, 2004

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed