I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4789

To amend the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Authorization Act of 1992 to revise and enhance authorities, and to authorize

appropriations, for the Chesapeake Bay Office, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 29, 2000

Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. HOYER, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. WYNN, Mr. EHRLICH, and Mr. GILCHREST) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources

A BILL

To amend the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Authorization Act of 1992 to revise and enhance

authorities, and to authorize appropriations, for the

Chesapeake Bay Office, 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 ‘‘NOAA Chesapeake

5 Bay Office Reauthorization Act of 2000’’.
2

•HR 4789 IH

1 SEC. 2. CHESAPEAKE BAY OFFICE.

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Section 307(a) of the Na3 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Author4 ization Act of 1992 (15 U.S.C. 1511d(a)) is amended—

5 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Estuarine

6 Resources’’; and

7 (2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the

8 following:

9 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATION.—

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later

11 than 60 days after the date of enactment of

12 this subparagraph, the Office shall be adminis13 tered by the Office of the Under Secretary of

14 Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere.

15 ‘‘(B) DIRECTOR.—The Secretary of Com16 merce shall appoint as Director of the Office an

17 individual who has knowledge of and experience

18 in research or resource management efforts in

19 the Chesapeake Bay.’’.

20 (b) FUNCTIONS.—Section 307(b) of the National

21 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Authorization

22 Act of 1992 (15 U.S.C. 1511d(b)) is amended—

23 (1) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the

24 following:

25 ‘‘(3) coordinate the programs and activities of

26 the various organizations within the National Oce-
3

•HR 4789 IH

1 anic and Atmospheric Administration and the

2 Chesapeake Bay Regional Sea Grant Programs,

3 including—

4 ‘‘(A) programs and activities in—

5 ‘‘(i) coastal and estuarine research,

6 monitoring, and assessment;

7 ‘‘(ii) fisheries research and stock as8 sessments;

9 ‘‘(iii) data management;

10 ‘‘(iv) remote sensing;

11 ‘‘(v) coastal management;

12 ‘‘(vi) habitat conservation and restora13 tion; and

14 ‘‘(vii) atmospheric deposition; and

15 ‘‘(B) programs and activities of the Coop16 erative Oxford Laboratory of the National

17 Ocean Service with respect to—

18 ‘‘(i) nonindigenous species;

19 ‘‘(ii) marine species pathology;

20 ‘‘(iii) human pathogens in marine en21 vironments; and

22 ‘‘(iv) ecosystems health;’’; and

23 (2) in paragraph (7), by striking the period at

24 the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, which report

25 shall include an action plan consisting of—
4

•HR 4789 IH

1 ‘‘(A) a list of recommended research, moni2 toring, and data collection activities necessary

3 to continue implementation of the strategy de4 scribed in paragraph (2); and

5 ‘‘(B) proposals for—

6 ‘‘(i) continuing and new National Oce7 anic and Atmospheric Administration ac8 tivities in the Chesapeake Bay; and

9 ‘‘(ii) the integration of those activities

10 with the activities of the partners in the

11 Chesapeake Bay Program to meet the

12 commitments of the Chesapeake 2000

13 agreement and subsequent agreements.’’.

14 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 307 of the

15 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Au16 thorization Act of 1992 (15 U.S.C. 1511d) is amended

17 by striking the section heading and inserting the following:

18 ‘‘SEC. 307. CHESAPEAKE BAY OFFICE.’’.

19 SEC. 3. MULTIPLE SPECIES MANAGEMENT STRATEGY;

20 CHESAPEAKE BAY FISHERY AND HABITAT

21 RESTORATION SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM.

22 The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra23 tion Authorization Act of 1992 is amended by inserting

24 after section 307 (15 U.S.C. 1511d) the following:
5

•HR 4789 IH

1 ‘‘SEC. 307A. MULTIPLE SPECIES MANAGEMENT STRATEGY.

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after

3 the date of enactment of this section, the Director of the

4 Chesapeake Bay Office of the National Oceanic and At5 mospheric Administration shall commence a 5-year study,

6 in cooperation with the scientific community of the Chesa7 peake Bay and appropriate Federal agencies—

8 ‘‘(1) to determine and expand the under9 standing of the role and response of living resources

10 in the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem; and

11 ‘‘(2) to develop a multiple species management

12 strategy for the Chesapeake Bay.

13 ‘‘(b) REQUIRED ELEMENTS OF STUDY.—In order to

14 improve the understanding necessary for the development

15 of the strategy under subsection (a), the study shall—

16 ‘‘(1) determine the current status and trends of

17 fish and shellfish that live in the Chesapeake Bay es18 tuaries and are selected for study;

19 ‘‘(2) evaluate and assess interactions among the

20 fish and shellfish described in paragraph (1) and

21 other living resources, with particular attention to

22 the impact of changes within and among trophic lev23 els; and

24 ‘‘(3) recommend management actions to opti25 mize the return of a healthy and balanced ecosystem

26 for the Chesapeake Bay.
6

•HR 4789 IH

1 ‘‘SEC. 307B. CHESAPEAKE BAY FISHERY AND HABITAT RES2 TORATION SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM.

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Chesapeake

4 Bay Office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad5 ministration (referred to in this section as the ‘Director’),

6 in cooperation with the Chesapeake Executive Council (as

7 defined in section 307(e)), shall carry out a community8 based fishery and habitat restoration small grants and

9 technical assistance program in the Chesapeake Bay wa10 tershed.

11 ‘‘(b) PROJECTS.—

12 ‘‘(1) SUPPORT.—The Director shall make

13 grants under the program under subsection (a) to

14 pay the Federal share of the cost of projects that

15 are carried out by eligible entities described in sub16 section (c) for the restoration of fisheries and habi17 tats in the Chesapeake Bay.

18 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share

19 under paragraph (1) shall not exceed 75 percent.

20 ‘‘(3) TYPES OF PROJECTS.—Projects for which

21 grants may be made under the program include—

22 ‘‘(A) the improvement of fish passageways;

23 ‘‘(B) the creation of natural or artificial

24 reefs or substrata for habitats;

25 ‘‘(C) the restoration of wetland or sea

26 grass;
7

•HR 4789 IH

1 ‘‘(D) the production of oysters for restora2 tion projects; and

3 ‘‘(E) the restoration of contaminated habi4 tats in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

5 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The following entities are

6 eligible to receive grants under the program under this

7 section:

8 ‘‘(1) The government of a political subdivision

9 of a State in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and the

10 government of the District of Columbia.

11 ‘‘(2) An organization in the Chesapeake Bay

12 watershed (such as an educational institution or a

13 community organization) that is described in section

14 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and is

15 exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of that

16 Code.

17 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—The Director

18 may prescribe any additional requirements, including pro19 cedures, that the Director considers necessary to carry out

20 the program under this section.

21 ‘‘SEC. 307C. COASTAL PREDICTION CENTER.

22 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after

24 the date of enactment of this section, the Director

25 of the Chesapeake Bay Office of the National Oce-
8

•HR 4789 IH

1 anic and Atmospheric Administration (referred to in

2 this section as the ‘Director’), in collaboration with

3 regional scientific institutions, shall establish a

4 coastal prediction center for the Chesapeake Bay

5 (referred to in this section as the ‘center’).

6 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE OF CENTER.—The center shall

7 serve as a knowledge bank for—

8 ‘‘(A) assembling, integrating, and modeling

9 coastal information and data from appropriate

10 government agencies and scientific institutions;

11 ‘‘(B) interpreting the data; and

12 ‘‘(C) organizing the data into predictive

13 products that are useful to policy makers, re14 source managers, scientists, and the public.

15 ‘‘(b) ACTIVITIES.—

16 ‘‘(1) INFORMATION AND PREDICTION SYS17 TEM.—The center shall develop an Internet-based

18 information system for integrating, interpreting, and

19 disseminating coastal information and predictions

20 concerning—

21 ‘‘(A) climate;

22 ‘‘(B) land use;

23 ‘‘(C) coastal pollution;

24 ‘‘(D) coastal environmental quality;

25 ‘‘(E) ecosystem health and performance;
9

•HR 4789 IH

1 ‘‘(F) aquatic living resources and habitat

2 conditions; and

3 ‘‘(G) weather, tides, currents, and circula4 tion that affect the distribution of sediments,

5 nutrients, and organisms, coastline erosion, and

6 related physical and chemical events within the

7 Chesapeake Bay and the tributaries of the

8 Chesapeake Bay.

9 ‘‘(2) AGREEMENTS TO PROVIDE DATA, INFOR10 MATION, AND SUPPORT.—The Director may enter

11 into agreements with other entities of the National

12 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, other ap13 propriate Federal, State, and local government agen14 cies, and academic institutions, to provide and inter15 pret data and information, and provide appropriate

16 support, relating to the activities of the center.

17 ‘‘(3) AGREEMENTS RELATING TO INFORMATION

18 PRODUCTS.—The Director may enter into grants,

19 contracts, and interagency agreements with eligible

20 entities for the collection, processing, analysis, inter21 pretation, and electronic publication of information

22 products for the center.’’.

23 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 307 of the National Oce25 anic and Atmospheric Administration Authorization Act
10

•HR 4789 IH

1 of 1992 (15 U.S.C. 1511d) is amended by striking sub2 section (d) and inserting the following:

3 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be

5 appropriated to the Department of Commerce for

6 the Chesapeake Bay Office $6,000,000 for each of

7 fiscal years 2001 through 2004.

8 ‘‘(2) AMOUNTS FOR NEW PROGRAMS.—Of the

9 amount authorized to be appropriated for each fiscal

10 year under paragraph (1)—

11 ‘‘(A) not more than $2,500,000 shall be

12 available to carry out section 307A;

13 ‘‘(B) not more than $1,000,000 shall be

14 available to carry out section 307B; and

15 ‘‘(C) not more than $500,000 shall be

16 available to carry out section 307C.’’.

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 2 of the

18 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine

19 Fisheries Program Authorization Act (Public Law 98–

20 210; 97 Stat. 1409) is amended by striking subsection (e)

21 (106 Stat. 4285).

22 SEC. 5. TECHNICAL CORRECTION.

23 Section 307(b) of the National Oceanic and Atmos24 pheric Administration Authorization Act of 1992 (15

25 U.S.C. 1511d(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘Chesapeake
11

•HR 4789 IH

1 Bay Executive Council’’ and inserting ‘‘Chesapeake Exec2 utive Council’’.

Æ