I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5133

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

SEPTEMBER 7, 2000

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 Improvement Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. CHESAPEAKE BAY OFFICE.

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Section 307(a) of the Na8 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Author-
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1 ization Act of 1992 (15 U.S.C. 1511d(a)) is amended in

2 paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Estuarine Resources’’.

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

4 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Authorization

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

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

7 following:

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

9 the various organizations within the National Oce10 anic and Atmospheric Administration, the Chesa11 peake Bay Regional Sea Grant Programs, and the

12 Chesapeake Bay units of the National Estuarine Re13 search Reserve System, including—

14 ‘‘(A) programs and activities in—

15 ‘‘(i) coastal and estuarine research,

16 monitoring, and assessment;

17 ‘‘(ii) fisheries research and stock as18 sessments;

19 ‘‘(iii) data management;

20 ‘‘(iv) remote sensing;

21 ‘‘(v) coastal management;

22 ‘‘(vi) habitat conservation and restora23 tion; and

24 ‘‘(vii) atmospheric deposition; and
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1 ‘‘(B) programs and activities of the Coop2 erative Oxford Laboratory of the National

3 Ocean Service with respect to—

4 ‘‘(i) nonindigenous species;

5 ‘‘(ii) marine species pathology;

6 ‘‘(iii) human pathogens in marine en7 vironments; and

8 ‘‘(iv) ecosystems health;’’; and

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

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

11 shall include an action plan consisting of—

12 ‘‘(A) a list of recommended research, moni13 toring, and data collection activities necessary

14 to continue implementation of the strategy de15 scribed in paragraph (2); and

16 ‘‘(B) proposals for—

17 ‘‘(i) continuing and new National Oce18 anic and Atmospheric Administration ac19 tivities in the Chesapeake Bay; and

20 ‘‘(ii) the integration of those activities

21 with the activities of the partners in the

22 Chesapeake Bay Program to meet the

23 commitments of the Chesapeake 2000

24 agreement and subsequent agreements.’’.
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1 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 307 of the

2 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Au3 thorization Act of 1992 (15 U.S.C. 1511d) is amended

4 by striking the section heading and inserting the following:

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

6 SEC. 3. MULTIPLE SPECIES MANAGEMENT STRATEGY;

7 CHESAPEAKE BAY FISHERY AND HABITAT

8 RESTORATION SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM.

9 The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra10 tion Authorization Act of 1992 is amended by inserting

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

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

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

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

15 Chesapeake Bay Office of the National Oceanic and At16 mospheric Administration shall commence a 5-year study,

17 in cooperation with the scientific community of the Chesa18 peake Bay, appropriate interstate resource management

19 entities, and appropriate Federal agencies—

20 ‘‘(1) to determine and expand the under21 standing of the role and response of living resources

22 in the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem; and

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

24 strategy for the Chesapeake Bay.
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1 ‘‘(b) REQUIRED ELEMENTS OF STUDY.—In order to

2 improve the understanding necessary for the development

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

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

5 fish and shellfish that live in the Chesapeake Bay es6 tuaries and are selected for study;

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

8 fish and shellfish described in paragraph (1) and

9 other living resources, with particular attention to

10 the impact of changes within and among trophic lev11 els; and

12 ‘‘(3) recommend management actions to opti13 mize the return of a healthy and balanced ecosystem

14 for the Chesapeake Bay.

15 ‘‘SEC. 307B. CHESAPEAKE BAY FISHERY AND HABITAT RES16 TORATION SMALL WATERSHED GRANTS PRO17 GRAM.

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

19 Bay Office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad20 ministration (referred to in this section as the ‘Director’),

21 in cooperation with the Chesapeake Executive Council (as

22 defined in section 307(e)), shall carry out a community23 based fishery and habitat restoration small grants and

24 technical assistance program in the Chesapeake Bay wa25 tershed.
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1 ‘‘(b) PROJECTS.—

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

3 grants under the program under subsection (a) to

4 pay the Federal share of the cost of projects that

5 are carried out by eligible entities described in sub6 section (c) for the restoration of fisheries and habi7 tats in the Chesapeake Bay.

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

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

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

11 grants may be made under the program include—

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

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

14 reefs or substrata for habitats;

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

16 grass; and

17 ‘‘(D) the production of oysters for restora18 tion projects.

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

20 eligible to receive grants under the program under this

21 section:

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

23 of a State in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and the

24 government of the District of Columbia.
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1 ‘‘(2) An organization in the Chesapeake Bay

2 watershed (such as an educational institution or a

3 community organization)—

4 ‘‘(A) that is described in section 501(c) of

5 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and is ex6 empt from taxation under section 501(a) of

7 that Code; and

8 ‘‘(B) that will administer such grants in

9 coordination with a government referred to in

10 paragraph (1).

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

12 may prescribe any additional requirements, including pro13 cedures, that the Director considers necessary to carry out

14 the program under this section.’’.

15 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 307 of the National Oce17 anic and Atmospheric Administration Authorization Act

18 of 1992 (15 U.S.C. 1511d) is amended by striking sub19 section (d) and inserting the following:

20 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

21 is authorized to be appropriated to the Department of

22 Commerce for the Chesapeake Bay Office $6,000,000 for

23 each of fiscal years 2001 through 2004.’’.

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

25 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine
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1 Fisheries Program Authorization Act (Public Law 98–

2 210; 97 Stat. 1409) is amended by striking subsection (e)

3 (106 Stat. 4285).

4 SEC. 5. TECHNICAL CORRECTION.

5 Section 307(b) of the National Oceanic and Atmos6 pheric Administration Authorization Act of 1992 (15

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

8 Bay Executive Council’’ and inserting ‘‘Chesapeake Exec9 utive Council’’.

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