I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5565

To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act

to improve implementation of the western Alaska community development

quota program, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 26, 2000

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Resources

A BILL

To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and

Management Act to improve implementation of the western Alaska community development quota program, 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 ‘‘Western Alaska Com5 munity Development Quota Program Implementation Im6 provement Act of 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENT OF WESTERN ALASKA COMMUNITY

2 DEVELOPMENT QUOTA PROGRAM.

3 Section 305 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Con4 servation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1855) is

5 amended—

6 (1) by amending the subsection heading for

7 subsection (i) to read as follows:

8 ‘‘(i) WESTERN PACIFIC COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

9 PROGRAM.—’’;

10 (2) by striking paragraph (1) of subsection (i);

11 (3) by redesignating paragraph (2) of sub12 section (i) as paragraph (1);

13 (4) by inserting before paragraph (3) of sub14 section (i) the following:

15 ‘‘(k) GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO COMMU16 NITY DEVELOPMENT QUOTA PROGRAMS.—’’;

17 (5) in subsection (k) (as designated by para18 graph (4) of this section) by redesignating para19 graphs (3) and (4) as paragraphs (1) and (2) of

20 subsection (k), respectively; and

21 (6) by inserting after subsection (i) the fol22 lowing:

23 ‘‘(j) WESTERN ALASKA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

24 PROGRAM.—
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1 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The North Pacific

2 Council and the Secretary shall establish a western

3 Alaska community development quota program—

4 ‘‘(A) to afford eligible communities a fair

5 and equitable opportunity to participate in Ber6 ing Sea fisheries; and

7 ‘‘(B) to assist eligible communities to

8 achieve sustainable long-term diversified local

9 economic development.

10 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION OF PERCENTAGES OF BERING

11 SEA DIRECTED FISHERIES.—The Secretary shall al12 locate the following percentages of the total allow13 able catches and guideline harvest levels of Bering

14 Sea directed fisheries as directed fishing allowances

15 to the western Alaska community development quota

16 program:

17 ‘‘(A) No less than 10 percent of the total

18 allowable catch of the Bering Sea directed pol19 lock fishery.

20 ‘‘(B) No less than 7.5 percent of the total

21 allowable catch of all other Bering Sea directed

22 groundfish fisheries.

23 ‘‘(C) No less than 7.5 percent of the guide24 line harvest level of each Bering Sea directed

25 crab fishery.
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1 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY TO PARTICIPATE.—To be eli2 gible to participate in the western Alaska community

3 development quota program, a community must—

4 ‘‘(A) be located—

5 ‘‘(i) within 50 nautical miles from the

6 baseline from which the breadth of the ter7 ritorial sea is measured along the Bering

8 Sea coast from the Bering Strait to the

9 westernmost of the Aleutian Islands; or

10 ‘‘(ii) on an island within the Bering

11 Sea;

12 ‘‘(B) not be located on the Gulf of Alaska

13 coast of the north Pacific Ocean;

14 ‘‘(C) be certified by the Secretary of the

15 Interior pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims

16 Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1610 et seq.) to be

17 a Native village;

18 ‘‘(D) consist of residents who conduct

19 more than one-half of their current commercial

20 or subsistence fishing effort in the waters of the

21 Bering Sea or waters surrounding the Aleutian

22 Islands;

23 ‘‘(E) not have previously developed har24 vesting or processing capability sufficient to

25 support substantial participation in the ground-
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1 fish fisheries of the Bering Sea, unless the com2 munity demonstrates that its participation in

3 the western Alaska community development

4 program is the only way for the community to

5 realize a return from previous investments in

6 harvesting or processing capability; and

7 ‘‘(F) be a member of a CDQ group.

8 ‘‘(4) AUTHORITY TO HARVEST.—(A) The Sec9 retary may authorize a CDQ group to harvest a

10 share of the percentage of the total allowable catch

11 or guideline harvest level of a Bering Sea directed

12 fishery allocated under paragraph (2) if the CDQ

13 group submits a community development plan to the

14 Secretary in accordance with this paragraph.

15 ‘‘(B) A community development plan shall—

16 ‘‘(i) request a share of the percentage

17 of the total allowable catch or guideline

18 harvest level of the fishery that the CDQ

19 group that submits the plan desires to har20 vest annually during the effective period of

21 the plan; and

22 ‘‘(ii) describe all CDQ projects that

23 the CDQ group that submits the plan in24 tends to participate in during the 36-

25 month duration of the plan.
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1 ‘‘(C)(i) The Secretary shall timely approve or

2 disapprove each community development plan sub3 mitted under this paragraph that contains the infor4 mation described in subparagraph (B). If approved,

5 a community development plan shall be effective for

6 36 months, except as provided in clause (ii).

7 ‘‘(ii) The community development plans that

8 the Secretary approved before the 2001 fishing year

9 shall expire on December 31, 2003.

10 ‘‘(D) In approving a community development

11 plan, the Secretary shall specify the share of the

12 total allowable catch or guideline harvest level that

13 the CDQ group is authorized to harvest annually

14 under the plan, in accordance with paragraph (5).

15 ‘‘(5) SPECIFICATION OF HARVEST SHARES.—

16 (A) If the total of the harvest shares requested pur17 suant to paragraph (4)(B)(i) for a fishery is greater

18 than the percentage of the total allowable catch or

19 guideline harvest level for the fishery allocated under

20 paragraph (2) to the western Alaska community de21 velopment quota program, the Secretary shall au22 thorize each CDQ group requesting a harvest share

23 to harvest annually the share of the percentage of

24 the total allowable catch or guideline harvest level of
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1 the fishery that the Secretary determines is appro2 priate.

3 ‘‘(B) If the Secretary authorizes a CDQ group

4 to harvest a share of a fishery that is less than the

5 harvest share requested in the community develop6 ment plan submitted by the CDQ group, the Sec7 retary shall give the CDQ group an opportunity to

8 amend the plan to reflect the reduction in harvest

9 share authorized by the Secretary.

10 ‘‘(C)(i) Within 24 months after the date of en11 actment of the Western Alaska Community Develop12 ment Program Implementation Improvement Act of

13 2000, each CDQ group may submit criteria to the

14 Secretary for the Secretary to consider in deter15 mining harvest shares under subparagraph (A).

16 ‘‘(ii) If, pursuant to clause (i), each CDQ group

17 submits the same criteria to the Secretary, the Sec18 retary shall consider only those criteria in deter19 mining harvest shares under subparagraph (A).

20 ‘‘(iii) If, pursuant to clause (i), all CDQ groups

21 do not submit the same criteria to the Secretary, the

22 Secretary shall, by not later than 30 months after

23 the date of enactment of the Western Alaska Com24 munity Development Program Implementation Im25 provement Act of 2000, promulgate regulations that
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1 establish criteria that the Secretary shall consider in

2 determining harvest shares under subparagraph (A).

3 ‘‘(6) PARTICIPATION BY STATE OF ALASKA.—

4 (A) The Secretary may allow the State of Alaska to

5 participate in the implementation of the western

6 Alaska community development quota program.

7 ‘‘(B) If the State of Alaska participates, the

8 Secretary may require CDQ groups to submit a copy

9 of their community development plans to the Gov10 ernor of Alaska.

11 ‘‘(C) If the State of Alaska is participating in

12 the implementation of the western Alaska commu13 nity development quota program and the total of the

14 harvest shares requested pursuant to paragraph

15 (4)(B)(i) for a fishery is greater than the percentage

16 of the total allowable catch or guideline harvest level

17 for the fishery allocated under paragraph (2) to the

18 western Alaska community development quota pro19 gram, the Secretary may direct the Governor of

20 Alaska—

21 ‘‘(i) to consult with the CDQ groups;

22 ‘‘(ii) to consult with the North Pacific

23 Fishery Management Council regarding the

24 plans; and
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1 ‘‘(iii) to timely submit the Governor’s rec2 ommendations regarding the approval of the

3 plans by the Secretary.

4 ‘‘(D) The Governor shall indicate, in writing, to

5 the Secretary and to each CDQ group the rationale,

6 and the factual basis for the rationale, for any rec7 ommendation regarding the Secretary’s approval of

8 a CDQ group’s community development plan.

9 ‘‘(7) REPORTS.—(A) On March 1 of each cal10 endar year each CDQ group shall submit a report

11 regarding its approved community development

12 plans then in effect to the Secretary, and to the

13 Governor of Alaska if the State of Alaska is partici14 pating under paragraph (6).

15 ‘‘(B) Each report shall describe the following:

16 ‘‘(i) The CDQ group’s implementation dur17 ing the previous calendar year of the CDQ

18 projects described in the group’s community de19 velopment plans, and any modifications to a

20 project that the group may have made since the

21 last report.

22 ‘‘(ii) In summary form, the financial per23 formance during the previous calendar year of

24 each subsidiary, joint venture, partnership, or

25 other entity in which the CDQ group owns an
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1 equity interest, and all other non-CDQ project2 related activities in which the group engaged.

3 ‘‘(iii) The CDQ group’s budget for the cur4 rent calendar year.

5 ‘‘(C) Financial and strategic business informa6 tion contained in reports submitted under this para7 graph shall be considered confidential. The Sec8 retary, and the Governor of Alaska if the State of

9 Alaska is participating in the Secretary’s implemen10 tation of the western Alaska community development

11 quota program—

12 ‘‘(i) shall not make such information avail13 able to the public; and

14 ‘‘(ii) may not use such information for any

15 purpose other than evaluating the financial sta16 tus and performance of the CDQ group that

17 submitted the information.

18 ‘‘(8) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this

19 subsection:

20 ‘‘(A) The term ‘CDQ group’ means a non21 profit or for-profit corporation or other entity

22 whose membership is exclusively composed of

23 one or more communities that satisfy the cri24 teria described in paragraph (3)(A) through

25 (E).
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1 ‘‘(B) The term ‘community development

2 plan’ means a plan that describes—

3 ‘‘(i) how a CDQ group intends to har4 vest its requested share of the percentage

5 of the total allowable catch or guideline

6 harvest level of a directed Bering Sea fish7 ery that the Secretary has allocated to the

8 western Alaska community development

9 quota program; and

10 ‘‘(ii) how the group intends to use the

11 harvest opportunity and the revenue de12 rived therefrom to assist communities that

13 are members of the group to achieve sus14 tainable long term local economic develop15 ment.

16 ‘‘(C)(i) Subject to clause (ii), the term

17 ‘CDQ project’ means a program or activity that

18 is administered or initiated by a CDQ group

19 and that is funded by revenue the CDQ group

20 derives or accrues during the duration of a

21 community development plan approved by the

22 Secretary from harvesting the fishery covered

23 by the plan.

24 ‘‘(ii) Such term does not include a program

25 or activity administered or initiated by a sub-
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1 sidiary, joint venture, partnership, or other en2 tity in which a CDQ group owns an equity in3 terest, if the program or activity is funded by

4 the assets of the subsidiary, joint venture, part5 nership, or other entity, rather than by the as6 sets of the CDQ group.

7 ‘‘(9) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary may pro8 mulgate such regulations as are reasonable and nec9 essary to enable the Secretary to implement this

10 subsection.’’.

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