IIB 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1771 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 1, 2009 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

and Transportation 

AN ACT 

To reauthorize the Chesapeake Bay Office of the National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Chesapeake Bay 

3 Science, Education, and Ecosystem Enhancement Act of 

4 2009’’. 

5 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF NOAA CHESAPEAKE BAY OF6 FICE. 

7 Section 307 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

8 Administration Authorization Act of 1992 (15 U.S.C. 

9 1511d) is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (a)— 

11 (A) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘(in this 

12 section’’ and all that follows and inserting a pe13 riod; 

14 (B) by amending paragraph (2) to read as 

15 follows: 

16 ‘‘(2) The Office shall be headed by a Director, 

17 who— 

18 ‘‘(A) shall have knowledge and experience 

19 in research or resource management efforts in 

20 the Chesapeake Bay; and 

21 ‘‘(B) shall be responsible for the adminis22 tration and operation of the office and the im23 plementation of this Act.’’; and 

24 (C) by striking paragraph (3); 

25 (2) in subsection (b)— 


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1 (A) by striking so much as precedes para2 graph (1) and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to 

4 focus the relevant science, research, and resource manage5 ment capabilities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

6 Administration as they apply to the Chesapeake Bay and 

7 to utilize the Office to—’’; 

8 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘Sec9 retary of Commerce’’ and inserting ‘‘Adminis10 trator’’; 

11 (C) in paragraph (3)— 

12 (i) by striking the matter preceding 

13 subparagraph (A) and inserting the fol14 lowing: 

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

16 the various organizations within the National Oce17 anic and Atmospheric Administration in furtherance 

18 of such administration’s coastal resource steward19 ship mission, including—’’; 

20 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

21 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at the end of 

22 clause (vi), and by inserting after clause 

23 (vii) the following: 

24 ‘‘(viii) coastal hazards and climate 

25 change; and’’; and 


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1 (iii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

2 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at the end of 

3 clause (iii), by inserting ‘‘and’’ after the 

4 semicolon at the end of clause (iv), and by 

5 adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(v) integrated ecosystem assess7 ments;’’; 

8 (D) in paragraph (4)— 

9 (i) by striking ‘‘Environmental Pro10 tection Agency’’ and inserting ‘‘Chesapeake 

11 Executive Council’’; and 

12 (ii) by inserting before the semicolon 

13 at the end the following: ‘‘as appropriate to 

14 further purposes of this section’’; 

15 (E) by striking paragraphs (5) and (7); 

16 (F) by redesignating paragraph (6) as 

17 paragraph (5); and 

18 (G) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(6) perform any functions necessary to sup20 port the programs referred to in paragraph (3).’’; 

21 and 

22 (3) by striking subsection (c) and all that fol23 lows through the end of the section and inserting the 

24 following: 

25 ‘‘(c) PROGRAM ACTIVITIES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, 

2 through the Director, shall implement the program 

3 activities authorized by this subsection to support 

4 the activity of the Chesapeake Executive Council and 

5 to further the purposes of this section. 

6 ‘‘(2) ENSURING SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL

7 MERIT.—The Director shall— 

8 ‘‘(A) establish and utilize an effective and 

9 transparent mechanism to ensure that projects 

10 funded under this section have undergone ap11 propriate peer review; and 

12 ‘‘(B) provide other appropriate means to 

13 determine that such projects have acceptable 

14 scientific and technical merit for the purpose of 

15 achieving maximum utilization of available 

16 funds and resources to benefit the Chesapeake 

17 Bay area. 

18 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION WITH CHESAPEAKE EXEC19 UTIVE COUNCIL.—The Director shall, in the imple20 mentation of the program activities authorized under 

21 this section, consult with the Chesapeake Executive 

22 Council, to ensure that the activities of the Office 

23 are consistent with the purposes and priorities of the 

24 Chesapeake Bay Agreement and plans developed 

25 pursuant to the Agreement. 


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1 ‘‘(4) INTEGRATED COASTAL OBSERVATIONS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, 

3 through the Director, may collaborate with sci4 entific and academic institutions, State and 

5 Federal agencies, non-governmental organiza6 tions, and other constituents in the Chesapeake 

7 Bay watershed, to support an integrated obser8 vations system for the Chesapeake Bay con9 sistent with the purposes of subtitle C of title 

10 XII of Public Law 111–11 (33 U.S.C. 3601 et 

11 seq.). 

12 ‘‘(B) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS.—To sup13 port the system referred to in subparagraph (A) 

14 and provide a complete set of environmental in15 formation for the Chesapeake Bay, the Director 

16 shall— 

17 ‘‘(i) coordinate existing monitoring 

18 and observing activities in the Chesapeake 

19 Bay; 

20 ‘‘(ii) identify new data collection needs 

21 and deploy new technologies, as appro22 priate; 

23 ‘‘(iii) collect and analyze the scientific 

24 information necessary for the management 


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1 of living marine resources and the marine 

2 habitat associated with such resources; 

3 ‘‘(iv) manage and interpret the infor4 mation described in clause (iii); and 

5 ‘‘(v) organize the information de6 scribed in clause (iii) into products that 

7 are useful to policy makers, resource man8 agers, scientists, and the public. 

9 ‘‘(C) CHESAPEAKE BAY INTERPRETIVE

10 BUOY SYSTEM.—To further the development 

11 and implementation of the Chesapeake Bay In12 terpretive Buoy System, the Director may— 

13 ‘‘(i) support the establishment and 

14 implementation of the Captain John Smith 

15 Chesapeake National Historic Trail; 

16 ‘‘(ii) delineate key waypoints along the 

17 trail and provide appropriate real-time 

18 data and information for trail users; 

19 ‘‘(iii) interpret data and information 

20 for use by educators and students to in21 spire stewardship of Chesapeake Bay; and 

22 ‘‘(iv) incorporate the Chesapeake Bay 

23 Interpretive Buoy System into the Inte24 grated Ocean Observing System regional 

25 network of observatories. 


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1 ‘‘(5) CHESAPEAKE BAY WATERSHED EDU2 CATION AND TRAINING PROGRAM.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, 

4 through the Director, may establish a Chesa5 peake Bay watershed education and training 

6 program. The program shall— 

7 ‘‘(i) continue and expand the Chesa8 peake Bay watershed education programs 

9 offered by the Office immediately before 

10 the enactment of the Chesapeake Bay 

11 Science, Education, and Ecosystem En12 hancement Act of 2009; 

13 ‘‘(ii) improve the understanding of el14 ementary and secondary school students 

15 and teachers of the living resources of the 

16 ecosystem of the Chesapeake Bay; 

17 ‘‘(iii) provide community education to 

18 improve watershed protection; and 

19 ‘‘(iv) meet the educational goals of the 

20 Chesapeake 2000 Agreement. 

21 ‘‘(B) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Director 

22 may award grants for the purposes of this para23 graph. Grants awarded under this subpara24 graph may be used to support education and 

25 training projects that enhance understanding 


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1 and assessment of a specific environmental 

2 problem in the Chesapeake Bay watershed or a 

3 goal of the Chesapeake Bay Program, or pro4 tect or restore living resources of the Chesa5 peake Bay watershed, including projects that— 

6 ‘‘(i) provide classroom education, in7 cluding the development and use of dis8 tance learning and other innovative tech9 nologies, related to the Chesapeake Bay 

10 watershed; 

11 ‘‘(ii) provide watershed educational 

12 experiences in the Chesapeake Bay water13 shed; 

14 ‘‘(iii) provide professional development 

15 for teachers related to the Chesapeake Bay 

16 watershed and the dissemination of perti17 nent education materials oriented to vary18 ing grade levels; 

19 ‘‘(iv) demonstrate or disseminate envi20 ronmental educational tools and materials 

21 related to the Chesapeake Bay watershed; 

22 ‘‘(v) demonstrate field methods, prac23 tices, and techniques including assessment 

24 of environmental and ecological conditions 

25 and analysis of environmental problems; 


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1 ‘‘(vi) build the capacity of organiza2 tions to deliver high quality environmental 

3 education programs; and 

4 ‘‘(vii) educate local land use officials 

5 and decision makers on the relationship of 

6 land use to natural resource and watershed 

7 protection. 

8 ‘‘(C) COLLABORATION.—The Director shall 

9 implement the education and training program 

10 in collaboration with the heads of other relevant 

11 Federal agencies. 

12 ‘‘(6) COASTAL AND LIVING RESOURCES MAN13 AGEMENT AND HABITAT PROGRAM.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, 

15 through the Director, may establish a Chesa16 peake Bay coastal living resources management 

17 and habitat program to support coordinated 

18 management, protection, characterization, and 

19 restoration of priority Chesapeake Bay habitats 

20 and living resources, including oysters, blue 

21 crabs, and submerged aquatic vegetation. 

22 ‘‘(B) ACTIVITIES.—Under the program, 

23 the Director may, subject to the availability of 

24 appropriations, carry out or enter into grants, 


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1 contracts, and cooperative agreements and pro2 vide technical assistance to support— 

3 ‘‘(i) native oyster restoration; 

4 ‘‘(ii) fish and shellfish aquaculture 

5 that is carried out in accordance with a 

6 valid Federal or State permit; 

7 ‘‘(iii) establishment of submerged 

8 aquatic vegetation propagation programs; 

9 ‘‘(iv) the development of programs 

10 that protect and restore critical coastal 

11 habitats; 

12 ‘‘(v) habitat mapping, characteriza13 tion, and assessment techniques necessary 

14 to identify, assess, and monitor restoration 

15 actions; 

16 ‘‘(vi) application and transfer of ap17 plied scientific research and ecosystem 

18 management tools to fisheries and habitat 

19 managers; 

20 ‘‘(vii) collection, synthesis, and shar21 ing of information to inform and influence 

22 coastal and living resource management 

23 issues; and 


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1 ‘‘(viii) other activities that the Direc2 tor determines are appropriate to carry out 

3 the purposes of such program. 

4 ‘‘(d) REPORTS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, 

6 through the Director, shall submit a biennial report 

7 to the Congress and the Secretary of Commerce on 

8 the activities of the Office and on progress made in 

9 protecting and restoring the living resources and 

10 habitat of the Chesapeake Bay. 

11 ‘‘(2) ACTION PLAN.—Each such report shall in12 clude an action plan for the 2-year period following 

13 submission of the report, consisting of— 

14 ‘‘(A) a list of recommended research, moni15 toring, and data collection activities necessary 

16 to continue implementation of the strategy 

17 under subsection (b)(2); and 

18 ‘‘(B) recommendations to integrate Na19 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

20 activities with the activities of the partners in 

21 the Chesapeake Bay Program to meet the com22 mitments of the Chesapeake 2000 agreement 

23 and subsequent agreements. 

24 ‘‘(e) AGREEMENTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, 

2 through the Director, may, subject to the availability 

3 of appropriations, enter into and perform such con4 tracts, leases, grants, or cooperative agreements as 

5 may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this 

6 Act. 

7 ‘‘(2) USE OF OTHER RESOURCES.—For pur8 poses related to the understanding, protection, and 

9 restoration of Chesapeake Bay, the Director may 

10 use, with their consent and with or without reim11 bursement, the land, services, equipment, personnel, 

12 and facilities of any Department, agency, or instru13 mentality of the United States, or of any State, local 

14 government, Indian tribal government, or of any po15 litical subdivision thereof. 

16 ‘‘(3) DONATIONS.—The Director may accept 

17 donations of funds, other property, and services for 

18 use in understanding, protecting, and restoring the 

19 Chesapeake Bay. Donations accepted under this sec20 tion shall be considered as a gift or bequest to or for 

21 the use of the United States. 

22 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Adminis24 trator’ means the Administrator of the National 

25 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CHESAPEAKE BAY AGREEMENT.—The 

2 term ‘Chesapeake Bay Agreement’ means the for3 mal, voluntary agreements executed to achieve the 

4 goal of restoring and protecting the Chesapeake Bay 

5 ecosystem and the living resources of the Chesa6 peake Bay ecosystem and are signed by the Chesa7 peake Executive Council. 

8 ‘‘(3) CHESAPEAKE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL.—The 

9 term ‘Chesapeake Executive Council’ means the rep10 resentatives from the Commonwealth of Virginia, the 

11 State of Maryland, the Commonwealth of Pennsyl12 vania, the Environmental Protection Agency, the 

13 District of Columbia, and the Chesapeake Bay Com14 mission, who are signatories to the Chesapeake Bay 

15 Agreement, and any future signatories to that agree16 ment. 

17 ‘‘(4) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means 

18 the Director of the Office. 

19 ‘‘(5) OFFICE.—The term ‘Office’ means the 

20 Chesapeake Bay Office established under this sec21 tion. 

22 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

23 is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

24 out this section— 

25 ‘‘(1) $17,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; 


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1 ‘‘(2) $18,700,000 for fiscal year 2012; 

2 ‘‘(3) $20,570,000 for fiscal year 2013; and 

3 ‘‘(4) $22,627,000 for fiscal year 2014.’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 30, 

2009. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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