I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1771 

To reauthorize the Chesapeake Bay Office of the National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 26, 2009 

Mr. SARBANES (for himself, Mr. WITTMAN, and Mr. KRATOVIL) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 Science, Education, and Ecosystem Enhancement Act of 

6 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF NOAA CHESAPEAKE BAY OF2 FICE. 

3 Section 307 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

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

5 1511d) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a)— 

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

8 section’’ and all that follows and inserting a pe9 riod; 

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

11 follows: 

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

13 who— 

14 ‘‘(A) shall have knowledge and experience 

15 in research or resource management efforts in 

16 the Chesapeake Bay; and 

17 ‘‘(B) shall be responsible for the adminis18 tration and operation of the office and the im19 plementation of this Act.’’; and 

20 (C) by striking paragraph (3); 

21 (2) in subsection (b)— 

22 (A) by striking so much as precedes para23 graph (1) and inserting the following: 

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

25 focus the relevant science, research, and resource manage26 ment capabilities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 


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1 Administration as they apply to the Chesapeake Bay and 

2 to utilize the Office to—’’; 

3 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘Sec4 retary of Commerce’’ and inserting ‘‘Adminis5 trator’’; 

6 (C) in paragraph (3)— 

7 (i) by striking the matter preceding 

8 subparagraph (A) and inserting the fol9 lowing: 

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

11 the various organizations within the National Oce12 anic and Atmospheric Administration in furtherance 

13 of such administration’s coastal resource steward14 ship mission, including—’’; 

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

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

17 clause (vi), and by inserting after clause 

18 (vii) the following: 

19 ‘‘(viii) coastal hazards and climate 

20 change; and’’; and 

21 (iii) subparagraph (B), by striking 

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

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

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

25 adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(v) integrated ecosystem assess2 ments;’’; 

3 (D) in paragraph (4)— 

4 (i) by striking ‘‘Environmental Pro5 tection Agency’’ and inserting ‘‘Chesapeake 

6 Executive Council’’; and 

7 (ii) by inserting before the semicolon 

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

9 further purposes of this section’’; 

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

11 (F) by redesignating paragraph (6) as 

12 paragraph (5), and by adding ‘‘and’’ after the 

13 semicolon at the end of such paragraph; and 

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

15 ‘‘(6) perform any functions necessary to sup16 port the programs referred to in paragraph (3)’’; 

17 and 

18 (3) by striking subsection (c) and all that fol19 lows through the end of the section and inserting the 

20 following: 

21 ‘‘(c) PROGRAM ACTIVITIES.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall imple23 ment the program activities authorized by this sub24 section to support the activity of the Chesapeake ExVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:10 Mar 28, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1771.IH H1771

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1 ecutive Council and to further the purposes of this 

2 section. 

3 ‘‘(2) ENSURING SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL

4 MERIT.—The Director shall— 

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

6 transparent mechanism to ensure that projects 

7 funded under this section have undergone ap8 propriate peer review; and 

9 ‘‘(B) provide other appropriate means to 

10 determine that such projects have acceptable 

11 scientific and technical merit for the purpose of 

12 achieving maximum utilization of available 

13 funds and resources to benefit the Chesapeake 

14 Bay area. 

15 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION WITH CHESAPEAKE EXEC16 UTIVE COUNCIL.—The Director shall, in the imple17 mentation of the program activities authorized under 

18 this section, consult with the Chesapeake Executive 

19 Council, to ensure that the activities of the Office 

20 are consistent with the purposes and priorities of the 

21 Chesapeake Bay Agreement and plans developed 

22 pursuant to the Agreement. 

23 ‘‘(4) INTEGRATED COASTAL OBSERVATIONS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall col25 laborate with scientific and academic instituVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:10 Mar 28, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1771.IH H1771

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1 tions, State and Federal agencies, non-govern2 mental organizations, and other constituents in 

3 the Chesapeake Bay watershed, to support the 

4 development of an integrated observations sys5 tem for the Chesapeake Bay. 

6 ‘‘(B) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS.—To sup7 port the system referred to in subparagraph (A) 

8 and provide a complete set of environmental in9 formation for the Chesapeake Bay, the Director 

10 shall— 

11 ‘‘(i) coordinate existing monitoring 

12 and observing activities in the Chesapeake 

13 Bay; 

14 ‘‘(ii) identify new data collection needs 

15 and deploy new technologies, as appro16 priate; 

17 ‘‘(iii) collect and analyze the scientific 

18 information necessary for the management 

19 of living marine resources and the marine 

20 habitat associated with such resources; 

21 ‘‘(iv) manage and interpret the infor22 mation described in clause (iii); and 

23 ‘‘(v) organize the information de24 scribed in clause (iii) into products that 


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1 are useful to policy makers, resource man2 agers, scientists, and the public. 

3 ‘‘(C) CHESAPEAKE BAY INTERPRETIVE

4 BUOY SYSTEM.—To further the development 

5 and implementation of the Chesapeake Bay In6 terpretive Buoy System, the Director shall— 

7 ‘‘(i) support the establishment and 

8 implementation of the Captain John Smith 

9 Chesapeake National Historic Trail; 

10 ‘‘(ii) delineate key waypoints along the 

11 trail and provide appropriate real-time 

12 data and information for trail users; 

13 ‘‘(iii) interpret data and information 

14 for use by educators and students to in15 spire stewardship of Chesapeake Bay; and 

16 ‘‘(iv) incorporate the Chesapeake Bay 

17 Interpretive Buoy System into the Inte18 grated Ocean Observing System regional 

19 network of observatories. 

20 ‘‘(5) CHESAPEAKE BAY WATERSHED EDU21 CATION AND TRAINING PROGRAM.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall es23 tablish a Chesapeake Bay watershed education 

24 and training program. The program shall— 


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1 ‘‘(i) continue and expand the Chesa2 peake Bay watershed education programs 

3 offered by the Office immediately before 

4 the enactment of the Chesapeake Bay 

5 Science, Education, and Ecosystem En6 hancement Act of 2009; 

7 ‘‘(ii) improve the understanding of el8 ementary and secondary school students 

9 and teachers of the living resources of the 

10 ecosystem of the Chesapeake Bay; 

11 ‘‘(iii) provide community education to 

12 improve watershed protection; and 

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

14 Chesapeake 2000 Agreement. 

15 ‘‘(B) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Director 

16 may award grants for the purposes of this para17 graph. Grants awarded under this subpara18 graph may be used to support education and 

19 training projects that enhance understanding 

20 and assessment of a specific environmental 

21 problem in the Chesapeake Bay watershed or a 

22 goal of the Chesapeake Bay Program, or pro23 tect or restore living resources of the Chesa24 peake Bay watershed, including projects that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) provide classroom education, in2 cluding the development and use of dis3 tance learning and other innovative tech4 nologies, related to the Chesapeake Bay 

5 watershed; 

6 ‘‘(ii) provide watershed educational 

7 experiences in the Chesapeake Bay water8 shed; 

9 ‘‘(iii) provide professional development 

10 for teachers related to the Chesapeake Bay 

11 watershed and the dissemination of perti12 nent education materials oriented to vary13 ing grade levels; 

14 ‘‘(iv) demonstrate or disseminate envi15 ronmental educational tools and materials 

16 related to the Chesapeake Bay watershed; 

17 ‘‘(v) demonstrate field methods, prac18 tices, and techniques including assessment 

19 of environmental and ecological conditions 

20 and analysis of environmental problems; 

21 ‘‘(vi) build the capacity of organiza22 tions to deliver high quality environmental 

23 education programs; and 

24 ‘‘(vii) educate local land use officials 

25 and decision makers on the relationship of 


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1 land use to natural resource and watershed 

2 protection. 

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

4 implement the education and training program 

5 in collaboration with the heads of other relevant 

6 Federal agencies. 

7 ‘‘(6) COASTAL AND LIVING RESOURCES MAN8 AGEMENT AND HABITAT PROGRAM.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall es10 tablish a Chesapeake Bay coastal living re11 sources management and habitat program to 

12 support coordinated management, protection, 

13 characterization, and restoration of priority 

14 Chesapeake Bay habitats and living resources, 

15 including oysters, blue crabs, and submerged 

16 aquatic vegetation. 

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

18 the Director may, subject to the availability of 

19 appropriations, carry out or enter into grants, 

20 contracts, and cooperative agreements and pro21 vide technical assistance to support— 

22 ‘‘(i) native oyster restoration; 

23 ‘‘(ii) fish and shellfish aquaculture; 

24 ‘‘(iii) establishment of submerged 

25 aquatic vegetation propagation programs; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) the development of programs 

2 that protect and restore critical coastal 

3 habitats; 

4 ‘‘(v) habitat mapping, characteriza5 tion, and assessment techniques necessary 

6 to identify, assess, and monitor restoration 

7 actions; 

8 ‘‘(vi) application and transfer of ap9 plied scientific research and ecosystem 

10 management tools to fisheries and habitat 

11 managers; 

12 ‘‘(vii) collection, synthesis, and shar13 ing of information to inform and influence 

14 coastal and living resource management 

15 issues; and 

16 ‘‘(viii) other activities that the Direc17 tor determines are appropriate to carry out 

18 the purposes of such program. 

19 ‘‘(d) REPORTS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall submit 

21 a biennial report to the Congress and the Secretary 

22 of Commerce on the activities of the Office and on 

23 progress made in protecting and restoring the living 

24 resources and habitat of the Chesapeake Bay. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ACTION PLAN.—Each such report shall in2 clude an action plan for the 2-year period following 

3 submission of the report, consisting of— 

4 ‘‘(A) a list of recommended research, moni5 toring, and data collection activities necessary 

6 to continue implementation of the strategy 

7 under subsection (b)(2); and 

8 ‘‘(B) recommendations to integrate Na9 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

10 activities with the activities of the partners in 

11 the Chesapeake Bay Program to meet the com12 mitments of the Chesapeake 2000 agreement 

13 and subsequent agreements. 

14 ‘‘(e) AGREEMENTS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director may, subject 

16 to the availability of appropriations, enter into and 

17 perform such contracts, leases, grants, or coopera18 tive agreements as may be necessary to carry out 

19 the purposes of this Act. 

20 ‘‘(2) USE OF OTHER RESOURCES.—For pur21 poses related to the understanding, protection, and 

22 restoration of Chesapeake Bay, the Director may 

23 use, with their consent and with or without reim24 bursement, the land, services, equipment, personnel, 

25 and facilities of any Department, agency, or instruVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:10 Mar 28, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1771.IH H1771

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1 mentality of the United States, or of any State, local 

2 government, Indian tribal government, or of any po3 litical subdivision thereof. 

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

5 donations of funds, other property, and services for 

6 use in understanding, protecting, and restoring the 

7 Chesapeake Bay. Donations accepted under this sec8 tion shall be considered as a gift or bequest to or for 

9 the use of the United States. 

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

11 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Adminis12 trator’ means the Administrator of the National 

13 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

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

15 term ‘Chesapeake Bay Agreement’ means the for16 mal, voluntary agreements executed to achieve the 

17 goal of restoring and protecting the Chesapeake Bay 

18 ecosystem and the living resources of the Chesa19 peake Bay ecosystem and are signed by the Chesa20 peake Executive Council. 

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

22 term ‘Chesapeake Executive Council’ means the rep23 resentatives from the Commonwealth of Virginia, the 

24 State of Maryland, the Commonwealth of Pennsyl25 vania, the Environmental Protection Agency, the 


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1 District of Columbia, and the Chesapeake Bay Com2 mission, who are signatories to the Chesapeake Bay 

3 Agreement, and any future signatories to that agree4 ment. 

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

6 the Director of the Office. 

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

8 Chesapeake Bay Office established under this sec9 tion. 

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

11 is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

12 out this section— 

13 ‘‘(1) $17,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; 

14 ‘‘(2) $18,700,000 for fiscal year 2012; 

15 ‘‘(3) $20,570,000 for fiscal year 2013; and 

16 ‘‘(4) $22,627,000 for fiscal year 2014.’’. 

Æ 


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