II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4262 

To require the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to approve 

or deny spend plans within a certain amount of time, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 2, 2024 

Mr. SCOTT of Florida (for himself, Mr. SULLIVAN, Ms. MURKOWSKI, and Mr. 

RUBIO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To require the Director of the Office of Management and 

Budget to approve or deny spend plans within a certain 

amount of time, 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 ‘‘Fishery Improvement 

5 to Streamline untimely regulatory Hurdles post Emer6 gency Situation Act’’ or the ‘‘FISHES Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. APPROVAL OR DENIAL OF SPEND PLANS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi9 sion of law, in the case of a spend plan submitted to the 


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1 Director by the Secretary for approval by the Director 

2 pursuant to section 312(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fish3 ery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 

4 1861a(a)), the Director shall approve or deny such spend 

5 plan not later than 30 days after the date on which the 

6 Secretary submits such spend plan to the Director for ap7 proval. 

8 (b) DENIAL OF SPEND PLAN.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Director denies a 

10 spend plan under subsection (a) or paragraph (3) of 

11 this subsection, the Director shall, not later than 15 

12 days after the date of such denial, return such de13 nied spend plan to the Secretary with a description 

14 of the changes to such denied spend plan that are 

15 necessary for the Director to approve such denied 

16 spend plan. 

17 (2) RESUBMISSION OF SPEND PLAN.—Upon re18 ceipt of a denied spend plan under paragraph (1), 

19 the Secretary, in consultation with the relevant re20 quester with an affirmative fishery resource disaster 

21 determination of the spend plan, shall make the nec22 essary changes to such spend plan described by the 

23 Director under paragraph (1) and resubmit such 

24 spend plan to the Director for approval. 


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1 (3) REVIEW OF RESUBMITTED SPEND PLAN.— 

2 Not later than 15 days after the date of the receipt 

3 of a spend plan under paragraph (2), the Director 

4 shall approve or deny such spend plan. 

5 (c) APPROVAL OF SPEND PLAN.—If the Director ap6 proves a spend plan under subsection (a) or subsection 

7 (b)(3), the Director shall— 

8 (1) make such approval publicly available on 

9 the website of the Office of Management and Budg10 et; and 

11 (2) include in such approval— 

12 (A) the date on which communication re13 garding such spend plan was initiated between 

14 the Director and the Secretary; 

15 (B) if applicable— 

16 (i) the date of each denial of such 

17 spend plan under subsection (a) and sub18 section (b)(3); and 

19 (ii) the date of each resubmission of 

20 such spend plan under subsection (b)(2); 

21 and 

22 (C) the date on which the Director ap23 proved such spend plan. 


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1 (d) EXPEDITING DISASTER REVIEW.—Section 

2 312(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 

3 and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1861a(a)) is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (4)(B), by amending clause 

5 (ii) to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(ii) TIME FRAME.—The Secretary 

7 shall complete the review described in 

8 clause (i) not later than 30 days after the 

9 Secretary receives a complete request for a 

10 fishery resource disaster determination.’’; 

11 and 

12 (2) in paragraph (6)(F)(i), by striking ‘‘90’’ 

13 and inserting ‘‘30’’. 

14 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 (1) AFFIRMATIVE FISHERY RESOURCE DIS16 ASTER DETERMINATION.—The term ‘‘affirmative 

17 fishery resource disaster determination’’ means a de18 termination by the Secretary under section 312(a) of 

19 the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 

20 Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1861a(a)) that a fish21 ery resource disaster has occurred. 

22 (2) FISHERY RESOURCE DISASTER.—The term 

23 ‘‘fishery resource disaster’’ has the meaning given 

24 the term in section 312(a)(1)(C) of the MagnusonVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:24 Jun 07, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4262.IS S4262

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1 Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 

2 (16 U.S.C. 1861a(a)(1)(C)). 

3 (3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

4 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg5 et. 

6 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

7 the Secretary of Commerce. 

8 (5) SPEND PLAN.—The term ‘‘spend plan’’ 

9 means a spend plan submitted to the Secretary 

10 under section 312(a)(6)(D) of the Magnuson-Ste11 vens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 

12 U.S.C. 1861a(a)(6)(D)) by a requester with an af13 firmative fishery resource disaster determination. 

Æ 


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