II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 179 

To expand the boundaries of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine 

Sanctuary and the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 25 (legislative day, JANUARY 5), 2011 

Mrs. BOXER (for herself and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To expand the boundaries of the Gulf of the Farallones 

National Marine Sanctuary and the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, 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 ‘‘Gulf of the Farallones 

5 and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries Boundary 

6 Modification and Protection Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Gulf of the Farallones extends approxi2 mately 100 miles along the coast of Marin and 

3 Sonoma Counties of northern California. It includes 

4 approximately one-half of California’s nesting 

5 seabirds, rich benthic marine life on hard-rock sub6 strate, prolific fisheries, and substantial concentra7 tions of resident and seasonally migratory marine 

8 mammals. 

9 (2) Cordell Bank is adjacent to the Gulf of the 

10 Farallones and is a submerged island with spectac11 ular, unique, and nationally significant marine envi12 ronments. 

13 (3) These marine environments have national 

14 and international significance, exceed the biological 

15 productivity of tropical rain forests, and support 

16 high levels of biological diversity. 

17 (4) These biological communities are easily sus18 ceptible to damage from human activities, and must 

19 be properly conserved for themselves and to protect 

20 the economic viability of their contribution to na21 tional and regional economies. 

22 (5) The Gulf of Farallones and the Cordell 

23 Bank include some of the United States richest fish24 ing grounds and support important commercial and 

25 recreational fisheries. These fisheries are regulated 


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1 by State and Federal fishery agencies and are sup2 ported and fostered through protection of the waters 

3 and habitats of Gulf of the Farallones National Ma4 rine Sanctuary and Cordell Bank National Marine 

5 Sanctuary. 

6 (6) The report of the Commission on Ocean 

7 Policy established by section 3 of the Oceans Act of 

8 2000 (Public Law 106–256; 33 U.S.C. 857–19) calls 

9 for comprehensive protection for the most productive 

10 ocean environments and recommends that they be 

11 managed as ecosystems. 

12 (7) New scientific discoveries by the National 

13 Marine Sanctuary Program support comprehensive 

14 protection for these marine environments by broad15 ening the geographic scope of the existing Gulf of 

16 the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and the 

17 Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary. 

18 (8) Cordell Bank is at the nexus of an ocean 

19 upwelling system, which produces the highest bio20 mass concentrations on the west coast of the United 

21 States. 

22 SEC. 3. POLICY AND PURPOSE. 

23 (a) POLICY.—It is the policy of the United States to 

24 protect and preserve living and other resources of the Gulf 

25 of the Farallones and Cordell Bank marine environments. 


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1 (b) PURPOSE.—The purposes of this Act are the fol2 lowing: 

3 (1) To extend the boundaries of the Gulf of the 

4 Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and the 

5 Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary as de6 scribed in section 5. 

7 (2) To strengthen the protections that apply in 

8 the Sanctuaries. 

9 (3) To provide for the education and interpreta10 tion for the public of the ecological value and na11 tional importance of the Sanctuaries. 

12 (4) To manage human uses of the Sanctuaries 

13 under this Act and the National Marine Sanctuaries 

14 Act (16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.). 

15 (c) EFFECT ON FISHING ACTIVITIES.—Nothing in 

16 this Act is intended to alter any existing authorities re17 garding the conduct and location of fishing activities in 

18 the Sanctuaries. 

19 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this Act: 

21 (1) CORDELL BANK NMS.—The term ‘‘Cordell 

22 Bank NMS’’ means the Cordell Bank National Ma23 rine Sanctuary. 


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1 (2) FARALLONES NMS.—The term ‘‘Farallones 

2 NMS’’ means the Gulf of the Farallones National 

3 Marine Sanctuary. 

4 (3) SANCTUARIES.—The term ‘‘Sanctuaries’’ 

5 means the Farallones NMS and the Cordell Bank 

6 NMS. 

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

8 the Secretary of Commerce. 

9 SEC. 5. NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY BOUNDARY AD10 JUSTMENTS. 

11 (a) GULF OF THE FARALLONES.— 

12 (1) BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT.—The areas de13 scribed in paragraph (2) are added to the Farallones 

14 NMS described in part 922.80 of title 15, Code of 

15 Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date of the 

16 enactment of this Act. 

17 (2) AREAS INCLUDED.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The areas referred to 

19 in paragraph (1) are the following: 

20 (i) All submerged lands and waters, 

21 including living marine and other resources 

22 within and on those lands and waters, 

23 from the mean high water line to the 

24 boundary described in subparagraph (B). 


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1 (ii) The submerged lands and waters, 

2 including living marine and other resources 

3 within those waters, within the approxi4 mately two-square-nautical-mile portion of 

5 the Cordell Bank NMS (as in effect imme6 diately before the enactment of this Act) 

7 that is located south of the area that is 

8 added to Cordell Bank NMS by subsection 

9 (b)(2), which are transferred to the 

10 Farallones NMS from the Cordell Bank 

11 NMS. 

12 (B) BOUNDARY DESCRIBED.—The bound13 ary referred to in subparagraph (A)(i) com14 mences from the mean high water line (referred 

15 to in this subparagraph as the ‘‘MHWL’’) at 

16 39.00000 degrees north in a westward direction 

17 approximately 29 nautical miles (referred to in 

18 this subparagraph as ‘‘nm’’) to 39.00000 north, 

19 124.33333 west. The boundary then extends in 

20 a southeasterly direction to 38.30000 degrees 

21 north, 124.00000 degrees west, approximately 

22 44 nm westward of Bodega Head. The bound23 ary then extends eastward to the most north24 eastern corner of the expanded Cordell Bank 

25 NMS at 38.30000 north, 123.20000 degrees 


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1 west, approximately 6 nm miles westward of 

2 Bodega Head. The boundary then extends in a 

3 southeasterly direction to 38.26390 degrees 

4 north, 123.18138 degrees west at the north5 western most point of the current Gulf of the 

6 Farallones Boundary. The boundary then fol7 lows the current northern Gulf of the 

8 Farallones NMS boundary in a northeasterly 

9 direction to the MHWL near Bodega Head. 

10 The boundary then follows the MHWL in a 

11 northeasterly direction to the commencement 

12 point at the intersection of the MHWL and 

13 39.00000 north. Coordinates listed in this sub14 paragraph are based on the North American 

15 Datum 1983 and the geographic projection. 

16 (b) CORDELL BANK.— 

17 (1) BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT.—The area de18 scribed in paragraph (2) is added to the existing 

19 Cordell Bank NMS described in part 922.111 of 

20 title 15, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on 

21 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

22 (2) AREA INCLUDED.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—The area referred to in 

24 paragraph (1) consists of all submerged lands 

25 and waters, including living marine and other 


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1 resources within those waters, within the 

2 boundary described in subparagraph (B). 

3 (B) BOUNDARY.—The boundary referred 

4 to in subparagraph (A) commences at the most 

5 northeastern point of the Cordell Bank NMS 

6 boundary (as in effect immediately before the 

7 enactment of this Act) at 38.26390 degrees 

8 north, 123.18138 degrees west and extends 

9 northwestward to 38.30000 degrees north, 

10 123.20000 degrees west, approximately 6 nau11 tical miles (referred to in this subparagraph as 

12 ‘‘nm’’) west of Bodega Head. The boundary 

13 then extends westward to 38.30000 degrees 

14 north, 124.00000 degrees west, approximately 

15 44 nautical miles west of Bodega Head. The 

16 boundary then turns southeastward and con17 tinues approximately 34 nautical miles to 

18 37.76687 degrees north, 123.75142 degrees 

19 west, and then approximately 15 nm eastward 

20 to 37.76687 north, 123.42694 west at an inter21 section with the current Cordell Bank NMS 

22 boundary. The boundary then follows the cur23 rent Cordell Bank NMS, which is coterminous 

24 with the current Gulf of the Farallones bound25 ary, in a northeasterly and the northwesterly diVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:14 Feb 01, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S179.IS S179

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1 rection to its commencement point at 38.26390 

2 degrees north, 123.18138 degrees west. Coordi3 nates listed in this subparagraph are based on 

4 NAD83 Datum and the geographic projection. 

5 (c) INCLUSION IN THE SYSTEM.—The areas included 

6 in the Sanctuaries under subsections (a) and (b) shall be 

7 managed as part of the National Marine Sanctuary Sys8 tem, established by section 301(c) of the National Marine 

9 Sanctuaries Act (16 U.S.C. 1431(c)), in accordance with 

10 that Act. 

11 (d) UPDATED NOAA CHARTS.—The Secretary 

12 shall— 

13 (1) produce updated National Oceanic and At14 mospheric Administration nautical charts for the 

15 areas in which the Sanctuaries are located, as modi16 fied by subsections (a) and (b); and 

17 (2) include on those nautical charts the bound18 aries of the Sanctuaries, as so modified. 

19 (e) BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENTS.—In producing re20 vised nautical charts required by subsection (d) and in de21 scribing the boundaries in regulations issued by the Sec22 retary, the Secretary may make technical modifications to 

23 the boundaries described in this section for clarity and 

24 ease of identification, as appropriate. 


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1 SEC. 6. PROHIBITION OF OIL AND GAS LEASING AND PER2 MITTING. 

3 No lease or permit may be issued that authorizes ex4 ploration, development, production, or transporting by 

5 pipeline of minerals or hydrocarbons within the boundaries 

6 of the Sanctuaries, as modified by subsections (a) and (b) 

7 of section 5. 

8 SEC. 7. MANAGEMENT PLANS AND REGULATIONS. 

9 (a) DRAFT PLANS.—Not later than 24 months after 

10 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

11 complete a draft supplemental management plan for each 

12 of the Sanctuaries, as modified by subsections (a) and (b) 

13 of section 5, that— 

14 (1) focuses on management of the areas of the 

15 Sanctuaries described in such subsections (a) and 

16 (b); and 

17 (2) does not weaken the resource protections in 

18 effect on the date of the enactment of this Act for 

19 the Sanctuaries. 

20 (b) REVISED PLANS.— 

21 (1) REQUIREMENT TO REVISE.—The Secretary 

22 shall issue a revised management plan for each of 

23 the Sanctuaries at the conclusion of the first man24 agement review for the Sanctuaries initiated after 

25 the date of the enactment of this Act under section 

26 304(e) of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act (16 


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1 U.S.C. 1434(e)) and issue such final regulations as 

2 may be necessary to implement such plans. 

3 (2) CONTENTS OF PLANS.—Revisions to the 

4 management plan for each of the Sanctuaries under 

5 this section shall, in addition to matters required 

6 under section 304(a)(2) of the National Marine 

7 Sanctuaries Act (16 U.S.C. 1434(a)(2))— 

8 (A) facilitate all appropriate public and 

9 private uses of the national marine sanctuary to 

10 which each respective plan applies consistent 

11 with the primary objective of sanctuary re12 source protection; 

13 (B) establish temporal and geographical 

14 zoning if necessary to ensure protection of the 

15 resources of each of the Sanctuaries; 

16 (C) identify priority needs for research— 

17 (i) to improve management of the 

18 Sanctuaries; or 

19 (ii) to diminish threats to the health 

20 of the ecosystems in the Sanctuaries; 

21 (D) establish a long-term ecological moni22 toring program and database, including the de23 velopment and implementation of a resource in24 formation system to disseminate information on 


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1 the ecosystem, history, culture, and manage2 ment of the Sanctuaries; 

3 (E) identify alternative sources of funding 

4 needed to fully implement the provisions of each 

5 such plan to supplement appropriations made to 

6 carry out the National Marine Sanctuaries Act 

7 (16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.); 

8 (F) ensure coordination and cooperation 

9 between the superintendents of each of the 

10 Sanctuaries and other Federal, State, and local 

11 authorities with jurisdiction over areas within 

12 or adjacent to one of the Sanctuaries to manage 

13 issues affecting the Sanctuaries, including sur14 face water runoff, stream and river drainages, 

15 and navigation; 

16 (G) in the case of revisions to such plan 

17 for the Farallones NMS, promote cooperation 

18 with farmers and ranchers operating in the wa19 tersheds adjacent to the Farallones NMS and 

20 establish voluntary best management practices 

21 programs; 

22 (H) promote cooperative and educational 

23 programs with fishing vessel operators and 

24 crews operating in the waters of the Sanc25 tuaries, and, whenever possible, include individVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:14 Feb 01, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S179.IS S179

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1 uals who engage in fishing and their vessels in 

2 cooperative research, assessment, and moni3 toring programs and educational programs to 

4 promote sustainable fisheries, conservation of 

5 resources, and navigational safety; and 

6 (I) promote education and public aware7 ness, among users of the Sanctuaries, about the 

8 need for marine resource conservation and safe 

9 navigation and marine transportation. 

10 (c) APPLICATION OF EXISTING REGULATIONS.—The 

11 regulations for Farallones NMS in subpart H of part 922 

12 of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations (or any cor13 responding similar regulation) or of the Cordell Bank 

14 NMS in subpart K of such part 922 (or any corresponding 

15 similar regulation), including any regulations issued as a 

16 result of a joint management plan review for the Sanc17 tuaries conducted pursuant to section 304(e) of the Na18 tional Marine Sanctuaries Act (16 U.S.C. 1434(e)), shall 

19 apply to the areas added to each Sanctuary, respectively, 

20 under subsection (a) or (b) of section 5 until the Secretary 

21 modifies such regulations in accordance with subsection 

22 (d) of this section. 

23 (d) REVISED REGULATIONS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 24 months 

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec3 retary shall— 

4 (A) carry out an assessment of necessary 

5 revisions to the regulations for the Sanctuaries 

6 to ensure the protection of the resources of the 

7 Sanctuaries in a manner that is consistent with 

8 the purposes and policies of the National Ma9 rine Sanctuaries Act (16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.) 

10 and the goals and objectives for the areas added 

11 to either of the Sanctuaries under subsection 

12 (a) or (b) of section 5; and 

13 (B) issue final regulations for the Sanc14 tuaries that include any revisions identified in 

15 the assessment carried out under subparagraph 

16 (A). 

17 (2) REGULATION OF SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES.—In 

18 carrying out the assessment required by paragraph 

19 (1)(A), the Secretary shall consider appropriate reg20 ulations for— 

21 (A) the deposit or release of introduced 

22 species into the Sanctuaries; and 

23 (B) the alteration of stream and river 

24 drainage into the Sanctuaries. 


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1 (3) CONSIDERATIONS.—In carrying out the as2 sessment required by paragraph (1)(A), the Sec3 retary shall consider exempting from further regula4 tion under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act or 

5 this Act discharges that are permitted under a Na6 tional Pollution Discharge Elimination System per7 mit that is in effect on the date of enactment of this 

8 Act, or under a new or renewed National Pollution 

9 Discharge Elimination System permit if such per10 mit— 

11 (A) does not increase pollution in the 

12 Sanctuaries; and 

13 (B) that originates— 

14 (i) in the Russian River Watershed 

15 outside the boundaries of the Gulf of the 

16 Farallones National Marine Sanctuary; or 

17 (ii) from the Bodega Marine Labora18 tory. 

19 (e) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—The Secretary shall 

20 provide for the participation of the general public in the 

21 review and revision of the management plans for the Sanc22 tuaries and relevant regulations under this section. 

23 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

24 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec25 retary to carry out this Act— 


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1 (1) $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 

2 through 2016, for activities other than construction 

3 and acquisition activities; and 

4 (2) $3,500,000 for fiscal year 2012 and such 

5 sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 

6 2013 through 2016, for construction and acquisition 

7 activities. 

Æ 


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