II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1494 

To amend the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Authorization Act of 1992 to establish programs to enhance protection of the 

Chesapeake Bay, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 26, 2005 

Mr. SARBANES (for himself, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. WARNER, and Mr. ALLEN) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Authorization Act of 1992 to establish programs 

to enhance protection of the Chesapeake Bay, 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 ‘‘NOAA Chesapeake 

5 Bay Watershed Monitoring, Education, Training, and 

6 Restoration Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. CHESAPEAKE BAY OFFICE PROGRAMS. 

2 Section 307 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

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

4 1511d) is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e), as 

6 subsections (h) and (i), respectively; and 

7 (2) by inserting after subsection (c), the fol8 lowing new subsections: 

9 ‘‘(d) CHESAPEAKE BAY INTEGRATED OBSERVING

10 SYSTEM.— 

11 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

13 after the date of enactment of the NOAA 

14 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Monitoring, Edu15 cation, Training, and Restoration Act, the Di16 rector shall collaborate with scientific and aca17 demic institutions, Federal agencies, State and 

18 nongovernmental organizations, and other con19 stituents located in the Chesapeake Bay water20 shed to establish a Chesapeake Bay Integrated 

21 Observing System (in this section referred to as 

22 the ‘System’). 

23 ‘‘(B) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Sys24 tem is to provide information needed to restore 

25 the health of the Chesapeake Bay, on such top26 ics as land use, environmental quality of the 
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1 Bay and its shoreline, coastal erosion, eco2 system health and performance, aquatic living 

3 resources and habitat conditions, and weather, 

4 tides, currents, and circulation. 

5 ‘‘(C) ELEMENTS OF SYSTEM.—The System 

6 shall coordinate existing monitoring and observ7 ing activities in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, 

8 identify new data collection needs, and deploy 

9 new technologies to provide a complete set of 

10 environmental information for the Chesapeake 

11 Bay, including the following activities: 

12 ‘‘(i) Collecting and analyzing the sci13 entific information related to the Chesa14 peake Bay that is necessary for the man15 agement of living marine resources and the 

16 marine habitat associated with such re17 sources. 

18 ‘‘(ii) Managing and interpreting the 

19 information described in clause (i). 

20 ‘‘(iii) Organizing the information de21 scribed in clause (i) into products that are 

22 useful to policy makers, resource man23 agers, scientists, and the public. 

24 ‘‘(iv) Developing or supporting the de25 velopment of an Internet-based information 
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1 system for integrating, interpreting, and 

2 disseminating coastal information, prod3 ucts, and forecasts concerning the Chesa4 peake Bay watershed related to— 

5 ‘‘(I) climate; 

6 ‘‘(II) land use; 

7 ‘‘(III) coastal pollution and envi8 ronmental quality; 

9 ‘‘(IV) coastal hazards; 

10 ‘‘(V) ecosystem health and per11 formance; 

12 ‘‘(VI) aquatic living resources 

13 and habitat conditions and manage14 ment; 

15 ‘‘(VII) economic and recreational 

16 uses; and 

17 ‘‘(VIII) weather, tides, currents, 

18 and circulation that affect the dis19 tribution of sediments, nutrients, or20 ganisms, coastline erosion, and related 

21 physical and chemical events and 

22 processes. 

23 ‘‘(D) AGREEMENTS TO PROVIDE DATA, IN24 FORMATION, AND SUPPORT.—The Director may 

25 enter into agreements with other entities of the 
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1 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra2 tion, other Federal, State, or local government 

3 agencies, academic institutions, or organizations 

4 described in subsection (e)(2)(A)(i) to provide 

5 and interpret data and information, and may 

6 provide appropriate support to such agencies, 

7 institutions, or organizations to fulfill the pur8 poses of the System. 

9 ‘‘(E) AGREEMENTS RELATING TO INFOR10 MATION PRODUCTS.—The Director may enter 

11 into grants, contracts, and interagency agree12 ments with eligible entities for the collection, 

13 processing, analysis, and interpretation of data 

14 and information and for electronic publication 

15 of information products. 

16 ‘‘(e) CHESAPEAKE BAY WATERSHED EDUCATION

17 AND TRAINING PROGRAM.— 

18 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director, in co20 operation with the Chesapeake Executive Coun21 cil, shall establish a Chesapeake Bay watershed 

22 education and training program. 

23 ‘‘(B) PURPOSES.—The program estab24 lished under subparagraph (A) shall continue 

25 and expand the Chesapeake Bay watershed edu-
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1 cation programs offered by the Chesapeake Bay 

2 Office for the purposes of— 

3 ‘‘(i) improving the understanding of 

4 elementary and secondary school students 

5 and teachers of the living resources of the 

6 ecosystem of the Chesapeake Bay; 

7 ‘‘(ii) providing community education 

8 to improve watershed protection; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) meeting the educational goals of 

10 the Chesapeake 2000 agreement. 

11 ‘‘(2) GRANT PROGRAM.— 

12 ‘‘(A) AUTHORIZATION.—The Director is 

13 authorized to award grants to pay the Federal 

14 share of the cost of a project described in sub15 paragraph (C) to— 

16 ‘‘(i) a nongovernmental organization 

17 in the Chesapeake Bay watershed that is 

18 described in section 501(c) of the Internal 

19 Revenue Code of 1986 and is exempt from 

20 taxation under section 501(a) of that 

21 Code; 

22 ‘‘(ii) a consortium of institutions de23 scribed in clause (i); 
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1 ‘‘(iii) an elementary or secondary 

2 school located within the Chesapeake Bay 

3 watershed; 

4 ‘‘(iv) a teacher at a school described 

5 in clause (iii); or 

6 ‘‘(v) a department of education of a 

7 State if any part of such State is within 

8 the Chesapeake Bay watershed. 

9 ‘‘(B) CRITERIA.—The Director shall con10 sider, in awarding grants under this subsection, 

11 the experience of the applicant in providing en12 vironmental education and training projects re13 garding the Chesapeake Bay watershed to a 

14 range of participants and in a range of settings. 

15 ‘‘(C) FUNCTIONS AND ACTIVITIES.— 

16 Grants awarded under this subsection may be 

17 used to support education and training projects 

18 that— 

19 ‘‘(i) provide classroom education, in20 cluding the use of distance learning tech21 nologies, on the issues, science, and prob22 lems of the living resources of the Chesa23 peake Bay watershed; 

24 ‘‘(ii) provide meaningful outdoor expe25 rience on the Chesapeake Bay, or on a 
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1 stream or in a local watershed of the 

2 Chesapeake Bay, in the design and imple3 mentation of field studies, monitoring and 

4 assessments, or restoration techniques for 

5 living resources; 

6 ‘‘(iii) provide professional development 

7 for teachers related to the science of the 

8 Chesapeake Bay watershed and the dis9 semination of pertinent education mate10 rials oriented to varying grade levels; 

11 ‘‘(iv) demonstrate or disseminate envi12 ronmental educational tools and materials 

13 related to the Chesapeake Bay watershed; 

14 ‘‘(v) demonstrate field methods, prac15 tices, and techniques including assessment 

16 of environmental and ecological conditions 

17 and analysis of environmental problems; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(vi) develop or disseminate projects 

20 designed to— 

21 ‘‘(I) enhance understanding and 

22 assessment of a specific environmental 

23 problem in the Chesapeake Bay wa24 tershed or of a goal of the Chesapeake 

25 Bay Program; 
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1 ‘‘(II) protect or restore living re2 sources of the Chesapeake Bay water3 shed; or 

4 ‘‘(III) educate local land use offi5 cials and decision makers on the rela6 tionship of land use to natural re7 source and watershed protection. 

8 ‘‘(D) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal 

9 share of the cost of a project funded with a 

10 grant awarded under this subsection shall not 

11 exceed 75 percent of the total cost of that 

12 project. 

13 ‘‘(f) STOCK ENHANCEMENT AND HABITAT RESTORA14 TION PROGRAM.— 

15 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

17 after the date of enactment of the NOAA 

18 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Monitoring, Edu19 cation, Training, and Restoration Act, the Di20 rector, in cooperation with the Chesapeake Ex21 ecutive Council, shall establish a Chesapeake 

22 Bay watershed stock enhancement and habitat 

23 restoration program. 

24 ‘‘(B) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the pro25 gram established in subparagraph (A) is to sup-
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1 port the restoration of oysters and submerged 

2 aquatic vegetation in the Chesapeake Bay. 

3 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES.—To carry out the purpose of 

4 the program established under paragraph (1)(A), the 

5 Director is authorized to enter into grants, con6 tracts, and cooperative agreements with an eligible 

7 entity to support— 

8 ‘‘(A) the establishment of oyster hatch9 eries; 

10 ‘‘(B) the establishment of submerged 

11 aquatic vegetation propagation programs; and 

12 ‘‘(C) other activities that the Director de13 termines are appropriate to carry out the pur14 poses of such program. 

15 ‘‘(g) CHESAPEAKE BAY AQUACULTURE EDU16 CATION.—The Director is authorized to make grants and 

17 enter into contracts with an institution of higher edu18 cation, including a community college, for the purpose 

19 of— 

20 ‘‘(1) supporting education in Chesapeake Bay 

21 aquaculture sciences and technologies; and 

22 ‘‘(2) developing aquaculture processes and tech23 nologies to improve production, efficiency, and sus24 tainability of disease-free oyster spat and submerged 

25 aquatic vegetation.’’. 
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1 SEC. 3. REPORT. 

2 Section 307(b)(7) of the National Oceanic and At3 mospheric Administration Authorization Act of 1992 (15 

4 U.S.C. 1511d(b)(7)), is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(7) submit a biennial report to the Congress 

6 and the Secretary of Commerce with respect to the 

7 activities of the Office, including— 

8 ‘‘(A) a description of the progress made in 

9 protecting and restoring the living resources 

10 and habitat of the Chesapeake Bay; 

11 ‘‘(B) a description of each grant awarded 

12 under this section since the submission of the 

13 most recent biennial report, including the 

14 amount of such grant and the activities funded 

15 with such grant; and 

16 ‘‘(C) an action plan consisting of— 

17 ‘‘(i) a list of recommended research, 

18 monitoring, and data collection activities 

19 necessary to continue implementation of 

20 the strategy described in paragraph (2); 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(ii) proposals for— 

23 ‘‘(I) continuing any new National 

24 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra25 tion activities in the Chesapeake Bay; 

26 and 
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1 ‘‘(II) integration of those activi2 ties with the activities of the partners 

3 in the Chesapeake Bay Program to 

4 meet the commitments of the Chesa5 peake 2000 agreement and subse6 quent agreements.’’. 

7 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

8 Subsection (h) of section 307 of the National Oceanic 

9 and Atmospheric Administration Authorization Act of 

10 1992 (15 U.S.C. 1511d), as redesignated by section 2(1), 

11 is amended to read as follows: 

12 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 ‘‘(1) CHESAPEAKE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL.—The 

14 term ‘Chesapeake Executive Council’ means the rep15 resentatives from the Commonwealth of Virginia, the 

16 State of Maryland, the Commonwealth of Pennsyl17 vania, the Environmental Protection Agency, the 

18 District of Columbia, and the Chesapeake Bay Com19 mission, who are signatories to the Chesapeake Bay 

20 Agreement, and any future signatories to that 

21 Agreement. 

22 ‘‘(2) CHESAPEAKE 2000 AGREEMENT.—The 

23 term ‘Chesapeake 2000 agreement’ means the agree24 ment between the United States, Maryland, Pennsyl25 vania, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and the 
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1 Chesapeake Bay Commission entered into on June 

2 28, 2000. 

3 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—Except as provided in 

4 subsection (c), the term ‘eligible entity’ means— 

5 ‘‘(A) the government of a State in the 

6 Chesapeake Bay watershed or the government 

7 of the District of Columbia; 

8 ‘‘(B) the government of a political subdivi9 sion of a State in the Chesapeake Bay water10 shed, or a political subdivision of the govern11 ment of the District of Columbia; 

12 ‘‘(C) an institution of higher education, in13 cluding a community college; 

14 ‘‘(D) a nongovernmental organization in 

15 the Chesapeake Bay watershed that is described 

16 in section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code 

17 of 1986 and is exempt from taxation under sec18 tion 501(a) of that Code; or 

19 ‘‘(E) a private entity that the Director de20 termines to be appropriate.’’. 

21 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

22 Subsection (i) of section 307 of the National Oceanic 

23 and Atmospheric Administration Authorization Act of 

24 1992 (15 U.S.C. 1511d), as redesignated by section 2(1), 

25 is amended to read as follows: 
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1 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) FY 2002 THROUGH 2005.—There are au3 thorized to be appropriated to the Department of 

4 Commerce for the Chesapeake Bay Office 

5 $6,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2002 through 

6 2005. 

7 ‘‘(2) FY 2006 THROUGH 2010.—There are au8 thorized to be appropriated to the Department of 

9 Commerce for the Chesapeake Bay Office 

10 $26,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2006 

11 through 2010. Of the amount appropriated pursuant 

12 to such authorization of appropriations— 

13 ‘‘(A) for each of the fiscal years 2006 

14 through 2010, $1,000,000 is authorized to be 

15 made available to carry out the provisions of 

16 subsection (d); 

17 ‘‘(B) for each of the fiscal years 2006 

18 through 2010, $6,000,000 is authorized to be 

19 made available to carry out the provisions of 

20 subsection (e); 

21 ‘‘(C) for each of the fiscal years 2006 

22 through 2010, $10,000,000 is authorized to be 

23 made available to carry out the provisions of 

24 subsection (f); 
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1 ‘‘(D) for each of the fiscal years 2006 

2 through 2010, $1,000,000 to carry out the pro3 visions of subsection (g).’’. 

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