II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1275 

To direct the Secretary of Commerce to issue a fishing capacity reduction 

loan to refinance the existing loan funding the Pacific Coast groundfish 

fishing capacity reduction program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 10, 2013 

Ms. CANTWELL (for herself, Mrs. BOXER, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. MERKLEY, Mrs. 

FEINSTEIN, Mr. WYDEN, and Mr. BEGICH) introduced the following bill; 

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

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Commerce to issue a fishing 

capacity reduction loan to refinance the existing loan 

funding the Pacific Coast groundfish fishing capacity 

reduction program. 

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 ‘‘Revitalizing the Econ5 omy of Fisheries in the Pacific Act’’ or the ‘‘REFI Pacific 

6 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find3 ings: 

4 (1) In 2000, the Secretary of Commerce de5 clared the West Coast groundfish fishery a Federal 

6 fisheries economic disaster due to low stock abun7 dance, an overcapitalized fleet, and historically over8 fished stocks. 

9 (2) Section 212 of the Department of Com10 merce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 

11 2003 (title II of division B of Public Law 108–7; 

12 117 Stat. 80) was enacted to establish a Pacific 

13 Coast groundfish fishing capacity reduction pro14 gram, also known as a buyback program, to remove 

15 excess fishing capacity. 

16 (3) In 2003, Congress authorized the 

17 $35,700,000 buyback loan, creating the Pacific 

18 Coast groundfish fishing capacity reduction program 

19 through the National Marine Fisheries Service fish20 eries finance program with a term of 30 years. The 

21 interest rate of the buyback loan was fixed at 6.97 

22 percent and is paid back based on an ex-vessel fee 

23 landing rate not to exceed 5 percent for the loan. 

24 (4) The groundfish fishing capacity reduction 

25 program resulted in the removal of limited entry 

26 trawl Federal fishing permits from the fishery, repVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:10 Jul 11, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1275.IS S1275

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1 resenting approximately 46 percent of total landings 

2 at the time. 

3 (5) Because of an absence of a repayment 

4 mechanism, $4,243,730 in interest accrued before 

5 fee collection procedures were established in 2005, 

6 over 18 months after the groundfish fishing capacity 

7 reduction program was initiated. 

8 (6) In 2011, the West Coast groundfish fishery 

9 transitioned to an individual fishing quota fishery, 

10 which is a type of catch share program. 

11 (7) By 2015, West Coast groundfish fisher12 men’s expenses are expected to include fees of ap13 proximately $450 per day for observers, a 3-percent 

14 cost recovery fee as authorized by the Magnuson15 Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 

16 (16 U.S.C. 1801) for catch share programs, and a 

17 5-percent ex-vessel landings rate for the loan repay18 ment, which could reach 18 percent of their total 

19 gross revenue. 

20 (8) In 2012, the West Coast groundfish limited 

21 entry trawl fishery generated $63,000,000, an in22 crease from an average of $45,000,000 during the 

23 years 2006 to 2011. This revenue is expected to con24 tinue to increase post-rationalization. 


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1 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to refi2 nance the Pacific Coast groundfish fishery fishing capacity 

3 reduction program to protect and conserve the West Coast 

4 groundfish fishery and the coastal economies in California, 

5 Oregon, and Washington that rely on it. 

6 SEC. 3. REFINANCING OF PACIFIC COAST GROUNDFISH 

7 FISHING CAPACITY REDUCTION LOAN. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce, upon 

9 receipt of such assurances as the Secretary considers ap10 propriate to protect the interests of the United States, 

11 shall issue a loan to refinance the existing debt obligation 

12 funding the fishing capacity reduction program for the 

13 West Coast groundfish fishery implemented under section 

14 212 of the Department of Commerce and Related Agen15 cies Appropriations Act, 2003 (title II of division B of 

16 Public Law 108–7; 117 Stat. 80). 

17 (b) APPLICABLE LAW.—Except as otherwise provided 

18 in this section, the Secretary shall issue the loan under 

19 this section in accordance with subsections (b) through (e) 

20 of section 312 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conserva21 tion and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1861a) and sections 

22 53702 and 53735 of title 46, United States Code. 

23 (c) LOAN TERM.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

25 53735(c)(4) of title 46, United States Code, a loan 


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1 under this section shall have a maturity that expires 

2 at the end of the 45-year period beginning on the 

3 date of issuance of the loan. 

4 (2) EXTENSION.—Notwithstanding paragraph 

5 (1) and if there is an outstanding balance on the 

6 loan after the period described in paragraph (1), the 

7 Secretary may extend the loan under the terms pro8 vided in this section. 

9 (d) LIMITATION ON FEE AMOUNT.—Notwithstanding 

10 section 312(d)(2)(B) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

11 Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 

12 1861a(d)(2)(B)), the fee established by the Secretary with 

13 respect to a loan under this section shall not exceed 3 per14 cent of the ex-vessel value of the harvest from each fishery 

15 for where the loan is issued. 

16 (e) INTEREST RATE.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

18 53702(b)(2) of title 46, United States Code, the an19 nual rate of interest an obligor shall pay on a direct 

20 loan obligation under this section is the percent the 

21 Secretary must pay as interest to borrow from the 

22 Treasury the funds to make the loan. 

23 (2) SUBLOANS.—An individual who holds a 

24 subloan under the loan authorized by this section— 


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1 (A) shall receive the interest rate described 

2 in paragraph (1) on the subloan; and 

3 (B) may pay off the subloan at any time 

4 notwithstanding subsection (c)(1). 

5 (f) EX-VESSEL LANDING FEE.— 

6 (1) CALCULATIONS AND ACCURACY.—The Sec7 retary shall set the ex-vessel landing fee to be col8 lected for payment of the loan under this section— 

9 (A) as low as possible, based on recent 

10 landings value in the fishery, to meet the re11 quirements of loan repayment; 

12 (B) upon issuance of the loan in accord13 ance with paragraph (2); and 

14 (C) on a regular interval not to exceed 

15 every 5 years beginning on the date of issuance 

16 of the loan. 

17 (2) DEADLINE FOR INITIAL EX-VESSEL LAND18 INGS FEE CALCULATION.—Not later than 60 days 

19 after the date of issuance of the loan under this sec20 tion, the Secretary shall recalculate the ex-vessel 

21 landing fee based on the most recent value of the 

22 fishery. 

23 (g) AUTHORIZATION.—There is authorized to be ap24 propriated to the Secretary of Commerce to carry out this 

25 section an amount equal to 1 percent of the amount of 


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1 the loan authorized under this section for purposes of the 

2 Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661 et seq.). 

Æ 


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