II 

Calendar No. 686 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1748 

[Report No. 111–362] 

To establish a program of research, recovery, and other activities to provide 

for the recovery of the southern sea otter. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 1, 2009 

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 

DECEMBER 10, 2010 

Reported by Mr. ROCKEFELLER, with an amendment 

[Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To establish a program of research, recovery, and other 

activities to provide for the recovery of the southern 

sea otter. 

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 ‘‘Southern Sea Otter 

5 Recovery and Research Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SOUTHERN SEA OTTER RECOVERY AND RESEARCH 

2 PROGRAM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior, act4 ing through the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 

5 and the United States Geological Survey, shall carry out 

6 a recovery and research program for southern sea otter 

7 populations along the coast of California, informed by the 

8 prioritized research recommendations of the Final Revised 

9 Recovery Plan for the southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris 

10 nereis) published by the United States Fish and Wildlife 

11 Service and dated February 24, 2003, the Research Plan 

12 for California Sea Otter Recovery issued by the United 

13 States Fish and Wildlife Service Southern Sea Otter Re14 covery Implementation Team and dated March 2, 2007, 

15 and any other recovery, research, or conservation plan 

16 adopted by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 

17 after the date of enactment of this Act in accordance with 

18 otherwise applicable law. The Recovery and Research Pro19 gram shall include the following: 

20 (1) Monitoring, analysis, and assessment of 

21 southern sea otter population demographics, health, 

22 causes of mortality, and life history parameters, in23 cluding range-wide population surveys. 

24 (2) Development and implementation of meas25 ures to reduce or eliminate potential factors limiting 


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1 southern sea otter populations that are related to 

2 marine ecosystem health or human activities. 

3 (b) REAPPOINTMENT OF RECOVERY IMPLEMENTA4 TION TEAM.—Not later than one year after the date of 

5 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall appoint persons 

6 to a southern sea otter recovery implementation team as 

7 authorized under section 4(f)(2) of the Endangered Spe8 cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(f)(2)). 

9 (c) SOUTHERN SEA OTTER RESEARCH AND RECOV10 ERY GRANTS.— 

11 (1) GRANT AUTHORITY.—The Secretary shall 

12 establish a peer-reviewed, merit-based process to 

13 award competitive grants for research regarding 

14 southern sea otters and for projects assisting the re15 covery of southern sea otter populations. 

16 (2) PEER REVIEW PANEL.—The Secretary shall 

17 establish as necessary a peer review panel to provide 

18 scientific advice and guidance to prioritize proposals 

19 for grants under this subsection. 

20 (3) RESEARCH GRANT SUBJECTS.—Research 

21 funded with grants under this subsection shall be in 

22 accordance with the research recommendations of 

23 any plan referred to in subsection (a), and may in24 clude the following topics: 

25 (A) Causes of sea otter mortality. 


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1 (B) Southern sea otter demographics and 

2 natural history. 

3 (C) Effects and sources of pollutants, nu4 trients, and toxicants on southern sea otters 

5 and sequestration of contaminants. 

6 (D) Effects and sources of infectious dis7 eases and parasites affecting southern sea ot8 ters. 

9 (E) Limitations on the availability of food 

10 resources for southern sea otters and the im11 pacts of food limitation on southern sea otter 

12 carrying capacity. 

13 (F) Interactions between southern sea ot14 ters and coastal fisheries and other human ac15 tivities in the marine environment. 

16 (G) Assessment of the keystone ecological 

17 role of sea otters in southern and central Cali18 fornia’s coastal marine ecosystems, including 

19 both the direct and indirect effects of sea otter 

20 predation, especially as these effects influence 

21 human welfare, resource utilization, and eco22 system services. 

23 (H) Assessment of the adequacy of emer24 gency response and contingency plans. 


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1 (4) RECOVERY PROJECT SUBJECTS.—Recovery 

2 projects funded with grants under this subsection 

3 shall be conducted in accordance with recovery rec4 ommendations of any plan referred to in subsection 

5 (a), and may include projects to— 

6 (A) protect and recover southern sea ot7 ters; 

8 (B) reduce, mitigate, or eliminate potential 

9 factors limiting southern sea otter populations 

10 that are related to human activities, including 

11 projects to— 

12 (i) reduce, mitigate, or eliminate fac13 tors contributing to mortality, adversely af14 fecting health, or restricting distribution 

15 and abundance; and 

16 (ii) reduce, mitigate, or eliminate fac17 tors that harm or reduce the quality of 

18 southern sea otter habitat or the health of 

19 coastal marine ecosystems; and 

20 (C) implement emergency response and 

21 contingency plans. 

22 (d) REPORT.—The Secretary shall— 

23 (1) within 12 months after the date of enact24 ment of this Act, report to Congress on— 


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1 (A) the status of southern sea otter popu2 lations; 

3 (B) implementation of the Recovery and 

4 Research Program and the grant program; and 

5 (C) any relevant formal consultations con6 ducted under section 7 of the Endangered Spe7 cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536) with respect 

8 to the southern sea otter; and 

9 (2) within 24 months after the date of enact10 ment of this Act and every 5 years thereafter, and 

11 in consultation with a southern sea otter recovery 

12 implementation team (if any) that is otherwise being 

13 utilized by the Secretary under section 4(f) of the 

14 Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

15 1533(f)), report to Congress and the public on— 

16 (A) an evaluation of southern sea otter 

17 health, causes of southern sea otter mortality, 

18 and the interactions of southern sea otters with 

19 California’s coastal marine ecosystems; 

20 (B) an evaluation of actions taken to im21 prove southern sea otter health, reduce south22 ern sea otter mortality, and improve southern 

23 sea otter habitat; 

24 (C) recommendation for actions, pursuant 

25 to current law, to improve southern sea otter 


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1 health, reduce the occurrence of human-related 

2 mortality, and improve the health of such coast3 al marine ecosystems; and 

4 (D) recommendations for funding to carry 

5 out this Act. 

6 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) RECOVERY AND RESEARCH PROGRAM.—The 

9 term ‘‘Recovery and Research Program’’ means the 

10 recovery and research program under section 2(a). 

11 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

12 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 

13 United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the 

14 United States Geological Survey. 

15 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro17 priated to the Secretary to carry out this Act $5,000,000 

18 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2015 of which— 

19 (1) no less than 30 percent shall be for research 

20 grants under section 2(c)(3); and 

21 (2) no less than 30 percent shall be for recovery 

22 projects under section 2(c)(4). 

23 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of amounts avail24 able each fiscal year to carry out this Act, the Secretary 


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1 may expend not more than 7 percent to pay the adminis2 trative expenses necessary to carry out this Act. 

3 SEC. 5. TERMINATION. 

4 This Act shall have no force or effect on and after 

5 the date the Secretary (as that term is used in section 

6 4(c)(2) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

7 1533(c)(2)) publishes a determination that the southern 

8 sea otter should be removed from the lists published under 

9 section 4(c) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 

10 U.S.C. 1533(c)). 

11 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

12 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Southern Sea Otter Re13 covery and Research Act’’. 

14 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

15 In this Act: 

16 (1) RECOVERY AND RESEARCH PROGRAM.—The 

17 term ‘‘recovery and research program’’ means the 

18 southern sea otter recovery and research program car19 ried out under section 3(a). 

20 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

21 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di22 rector of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 

23 and the Director of the United States Geological Sur24 vey. 


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1 SEC. 3. SOUTHERN SEA OTTER RECOVERY AND RESEARCH 

2 PROGRAM. 

3 (a) PROGRAM.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 

6 Interior, acting through the United States Fish and 

7 Wildlife Service and the United States Geological 

8 Survey, shall carry out a recovery and research pro9 gram for southern sea otter populations along the 

10 coast of California, informed by— 

11 (A) the prioritized research recommenda12 tions of the Final Revised Recovery Plan for the 

13 southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) pub14 lished by the United States Fish and Wildlife 

15 Service and dated February 24, 2003; 

16 (B) the Research Plan for California Sea 

17 Otter Recovery issued by the United States Fish 

18 and Wildlife Service Southern Sea Otter Recov19 ery Implementation Team and dated March 2, 

20 2007; and 

21 (C) any other recovery, research, or con22 servation plan adopted by the United States Fish 

23 and Wildlife Service after the date of enactment 

24 of this Act in accordance with otherwise applica25 ble law. 


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1 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The recovery and research 

2 program shall include— 

3 (A) monitoring, analysis, and assessment of 

4 southern sea otter population demographics, 

5 health, causes of mortality, and life history pa6 rameters, including range-wide population sur7 veys; and 

8 (B) development and implementation of 

9 measures to reduce or eliminate potential factors 

10 limiting southern sea otter populations that re11 late to marine ecosystem health or human activi12 ties. 

13 (b) APPOINTMENT OF RECOVERY IMPLEMENTATION

14 TEAM.—Not later than 1 year after the commencement of 

15 the recovery and research program under subsection (a), the 

16 Secretary shall appoint persons to a southern sea otter re17 covery implementation team as authorized in accordance 

18 with section 4(f)(2) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

19 (16 U.S.C. 1533(f)(2)). 

20 (c) SOUTHERN SEA OTTER RESEARCH AND RECOVERY

21 GRANTS.— 

22 (1) GRANT AUTHORITY.—The Secretary shall es23 tablish a peer-reviewed, merit-based process to award 

24 competitive grants for research regarding southern sea 


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1 otters and for projects assisting the recovery of south2 ern sea otter populations. 

3 (2) PEER REVIEW PANEL.—The Secretary shall 

4 establish as necessary a peer review panel to provide 

5 scientific advice and guidance to prioritize proposals 

6 for grants under this subsection. 

7 (3) RESEARCH GRANT SUBJECTS.—Research 

8 funded with grants under this subsection— 

9 (A) shall be in accordance with the research 

10 recommendations of any plan referred to in sub11 section (a); and 

12 (B) may include research on topics such 

13 as— 

14 (i) causes of sea otter mortality; 

15 (ii) southern sea otter demographics 

16 and natural history; 

17 (iii) effects and sources of poor water 

18 quality on southern sea otters (including 

19 pollutants, nutrients, and toxicants) and 

20 mechanisms for addressing those effects and 

21 sources; 

22 (iv) effects and sources of infectious 

23 diseases and parasites affecting southern sea 

24 otters; 


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1 (v) limitations on the availability of 

2 food resources for southern sea otters and 

3 the impacts of food limitation on southern 

4 sea otter carrying capacity; 

5 (vi) interactions between southern sea 

6 otters and coastal fisheries and other human 

7 activities in the marine environment; 

8 (vii) assessment of the keystone ecologi9 cal role of sea otters in coastal marine eco10 systems of southern and central California, 

11 including the direct and indirect effects of 

12 sea otter predation, especially as those ef13 fects influence human welfare, resource use, 

14 and ecosystem services; and 

15 (viii) assessment of the adequacy of 

16 emergency response and contingency plans. 

17 (4) RECOVERY PROJECT SUBJECTS.—Recovery 

18 projects funded with grants under this subsection— 

19 (A) shall be conducted in accordance with 

20 recovery recommendations of any plan referred 

21 to in subsection (a) and the findings of the re22 search conducted under this section; and 

23 (B) may include projects— 

24 (i) to protect and recover southern sea 

25 otters; 


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1 (ii) to reduce, mitigate, or eliminate 

2 potential factors limiting southern sea otter 

3 populations that are related to human ac4 tivities, including projects— 

5 (I) to reduce, mitigate, or elimi6 nate factors contributing to mortality, 

7 adversely affecting health, or restrict8 ing distribution and abundance; and 

9 (II) to reduce, mitigate, or elimi10 nate factors that harm or reduce the 

11 quality of southern sea otter habitat or 

12 the health of coastal marine ecosystems; 

13 and 

14 (iii) to implement emergency response 

15 and contingency plans. 

16 (d) REPORT.—The Secretary shall— 

17 (1) not later than 1 year after the date of enact18 ment of this Act, submit to Congress a report on— 

19 (A) the status of southern sea otter popu20 lations; 

21 (B) implementation of the recovery and re22 search program and the grant program under 

23 this Act; and 

24 (C) any relevant formal consultations con25 ducted during the 2 years preceding the date of 


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1 enactment of this Act, and any other consulta2 tions the Secretary determines to be relevant, 

3 under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 

4 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536) with respect to the south5 ern sea otter; and 

6 (2) not later than 2 years after the date of enact7 ment of this Act and every 5 years thereafter, and in 

8 consultation with a southern sea otter recovery imple9 mentation team that is otherwise being used by the 

10 Secretary under section 4(f) of the Endangered Spe11 cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(f)), submit to Con12 gress and make available to the public a report that 

13 includes— 

14 (A) an evaluation of— 

15 (i) southern sea otter health; 

16 (ii) causes of southern sea otter mor17 tality; and 

18 (iii) the interactions of southern sea ot19 ters with the coastal marine ecosystems of 

20 California; 

21 (B) an evaluation of actions taken— 

22 (i) to improve southern sea otter 

23 health; 

24 (ii) to reduce southern sea otter mor25 tality; and 


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1 (iii) to improve southern sea otter 

2 habitat; 

3 (C) recommendations for actions that may 

4 be taken pursuant to all applicable law— 

5 (i) to improve southern sea otter 

6 health; 

7 (ii) to reduce the occurrence of human8 related mortality; and 

9 (iii) to improve the health of the coast10 al marine ecosystems of California; 

11 (D) recommendations for funding to carry 

12 out this Act; and 

13 (E) a description of any formal consulta14 tions that the Secretary determines to be relevant 

15 to the research and recovery program established 

16 under this Act that are conducted in accordance 

17 with section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 

18 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536) after the date of enact19 ment of this Act. 

20 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro22 priated to the Secretary to carry out this Act $5,000,000 

23 for each of fiscal years 2011 through 2016. 

24 (b) MINIMUM PERCENTAGES FOR GRANTS AND

25 PROJECTS.—During the period of fiscal years 2011 through 


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1 2016 for which funds are authorized to be appropriated 

2 under subsection (a)— 

3 (1) not less than 30 percent of the total amounts 

4 appropriated for that period shall be for research 

5 grants under section 3(c)(3); and 

6 (2) not less than 30 percent of the total amounts 

7 appropriated for that period shall be for recovery 

8 projects under section 3(c)(4). 

9 (c) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of the amounts 

10 made available for each fiscal year to carry out this Act, 

11 the Secretary may expend not more than the greater of 7 

12 percent of the amounts, or $150,000, to pay the administra13 tive expenses necessary to carry out this Act. 

14 SEC. 5. TERMINATION. 

15 This Act shall have no force or effect on and after the 

16 date on which the Secretary (as that term is used in section 

17 4(c)(2) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

18 1533(c)(2)) publishes a determination that the southern sea 

19 otter should be removed from the lists published under sec20 tion 4(c) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

21 1533(c)). 


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Calendar No. 686 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1748 

[Report No. 111–362] 

A BILL 

To establish a program of research, recovery, and 

southern sea otter. other activities to provide for the recovery of the 

DECEMBER 10, 2010 

Reported with an amendment 


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