II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1748 

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 introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SOUTHERN SEA OTTER RECOVERY AND RESEARCH 

7 PROGRAM. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior, act9 ing through the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 

10 and the United States Geological Survey, shall carry out 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1748 IS

1 a recovery and research program for southern sea otter 

2 populations along the coast of California, informed by the 

3 prioritized research recommendations of the Final Revised 

4 Recovery Plan for the southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris 

5 nereis) published by the United States Fish and Wildlife 

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

7 for California Sea Otter Recovery issued by the United 

8 States Fish and Wildlife Service Southern Sea Otter Re9 covery Implementation Team and dated March 2, 2007, 

10 and any other recovery, research, or conservation plan 

11 adopted by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 

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

13 otherwise applicable law. The Recovery and Research Pro14 gram shall include the following: 

15 (1) Monitoring, analysis, and assessment of 

16 southern sea otter population demographics, health, 

17 causes of mortality, and life history parameters, in18 cluding range-wide population surveys. 

19 (2) Development and implementation of meas20 ures to reduce or eliminate potential factors limiting 

21 southern sea otter populations that are related to 

22 marine ecosystem health or human activities. 

23 (b) REAPPOINTMENT OF RECOVERY IMPLEMENTA24 TION TEAM.—Not later than one year after the date of 

25 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall appoint persons 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1748 IS

1 to a southern sea otter recovery implementation team as 

2 authorized under section 4(f)(2) of the Endangered Spe3 cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(f)(2)). 

4 (c) SOUTHERN SEA OTTER RESEARCH AND RECOV5 ERY GRANTS.— 

6 (1) GRANT AUTHORITY.—The Secretary shall 

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

8 award competitive grants for research regarding 

9 southern sea otters and for projects assisting the re10 covery of southern sea otter populations. 

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

12 establish as necessary a peer review panel to provide 

13 scientific advice and guidance to prioritize proposals 

14 for grants under this subsection. 

15 (3) RESEARCH GRANT SUBJECTS.—Research 

16 funded with grants under this subsection shall be in 

17 accordance with the research recommendations of 

18 any plan referred to in subsection (a), and may in19 clude the following topics: 

20 (A) Causes of sea otter mortality. 

21 (B) Southern sea otter demographics and 

22 natural history. 

23 (C) Effects and sources of pollutants, nu24 trients, and toxicants on southern sea otters 

25 and sequestration of contaminants. 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1748 IS

1 (D) Effects and sources of infectious dis2 eases and parasites affecting southern sea ot3 ters. 

4 (E) Limitations on the availability of food 

5 resources for southern sea otters and the im6 pacts of food limitation on southern sea otter 

7 carrying capacity. 

8 (F) Interactions between southern sea ot9 ters and coastal fisheries and other human ac10 tivities in the marine environment. 

11 (G) Assessment of the keystone ecological 

12 role of sea otters in southern and central Cali13 fornia’s coastal marine ecosystems, including 

14 both the direct and indirect effects of sea otter 

15 predation, especially as these effects influence 

16 human welfare, resource utilization, and eco17 system services. 

18 (H) Assessment of the adequacy of emer19 gency response and contingency plans. 

20 (4) RECOVERY PROJECT SUBJECTS.—Recovery 

21 projects funded with grants under this subsection 

22 shall be conducted in accordance with recovery rec23 ommendations of any plan referred to in subsection 

24 (a), and may include projects to— 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1748 IS

1 (A) protect and recover southern sea ot2 ters; 

3 (B) reduce, mitigate, or eliminate potential 

4 factors limiting southern sea otter populations 

5 that are related to human activities, including 

6 projects to— 

7 (i) reduce, mitigate, or eliminate fac8 tors contributing to mortality, adversely af9 fecting health, or restricting distribution 

10 and abundance; and 

11 (ii) reduce, mitigate, or eliminate fac12 tors that harm or reduce the quality of 

13 southern sea otter habitat or the health of 

14 coastal marine ecosystems; and 

15 (C) implement emergency response and 

16 contingency plans. 

17 (d) REPORT.—The Secretary shall— 

18 (1) within 12 months after the date of enact19 ment of this Act, report to Congress on— 

20 (A) the status of southern sea otter popu21 lations; 

22 (B) implementation of the Recovery and 

23 Research Program and the grant program; and 

24 (C) any relevant formal consultations con25 ducted under section 7 of the Endangered SpeVerDate Nov 24 2008 07:09 Oct 02, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1748.IS S1748

smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1748 IS

1 cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536) with respect 

2 to the southern sea otter; and 

3 (2) within 24 months after the date of enact4 ment of this Act and every 5 years thereafter, and 

5 in consultation with a southern sea otter recovery 

6 implementation team (if any) that is otherwise being 

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

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

9 1533(f)), report to Congress and the public on— 

10 (A) an evaluation of southern sea otter 

11 health, causes of southern sea otter mortality, 

12 and the interactions of southern sea otters with 

13 California’s coastal marine ecosystems; 

14 (B) an evaluation of actions taken to im15 prove southern sea otter health, reduce south16 ern sea otter mortality, and improve southern 

17 sea otter habitat; 

18 (C) recommendation for actions, pursuant 

19 to current law, to improve southern sea otter 

20 health, reduce the occurrence of human-related 

21 mortality, and improve the health of such coast22 al marine ecosystems; and 

23 (D) recommendations for funding to carry 

24 out this Act. 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 1748 IS

1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) RECOVERY AND RESEARCH PROGRAM.—The 

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

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

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

7 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 

8 United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the 

9 United States Geological Survey. 

10 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro12 priated to the Secretary to carry out this Act $5,000,000 

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

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

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

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

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

18 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of amounts avail19 able each fiscal year to carry out this Act, the Secretary 

20 may expend not more than 7 percent to pay the adminis21 trative expenses necessary to carry out this Act. 

22 SEC. 5. TERMINATION. 

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

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

25 4(c)(2) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

26 1533(c)(2)) publishes a determination that the southern 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 1748 IS

1 sea otter should be removed from the lists published under 

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

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

Æ 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS