I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8684 

To provide for the establishment of the Alabama Underwater Forest National 

Marine Sanctuary, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 27, 2020 

Mr. BYRNE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment of the Alabama Underwater 

Forest 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 ‘‘Alabama Underwater 

5 Forest National Marine Sanctuary and Protection Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds and declares the following: 

8 (1) An ancient cypress forest dating back 

9 50,000 to 70,000 years B.C. has been exposed in the 

10 Gulf of Mexico off the Alabama coastline. The trees, 


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1 which were uncovered by massive waves associated 

2 with Hurricane Ivan, are still rooted in the mud they 

3 were growing in at least 50,000 years ago. 

4 (2) The Underwater Forest site is unique on a 

5 global scale, the only known site where trees between 

6 50,000 and 70,000 years old have been preserved in7 tact with the ecosystem they were growing in. 

8 (3) Exploration of the site continues to yield in9 valuable scientific insight in a variety of fields, 

10 though scientists have just begun to study the an11 cient forest. 

12 (4) Commercial interests are seeking to mine 

13 the ancient trees for the purpose of making con14 sumer goods, which would result in an irreplaceable 

15 loss to the scientific community. 

16 (5) Protection of the forest from commercial 

17 harvest also protects the site as a globally significant 

18 destination for scuba diving and associated tourism. 

19 Millions of people from around the world have seen 

20 news stories and documentaries about the forest, in21 undating dive tourism operators with requests to 

22 visit the site. 

23 SEC. 3. POLICY AND PURPOSE. 

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

25 protect and preserve the ancient cypress trees located off 


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1 the coast of Alabama, known as the Alabama Underwater 

2 Forest. 

3 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to protect 

4 the resources of the area described in section 5(b), to edu5 cate and interpret for the public regarding the ancient Cy6 press Forest environment, and to manage such human 

7 uses of the Sanctuary consistent with this Act. 

8 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act, the term ‘‘adverse effect’’ means any fac10 tor, force, or action that would independently or cumula11 tively damage, diminish, degrade, impair, destroy, or oth12 erwise harm— 

13 (1) any Sanctuary resource, as defined in sec14 tion 302(8) of the Marine Protection, Research, and 

15 Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1432(8)); or 

16 (2) any of those qualities, values, or purposes 

17 for which the Sanctuary is designated. 

18 SEC. 5. SANCTUARY DESIGNATION. 

19 (a) DESIGNATION.—The area described in subsection 

20 (b) is designated as the Alabama Underwater Forest Na21 tional Marine Sanctuary (in this Act referred to as the 

22 ‘‘Sanctuary’’) under title III of the Marine Protection, Re23 search, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1431 et 

24 seq.). The Sanctuary shall be managed, and regulations 


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1 enforced under all applicable provisions of title III as if 

2 the Sanctuary had been designated under such title. 

3 (b) AREA INCLUDED.— 

4 (1) Subject to subsections (c) and (d), the area 

5 referred to in subsection (a) consists of all sub6 merged objects and lands within the Sanctuary 

7 boundary. The Sanctuary shall be generally identi8 fied and depicted on National Oceanic and Atmos9 pheric Administration charts which shall be main10 tained on file and kept available for public examina11 tion during regular business hours at the Office of 

12 Ocean and Coastal Resource Management of the Na13 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and 

14 in online format and which shall be updated to re15 flect boundary modifications under this section. 

16 (2) The boundary referred to in paragraph (1) 

17 shall encompass the area within the following coordi18 nates: 

19 (A) 30 degrees, 7 minutes, 20.2116 sec20 onds north latitude; 87 degrees, 49 minutes, 

21 15.7404 seconds west longitude. 

22 (B) 30 degrees, 7 minutes, 20.2116 sec23 onds north latitude; 87 degrees, 43 minutes, 

24 44.8536 seconds west longitude. 


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1 (C) 30 degrees, 5 minutes, 42.6552 sec2 onds north latitude; 87 degrees, 49 minutes, 

3 15.7404 seconds west longitude. 

4 (D) 30 degrees, 5 minutes, 42.6552 sec5 onds north latitude; 87 degrees, 43 minutes, 

6 44.8536 seconds west longitude. 

7 SEC. 6. PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN USES. 

8 (a) PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES.—The following activi9 ties are prohibited and thus are unlawful for any person 

10 to conduct or to cause to be conducted within the Sanc11 tuary: 

12 (1) Harvesting the trees or other resources of 

13 the sanctuary. 

14 (2) Any type of subsurface salvage or recovery 

15 operation. 

16 (3) Lowering below the surface of the water any 

17 grappling, suction, conveyor, dredging, or wrecking 

18 device. 

19 (4) Detonating below the surface of the water 

20 any explosive or explosive mechanism. 

21 (5) Drilling or coring the seabed. 

22 (6) Lowering, laying, positioning, or raising any 

23 type of seabed cable or cable-laying device. 

24 (7) Discharging waste material into the water 

25 in violation of any Federal statute or regulation. 


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1 (b) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—The prohibitions 

2 contained in subsection (a) shall not be construed as to: 

3 (1) Restrict fishing, diving, anchoring, or any 

4 other recreational or commercial sea activities that 

5 do not cause an adverse effect to the resources or 

6 property of the Sanctuary or that do not pose harm 

7 to users of the Sanctuary. 

8 (2) Apply to necessary operations of public ves9 sels. For the purposes of this paragraph, necessary 

10 operations of public vessels shall include operations 

11 essential for national defense, law enforcement, and 

12 responses to emergencies that threaten life, property, 

13 or the environment. 

14 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall be ef15 fective upon enactment of this Act. 

16 SEC. 7. COMPREHENSIVE MANAGEMENT PLAN. 

17 (a) PREPARATION OF PLAN.—The Secretary of Com18 merce, in consultation with appropriate Federal, State, 

19 and local government authorities and with the Advisory 

20 Council established under section 8, shall develop a com21 prehensive management plan and implementing regula22 tions to achieve the policy and purpose of this Act. The 

23 Secretary of Commerce shall complete such comprehensive 

24 management plan and final regulations for the Sanctuary 

25 not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of 


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1 this Act. In developing the plan and regulations, the Sec2 retary of Commerce shall follow the procedures specified 

3 in sections 303 and 304 of the Marine Protection, Re4 search, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1433 and 

5 1434), except those procedures requiring the delineation 

6 of Sanctuary boundaries and development of a resource 

7 assessment report. Such comprehensive management plan 

8 shall— 

9 (1) facilitate all public and private uses of the 

10 Sanctuary consistent with the primary objective of 

11 Sanctuary resource protection; 

12 (2) consider temporal and geographical zoning, 

13 to ensure protection of Sanctuary resources; 

14 (3) identify needs for research and establish a 

15 long-term ecological monitoring program; 

16 (4) identify alternative sources of funding need17 ed to fully implement the plan’s provisions and sup18 plement appropriations under section 9 of this Act 

19 and section 313 of the Marine Protection, Research, 

20 and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1444); and 

21 (5) ensure coordination and cooperation be22 tween Sanctuary managers and other Federal, State, 

23 and local authorities with jurisdiction within or adja24 cent to the Sanctuary. 


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1 (b) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—The Secretary of Com2 merce shall provide for participation by the general public 

3 in development of the comprehensive management plan. 

4 SEC. 8. ADVISORY COUNCIL. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Commerce, 

6 in consultation with the Governor of the State of Alabama 

7 shall establish an Advisory Council to assist the Secretary 

8 in the development and implementation of the comprehen9 sive management plan for the Sanctuary. 

10 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—Members of the Advisory Council 

11 may be appointed from among Sanctuary managers, mem12 bers of other government agencies with overlapping man13 agement responsibilities for the Gulf Coast environment, 

14 and representatives of local conservation groups, the ma15 rine scientific and educational community, recreational 

16 user groups, or the general public. Provided, membership 

17 in the council shall include representation from the local 

18 commercial and recreational fishing and boating commu19 nity. 

20 (c) EXPENSES.—Members of the Advisory Council 

21 shall not be paid compensation for their service as mem22 bers but may be reimbursed for actual and necessary trav23 eling and subsistence expenses incurred by them in the 

24 performance of their duties as such members. 


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1 (d) ADMINISTRATION.—The Advisory Council shall 

2 elect a chairperson and may establish subcommittees, and 

3 adopt by-laws, rules, and such other administrative re4 quirements and procedures as are necessary for the ad5 ministration of its functions. 

6 (e) STAFFING AND OTHER ASSISTANCE.—The Sec7 retary of Commerce shall make available to the Advisory 

8 Council such staff, information, and administrative serv9 ices and assistance as the Secretary of Commerce deter10 mines are reasonably required to enable the Advisory 

11 Council to carry out its functions. 

12 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

13 There is authorized to be appropriated $7,000,000 

14 for each of the fiscal years 2021 through 2025 to carry 

15 out the provisions of this Act. 

Æ 


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