IB 

Union Calendar No. 396 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5622 

[Report No. 109–665] 

To reauthorize the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 15, 2006 

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

on Resources 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2006 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

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

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 15, 2006] 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000, 

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 ‘‘Coral Reef Conservation 

5 Legacy Act of 2006’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF CORAL REEF CONSERVATION 

2 GRANTS PROGRAM. 

3 (a) PROJECT DIVERSITY.—Section 204(d) of the Coral 

4 Reef Conservation Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 6403(d)) is 

5 amended by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(3) Remaining funds shall be awarded for— 

8 ‘‘(A) projects (with priority given to com9 munity-based local action strategies) that ad10 dress emerging priorities or threats, including 

11 international and territorial priorities, or 

12 threats identified by the Administrator in con13 sultation with the Coral Reef Task Force; and 

14 ‘‘(B) other appropriate projects, as deter15 mined by the Administrator, including moni16 toring and assessment, research, pollution reduc17 tion, education, and technical support.’’. 

18 (b) APPROVAL CRITERIA.—Section 204(g) of that Act 

19 (16 U.S.C. 6403(g)) is amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon in para21 graph (9); 

22 (2) by redesignating paragraph (10) as para23 graph (12); and 

24 (3) by inserting after paragraph (9) the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(10) activities designed to minimize the likeli2 hood of damage to coral reefs, including the use of de3 vices to minimize human impacts on coral reefs; 

4 ‘‘(11) promoting and assisting entities to work 

5 with local communities, and all appropriate govern6 mental and nongovernmental organizations, to sup7 port community-based planning and management 

8 initiatives for the protection of coral reef systems; or’’. 

9 SEC. 3. EMERGENCY RESPONSE ACTIONS. 

10 Section 206 of the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 

11 (16 U.S.C. 6404) is amended to read as follows: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 206. EMERGENCY RESPONSE ACTIONS. 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator and the Sec14 retary of the Interior may each undertake or authorize ac15 tion within areas under their administrative jurisdiction 

16 as necessary to prevent or minimize the destruction or loss 

17 of, or injury to, coral reefs or coral reef ecosystems from 

18 vessel impacts or other physical damage to coral reefs, in19 cluding damage from unforeseen or disaster-related cir20 cumstances. 

21 ‘‘(b) ACTIONS AUTHORIZED.—Action authorized by 

22 subsection (a) includes vessel removal and emergency resta23 bilization of the vessel and any impacted coral reef. 

24 ‘‘(c) PARTNERING WITH OTHER AGENCIES.—When 

25 possible, actions under this section should— 


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1 ‘‘(1) be conducted in partnership with other gov2 ernment agencies, including— 

3 ‘‘(A) the Coast Guard, the Federal Emer4 gency Management Agency, and the Corps of En5 gineers; and 

6 ‘‘(B) agencies of States and territories of the 

7 United States; and 

8 ‘‘(2) leverage resources of such other agencies, in9 cluding funding or assistance authorized under other 

10 Federal laws.’’. 

11 SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

12 Section 208 of the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 

13 (16 U.S.C. 6407) is amended to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 208. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

15 ‘‘(a) IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGY.—Not later than 

16 October 1, 2007, and every 3 years thereafter, the Adminis17 trator, in consultation with the United States Coral Reef 

18 Task Force, shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, 

19 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Com20 mittee on Resources of the House of Representatives a report 

21 describing all activities undertaken to implement the strat22 egy, including— 

23 ‘‘(1) a description of the funds obligated by each 

24 participating Federal agency to advance coral reef 

25 conservation during each of the 3 fiscal years next 


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1 preceding the fiscal year in which the report is sub2 mitted; 

3 ‘‘(2) a description of Federal interagency and co4 operative efforts with States and United States terri5 tories to prevent or address overharvesting, coastal 

6 runoff, or other anthropogenic impacts on coral reefs, 

7 including projects undertaken with the Department of 

8 the Interior, Department of Agriculture, the Environ9 mental Protection Agency, and the Army Corps of 

10 Engineers; 

11 ‘‘(3) a description of Federal disaster response 

12 actions taken pursuant to the National Response Plan 

13 to address damage to coral reefs and coral reef eco14 systems; and 

15 ‘‘(4) an assessment of accomplishments under 

16 this Act and the effectiveness of management actions 

17 to address threats to coral reefs. 

18 ‘‘(b) CONDITION OF CORAL REEFS.—Not later than 

19 October 1, 2008, and every 3 years thereafter, the Adminis20 trator, in consultation with the United States Coral Reef 

21 Task Force, shall submit to the Committees referred to in 

22 subsection (a) an assessment of the condition of United 

23 States coral reefs.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. FUND; GRANTS; COORDINATION; TASK FORCE. 

2 The Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 

3 6401 et seq.) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘organization solely’’ and all that 

5 follows in section 205(a) (16 U.S.C. 6404(a)) and in6 serting ‘‘organization— 

7 ‘‘(1) to support partnerships between the public 

8 and private sectors that further the purposes of this 

9 Act and are consistent with the national coral reef 

10 strategy under section 203; and 

11 ‘‘(2) to address emergency response actions under 

12 section 206.’’; 

13 (2) by adding at the end of section 205(b) (16 

14 U.S.C. 6404(b)) the following: ‘‘The organization is 

15 encouraged to solicit funding and in-kind services 

16 from the private sector, including nongovernmental 

17 organizations, for emergency response actions under 

18 section 206 and for activities to prevent damage to 

19 coral reefs, including activities described in section 

20 210(b)(2).’’; 

21 (3) by striking ‘‘the grant program’’ in section 

22 205(c) (16 U.S.C. 6404(c)) and inserting ‘‘any grant 

23 program or emergency response action’’; 

24 (4) by redesignating sections 209 and 210 as sec25 tions 212 and 213, respectively; and 

26 (5) by inserting after section 208 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 209. COMMUNITY-BASED PLANNING GRANTS. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may make a 

3 grant to any person that may submit a coral conservation 

4 proposal under section 204(e) to provide additional funds 

5 to such person to work with local communities and through 

6 appropriate Federal and State entities to prepare and im7 plement plans for the increased protection of coral reef areas 

8 identified by the community and the best scientific informa9 tion available as high priorities for focused attention. The 

10 plans shall— 

11 ‘‘(1) support attainment of 1 or more of the cri12 teria described in section 204(g); 

13 ‘‘(2) be developed at the community level; 

14 ‘‘(3) utilize watershed-based approaches; 

15 ‘‘(4) provide for coordination with Federal and 

16 State experts and managers; 

17 ‘‘(5) build upon local approaches or models, in18 cluding traditional or island-based resource manage19 ment concepts; and 

20 ‘‘(6) compliment local action strategies or other 

21 regional plans for coral reef conservation. 

22 ‘‘(b) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The provisions of sub23 sections (b), (d), (f), and (h) of section 204 apply to grants 

24 under subsection (a), except that, for the purpose of apply25 ing section 204(b)(1) to grants under this section, ‘75 per26 cent’ shall be substituted for ‘50 percent’. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 210. REGIONAL COORDINATION. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall work in 

3 coordination and collaboration with other Federal agencies, 

4 States, and United States territorial governments to imple5 ment the strategies developed under section 203, including 

6 regional and local strategies, to address multiple threats to 

7 coral reefs and coral reef ecosystems such as coastal runoff, 

8 vessel impacts, and overharvesting. 

9 ‘‘(b) MULTIYEAR COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The 

10 Administrator may enter into multiyear cooperative agree11 ments with other Federal agencies, States and local govern12 ments, academic institutions, and nongovernmental organi13 zations to carry out the activities of the national coral reef 

14 action strategy. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 211. UNITED STATES CORAL REEF TASK FORCE. 

16 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established the 

17 United States Coral Reef Task Force. 

18 ‘‘(b) GOAL.—The goal of the Task Force shall be to 

19 lead, coordinate, and strengthen Federal Government ac20 tions to better preserve and protect coral reef ecosystems. 

21 ‘‘(c) DUTIES.—The duties of the Task Force shall be— 

22 ‘‘(1) to coordinate, in cooperation with State, 

23 territory, commonwealth, and local government part24 ners, and nongovernmental partners if appropriate, 

25 activities regarding the mapping, monitoring, reVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:49 Sep 19, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5622.RH H5622

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1 search, conservation, mitigation, restoration of coral 

2 reefs and coral reef ecosystems; 

3 ‘‘(2) work with the Secretary of State and the 

4 Administrator of the Agency for International Devel5 opment, and in coordination with the other members 

6 of the Task Force, to— 

7 ‘‘(A) assess the United States role in inter8 national trade and protection of coral reef spe9 cies; and 

10 ‘‘(B) implement appropriate strategies and 

11 actions to promote conservation and sustainable 

12 use of coral reef resources worldwide. 

13 ‘‘(d) MEMBERSHIP, GENERALLY.—The Task Force 

14 shall be comprised of— 

15 ‘‘(1) the Secretary of Commerce, acting through 

16 the Administrator of the National Oceanic and At17 mospheric Administration, and the Secretary of the 

18 Interior, who shall be co-chairs of the Task Force; 

19 ‘‘(2) the Administrator of the Agency of Inter20 national Development; 

21 ‘‘(3) the Secretary of Agriculture; 

22 ‘‘(4) the Secretary of Defense; 

23 ‘‘(5) the Secretary of the Army, acting through 

24 the Corps of Engineers; 

25 ‘‘(6) the Secretary of Homeland Security; 


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1 ‘‘(7) the Attorney General; 

2 ‘‘(8) the Secretary of State; 

3 ‘‘(9) the Secretary of Transportation; 

4 ‘‘(10) the Administrator of the Environmental 

5 Protection Agency; 

6 ‘‘(11) the Administrator of the National Aero7 nautics and Space Administration; 

8 ‘‘(12) the Director of the National Science Foun9 dation; 

10 ‘‘(13) the Governor, or a representative of the 

11 Governor, of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar12 iana Islands; 

13 ‘‘(14) the Governor, or a representative of the 

14 Governor, of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 

15 ‘‘(15) the Governor, or a representative of the 

16 Governor, of the State of Florida; 

17 ‘‘(16) the Governor, or a representative of the 

18 Governor, of the State of Hawaii; 

19 ‘‘(17) the Governor, or a representative of the 

20 Governor, of the Territory of Guam; 

21 ‘‘(18) the Governor, or a representative of the 

22 Governor, of the Territory of American Samoa; and 

23 ‘‘(19) the Governor, or a representative of the 

24 Governor, of the Virgin Islands. 


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1 ‘‘(e) NON-VOTING MEMBERS.—The President, or a rep2 resentative of the President, of each of the Freely Associated 

3 States of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic 

4 of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau may 

5 appoint a non-voting member of the Task Force. 

6 ‘‘(f) WORKING GROUPS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The co-chairs of the Task 

8 Force may establish working groups as necessary to 

9 meet the goals and duties of this Act. The Task Force 

10 may request the co-chairs to establish such a working 

11 group. 

12 ‘‘(2) PARTICIPATION BY NONGOVERNMENTAL OR13 GANIZATIONS.—The co-chairs may allow a nongovern14 mental organization to participate in such a working 

15 group. 

16 ‘‘(g) FACA.—The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

17 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Task Force.’’. 

18 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

19 Section 212 of the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 

20 (formerly 16 U.S.C. 6408), as redesignated by section 6, is 

21 amended— 

22 (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol23 lows: 

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to 

2 be appropriated to carry out this title— 

3 ‘‘(A) to the Secretary of Commerce, 

4 $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2008, $32,000,000 for 

5 fiscal year 2009, and $34,000,000 for fiscal year 

6 2010; and 

7 ‘‘(B) to the Secretary of the Interior, 

8 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 

9 2010. 

10 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION.—Of the amount authorized by 

11 this subsection for each of fiscal years 2008 through 

12 2010— 

13 ‘‘(A) no less than 30 percent shall be used 

14 for the grant program under section 204; 

15 ‘‘(B) up to 10 percent shall be used for the 

16 Fund established under section 205; 

17 ‘‘(C) $500,000 may be used by the Secretary 

18 of the Interior to support operations of the 

19 United States Coral Reef Task Force; and 

20 ‘‘(D) $250,000 may be used by the Sec21 retary of Commerce to support such operations.’’; 

22 (2) by striking ‘‘$1,000,000’’ in subsection (b) 

23 and inserting ‘‘$2,000,000’’; 

24 (3) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘(c) COMMUNITY-BASED PLANNING GRANTS.—There is 

2 authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to carry 

3 out section 209 the sum of $8,000,000 for fiscal years 2008 

4 through 2010, such sum to remain available until ex5 pended.’’; and 

6 (4) by striking subsection (d). 

7 SEC. 7. FUNDING FOR MARINE SCIENCE LABORATORY, 

8 CORAL REEF RESEARCH, AND COASTAL ECOL9 OGY AND DEVELOPMENT. 

10 (a) AMERICAN SAMOA COMMUNITY COLLEGE.—There 

11 is authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000 to the Univer12 sity of Hawaii Sea Grant College program to administer 

13 a marine science laboratory for coral reef research and pro14 tection, and coastal ecology and development, at the Amer15 ican Samoa Community College. 

16 (b) UNIVERSITY OF GUAM.—There is authorized to be 

17 appropriated $1,000,000 to the University of Guam for 

18 coral reef research and protection at the University of 

19 Guam Marine Laboratory. 


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Union Calendar No. 396 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5622 

[Report No. 109

–665] 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 

2000, and for other purposes. 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2006 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


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