I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1712 

To expand the boundaries of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine 

Sanctuary and the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 19, 2005 

Ms. WOOLSEY (for herself, Mr. BACA, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. BERMAN, Mrs. 

CAPPS, Mr. CARDOZA, Mr. COSTA, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Ms. ESHOO, 

Mr. FARR, Mr. FILNER, Ms. HARMAN, Mr. HONDA, Mr. LANTOS, Ms. 

LEE, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. 

GEORGE MILLER of California, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, 

Ms. PELOSI, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California, Ms. LORETTA

SANCHEZ of California, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. 

STARK, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Ms. WATERS, Ms. 

WATSON, Mr. WAXMAN, and Ms. MATSUI) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Resources 

A BILL 

To expand the boundaries of the Gulf of the Farallones 

National Marine Sanctuary and the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary. 

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 ‘‘Gulf of the Farallones 

5 and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries Boundary 

6 Modification and Protection Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) The Gulf of the Farallones extends approxi4 mately 100 miles along the coast of Marin and 

5 Sonoma counties of northern California. It includes 

6 approximately one-half of California’s nesting 

7 seabirds, rich benthic marine life on hard-rock sub8 strate, prolific fisheries, and substantial concentra9 tions of resident and seasonally migratory marine 

10 mammals. 

11 (2) Cordell Bank is adjacent to the Gulf of the 

12 Farallones and is a submerged island with spectac13 ular, unique, and nationally significant marine envi14 ronments. 

15 (3) These marine environments have national 

16 and international significance, exceed the biological 

17 productivity of tropical rain forests, and support 

18 high levels of biological diversity. 

19 (4) These biological communities are easily sus20 ceptible to damage from human activities, and must 

21 be properly conserved for themselves and to protect 

22 the economic viability of their contribution to na23 tional and regional economies. 

24 (5) The Gulf of Farallones and Cordell Bank 

25 include some of the Nation’s richest fishing grounds, 

26 supporting important commercial and recreational 
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1 fisheries. These fisheries are regulated by State and 

2 Federal fishery agencies and are supported and fos3 tered through protection of the waters and habitats 

4 of Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary 

5 and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary. 

6 (6) The report of the Commission on Ocean 

7 Policy established by Public Law 106–256 calls for 

8 comprehensive protection for the most productive 

9 ocean environments and recommends that they be 

10 managed as ecosystems. 

11 (7) New scientific discoveries by the National 

12 Marine Sanctuary Program support comprehensive 

13 protection for these marine environments by broad14 ening the geographic scope of the existing Gulf of 

15 the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and the 

16 Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary. 

17 (8) Cordell Bank is at the nexus of an ocean 

18 upwelling system, which produces the highest bio19 mass concentrations on the west coast of the United 

20 States. 

21 SEC. 3. POLICY AND PURPOSE. 

22 (a) POLICY.—It is the policy of the United States in 

23 this Act to protect and preserve living and other resources 

24 of the Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank marine 

25 environments. 
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1 (b) PURPOSE.—The purposes of this Act are the fol2 lowing: 

3 (1) To extend the boundaries of the Gulf of the 

4 Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and the 

5 Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary to the 

6 areas described in section 5. 

7 (2) To strengthen the protections that apply in 

8 the Sanctuaries. 

9 (3) To educate and interpret for the public re10 garding those marine environments. 

11 (4) To manage human uses of the Sanctuaries 

12 under this Act and the National Marine Sanctuaries 

13 Act (16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.). 

14 (c) EFFECT ON FISHING ACTIVITIES.—Nothing in 

15 this Act is intended to alter any existing authorities re16 garding the conduct of fishing activities in the Sanc17 tuaries. 

18 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

19 In this Act: 

20 (1) AQUACULTURE.—The term ‘‘aquaculture’’ 

21 means the propagation or rearing of aquatic orga22 nisms in controlled or selected aquatic environments 

23 for any commercial, recreational, or public purpose. 
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1 (2) CORDELL BANK NMS.—The term ‘‘Cordell 

2 Bank NMS’’ means the Cordell Bank National Ma3 rine Sanctuary. 

4 (3) FARALLONES NMS.—The term ‘‘Farallones 

5 NMS’’ means the Gulf of the Farallones National 

6 Marine Sanctuary. 

7 (4) SANCTUARIES.—The term ‘‘Sanctuaries’’ 

8 means the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine 

9 Sanctuary and the Cordell Bank National Marine 

10 Sanctuary, as expanded by section 5. 

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

12 the Secretary of Commerce. 

13 (6) MEAN HIGHER HIGH WATER MARK.—The 

14 term ‘‘Mean Higher High Water Mark’’ means the 

15 arithmetic average of the elevations of the higher of 

16 two high waters of a tidal day over a period of time 

17 as determined by the National Oceanic and Atmos18 pheric Administration. 

19 (7) PERSON.—The term ‘‘Person’’ means any 

20 private or public individual, corporation, partnership, 

21 trust, institution, association, or any other public or 

22 private entity, whether foreign or domestic, or any 

23 officer, employee, agent, department, agency, or in24 strumentality of the Federal Government, of any 
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1 State, tribal or local unit of government, or of any 

2 foreign government. 

3 SEC. 5. NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY BOUNDARY AD4 JUSTMENTS. 

5 (a) GULFOFTHE FARALLONES.— 

6 (1) BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT.—The areas de7 scribed in paragraph (2) are added to the existing 

8 Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary 

9 described in part 922.80 of title 15, Code of Federal 

10 Regulations. 

11 (2) AREAS INCLUDED.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The areas referred to 

13 in paragraph (1) consist of the following: 

14 (i) All submerged lands and waters, 

15 including living marine and other resources 

16 within and on those lands and waters, 

17 from the mean higher high water mark to 

18 the boundary described in subparagraph 

19 (B). 

20 (ii) The submerged lands and waters, 

21 including living marine and other resources 

22 within those waters, within the approxi23 mately two square nautical mile portion of 

24 Cordell Bank NMS (as in effect imme25 diately before the enactment of this Act) 
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1 that is located south of the area that is 

2 added to Cordell Bank NMS by subsection 

3 (b)(2), which are transferred to the 

4 Farallones NMS from the Cordell Bank 

5 NMS. 

6 (B) BOUNDARY DESCRIBED.—The bound7 ary referred to in subparagraph (A)(i) is the 

8 line formed by connecting points in succession 

9 beginning at Bodega Head’ Southernmost Point 

10 located at 38 degrees, 18 minutes north lati11 tude, 123 degrees, 6.5 minutes west longitude; 

12 then in a northwestly direction along the coast 

13 to the mouth of the Gualala River at 38 de14 grees, 45 minutes north latitude, 123 degrees, 

15 31.9 minutes west longitude; then west 21.7 

16 nautical miles to 38 degrees, 45 minutes north 

17 latitude, 124 degrees west longitude; then due 

18 south 27 nautical miles to 38 degrees, 18 min19 utes north latitude, 124 degrees west longitude; 

20 then 37.7 nautical miles east to 38 degrees, 18 

21 minutes north latitude, 123 degrees, 12 minutes 

22 west longitude; then to the shared boundary of 

23 the Farallones NMS and Cordell Bank NMS 

24 (as in effect immediately before the enactment 

25 of this Act) at 38 degrees, 15.9 minutes north 
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1 latitude, 123 degrees, 10.9 minutes west lon2 gitude. 

3 (b) CORDELL BANK.— 

4 (1) BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT.—The area de5 scribed in paragraph (2) is added to the existing 

6 Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary described 

7 in part 922.80 of title 15, Code of Federal Regula8 tions. 

9 (2) AREA INCLUDED.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The area referred to in 

11 paragraph (1) consists of all submerged lands 

12 and waters, including living marine and other 

13 resources within those waters, within the 

14 boundary described in subparagraph (B). 

15 (B) BOUNDARY.—The boundary referred 

16 to in subparagraph (B) is the line formed by 

17 connecting points in succession beginning at the 

18 present most northeastern point of the Cordell 

19 Bank NMS at 38 degrees, 15.9 minutes north 

20 latitude, 123 degrees, 10.9 minutes west lon21 gitude; then to 38 degrees, 18 minutes north 

22 latitude, 123 degrees, 12 minutes west lon23 gitude, which is 7 miles west of Bodega Head; 

24 then to 38 degrees, 18 minutes north latitude, 

25 123 degrees, 40 minutes west longitude, which 
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1 is 28.6 nautical miles west of Bodega Head; 

2 then due south 32 nautical miles to 37 degrees, 

3 50 minutes north latitude, 123 degrees, 40 min4 utes west longitude; then 11.5 nautical miles 

5 east where it intersects with a boundary shared 

6 by Cordell Bank NMS and Farallones NMS at 

7 37 degrees, 50 minutes north latitude, 123 de8 grees, 25.4 minutes west longitude. 

9 (c) INCLUSION IN THE SYSTEM.—The areas included 

10 in the Sanctuaries under subsections (a) and (b) of this 

11 section shall be managed as part of the National Marine 

12 Sanctuary System, established by section 301(c) of the 

13 National Marine Sanctuaries Act (16 U.S.C. 1431(c)), in 

14 accordance with that Act. 

15 (d) UPDATED NOAA CHARTS.—The Secretary of 

16 Commerce shall— 

17 (1) produce updated National Oceanic and At18 mospheric Administration charts for the areas in 

19 which are located the Farallones NMS and Cordell 

20 Bank NMS; and 

21 (2) include on those charts the boundaries of 

22 such national marine sanctuaries, as revised by this 

23 Act. 
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1 SEC. 6. PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN USES. 

2 (a) MINERAL AND HYDROCARBON LEASING, EXPLO3 RATION, DEVELOPMENT, AND PRODUCTION.—No leasing, 

4 exploration, development, production, or transporting by 

5 pipeline of minerals or hydrocarbons shall be permitted 

6 within the Sanctuaries. 

7 (b) AQUACULTURE.— 

8 (1) PROHIBITION.—It is unlawful for any per9 son to conduct aquaculture— 

10 (A) in any area of the Sanctuaries; or 

11 (B) within Monterey Bay National Marine 

12 Sanctuary. 

13 (2) EXISTING BIVALVE FARMING ALLOWED.— 

14 The prohibition in paragraph (1) shall not apply to 

15 persons conducting farming operations of bivalve 

16 species that are in existence on the date of enact17 ment of this Act. 

18 (3) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall issue 

19 regulations that specify the operations referred to in 

20 paragraph (2). 

21 (c) DISCHARGE OF MATERIALS AND SUBSTANCES.— 

22 (1) PROHIBITIONS.—It is unlawful for any per23 son— 

24 (A) to deposit or discharge any material or 

25 substance of any kind within the Sanctuaries; 
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1 (B) to deposit or discharge any material or 

2 substance of any kind that enters and injures 

3 any sanctuary resource (as that term is defined 

4 in the National Marine Sanctuaries Act); or 

5 (C) to deposit or discharge any invasive 

6 species from a vessel in the Sanctuaries. 

7 (2) CHANGES IN SALINITY.—No person shall 

8 cause a change of salinity in the Sanctuaries that is 

9 injurious to the marine ecosystem of the Sanc10 tuaries. 

11 (3) LIMITATION ON APPLICABILITY.—Para12 graph (1) does not apply with respect to any dis13 charge— 

14 (A) of fish, fish parts, and chumming ma15 terials resulting from, and while conducting 

16 otherwise lawful, fishing activity; 

17 (B) of food consumed onboard a vessel; 

18 (C) of biodegradable effluents incidental to 

19 vessel use and generated by an operable Type 

20 I or II marine sanitation device as classified by 

21 the United States Coast Guard, that is ap22 proved in accordance with section 312 of the 

23 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 

24 1322) provided the vessel operator secures all 

25 marine sanitation devices in a manner that pre-
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1 vents discharge of untreated sewage from a 

2 Type I or Type II Coast Guard-approved sani3 tation devices, except that this subparagraph 

4 does not apply with respect to a discharge from 

5 a cruise ship within the boundaries of either 

6 sanctuary; 

7 (D) of biodegradable material resulting 

8 from deck wash down and vessel engine cooling 

9 water (excluding ballast water and oily wastes 

10 from bilge pumping), from a vessel; 

11 (E) from vessel engine exhaust; or 

12 (F) that— 

13 (i) originates in the Russian River 

14 Watershed outside the boundaries of the 

15 Gulf of the Farallones National Marine 

16 Sanctuary; 

17 (ii) originates from the Bodega Ma18 rine Laboratory; and 

19 (iii) is permitted under a National 

20 Pollution Discharge Elimination System 

21 permit that is in effect on the date of en22 actment of this Act, or under a new or re23 newed National Pollution Discharge Elimi24 nation System permit that does not in25 crease pollution in the Sanctuaries. 
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1 (d) CONSULTATION REQUIREMENT FOR CHANGES IN

2 WATER FLOW.—Any Federal, State or local government 

3 agency that is responsible for significant alteration of 

4 fresh water flow regimes that may affect the Sanctuaries 

5 must consult with the Secretary prior to initiating such 

6 change in order to ensure sanctuary resources are not in7 jured. 

8 (e) PENALTIES AND ENFORCEMENT.—A violation of 

9 this section shall be treated as a violation of section 306 

10 of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act 

11 of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1436). 

12 SEC. 7. MANAGEMENT PLANS AND REGULATIONS. 

13 (a) INTERIM PLAN.—The Secretary shall complete an 

14 interim supplemental management plan for each of the 

15 Sanctuaries by not later than 30 months after the date 

16 of enactment of this Act, that focuses on management in 

17 the areas added under this Act. These supplemental plans 

18 shall not weaken existing resource protections. 

19 (b) REVISED PLANS.—The Secretary shall issue a re20 vised comprehensive management plan for each of the 

21 Sanctuaries during the next management review process 

22 required by section 304 of the National Marine Sanc23 tuaries Act (16 U.S.C. 1434(e)) for the Sanctuaries, and 

24 issue such final regulations as may be necessary. 
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1 (c) APPLICATION OF EXISTING REGULATIONS.—The 

2 regulations for the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine 

3 Sanctuary (15 C.F.R. 922, subpart H) and the Cordell 

4 Bank National Marine Sanctuary (15 C.F.R. 922, subpart 

5 K) shall apply to the areas added to the Sanctuaries under 

6 section 5 until the Secretary modifies such regulations in 

7 accordance with this section. 

8 (d) PROCEDURES.—In developing the revisions under 

9 this section, the Secretary shall follow the procedures spec10 ified in sections 303 and 304 of the Marine Protection, 

11 Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1433 

12 and 1434), except those procedures requiring the delinea13 tion of national marine sanctuary boundaries and develop14 ment of a resource assessment report. 

15 (e) CONTENTS OF PLANS.—Revisions to each com16 prehensive management plan under this section shall, in 

17 addition to matters required under section 304(a)(2) of 

18 the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act of 

19 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1434(A)(2))— 

20 (1) facilitate all public and private uses of each 

21 of the Sanctuaries consistent with the primary objec22 tive of sanctuary resource protection; 

23 (2) establish temporal and geographical zoning 

24 if necessary to ensure protection of sanctuary re25 sources; 
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1 (3) identify priority needs for research which 

2 will— 

3 (A) improve management of each of the 

4 Sanctuaries; 

5 (B) diminish threats to the health of the 

6 ecosystems in the Sanctuaries; or 

7 (C) fulfill both of subparagraphs (A) and 

8 (B); 

9 (4) establish a long-term ecological monitoring 

10 program and database, including the development 

11 and implementation of a resource information sys12 tem to disseminate information on the Sanctuaries’ 

13 ecosystem, history, culture and management; 

14 (5) identify alternative sources of funding need15 ed to fully implement the plan’s provisions and sup16 plement appropriations under section 313 of the Ma17 rine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 

18 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1444); 

19 (6) ensure coordination and cooperation be20 tween Sanctuary managers and other Federal, State, 

21 and local authorities with jurisdiction within or adja22 cent to the Sanctuaries; 

23 (7) in the case of revisions to the plan for the 

24 Farallones NMS, promote cooperation with farmers 

25 and ranchers operating in the watersheds adjacent 
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1 to the Gulf of the Farallones NMS and establish vol2 untary best practices programs for farming and 

3 ranching; 

4 (8) promote cooperative and educational pro5 grams with fishing vessel operators and crews oper6 ating in the waters of the Sanctuaries, and, when7 ever possible, include individuals who engage in fish8 ing and their vessels in cooperative research, assess9 ment, and monitoring programs of the education, 

10 among users of the Sanctuaries, about conservation 

11 and navigational safety and the conservation of 

12 those resources; and 

13 (9) promote education, among users of the 

14 Sanctuaries, about conservation and navigation safe15 ty. 

16 (f) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—The Secretary shall 

17 provide for participation by the general public in the revi18 sion of the comprehensive management plans and regula19 tions under this section. 

20 SEC. 8. FEASIBILITY OF A NEW SANCTUARY DESIGNATION. 

21 (a) REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATION.—As part of the 

22 first review, following the date of enactment of this Act, 

23 of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary 

24 Management Plan pursuant to section 304(e) of the Na-
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1 tional Marine Sanctuaries Act (16 U.S.C. 1434(e)), the 

2 Secretary shall— 

3 (1) conduct a review of the operations of the 

4 Farallones NMS; and 

5 (2) following not less than one public hearing 

6 held in the area added to the Farallones NMS by 

7 this Act and the receipt of public comment, deter8 mine whether that area shall be designated as a new 

9 and separate National Marine Sanctuary. 

10 (b) CONSIDERATIONS FOR DETERMINATION.—In 

11 making the determination under subsection (a)(2), the 

12 Secretary shall consider responsiveness to local needs, the 

13 effectiveness of conservation, education and volunteer pro14 grams, and organizational efficiency. 

15 (c) IMPLEMENTATION OF DETERMINATION.—If the 

16 Secretary determines under subsection (b) to designate a 

17 new national marine sanctuary, the Secretary shall imple18 ment measures to assure a smooth and effective transition 

19 to a separate national marine sanctuary. 

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