I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6075 

To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 

to require payment of costs, fees, and expenses incurred by certain 

prevailing parties in proceedings under such Act from sums received 

as fines, penalties, and forfeitures, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 30, 2010 

Mr. TIERNEY (for himself, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. 

DELAHUNT, Mr. JONES, and Mr. COURTNEY) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act to require payment of costs, fees, and 

expenses incurred by certain prevailing parties in proceedings under such Act from sums received as fines, 

penalties, and forfeitures, 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 ‘‘Ensuring Fairness for 

5 Fishermen Act’’. 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 6075 IH

1 SEC. 2. PAYMENT OF COSTS, FEES, AND EXPENSES IN2 CURRED BY CERTAIN PREVAILING PARTIES. 

3 (a) USE OF SUMS RECEIVED AS FINES, PENALTIES, 

4 AND FORFEITURES.—Section 311(e) of the Magnuson5 Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 

6 U.S.C. 1861(e)) is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para8 graph (3) and moving such paragraph 2 ems to the 

9 left, so that the left margin of such paragraph is 

10 aligned with the left margin of such section; and 

11 (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol12 lowing new paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(2)(A) Payment shall be made from the sums de14 scribed in paragraph (1) in the case of any amount award15 ed— 

16 ‘‘(i) under section 504 of title 5, United States 

17 Code, to a prevailing party other than the United 

18 States in an adjudication by the Secretary under 

19 section 308 of this Act, notwithstanding any provi20 sion to the contrary in such section 504; 

21 ‘‘(ii) under section 2412 of title 28, United 

22 States Code, to a prevailing party other than the 

23 United States— 

24 ‘‘(I) in a civil action for review of action by 

25 the Secretary in an adjudication under section 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 6075 IH

1 308 of this Act, notwithstanding any provision 

2 to the contrary in such section 2412; or 

3 ‘‘(II) in a civil forfeiture action under sec4 tion 310 of this Act, notwithstanding any provi5 sion to the contrary in such section 2412; and 

6 ‘‘(iii) under subsection (d) of section 309 of this 

7 Act to a defendant who is a substantially prevailing 

8 party in a criminal action under such section. 

9 ‘‘(B) If the sums described in paragraph (1) available 

10 to the Secretary or the Secretary of the Treasury on the 

11 date of the award of an amount described in subparagraph 

12 (A) are not sufficient to pay the full amount awarded, pay13 ment shall be made under such subparagraph to the extent 

14 of the availability of such sums, and the remainder of the 

15 amount shall be paid— 

16 ‘‘(i) in the case of an award described in clause 

17 (i), (ii)(I), or (ii)(II) of such subparagraph, as pro18 vided under section 504 of title 5 or section 2412 of 

19 title 28, United States Code, as the case may be, 

20 without regard to this paragraph; or 

21 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an award described in clause 

22 (iii) of such subparagraph, out of any general appro23 priation for payment of judgments against the 

24 United States.’’. 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 6075 IH

1 (b) ATTORNEY FEES OF SUBSTANTIALLY PRE2 VAILING CRIMINAL DEFENDANTS.—Section 309 of such 

3 Act (16 U.S.C. 1859) is amended by adding at the end 

4 the following new subsection: 

5 ‘‘(d) ATTORNEY FEES OF SUBSTANTIALLY PRE6 VAILING DEFENDANTS.—A defendant who is a substan7 tially prevailing party in a criminal action under this sec8 tion may be awarded reasonable attorney fees.’’. 

9 SEC. 3. CERTAIN USES OF SUMS RECEIVED AS FINES, PEN10 ALTIES, AND FORFEITURES NO LONGER AU11 THORIZED. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 311(e)(1) of the Magnu13 son-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 

14 (16 U.S.C. 1861(e)(1)) is amended— 

15 (1) by striking subparagraph (B); 

16 (2) by striking subparagraph (C); and 

17 (3) by striking subparagraph (F). 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Such section is 

19 further amended— 

20 (1) in subparagraph (D)— 

21 (A) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

22 (B) by redesignating such subparagraph as 

23 subparagraph (B); and 

24 (2) in subparagraph (E)— 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 6075 IH

1 (A) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting a pe2 riod; 

3 (B) by redesignating such subparagraph as 

4 subparagraph (C); and 

5 (C) by moving such subparagraph 2 ems to 

6 the left, so that the left margin of such sub7 paragraph is aligned with the left margin of 

8 subparagraph (B), as redesignated by para9 graph (1)(B). 

10 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided, the 

12 amendments made by this Act take effect on the date of 

13 the enactment of this Act. 

14 (b) ATTORNEY FEES OF SUBSTANTIALLY PRE15 VAILING CRIMINAL DEFENDANTS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendment made by 

17 section 2(b) applies with respect to criminal actions 

18 brought on or after the date of the enactment of this 

19 Act. 

20 (2) PAYMENT IN CASE OF PRE-ENACTMENT

21 CRIMINAL ACTIONS BROUGHT AFTER ESTABLISH22 MENT OF ASSET FORFEITURE FUND.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

24 days after the date of the enactment of this 

25 Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall establish 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 6075 IH

1 a process for making payments from the 

2 amount set aside under subparagraph (B) of 

3 reasonable attorney fees to defendants who are 

4 substantially prevailing parties in criminal ac5 tions brought under section 309 of the Magnu6 son-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Manage7 ment Act (16 U.S.C. 1859) during the period 

8 beginning on November 28, 1990, and ending 

9 on the day before the date of the enactment of 

10 this Act. Such process shall— 

11 (i) require application by a defendant 

12 seeking such a payment; and 

13 (ii) provide for the proration of such 

14 payments if the amount so set aside is in15 sufficient to provide for payment of all 

16 such fees for all such defendants. 

17 (B) FUNDS SET ASIDE.—Not later than 

18 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 

19 Act, from the sums described in section 

20 311(e)(1) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

21 Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 

22 1861(e)(1)) that the Secretary of Commerce de23 termines are available, the Secretary shall set 

24 aside an amount the Secretary considers fair 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 6075 IH

1 and appropriate to be used for payments under 

2 this paragraph. 

3 (c) CERTAIN USES OF SUMS RECEIVED AS FINES, 

4 PENALTIES, AND FORFEITURES NO LONGER AUTHOR5 IZED.— 

6 (1) REWARDS FOR PROVISION OF INFORMA7 TION.—The amendment made by section 3(a)(1) 

8 does not apply to payment of rewards for informa9 tion that was provided before the date of the enact10 ment of this Act. 

11 (2) INVESTIGATION AND ENFORCEMENT EX12 PENSES.—The amendment made by section 3(a)(2) 

13 does not apply to payment of expenses incurred be14 fore the date of the enactment of this Act. 

15 (3) REIMBURSEMENT TO FEDERAL AND STATE

16 AGENCIES.—The amendment made by section 

17 3(a)(3) does not apply to payment of reimburse18 ments under agreements entered into before the date 

19 of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS