IIB 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 844 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 3, 2009 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

and Transportation 

AN ACT 

To amend the provisions of law relating to the John H. 

Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Marine Mammal Res3 cue Assistance Amendments of 2009’’. 

4 SEC. 2. STRANDING AND ENTANGLEMENT RESPONSE. 

5 (a) COLLECTION AND UPDATING OF INFORMA6 TION.—Section 402(b)(1)(A) of the Marine Mammal Pro7 tection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1421a(b)(1)(A)) is amend8 ed by inserting ‘‘or entangled’’ after ‘‘stranded’’. 

9 (b) ENTANGLEMENT RESPONSE AGREEMENTS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 403 of such Act (16 

11 U.S.C. 1421b) is amended— 

12 (A) by amending the section heading to 

13 read as follows: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 403. STRANDING OR ENTANGLEMENT RESPONSE 

15 AGREEMENTS.’’; 

16 and 

17 (B) in subsection (a) by inserting ‘‘or en18 tanglement’’ before the period. 

19 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con20 tents at the end of the first section is amended by 

21 striking the item relating to section 403 and insert22 ing the following: 

‘‘Sec. 403. Stranding or entanglement response agreements.’’. 

23 (c) LIABILITY.—Section 406(a) of such Act (16 

24 U.S.C. 1421e(a)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or entangle25 ment’’ after ‘‘stranding’’. 


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1 (d) ENTANGLEMENT DEFINED.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 410 of such Act (16 

3 U.S.C. 1421h) is amended— 

4 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

5 through (6) in order as paragraphs (2) through 

6 (7); and 

7 (B) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as 

8 so redesignated) the following: 

9 ‘‘(1) The term ‘entanglement’ means an event 

10 in the wild in which a living or dead marine mammal 

11 has gear, rope, line, net, or other material wrapped 

12 around or attached to it and is— 

13 ‘‘(A) on a beach or shore of the United 

14 States; or 

15 ‘‘(B) in waters under the jurisdiction of 

16 the United States.’’. 

17 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

18 408(a)(2)(B)(i) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1421f– 

19 1(a)(2)(B)(i)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 

20 410(6)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 410(7)’’. 

21 (e) JOHN H. PRESCOTT MARINE MAMMAL RESCUE

22 ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM.— 

23 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR

24 GRANT PROGRAM.—Section 408(h) of such Act (16 

25 U.S.C. 1421f–1(h)) is amended— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘$5,000,000 for each of 

2 fiscal years 2001 through 2003’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘$7,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 

4 through 2013’’; and 

5 (B) in paragraph (1) by striking 

6 ‘‘$4,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$6,000,000’’. 

7 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS AND EXPENSES.— 

8 Section 408 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1421f–1) is 

9 amended— 

10 (A) by adding at the end of subsection 

11 (a)(1) the following: ‘‘All funds available to im12 plement this section shall be distributed to eligi13 ble stranding network participants for the pur14 poses set forth in this paragraph and paragraph 

15 (2), except as provided in subsection (f).’’; and 

16 (B) by amending subsection (f) to read as 

17 follows: 

18 ‘‘(f) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS AND EXPENSES.—Of 

19 the amounts available each fiscal year to carry out this 

20 section, the Secretary may expend not more than 6 per21 cent or $80,000, whichever is greater, to pay the adminis22 trative costs and administrative expenses to implement the 

23 grant program under subsection (a). Any such funds re24 tained by the Secretary for a fiscal year for such costs 

25 and expenses that are not used for such costs and exVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:12 Mar 03, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H844.RFS H844

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1 penses before the end of the fiscal year shall be provided 

2 as grants under subsection (a).’’. 

3 (3) EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE.—Section 408 of 

4 such Act (16 U.S.C. 1421f–1) is amended— 

5 (A) in subsection (a) by redesignating 

6 paragraph (2) as paragraph (3), and by insert7 ing after paragraph (1) the following: 

8 ‘‘(2) Subject to the availability of appropriations, the 

9 Secretary may also enter into cooperative agreements, con10 tracts, or such other agreements or arrangements as the 

11 Secretary considers appropriate to address stranding 

12 events requiring emergency assistance.’’; 

13 (B) in subsection (d) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ 

14 before the text, and by adding at the end the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(2) Funding for emergency stranding projects shall 

17 not be subject to the funding limit established in para18 graph (1).’’; 

19 (C) in subsection (e)— 

20 (i) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘The 

21 non-Federal’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as 

22 provided in paragraph (2), the non-Fed23 eral’’; 

24 (ii) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 

25 paragraph (3); and 


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1 (iii) by inserting after paragraph (1) 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(2) EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE.—No non-Fed4 eral contribution shall be required for funding for a 

5 response to an emergency stranding event.’’; and 

6 (D) in subsection (g) by redesignating 

7 paragraph (2) as paragraph (3) and inserting 

8 after paragraph (1) the following: 

9 ‘‘(2) EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE.—The term 

10 ‘emergency assistance’ means assistance provided for 

11 a stranding event that— 

12 ‘‘(A) is not an unusual mortality event as 

13 defined in section 409(6); 

14 ‘‘(B) leads to an immediate increase in re15 quired costs for stranding response, recovery, or 

16 rehabilitation in excess of regularly scheduled 

17 costs; 

18 ‘‘(C) may be cyclical or endemic; and 

19 ‘‘(D) may involve out-of-habitat animals.’’. 

20 (4) CONTRIBUTIONS.—Section 408 of such Act 

21 (16 U.S.C. 1421f–1) is amended by adding at the 

22 end the following: 

23 ‘‘(i) CONTRIBUTIONS.—For purposes of carrying out 

24 this section, the Secretary may solicit, accept, receive, 

25 hold, administer, and use gifts, devises, and bequests.’’. 


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1 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR MA2 RINE MAMMAL UNUSUAL MORTALITY EVENT FUND.— 

3 Section 409(3) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1421g(3)) is 

4 amended by striking ‘‘fiscal year 1993’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘each of fiscal years 2010 through 2013’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives March 2, 

2009. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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