111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 905 

AN ACT 

To expand the boundaries of the Thunder Bay National 

Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve, 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 ‘‘Thunder Bay National 

3 Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve Boundary 

4 Modification Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find7 ings: 

8 (1) Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary 

9 and Underwater Preserve in Lake Huron contains 

10 more than 100 recorded historic vessel losses. 

11 (2) The areas immediately surrounding the 

12 Sanctuary, including the offshore waters of Presque 

13 Isle and Alcona Counties, Michigan, contain an 

14 equal number of historic vessel losses. 

15 (3) Many of these shipwrecks and underwater 

16 cultural resources are popular recreational diving 

17 destinations, and all contribute to our collective mar18 itime heritage. 

19 (4) These resources are susceptible to damage 

20 from human activities, and must be properly pre21 served for themselves and to protect the economic vi22 ability of their contribution to national and regional 

23 economies. 

24 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 

25 (1) to expand the Thunder Bay National Ma26 rine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve boundaries 
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1 to encompass the offshore waters of Presque Isle 

2 and Alcona Counties, Michigan and outward to the 

3 international border between the United States and 

4 Canada; and 

5 (2) to provide the underwater cultural resources 

6 of those areas equal protection to that currently af7 forded to the Sanctuary. 

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) SANCTUARY.—The term ‘‘Sanctuary’’ 

11 means the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary 

12 and Underwater Preserve. 

13 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

14 the Secretary of Commerce. 

15 SEC. 4. SANCTUARY BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT. 

16 (a) BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT.—Notwithstanding any 

17 provision of law or regulation, including section 922.190 

18 of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on 

19 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sanctuary shall 

20 consist of the geographic area described in subsection (b). 

21 (b) EXPANDED BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT.—The area 

22 referred to in subsection (a) is all submerged lands, in23 cluding the underwater cultural resources, lakeward of the 

24 mean high waterline, within the boundaries of a line 

25 formed by connecting points in succession beginning at a 
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1 point along the mean high water line located approxi2 mately at 45.6262N, 84.2043W at the intersection of the 

3 northern Presque Isle and northeastern Cheboygan Coun4 ty boundary, then north to a point approximately 

5 45.7523N, 84.2011W, then northeast to a point approxi6 mately 45.7777N, 84.1231W, then due east to the inter7 national boundary between the United States and Canada 

8 approximately located at 45.7719N, 83.4840W then fol9 lowing the international boundary between the United 

10 States and Canada in a generally southeasterly direction 

11 to a point approximately 44.5128N, 82.3295W, then due 

12 west to a point along the mean high water line located 

13 approximately at 44.5116N, 83.3186W at the intersection 

14 of the southern Alcona County and northern Iosco County 

15 boundary, returning to the first point along the mean high 

16 water line. 

17 (c) AUTHORITY TO MAKE MINOR ADJUSTMENTS.— 

18 The Secretary may make minor adjustments to the bound19 ary described in subsection (b) to facilitate enforcement 

20 and clarify the boundary to the public provided the result21 ing boundary is consistent with the purposes described in 

22 section 2(b). 

23 (d) INCLUSION IN THE SYSTEM.—The area described 

24 in subsection (b), as modified in accordance with sub25 section (c), shall be managed as part of the National Ma-
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1 rine Sanctuary System established by section 301(c) of the 

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

3 accordance with that Act. 

4 (e) UPDATED NOAA CHARTS.—The Secretary 

5 shall— 

6 (1) produce updated National Oceanic and At7 mospheric Administration charts for the area in 

8 which the Sanctuary is located; and 

9 (2) include on such charts the boundaries of the 

10 Sanctuary described in subsection (b), as modified in 

11 accordance with subsection (c). 

12 SEC. 5. EXTENSION OF REGULATIONS AND MANAGEMENT. 

13 (a) REGULATIONS.—The regulations applicable to 

14 the Sanctuary codified in subpart R of part 922 of title 

15 15, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date 

16 of the enactment of this Act, shall apply to the geographic 

17 area added to the Sanctuary pursuant to section 4, unless 

18 the Secretary specifies otherwise by regulation. 

19 (b) EXISTING CERTIFICATIONS.—The Secretary may 

20 certify that any license, permit, approval, other authoriza21 tion, or right to conduct a prohibited activity made pursu22 ant to section 922.194 of title 15, Code of Federal Regula23 tions, that exists on the date of the enactment of this Act 

24 shall apply to such an activity conducted within the geo-
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1 graphic area added to the Sanctuary pursuant to section 

2 4. 

3 (c) DATE OF SANCTUARY DESIGNATION.—For pur4 poses of section 922.194 of title 15, Code of Federal Regu5 lations, the date of the enactment of this Act shall be 

6 deemed to be the date of Sanctuary designation. 

7 (d) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—To the extent practicable, 

8 the Secretary shall apply the management plan in effect 

9 for the Sanctuary on the date of the enactment of this 

10 Act to the geographic area added to the Sanctuary pursu11 ant to section 4. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 29, 

2009. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 905 

AN ACT 

To expand the boundaries of the Thunder Bay Naserve, and for other purposes. tional Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Pre-