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Union Calendar No. 151 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 905 

[Report No. 111–270] 

To expand the boundaries of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary 

and Underwater Preserve, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 4, 2009 

Mr. STUPAK (for himself, Mr. MCCOTTER, and Mr. KILDEE) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009 

Additional sponsor: Mr. EHLERS

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009 

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 February 4, 2009] 


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•HR 905 RH

A BILL 

To expand the boundaries of the Thunder Bay National 

Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve, and for 

other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Thunder Bay National 

5 Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve Boundary 

6 Modification Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following findings: 

9 (1) Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary 

10 and Underwater Preserve in Lake Huron contains 

11 more than 100 recorded historic vessel losses. 

12 (2) The areas immediately surrounding the 

13 Sanctuary, including the offshore waters of Presque 

14 Isle and Alcona Counties, Michigan, contain an equal 

15 number of historic vessel losses. 

16 (3) Many of these shipwrecks and underwater 

17 cultural resources are popular recreational diving 

18 destinations, and all contribute to our collective mari19 time heritage. 

20 (4) These resources are susceptible to damage 

21 from human activities, and must be properly pre22 served for themselves and to protect the economic via23 bility of their contribution to national and regional 

24 economies. 

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


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1 (1) to expand the Thunder Bay National Marine 

2 Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve boundaries to 

3 encompass the offshore waters of Presque Isle and 

4 Alcona Counties, Michigan and outward to the inter5 national border between the United States and Can6 ada; and 

7 (2) to provide the underwater cultural resources 

8 of those areas equal protection to that currently af9 forded to the Sanctuary. 

10 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act: 

12 (1) SANCTUARY.—The term ‘‘Sanctuary’’ means 

13 the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and 

14 Underwater Preserve. 

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

16 the Secretary of Commerce. 

17 SEC. 4. SANCTUARY BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT. 

18 (a) BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT.—Notwithstanding any 

19 provision of law or regulation, including section 922.190 

20 of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on the 

21 date of the enactment of this Act, the Sanctuary shall con22 sist of the geographic area described in subsection (b). 

23 (b) EXPANDED BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT.—The area 

24 referred to in subsection (a) is all submerged lands, includ25 ing the underwater cultural resources, lakeward of the mean 


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1 high waterline, within the boundaries of a line formed by 

2 connecting points in succession beginning at a point along 

3 the mean high water line located approximately at 

4 45.6262N, 84.2043W at the intersection of the northern 

5 Presque Isle and northeastern Cheboygan County boundary, 

6 then north to a point approximately 45.7523N, 84.2011W, 

7 then northeast to a point approximately 45.7777N, 

8 84.1231W, then due east to the international boundary be9 tween the United States and Canada approximately located 

10 at 45.7719N, 83.4840W then following the international 

11 boundary between the United States and Canada in a gen12 erally southeasterly direction to a point approximately 

13 44.5128N, 83.3186W at the intersection of the southern 

14 Alcona County and northern Iosco County boundary, re15 turning to the first point along the mean high water line. 

16 (c) AUTHORITY TO MAKE MINOR ADJUSTMENTS.—The 

17 Secretary may make minor adjustments to the boundary 

18 described in subsection (b) to facilitate enforcement and 

19 clarify the boundary to the public provided the resulting 

20 boundary is consistent with the purposes described in sec21 tion 2(b). 

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

23 in subsection (b), as modified in accordance with subsection 

24 (c), shall be managed as part of the National Marine Sanc25 tuary System established by section 301(c) of the National 


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1 Marine Sanctuaries Act (16 U.S.C. 1431(c)), in accordance 

2 with that Act. 

3 (e) UPDATED NOAA CHARTS.—The Secretary shall— 

4 (1) produce updated National Oceanic and At5 mospheric Administration charts for the area in 

6 which the Sanctuary is located; and 

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

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

9 accordance with subsection (c). 

10 SEC. 5. EXTENSION OF REGULATIONS AND MANAGEMENT. 

11 (a) REGULATIONS.—The regulations applicable to the 

12 Sanctuary codified in subpart R of part 922 of title 15, 

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

14 enactment of this Act, shall apply to the geographic area 

15 added to the Sanctuary pursuant to section 4, unless the 

16 Secretary specifies otherwise by regulation. 

17 (b) EXISTING CERTIFICATIONS.—The Secretary may 

18 certify that any license, permit, approval, other authoriza19 tion, or right to conduct a prohibited activity made pursu20 ant to section 922.194 of title 15, Code of Federal Regula21 tions, that exists on the date of the enactment of this Act 

22 shall apply to such an activity conducted within the geo23 graphic area added to the Sanctuary pursuant to section 

24 4. 


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1 (c) DATE OF SANCTUARY DESIGNATION.—For pur2 poses of section 922.194 of title 15, Code of Federal Regula3 tions, the date of the enactment of this Act shall be deemed 

4 to be the date of Sanctuary designation. 

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

6 the Secretary shall apply the management plan in effect 

7 for the Sanctuary on the date of the enactment of this Act 

8 to the geographic area added to the Sanctuary pursuant 

9 to section 4. 


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Union Calendar No. 151 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 905 

[Report No. 111–270] 

A BILL 

To expand the boundaries of the Thunder Bay Naserve, and for other purposes. tional Marine Sanctuary and Underwater PreSEPTEMBER 29, 2009 

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


wwoods2 on DSK1DXX6B1PROD with BILLS