I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5180 

To establish an Ombudsman Office within the National Marine Fisheries 

Service, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 29, 2010 

Ms. SHEA-PORTER (for herself, Ms. PINGREE of Maine, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. TIERNEY, Ms. BORDALLO, and Mr. PALLONE) introduced 

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

A BILL 

To establish an Ombudsman Office within the National 

Marine Fisheries Service, 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 ‘‘National Marine Fish5 eries Service Ombudsman Act of 2010’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE OMBUDS7 MAN OFFICE. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an 

2 Office of the Ombudsman in the National Marine 

3 Fisheries Service. 

4 (2) OMBUDSMAN.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall be 

6 under the direction of the Ombudsman of the 

7 National Marine Fisheries Service, who shall be 

8 appointed by the Administrator of the National 

9 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration— 

10 (i) in the case of the first Ombuds11 man, within 180 days after the date of en12 actment of this Act; and 

13 (ii) in the case of an individual ap14 pointed to serve as Ombudsman subse15 quent to the expiration of the term of a 

16 sitting Ombudsman, by not later than the 

17 date the term expires. 

18 (B) TERM.—An individual appointed as 

19 Ombudsman shall serve a term of 4 years, and 

20 may be reappointed. 

21 (C) VACANCIES.—In the event of a va22 cancy in the position of Ombudsman the Ad23 ministrator shall appoint an individual as Om24 budsman by not later than 120 days after the 

25 date the vacancy occurs. 


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1 (3) REGIONAL OMBUDSMEN.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Ombudsman shall 

3 maintain a regional ombudsman in each of the 

4 regions for which a Regional Fishery Manage5 ment Council is established under section 302 

6 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 

7 and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1852). 

8 (B) APPOINTMENT.—The regional om9 budsmen shall be appointed by and serve at the 

10 discretion of the Ombudsman. 

11 (C) ACTING OMBUDSMAN.—In the event of 

12 a vacancy in the office of the Ombudsman, the 

13 Administrator shall appoint a regional ombuds14 man to serve as the acting Ombudsman until 

15 an Ombudsman is appointed. 

16 (4) QUALIFICATIONS.—A person may not be 

17 appointed— 

18 (A) as the Ombudsman, unless the person 

19 has— 

20 (i) demonstrated expertise in the field 

21 of fisheries management and significant 

22 experience and knowledge of regulations 

23 that are enforced by the National Marine 

24 Fisheries Service; and 


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1 (ii) significant experience working in 

2 or with the commercial or recreational fish3 ing industries; or 

4 (B) as a regional ombudsman, unless the 

5 person— 

6 (i) satisfies the requirements in sub7 paragraph (A); and 

8 (ii) is a resident of a State in the re9 gion for which appointed. 

10 (5) NOTIFICATION OF APPOINTMENT AND RE11 MOVAL.—The Administrator shall notify Congress 

12 of— 

13 (A) the intent of the Administrator to ap14 point an individual as Ombudsman, by not later 

15 than 60 days before the effective date of the ap16 pointment; 

17 (B) whether or not the Administrator will 

18 reappoint an individual who is serving as Om19 budsman, by not later than 120 days before the 

20 expiration of the term of the individual; and 

21 (C) the intent of the Administrator to re22 move a person from the position of Ombuds23 man, by not later than 60 days before the effec24 tive date of the such removal, including the rea25 sons for such removal. 


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1 (6) ENSURING INDEPENDENCE OF OMBUDS2 MAN.— 

3 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Ombudsman— 

4 (i) shall report solely to and be under 

5 the general supervision of the Adminis6 trator; and 

7 (ii) may only be removed by the Ad8 ministrator for neglect of duty, mis9 conduct, or inability to perform the duties 

10 of the office of the Ombudsman. 

11 (B) MAINTENANCE OF INDEPENDENT

12 COMMUNICATIONS.—Each office under the ad13 ministrative jurisdiction of the Ombudsman 

14 shall maintain a telephone, facsimile, and other 

15 means of electronic communication access, and 

16 a post office address, that is separate from 

17 those maintained by the National Marine Fish18 eries Service and from all other components of 

19 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin20 istration. 

21 (C) IG’S AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT INVES22 TIGATIONS NOT AFFECTED.—Nothing in this 

23 Act shall prevent or prohibit any Inspector Gen24 eral from initiating, carrying out, or completing 

25 any investigation. 


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1 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The Ombudsman shall— 

2 (1) act as a neutral third party who conducts 

3 informal, impartial fact finding and investigations; 

4 (2) identify points of conflict or contention be5 tween the fishing industry and the National Marine 

6 Fisheries Service with respect to the implementation 

7 and enforcement of regulations; 

8 (3) mitigate points of conflict or contention 

9 identified under paragraph (2); 

10 (4) through each regional ombudsman— 

11 (A) serve as a point of contact for local 

12 fishermen and businesses that are regulated by 

13 the National Marine Fisheries Service; 

14 (B) receive complaints from persons regu15 lated by the National Marine Fisheries Service 

16 regarding regulatory actions initiated by the 

17 Service; 

18 (C) initiate informal, impartial fact finding 

19 and investigations; 

20 (D) work with the Service and local fisher21 men and businesses to resolve such complaints; 

22 and 

23 (E) conduct community outreach, including 

24 by assisting the National Marine Fisheries 

25 Service in the dissemination of any new regulaVerDate Mar 15 2010 16:27 Apr 30, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5180.IH H5180

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1 tions or requirements and providing information 

2 and guidance to the public; and 

3 (5) maintain a public Internet site that includes 

4 contact information for each regional office. 

5 (c) ANNUAL REPORT.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Ombudsman shall re7 port no later than September 30 each year to the 

8 Administrator, the Committee on Natural Resources 

9 Committee of the House of Representatives, and the 

10 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor11 tation of the Senate on the actions taken by each of 

12 the regional offices over the preceding year and the 

13 objectives of those actions. 

14 (2) CONTENTS.—Each such report shall in15 clude— 

16 (A) full and substantive analysis, in addi17 tion to statistical information; 

18 (B) recommendations the Office of the 

19 Ombudsman has made on improving services 

20 and responsiveness of the National Marine 

21 Fisheries Service; 

22 (C) a summary of the most pervasive and 

23 serious points of conflict or contention encoun24 tered by fishermen and businesses, including a 

25 description of the nature thereof; 


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1 (D) an inventory of the items described in 

2 subparagraphs (B) and (C) for which action 

3 has been taken, and the result of such action; 

4 (E) an inventory of the items described in 

5 subparagraphs (B) and (C) for which action re6 mains to be completed; 

7 (F) recommendations to resolve points of 

8 conflict or contention encountered by fishermen 

9 and businesses; 

10 (G) information the Ombudsman considers 

11 appropriate regarding the independence and ef12 fectiveness of the Ombudsman’s office; and 

13 (H) such other information as the Om14 budsman considers relevant. 

15 (3) REPORT TO BE SUBMITTED DIRECTLY.— 

16 Each report under this subsection shall be provided 

17 directly to the committees described in paragraph 

18 (1) without any prior comment or amendment from 

19 the Administrator or any from any other officer or 

20 employee of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

21 Administration, the National Marines Fisheries 

22 Service, or the Office of Management and Budget. 

23 (4) OTHER REPORTS.—Nothing in this sub24 section shall be construed to preclude the OmbudsVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:26 May 01, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5180.IH H5180

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1 man from issuing other reports on the activities of 

2 the Office of the Ombudsman. 

Æ 


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