IIB 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 556 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 29, 2009 

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

and Transportation 

AN ACT 

To establish a program of research, recovery, and other 

activities to provide for the recovery of the southern 

sea otter. 

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 ‘‘Southern Sea Otter 

3 Recovery and Research Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. SOUTHERN SEA OTTER RECOVERY AND RESEARCH 

5 PROGRAM. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior, act7 ing through the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 

8 and the United States Geological Survey, shall carry out 

9 a recovery and research program for southern sea otter 

10 populations along the coast of California, informed by the 

11 prioritized research recommendations of the Final Revised 

12 Recovery Plan for the southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris 

13 nereis) published by the United States Fish and Wildlife 

14 Service and dated February 24, 2003, the Research Plan 

15 for California Sea Otter Recovery issued by the United 

16 States Fish and Wildlife Service Southern Sea Otter Re17 covery Implementation Team and dated March 2, 2007, 

18 and any other recovery, research, or conservation plan 

19 adopted by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 

20 after the date of enactment of this Act in accordance with 

21 otherwise applicable law. The Recovery and Research Pro22 gram shall include the following: 

23 (1) Monitoring, analysis, and assessment of 

24 southern sea otter population demographics, health, 

25 causes of mortality, and life history parameters, in26 cluding range-wide population surveys. 

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1 (2) Development and implementation of meas2 ures to reduce or eliminate potential factors limiting 

3 southern sea otter populations that are related to 

4 marine ecosystem health or human activities. 

5 (b) REAPPOINTMENT OF RECOVERY IMPLEMENTA6 TION TEAM.—Not later than one year after the date of 

7 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall appoint persons 

8 to a southern sea otter recovery implementation team as 

9 authorized under section 4(f)(2) of the Endangered Spe10 cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(f)(2)). 

11 (c) SOUTHERN SEA OTTER RESEARCH AND RECOV12 ERY GRANTS.— 

13 (1) GRANT AUTHORITY.—The Secretary shall 

14 establish a peer-reviewed, merit-based process to 

15 award competitive grants for research regarding 

16 southern sea otters and for projects assisting the re17 covery of southern sea otter populations. 

18 (2) PEER REVIEW PANEL.—The Secretary shall 

19 establish as necessary a peer review panel to provide 

20 scientific advice and guidance to prioritize proposals 

21 for grants under this subsection. 

22 (3) RESEARCH GRANT SUBJECTS.—Research 

23 funded with grants under this subsection shall be in 

24 accordance with the research recommendations of 

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1 any plan referred to in subsection (a), and may in2 clude the following topics: 

3 (A) Causes of sea otter mortality. 

4 (B) Southern sea otter demographics and 

5 natural history. 

6 (C) Effects and sources of pollutants, nu7 trients, and toxicants on southern sea otters 

8 and sequestration of contaminants. 

9 (D) Effects and sources of infectious dis10 eases and parasites affecting southern sea ot11 ters. 

12 (E) Limitations on the availability of food 

13 resources for southern sea otters and the im14 pacts of food limitation on southern sea otter 

15 carrying capacity. 

16 (F) Interactions between southern sea ot17 ters and coastal fisheries and other human ac18 tivities in the marine environment. 

19 (G) Assessment of the keystone ecological 

20 role of sea otters in southern and central Cali21 fornia’s coastal marine ecosystems, including 

22 both the direct and indirect effects of sea otter 

23 predation, especially as these effects influence 

24 human welfare, resource utilization, and eco25 system services. 

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1 (H) Assessment of the adequacy of emer2 gency response and contingency plans. 

3 (4) RECOVERY PROJECT SUBJECTS.—Recovery 

4 projects funded with grants under this subsection 

5 shall be conducted in accordance with recovery rec6 ommendations of any plan referred to in subsection 

7 (a), and may include projects to— 

8 (A) protect and recover southern sea ot9 ters; 

10 (B) reduce, mitigate, or eliminate potential 

11 factors limiting southern sea otter populations 

12 that are related to human activities, including 

13 projects to— 

14 (i) reduce, mitigate, or eliminate fac15 tors contributing to mortality, adversely af16 fecting health, or restricting distribution 

17 and abundance; and 

18 (ii) reduce, mitigate, or eliminate fac19 tors that harm or reduce the quality of 

20 southern sea otter habitat or the health of 

21 coastal marine ecosystems; and 

22 (C) implement emergency response and 

23 contingency plans. 

24 (d) REPORT.—The Secretary shall— 

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1 (1) within 12 months after the date of enact2 ment of this Act, report to Congress on— 

3 (A) the status of southern sea otter popu4 lations; 

5 (B) implementation of the Recovery and 

6 Research Program and the grant program; and 

7 (C) any relevant formal consultations con8 ducted under section 7 of the Endangered Spe9 cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536) with respect 

10 to the southern sea otter; and 

11 (2) within 24 months after the date of enact12 ment of this Act and every 5 years thereafter, and 

13 in consultation with a southern sea otter recovery 

14 implementation team (if any) that is otherwise being 

15 utilized by the Secretary under section 4(f) of the 

16 Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

17 1533(f)), report to Congress and the public on— 

18 (A) an evaluation of southern sea otter 

19 health, causes of southern sea otter mortality, 

20 and the interactions of southern sea otters with 

21 California’s coastal marine ecosystems; 

22 (B) an evaluation of actions taken to im23 prove southern sea otter health, reduce south24 ern sea otter mortality, and improve southern 

25 sea otter habitat; 

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1 (C) recommendation for actions, pursuant 

2 to current law, to improve southern sea otter 

3 health, reduce the occurrence of human-related 

4 mortality, and improve the health of such coast5 al marine ecosystems; and 

6 (D) recommendations for funding to carry 

7 out this Act. 

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) RECOVERY AND RESEARCH PROGRAM.—The 

11 term ‘‘Recovery and Research Program’’ means the 

12 recovery and research program under section 2(a). 

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

14 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 

15 United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the 

16 United States Geological Survey. 

17 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro19 priated to the Secretary to carry out this Act $5,000,000 

20 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2015 of which— 

21 (1) no less than 30 percent shall be for research 

22 grants under section 2(c)(3); and 

23 (2) no less than 30 percent shall be for recovery 

24 projects under section 2(c)(4). 

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1 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of amounts avail2 able each fiscal year to carry out this Act, the Secretary 

3 may expend not more than 7 percent to pay the adminis4 trative expenses necessary to carry out this Act. 

5 SEC. 5. TERMINATION. 

6 This Act shall have no force or effect on and after 

7 the date the Secretary (as that term is used in section 

8 4(c)(2) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

9 1533(c)(2)) publishes a determination that the southern 

10 sea otter should be removed from the lists published under 

11 section 4(c) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 

12 U.S.C. 1533(c)). 

Passed the House of Representatives July 28, 2009. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 

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