I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4949 

To require the Secretary of Commerce to establish a grant program to 

facilitate the training and employment of veterans for certain conservation activities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 26, 2023 

Mr. SOTO (for himself, Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana, Mrs. PELTOLA, Mr. 

HUFFMAN, Mrs. GONZA ́LEZ-COLO ́N, Ms. BONAMICI, and Mrs. LUNA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Commerce to establish a grant 

program to facilitate the training and employment of 

veterans for certain conservation activities, 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 ‘‘Don Young Veterans 

5 Advancing Conservation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) Veterans are among the greatest assets of 

2 the United States. 

3 (2) Veterans are highly skilled and trained indi4 viduals whose mission is to protect their commu5 nities. 

6 (3) Studies show that community-focused 

7 growth and engagement assists veterans with mental 

8 health and combat-related trauma. 

9 (4) SCUBA diving has been found to help im10 prove mental, physical, and emotional health and 

11 has been specifically linked to improvement in the 

12 symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. 

13 SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE VETERANS ADVANC14 ING CONSERVATION GRANT PROGRAM. 

15 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 120 days after 

16 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

17 establish a program, to be known as the ‘‘Veterans Ad18 vancing Conservation Grant Program’’, under which the 

19 Secretary may award grants, on a competitive basis, to 

20 nonprofit organizations that train or employ veterans to 

21 conduct underwater marine and coastal conservation ac22 tivities. 

23 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award 

25 grants under this section to nonprofit organizations 


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1 that train or employ veterans to conduct activities 

2 described in subsection (a). 

3 (2) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a 

4 grant under this section, an organization shall sub5 mit to the Secretary an application in such form, at 

6 such time, and containing such information as the 

7 Secretary determines appropriate. 

8 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—An organization awarded a 

9 grant under this section may use grant funds to train or 

10 employ veterans to conduct activities described in sub11 section (a), which may include— 

12 (1) response to coral disease; 

13 (2) restoration and rehabilitation of coral; 

14 (3) eradication of invasive species; 

15 (4) removal of marine debris; 

16 (5) rescue of marine mammals and reptiles; 

17 (6) scientific research and development relating 

18 to such activities; 

19 (7) tagging of sharks and other marine animals; 

20 (8) mapping of shipwrecks; 

21 (9) underwater survey work; 

22 (10) hurricane recovery; and 

23 (11) coastal restoration. 


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1 (d) COORDINATION.—In carrying out this section, the 

2 Secretary shall coordinate with the Secretary of the Inte3 rior. 

4 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Of funds 

5 otherwise appropriated to the Secretary, the Secretary is 

6 authorized to make available not more than the following 

7 amounts to carry out this section: 

8 (1) $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2024. 

9 (2) $1,200,000 for fiscal year 2025. 

10 (3) $1,400,000 for fiscal year 2026. 

11 (4) $1,600,000 for fiscal year 2027. 

12 (5) $1,800,000 for fiscal year 2028. 

13 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 (1) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 

15 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization de16 scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 

17 Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation under 

18 501(a) of that Code. 

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

20 the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Ad21 ministrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos22 pheric Administration. 


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1 (3) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 

2 meaning given such term in section 101(2) of title 

3 38, United States Code. 

Æ 


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