I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5487 

To require the Secretary of Commerce to establish and carry out a grant 

program to conserve, restore, and manage kelp forest ecosystems, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023 

Mr. HUFFMAN (for himself, Ms. DELBENE, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. PETERS, Mr. 

KILMER, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, and Mr. MULLIN) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Commerce to establish and carry 

out a grant program to conserve, restore, and manage 

kelp forest ecosystems, 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 ‘‘Help Our Kelp Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. GRANTS TO CONSERVE, RESTORE, AND MANAGE 

6 KELP FOREST ECOSYSTEMS. 

7 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con8 gress that the purposes of this section and the grants auVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:04 Sep 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5487.IH H5487

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1 thorized by this section are to support native wild kelp 

2 forest ecosystems and restore native wild kelp to enable 

3 long term recovery of naturally functioning kelp forest eco4 systems that do not involve commercial or mechanized 

5 harvesting. 

6 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 

7 the date of the enactment of this section, the Adminis8 trator shall establish and carry out a grant program under 

9 which the Administrator shall award grants to eligible en10 tities described in subsection (c) to carry out projects de11 scribed in subsection (d) relating to the conservation, res12 toration, or management of kelp forest ecosystems. 

13 (c) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—To be eligible for a grant 

14 under this section, an eligible entity shall— 

15 (1) be— 

16 (A) a member of the fishing industry; 

17 (B) an institution of higher education; 

18 (C) a nonprofit organization; 

19 (D) an Indian Tribe; 

20 (E) a State agency; or 

21 (F) a local government; 

22 (2) consult or collaborate with any of the other 

23 entities described in paragraph (1) throughout the 

24 development or implementation of a project relating 


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1 to the conservation, restoration, or management of 

2 kelp forest ecosystems; and 

3 (3) submit to the Administrator an application 

4 describing such project at such time, in such man5 ner, and containing such information as the Admin6 istrator may require, including information regard7 ing what criteria will be used to monitor and evalu8 ate the effectiveness of the project and the qualifica9 tions of the applicant to conduct, monitor, and 

10 evaluate the project. 

11 (d) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—The Administrator shall 

12 award grants to eligible entities for projects that— 

13 (1) address greatest relative regional declines in 

14 kelp forest ecosystems; 

15 (2) focus on elements such as— 

16 (A) long term ecosystem resilience of kelp 

17 forest ecosystems; 

18 (B) long term socioeconomic resilience re19 lated to kelp forest ecosystems; 

20 (C) kelp forest seeding and connectivity; 

21 (D) re-establishing or recovering natural 

22 trophic relationships and structure to support 

23 resilience of kelp forest ecosystems through ac24 tions such as predator control through targeted 


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1 urchin removal and recovery of sunflower sea 

2 stars; 

3 (E) monitoring and assessment of kelp for4 est ecosystems; 

5 (F) integration of Indigenous knowledge 

6 and cultural practices into restoration and mon7 itoring of kelp forest ecosystems through con8 sultation with Indian Tribes or promotion of 

9 Federal or State co-management with Indian 

10 Tribes; or 

11 (G) other efforts to restore kelp forest eco12 systems and prevent large scale losses of kelp 

13 forests; or 

14 (3) are identified by Indian Tribes or Federal 

15 or State restoration or management plans as focal 

16 areas for recovery of kelp forests and associated spe17 cies. 

18 (e) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para20 graph (2), the amount of Federal funding received 

21 as a grant under this section by an eligible entity 

22 may not exceed 85 percent of the total cost of the 

23 project for which a grant is awarded. For the pur24 poses of this paragraph, the non-Federal share of 


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1 project costs may be provided by in-kind contribu2 tions and other noncash support. 

3 (2) WAIVER.—The Administrator may waive all 

4 or part of the requirement in paragraph (1) if the 

5 Administrator determines that— 

6 (A) no reasonable means are available 

7 through which an eligible entity applying for a 

8 grant under this section can meet such require9 ment; 

10 (B) the probable benefit of such project 

11 outweighs the public interest in such require12 ment; and 

13 (C) the project undertaken is established 

14 on lands owned by or held in trust for an In15 dian Tribe. 

16 (f) GUIDELINES AND CRITERIA.—The Administrator 

17 shall— 

18 (1) issue guidelines regarding the implementa19 tion of the grant program established under sub20 section (b); and 

21 (2) establish criteria based on best practices, 

22 the best available science, and community engage23 ment to rank eligible projects under subsection (d). 

24 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

2 appropriated to the Administrator to carry out this 

3 section $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 

4 through 2028. 

5 (2) AVAILABILITY TO INDIAN TRIBES.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Of the amount author7 ized to be appropriated by paragraph (1) for a 

8 fiscal year, subject to appropriations, not less 

9 than $750,000 shall be made available to award 

10 grants under this section to eligible entities that 

11 are Indian Tribes. 

12 (B) CONTINGENCY; OUTREACH.—If no In13 dian Tribe is awarded a grant under this sec14 tion in a fiscal year— 

15 (i) for that fiscal year, the amount de16 scribed in subparagraph (A) shall be made 

17 available to award grants under this sec18 tion to other eligible entities; and 

19 (ii) the Administrator shall conduct 

20 outreach to inform Indian Tribes and orga21 nizations that work with Indian Tribes of 

22 the grant program established under sub23 section (b). 

24 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis2 trator’’ means the Secretary of Commerce, acting 

3 through the Administrator of the National Oceanic 

4 and Atmospheric Administration. 

5 (2) FISHING INDUSTRY.—The term ‘‘fishing in6 dustry’’ means— 

7 (A) processors; 

8 (B) commercial fishermen; and 

9 (C) recreational fishermen. 

10 (3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

11 has the meaning given such term in section 4 of the 

12 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

13 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

14 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

15 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

16 meaning given such term in section 101(a) of the 

17 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

18 (5) KELP FOREST ECOSYSTEM.—The term 

19 ‘‘kelp forest ecosystem’’ means a naturally occur20 ring, biotic system dominated by canopy-forming, 

21 stipitate, or prostrate benthic macroalgae and associ22 ated taxa. 

23 (6) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 

24 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization— 


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1 (A) described in section 501(c)(3) of the 

2 Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and 

3 (B) exempt from tax under section 501(a) 

4 of such Code. 

Æ 


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