II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 246 

To prevent the escapement of genetically altered salmon in the United States, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2013 

Mr. BEGICH (for himself and Ms. MURKOWSKI) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To prevent the escapement of genetically altered salmon in 

the United States, 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 ‘‘Prevention of 

5 Escapement of Genetically Altered Salmon in the United 

6 States Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON SALE OF GENETICALLY ALTERED 

8 SALMON. 

9 (a) PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful for a per10 son— 


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1 (1) to ship, transport, offer for sale, sell, or 

2 purchase a covered fish, or a product containing cov3 ered fish, in interstate or foreign commerce; 

4 (2) to have custody, control, or possession of, 

5 with the intent to ship, transport, offer for sale, sell, 

6 or purchase a covered fish, or a product containing 

7 covered fish, in interstate or foreign commerce; 

8 (3) to release a covered fish into a natural envi9 ronment; or 

10 (4) to have custody, control, or possession of a 

11 covered fish with the intent to release it into a nat12 ural environment. 

13 (b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to 

14 a fish, fish part, or product— 

15 (1) under confined use, or intended for confined 

16 use, for scientific research; 

17 (2) collected for the purpose of enforcing this 

18 Act; or 

19 (3) if the Under Secretary of Commerce for 

20 Oceans and Atmosphere, in consultation with the 

21 Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and 

22 any other Federal, State, or tribal entity the Under 

23 Secretary considers appropriate, reviews any applica24 tion requesting an action by a department or agency 

25 of the Federal government to permit an act prohibVerDate Mar 15 2010 20:37 Feb 19, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S246.IS S246

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1 ited under subsection (a), including any environ2 mental assessment prepared as part of that applica3 tion, and— 

4 (A) prepares a finding of no significant im5 pact in accordance with the National Environ6 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

7 seq.); or 

8 (B) finds the application to be consistent 

9 with an environmental impact statement pre10 pared by the Under Secretary in accordance 

11 with section 102(2)(C) of the National Environ12 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332) 

13 that includes— 

14 (i) an environmental risk analysis that 

15 assesses the potential direct and indirect 

16 impacts from escapement of covered fish 

17 on wild and cultured fish stocks and envi18 ronments that may be exposed to such cov19 ered fish; 

20 (ii) a failure mode and effects analysis 

21 that quantitatively assesses the best- and 

22 worst-case probabilities of failure of each 

23 applicable confinement technique; 


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1 (iii) an assessment of the costs of con2 trol or eradication of escaped covered fish; 

3 and 

4 (iv) an assessment of the potential 

5 economic damage in terms of loss of pro6 duction or sales to relevant wild and cul7 tured fish stocks and environments from 

8 the escapement of covered fish. 

9 (c) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT CONSIDERATIONS.— 

10 (1) NOTICE.—Each agency, department, or 

11 other unit of the Federal government shall promptly 

12 notify the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans 

13 and Atmosphere when an action involving covered 

14 fish, or a product containing covered fish is first 

15 identified. 

16 (2) ENSURING COMPLIANCE.—The Under Sec17 retary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, in 

18 cooperation with each Federal, State, or tribal entity 

19 that the Under Secretary considers appropriate, may 

20 monitor any mitigation measures proposed under 

21 subsection (b)(3) to ensure implementation and com22 pliance therewith. 

23 (3) PROVISIONS AS COMPLEMENTARY.—The 

24 provisions of this Act are in addition to, and shall 

25 not affect the operation of, other Federal, State, or 


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1 local laws regulating a covered fish, or a product 

2 containing covered fish. 

3 (d) RULES AND REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall 

4 prescribe such rules and regulations as the Secretary con5 siders necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. 

6 SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT AND PENALTIES. 

7 (a) ENFORCEMENT.—The Secretary of Commerce 

8 may enforce section 2 in the same manner, by the same 

9 means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties 

10 provided under sections 308, 309, 310, and 311 of the 

11 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Manage12 ment Act (16 U.S.C. 1858, 1859, 1860, and 1861). 

13 (b) PENALTIES.—A person who violates section 2 

14 shall be subject to the penalties, and entitled to the privi15 leges and immunities, under sections 308, 309, 310, and 

16 311 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 

17 Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1858, 1859, 1860, and 

18 1861). 

19 SEC. 4. REPORT ON RISKS TO WILD FISH STOCKS. 

20 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

21 of this Act, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans 

22 and Atmosphere shall transmit to the Committee on Com23 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 

24 Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Rep25 resentatives the report under section 1007 of the Food 


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1 and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007 (21 

2 U.S.C. 2106). 

3 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) CONFINED USE.—The term ‘‘confined use’’ 

6 means any operation, undertaken within a secured, 

7 land-based facility, that involves a covered fish con8 trolled by specific measures that effectively prevent 

9 the covered fish from having contact with and im10 pact on the external environment, including biologi11 cal and physical confinement measures. 

12 (2) COVERED FISH.—The term ‘‘covered fish’’ 

13 means a salmon or other anadromous or marine 

14 fish, live or dead, including the gametes, fertilized 

15 eggs, offspring, and descendants thereof, that is 

16 modified or produced through the application of re17 combinant deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) tech18 nologies, using DNA from an organism’s own ge19 nome or that of another species, which overcome 

20 natural physiological reproductive barriers and which 

21 are not techniques used in traditional breeding and 

22 selection. 

23 (3) FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT.—The 

24 term ‘‘finding of no significant impact’’ has the 


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1 meaning given the term in section 1508.13 of title 

2 40, Code of Federal Regulations. 

3 (4) PRODUCT.—The term ‘‘product’’ means an 

4 item manufactured or produced for sale or use as 

5 food. 

Æ 


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