Union Calendar No. 94

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1916

[Report No. 103–170]

A BILL

To establish a marine biotechnology program within

the National Sea Grant College Program.

JULY 13, 1993

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Commitordered to be printed tee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and
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Union Calendar No. 94

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1916

[Report No. 103–170]

To establish a marine biotechnology program within the National Sea Grant

College Program.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 28, 1993

Mr. STUDDS (for himself, Mr. HOCHBRUECKNER, Mr. HOYER, Ms. SCHENK,

Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. KOPETSKI, Mr. MANTON, Mr. KREIDLER,

Mrs. UNSOELD, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. FIELDS of Texas, Mr. YOUNG of

Alaska, Mr. SWIFT, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. RAVENEL, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr.

LIPINSKI, and Mr. SAXTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries

JULY 13, 1993

Additional sponsors: Mr. WELDON, Ms. FURSE, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas,

Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. BATEMAN, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. HUGHES, Mr. BACCHUS of Florida, Mr. JOHNSTON of Florida, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. REED, Mrs. THURMAN, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. OLVER, Mr. MOAKLEY, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr.

TORKILDSEN, Mr. KINGSTON, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. LAUGHLIN, Mr. FILNER, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr.

LEWIS of Florida, Mr. BLUTE, Mr. MACHTLEY, Mrs. MINK, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO ́, Mr. MONTGOMERY, Mr. BROWN of California, Mr.

PALLONE, and Mr. CUNNINGHAM

JULY 13, 1993

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 28, 1993]
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A BILL

To establish a marine biotechnology program within the

National Sea Grant College Program.

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 ‘‘Marine Biotechnology

5 Investment Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) the oceans have for millennia been a source

9 of food, minerals and other natural products;

10 (2) molecular biology and biotechnology hold tre11 mendous potential to expand the range and increase

12 the utility of products from the oceans;

13 (3) marine biotechnology can improve the condi14 tion of marine ecosystems by developing substitute

15 products that decrease the harvest pressure on living

16 resources, improving the production of aquaculture,

17 providing new tools for understanding ecological and

18 evolutionary processes, and improving the techniques

19 for remediation of environmental damage;

20 (4) the United States is currently preeminent in

21 marine biotechnology but its competitive edge is
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1 threatened by inadequate public investment compared

2 with other leaders in this field; and

3 (5) in order to support job creation, stimulate

4 private sector investment, and maintain preeminence

5 in marine biotechnology, the United States should es6 tablish a national program for marine biotechnology

7 within the National Sea Grant College Program and

8 greatly increase its investment in this promising new

9 area of research and development.

10 SEC. 3. MARINE BIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRAM.

11 The National Sea Grant College Program Act (33

12 U.S.C. 1121 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section

13 205 the following:

14 ‘‘SEC. 206A. MARINE BIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRAM.

15 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF MARINE BIOTECHNOLOGY.—As

16 used in this section and section 203(4), the term ‘marine

17 biotechnology’ means the application of molecular and cel18 lular biology to marine and fresh water organisms for the

19 purpose of identifying, developing, and enhancing products

20 derived from those organisms.

21 ‘‘(b) MARINE BIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRAM.—Subject to

22 the availability of appropriations under section 212(c), the

23 National Sea Grant College Program provided for under

24 section 204 shall include a marine biotechnology program
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1 under which the Secretary, acting through the Director,

2 shall—

3 ‘‘(1) make grants and enter into contracts in ac4 cordance with this section; and

5 ‘‘(2) engage in other activities authorized under

6 this Act;

7 to further research, development, education and technology

8 transfer in marine biotechnology.

9 ‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATION.—In carrying out the marine

10 biotechnology program, the Secretary shall—

11 ‘‘(1) coordinate the relevant activities of the di12 rectors of the sea grant colleges and the Marine Bio13 technology Review Panel established under subsection

14 (f); and

15 ‘‘(2) provide general oversight of the review proc16 ess under subsection (f)(1) to ensure that the marine

17 biotechnology program produces the highest quality

18 research, development, education, and technology

19 transfer.

20 ‘‘(d) GRANTS AND CONTRACTS.—

21 ‘‘(1) APPLICATIONS.—Applications for grants

22 and contracts under this subsection shall be—

23 ‘‘(A) made in such form and manner, and

24 include such content and submissions, as the

25 Secretary shall by regulation prescribe;
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1 ‘‘(B) forwarded through the appropriate di2 rectors of sea grant colleges to the National Sea

3 Grant Office; and

4 ‘‘(C) reviewed by the Marine Biotechnology

5 Review Panel in accordance with subsection (f).

6 ‘‘(2) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—Any reference in

7 subsection (d) of section 205 or in the last sentence

8 of subsection (a) of section 205 to grants and con9 tracts provided for under that section shall be treated,

10 as the context requires, as including any grant ap11 plied for or made, or contract applied for or entered

12 into, under this section.

13 ‘‘(3) AWARDING OF GRANTS AND CONTRACTS.—

14 ‘‘(A) PANEL RECOMMENDATIONS.—Subject

15 to subparagraph (B) and subsection (e), the Sec16 retary shall award grants and contracts under

17 this section on the basis of the recommendations

18 for award made by the Marine Biotechnology

19 Review Panel under subsection (f).

20 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.—The Secretary shall not

21 award a grant or contract if the Secretary deter22 mines that the award—

23 ‘‘(i) is based on a recommendation

24 from the Panel that may involve a conflict

25 of interest;
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1 ‘‘(ii) would result in a significant en2 vironmental risk from the release of geneti3 cally modified organisms, as defined in sub4 section (e), or other unacceptable environ5 mental risk;

6 ‘‘(iii) fails to meet the requirements of

7 this section; or

8 ‘‘(iv) fails to comply with relevant gov9 ernmental or institutional procedures for

10 the management of external grant or con11 tract programs.

12 ‘‘(C) DOCUMENTATION.—The Secretary

13 shall document, and promptly inform the Panel

14 of, each recommended award that is rejected

15 under subparagraph (B).

16 ‘‘(D) FUNDING.—Grants made, and con17 tracts entered into, under this section shall be

18 funded with moneys available from appropria19 tions made pursuant to the authorization pro20 vided for under section 212(c).

21 ‘‘(e) RESEARCH ON GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGA22 NISMS.—

23 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—As used in this subsection,

24 the term ‘genetically modified organism’ means a liv25 ing marine or freshwater organism in which the ge-
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1 netic material has been purposely altered at the mo2 lecular or cellular level in a way that could not result

3 from the natural reproductive process of that species.

4 ‘‘(2) SAFE CONDUCT OF RESEARCH.—The Sec5 retary shall ensure that any activities funded by the

6 National Sea Grant College Program involving ge7 netically modified organisms comply with—

8 ‘‘(A) the performance standards developed

9 for safely conducting research with genetically

10 modified finfish and shellfish promulgated by the

11 Agricultural Biotechnology Research Advisory

12 Committee; and

13 ‘‘(B) the guidelines for research involving

14 recombinant DNA molecules published in the

15 Federal Register on May 7, 1986 (51 F.R. 16958

16 et seq.).

17 ‘‘(3) TERMINATION OF AWARD.—The Secretary

18 shall promptly withdraw any award of the National

19 Sea Grant College Program for activities involving

20 genetically modified organisms if the Secretary deter21 mines that the grantee or contractee in question has

22 failed to abide by the performance standards and

23 guidelines referred to in paragraph (2).

24 ‘‘(f) MARINE BIOTECHNOLOGY REVIEW PANEL.—
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1 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT AND DUTIES.—Subject to

2 the availability of appropriations under section

3 212(c), the Director, in consultation with the directors

4 of the sea grant colleges, shall convene a panel, to be

5 known as the Marine Biotechnology Review Panel,

6 that shall—

7 ‘‘(A) review, on a competitive basis, the ap8 plications made under this section for grants

9 and contracts to determine their respective sci10 entific, technical, educational, and commercial

11 merits and likely contributions toward achieving

12 the purposes of this section; and

13 ‘‘(B) on the basis of the review under sub14 paragraph (A), and with due regard for the over15 all balance and coordination of the marine bio16 technology program, make recommendations to

17 the Secretary regarding the awarding of grants

18 and contracts under this section.

19 ‘‘(2) COMPOSITION.—The Marine Biotechnology

20 Review Panel shall—

21 ‘‘(A) consist of not more than 15 individ22 uals with scientific or technical expertise in ma23 rine biotechnology or relevant related fields, in24 cluding at least 1 qualified representative of a

25 national environmental organization;
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1 ‘‘(B) reflect a balance among areas of exper2 tise consistent with the purposes of this section;

3 ‘‘(C) not include Federal employees or direc4 tors of sea grant colleges; and

5 ‘‘(D) reflect geographic balance, consistent

6 with the primary objectives of a high level exper7 tise and balance among areas of expertise.

8 ‘‘(3) ALLOWANCES.—Each member of the Marine

9 Biotechnology Review Panel shall receive travel ex10 penses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in

11 accordance with sections 5702 and 5703 of title 5,

12 United States Code.

13 ‘‘(4) FACA NOT APPLICABLE.—The Federal Ad14 visory Committee Act does not apply to the Marine

15 Biotechnology Review Panel.’’.

16 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

17 Section 212 of the National Sea Grant College Pro18 gram Act (33 U.S.C. 1131) is amended—

19 (1) by striking out ‘‘209,’’ in subsection (b) and

20 inserting ‘‘209 but not including section 206A,’’;

21 (2) by redesignating subsections (c), (d), and (e)

22 as subsection (d), (e), and (f), respectively; and

23 (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the follow24 ing:

25 ‘‘(c) MARINE BIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRAM.—
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1 ‘‘(1) GRANTS AND CONTRACTS.—There is author2 ized to be appropriated to carry out the provisions of

3 section 206A (other than for administration) an

4 amount—

5 ‘‘(A) for each of fiscal years 1994 and 1995,

6 not to exceed $20,000,000; and

7 ‘‘(B) for each of fiscal years 1996 and 1997,

8 not to exceed $25,000,000.

9 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATION.—There is authorized to

10 be appropriated for the administration of section

11 206A, an amount—

12 ‘‘(A) for each of fiscal years 1994 and 1995,

13 not to exceed $200,000; and

14 ‘‘(B) for each of fiscal years 1996 and 1997,

15 not to exceed $250,000.’’.

16 SEC. 5. DEFINITION.

17 Section 203(4) of the National Sea Grant College Pro18 gram Act (33 U.S.C. 1122(4)) is amended by inserting

19 ‘‘marine biotechnology,’’ after ‘‘marine technology,’’.