Help Our Kelp Act

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. Short title This Act may be cited as the Help Our Kelp Act 2. Grants to conserve, restore, and manage kelp forest ecosystems (a) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that the purposes of this section and the grants authorized by this section are to support native wild kelp forest ecosystems and restore native wild kelp to enable long term recovery of naturally functioning kelp forest ecosystems that do not involve commercial or mechanized harvesting. (b) Establishment Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Administrator shall establish and carry out a grant program under which the Administrator shall award grants to eligible entities described in subsection (c) to carry out projects described in subsection (d) relating to the conservation, restoration, or management of kelp forest ecosystems. (c) Eligible entity To be eligible for a grant under this section, an eligible entity shall— (1) be— (A) a member of the fishing industry; (B) an institution of higher education; (C) a nonprofit organization; (D) an Indian Tribe; (E) a State agency; or (F) a local government; (2) consult or collaborate with any of the other entities described in paragraph (1) throughout the development or implementation of a project relating to the conservation, restoration, or management of kelp forest ecosystems; and (3) submit to the Administrator an application describing such project at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Administrator may require, including information regarding what criteria will be used to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the project and the qualifications of the applicant to conduct, monitor, and evaluate the project. (d) Eligible projects The Administrator shall award grants to eligible entities for projects that— (1) address greatest relative regional declines in kelp forest ecosystems; (2) focus on elements such as— (A) long term ecosystem resilience of kelp forest ecosystems; (B) long term socioeconomic resilience related to kelp forest ecosystems; (C) kelp forest seeding and connectivity; (D) re-establishing or recovering natural trophic relationships and structure to support resilience of kelp forest ecosystems through actions such as predator control through targeted urchin removal and recovery of sunflower sea stars; (E) monitoring and assessment of kelp forest ecosystems; (F) integration of Indigenous knowledge and cultural practices into restoration and monitoring of kelp forest ecosystems through consultation with Indian Tribes or promotion of Federal or State co-management with Indian Tribes; or (G) other efforts to restore kelp forest ecosystems and prevent large scale losses of kelp forests; or (3) are identified by Indian Tribes or Federal or State restoration or management plans as focal areas for recovery of kelp forests and associated species. (e) Matching requirement (1) In general Except as provided in paragraph (2), the amount of Federal funding received as a grant under this section by an eligible entity may not exceed 85 percent of the total cost of the project for which a grant is awarded. For the purposes of this paragraph, the non-Federal share of project costs may be provided by in-kind contributions and other noncash support. (2) Waiver The Administrator may waive all or part of the requirement in paragraph (1) if the Administrator determines that— (A) no reasonable means are available through which an eligible entity applying for a grant under this section can meet such requirement; (B) the probable benefit of such project outweighs the public interest in such requirement; and (C) the project undertaken is established on lands owned by or held in trust for an Indian Tribe. (f) Guidelines and criteria The Administrator shall— (1) issue guidelines regarding the implementation of the grant program established under subsection (b); and (2) establish criteria based on best practices, the best available science, and community engagement to rank eligible projects under subsection (d). (g) Authorization of appropriations (1) In general There is authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to carry out this section $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028. (2) Availability to Indian Tribes (A) In general Of the amount authorized to be appropriated by paragraph (1) for a fiscal year, subject to appropriations, not less than $750,000 shall be made available to award grants under this section to eligible entities that are Indian Tribes. (B) Contingency; outreach If no Indian Tribe is awarded a grant under this section in a fiscal year— (i) for that fiscal year, the amount described in subparagraph (A) shall be made available to award grants under this section to other eligible entities; and (ii) the Administrator shall conduct outreach to inform Indian Tribes and organizations that work with Indian Tribes of the grant program established under subsection (b). (h) Definitions In this section: (1) Administrator The term Administrator (2) Fishing industry The term fishing industry (A) processors; (B) commercial fishermen; and (C) recreational fishermen. (3) Indian Tribe The term Indian Tribe 25 U.S.C. 5304 (4) Institution of higher education The term institution of higher education 20 U.S.C. 1001(a) (5) Kelp forest ecosystem The term kelp forest ecosystem (6) Nonprofit organization The term nonprofit organization (A) described in section 501(c)(3) (B) exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such Code.

Summary: Help Our Kelp ActThis bill directs the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to establish a grant program to fund projects to conserve, restore, or manage kelp forest ecosystems. (A kelp forest is a dense grouping of large brown algae which also serves as a habitat for marine life.)Eligible projects include those that address greatest relative regional declines in kelp forest ecosystems, focus on kelp forest seeding and connectivity, or integrate Indigenous knowledge and cultural practices into the restoration and monitoring of kelp forest ecosystems.The bill specifies that members of the fishing industry, institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, Indian tribes, state agencies, and local governments are eligible to receive grants.The bill prohibits a grant from exceeding 85% of the total project cost. However, NOAA may waive this restriction in limited circumstances.