I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 553
To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act
to improve implementation of the western Alaska community development
quota program, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 8, 2001
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Resources
A BILL
To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act to improve implementation of the west-
ern Alaska community development quota program, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Western Alaska Com-
munity Development Quota Program Implementation Im-
provement Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENT OF WESTERN ALASKA COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT QUOTA PROGRAM.
Section 305 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Con-
servation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1855) is
amended—
(1) by amending the subsection heading for
subsection (i) to read as follows:
‘‘(i) WESTERN PACIFIC COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAM.—’’;
(2) by striking paragraph (1) of subsection (i);
(3) by redesignating paragraph (2) of sub-
section (i) as paragraph (1);
(4) by inserting before paragraph (3) of sub-
section (i) the following:
‘‘(k) GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO COMMU-
NITY DEVELOPMENT QUOTA PROGRAMS.—’’;
(5) in subsection (k) (as designated by para-
graph (4) of this section) by redesignating para-
graphs (3) and (4) as paragraphs (1) and (2) of
subsection (k), respectively; and
(6) by inserting after subsection (i) the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(j) WESTERN ALASKA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAM.—
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The North Pacific
Council and the Secretary shall establish a western
Alaska community development quota program—
‘‘(A) to afford eligible communities a fair
and equitable opportunity to participate in Ber-
ing Sea fisheries; and
‘‘(B) to assist eligible communities to
achieve sustainable long-term diversified local
economic development.
‘‘(2) ALLOCATION OF PERCENTAGES OF BERING
SEA DIRECTED FISHERIES.—(A) The Secretary shall
allocate to the program, as a directed fishing allow-
ance, a percentage of the total allowable catch or
guideline harvest level, as applicable, of each Bering
Sea directed fishery.
‘‘(B) The Secretary shall allocate under this
paragraph 10 percent of the total allowable catch of
the Bering Sea directed pollock fishery.
‘‘(C) The Secretary shall allocate under this
paragraph a percentage of the total allowable catch
of each other Bering Sea directed groundfish fishery,
a percentage of the total allowable catch of the Ber-
ing Sea directed halibut fishery, and a percentage of
the guideline harvest level of each Bering Sea di-
rected crab fishery, that—
‘‘(i) before October 1, 2001, shall be the
most recent percentage recommended to the
Secretary for that fishery by the North Pacific
Council as of October 1, 1995; and
‘‘(ii) on and after October 1, 2001, shall be
no less than such recommended percentage.
‘‘(D) Prior to October 1, 2001, the North Pa-
cific Council may not submit, and the Secretary may
not approve, any plan, amendment, or regulation
that increases the applicable percentage under sub-
paragraph (C).’’.
‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY TO PARTICIPATE.—To be eli-
gible to participate in the western Alaska community
development quota program, a community must—
‘‘(A) be located—
‘‘(i) within 50 nautical miles from the
baseline from which the breadth of the ter-
ritorial sea is measured along the Bering
Sea coast from the Bering Strait to the
westernmost of the Aleutian Islands; or
‘‘(ii) on an island within the Bering
Sea;
‘‘(B) not be located on the Gulf of Alaska
coast of the north Pacific Ocean;
‘‘(C) be certified by the Secretary of the
Interior pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1610 et seq.) to be
a Native village;
‘‘(D) consist of residents who conduct
more than one-half of their current commercial
or subsistence fishing effort in the waters of the
Bering Sea or waters surrounding the Aleutian
Islands;
‘‘(E) not have previously developed har-
vesting or processing capability sufficient to
support substantial participation in the ground-
fish fisheries of the Bering Sea, unless the com-
munity demonstrates that its participation in
the western Alaska community development
program is the only way for the community to
realize a return from previous investments in
harvesting or processing capability; and
‘‘(F) be a member of a CDQ group.
‘‘(4) AUTHORITY TO HARVEST.—(A) The Sec-
retary may authorize a CDQ group to harvest a
share of the percentage of the total allowable catch
or guideline harvest level of a Bering Sea directed
fishery allocated under paragraph (2) if the CDQ
group submits a community development plan to the
Secretary in accordance with this paragraph.
‘‘(B) A community development plan shall—
‘‘(i) request a share of the percentage of
the total allowable catch or guideline harvest
level of the fishery that the CDQ group that
submits the plan desires to harvest annually
during the effective period of the plan; and
‘‘(ii) describe all CDQ projects that the
CDQ group that submits the plan intends to
participate in during the 36-month duration of
the plan.
‘‘(C)(i) The Secretary shall timely approve or
disapprove each community development plan sub-
mitted under this paragraph that contains the infor-
mation described in subparagraph (B). If approved,
a community development plan shall be effective for
36 months, except as provided in clause (ii).
‘‘(ii) The community development plans that
the Secretary approved before the 2001 fishing year
shall expire on December 31, 2003.
‘‘(D) In approving a community development
plan, the Secretary shall specify the share of the
total allowable catch or guideline harvest level that
the CDQ group is authorized to harvest annually
under the plan, in accordance with paragraph (5).
‘‘(5) SPECIFICATION
OF
HARVEST
SHARES.—
(A) If the total of the harvest shares requested pur-
suant to paragraph (4)(B)(i) for a fishery is greater
than the percentage of the total allowable catch or
guideline harvest level for the fishery allocated under
paragraph (2) to the western Alaska community de-
velopment quota program, the Secretary shall au-
thorize each CDQ group requesting a harvest share
to harvest annually such share of the percentage of
the total allowable catch or guideline harvest level of
the fishery allocated under paragraph (2) as the
Secretary determines is appropriate.
‘‘(B) If the Secretary authorizes a CDQ group
to harvest a share of a fishery that is less than the
harvest share requested in the community develop-
ment plan submitted by the CDQ group, the Sec-
retary shall give the CDQ group an opportunity to
amend the plan to reflect the reduction in harvest
share authorized by the Secretary.
‘‘(C)(i) Within 24 months after the date of en-
actment of the Western Alaska Community Develop-
ment Program Implementation Improvement Act of
2001, each CDQ group may submit criteria to the
Secretary for the Secretary to consider in deter-
mining harvest shares under subparagraph (A).
‘‘(ii) If, pursuant to clause (i), each CDQ group
submits the same criteria to the Secretary, the Sec-
retary shall consider only those criteria in deter-
mining harvest shares under subparagraph (A).
‘‘(iii) If, pursuant to clause (i), all CDQ groups
do not submit the same criteria to the Secretary, the
Secretary shall, by not later than 30 months after
the date of enactment of the Western Alaska Com-
munity Development Program Implementation Im-
provement Act of 2001, promulgate regulations that
establish criteria that the Secretary shall consider in
determining harvest shares under subparagraph (A).
‘‘(6) PARTICIPATION BY STATE OF ALASKA.—
(A) The Secretary may allow the State of Alaska to
participate in the implementation of the western
Alaska community development quota program.
‘‘(B) If the State of Alaska participates, the
Secretary may require CDQ groups to submit a copy
of their community development plans to the Gov-
ernor of Alaska.
‘‘(C) If the State of Alaska is participating in
the implementation of the western Alaska commu-
nity development quota program and the total of the
harvest shares requested pursuant to paragraph
(4)(B)(i) for a fishery is greater than the percentage
of the total allowable catch or guideline harvest level
for the fishery allocated under paragraph (2) to the
western Alaska community development quota pro-
gram, the Secretary may direct the Governor of
Alaska—
‘‘(i) to consult with the CDQ groups;
‘‘(ii) to consult with the North Pacific
Fishery Management Council regarding the
plans; and
‘‘(iii) to timely submit the Governor’s rec-
ommendations regarding the approval of the
plans by the Secretary.
‘‘(D) The Governor shall indicate, in writing, to
the Secretary and to each CDQ group the rationale,
and the factual basis for the rationale, for any rec-
ommendation regarding the Secretary’s approval of
a CDQ group’s community development plan.
‘‘(7) REPORTS.—(A) On March 1 of each cal-
endar year each CDQ group shall submit a report
regarding its approved community development
plans then in effect to the Secretary, and to the
Governor of Alaska if the State of Alaska is partici-
pating under paragraph (6).
‘‘(B) Each report shall describe the following:
‘‘(i) The CDQ group’s implementation dur-
ing the previous calendar year of the CDQ
projects described in the group’s community de-
velopment plans, and any modifications to a
project that the group may have made since the
last report.
‘‘(ii) In summary form, the financial per-
formance during the previous calendar year of
each subsidiary, joint venture, partnership, or
other entity in which the CDQ group owns an
equity interest, and all other non-CDQ project-
related activities in which the group engaged.
‘‘(iii) The CDQ group’s budget for the cur-
rent calendar year.
‘‘(C) Financial and strategic business informa-
tion contained in reports submitted under this para-
graph shall be considered confidential. The Sec-
retary, and the Governor of Alaska if the State of
Alaska is participating in the Secretary’s implemen-
tation of the western Alaska community development
quota program—
‘‘(i) shall not make such information avail-
able to the public; and