IB
Union Calendar No. 22
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 642
[Report No. 107–33]
To reauthorize the Chesapeake Bay Office of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 14, 2001
Mr. GILCHREST (for himself, Mr. CARDIN, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. CUMMINGS,
and Mr. WYNN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Resources
APRIL 3, 2001
Additional sponsors: Mr. EHRLICH, Mr. HOYER, and Mr. BARTLETT of
Maryland
APRIL 3, 2001
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 February 14, 2001]
A BILL
To reauthorize the Chesapeake Bay Office of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 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. CHESAPEAKE BAY OFFICE.
(a) REAUTHORIZATION OF OFFICE.—Section 307 of
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Au-
thorization Act of 1992 (15 U.S.C. 1511d) is amended to
read as follows:
‘‘SEC. 307. CHESAPEAKE BAY OFFICE.
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—(1) The Secretary of Com-
merce shall establish, within the National Oceanic and At-
mospheric Administration, an office to be known as the
Chesapeake Bay Office (in this section referred to as the
‘Office’).
‘‘(2) The Office shall be headed by a Director who shall
be appointed by the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation
with the Chesapeake Executive Council. Any individual ap-
pointed as Director shall have knowledge and experience in
research or resource management efforts in the Chesapeake
Bay.
‘‘(3) The Director may appoint such additional per-
sonnel for the Office as the Director determines necessary
to carry out this section.
‘‘(b) FUNCTIONS.—The Office, in consultation with the
Chesapeake Executive Council, shall—
‘‘(1) provide technical assistance to the Adminis-
trator, to other Federal departments and agencies,
and to State and local government agencies in—
‘‘(A) assessing the processes that shape the
Chesapeake Bay system and affect its living re-
sources;
‘‘(B) identifying technical and management
alternatives for the restoration and protection of
living resources and the habitats they depend
upon; and
‘‘(C) monitoring the implementation and ef-
fectiveness of management plans;
‘‘(2) develop and implement a strategy for the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
that integrates the science, research, monitoring, data
collection, regulatory, and management responsibil-
ities of the Secretary of Commerce in such a manner
as to assist the cooperative, intergovernmental Chesa-
peake Bay Program to meet the commitments of the
Chesapeake Bay Agreement;
‘‘(3) coordinate the programs and activities of
the various organizations within the National Oce-
anic and Atmospheric Administration, the Chesa-
peake Bay Regional Sea Grant Programs, and the
Chesapeake Bay units of the National Estuarine Re-
search Reserve System, including—
‘‘(A) programs and activities in—
‘‘(i) coastal and estuarine research,
monitoring, and assessment;
‘‘(ii) fisheries research and stock assess-
ments;
‘‘(iii) data management;
‘‘(iv) remote sensing;
‘‘(v) coastal management;
‘‘(vi) habitat conservation and restora-
tion; and
‘‘(vii) atmospheric deposition; and
‘‘(B) programs and activities of the Cooper-
ative Oxford Laboratory of the National Ocean
Service with respect to—
‘‘(i) nonindigenous species;
‘‘(ii) estuarine and marine species pa-
thology;
‘‘(iii) human pathogens in estuarine
and marine environments; and
‘‘(iv) ecosystem health;
‘‘(4) coordinate the activities of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with the
activities of the Environmental Protection Agency
and other Federal, State, and local agencies;
‘‘(5) establish an effective mechanism which shall
ensure that projects have undergone appropriate peer
review and provide other appropriate means to deter-
mine that projects have acceptable scientific and tech-
nical merit for the purpose of achieving maximum
utilization of available funds and resources to benefit
the Chesapeake Bay area;
‘‘(6) remain cognizant of ongoing research, mon-
itoring, and management projects and assist in the
dissemination of the results and findings of those
projects; and
‘‘(7) submit a biennial report to the Congress
and the Secretary of Commerce with respect to the ac-
tivities of the Office and on the progress made in pro-
tecting and restoring the living resources and habitat
of the Chesapeake Bay, which report shall include an
action plan consisting of—
‘‘(A) a list of recommended research, moni-
toring, and data collection activities necessary to
continue implementation of the strategy de-
scribed in paragraph (2); and
‘‘(B) proposals for—
‘‘(i) continuing any new National Oce-
anic and Atmospheric Administration ac-
tivities in the Chesapeake Bay; and
‘‘(ii) the integration of those activities
with the activities of the partners in the
Chesapeake Bay Program to meet the com-
mitments of the Chesapeake 2000 agreement
and subsequent agreements.
‘‘(c) CHESAPEAKE BAY FISHERY AND HABITAT RES-
TORATION SMALL WATERSHED GRANTS PROGRAM.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Chesa-
peake Bay Office of the National Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration (in this section referred to as
the ‘Director’), in cooperation with the Chesapeake
Executive Council, shall carry out a community-based
fishery and habitat restoration small grants and tech-
nical assistance program in the Chesapeake Bay wa-
tershed.
‘‘(2) PROJECTS.—
‘‘(A) SUPPORT.—The Director shall make
grants under this subsection to pay the Federal
share of the cost of projects that are carried out
by entities eligible under paragraph (3) for the
restoration of fisheries and habitats in the Chesa-
peake Bay.
‘‘(B) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share
under subparagraph (A) shall not exceed 75 per-
cent.
‘‘(C) TYPES
OF
PROJECTS.—Projects for
which grants may be made under this subsection
include—
‘‘(i) the improvement of fish passage-
ways;
‘‘(ii) the creation of natural or artifi-
cial reefs or substrata for habitats;
‘‘(iii) the restoration of wetland or sea
grass;
‘‘(iv) the production of oysters for res-
toration projects; and
‘‘(v) the prevention, identification, and
control of nonindigenous species.
‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The following entities
are eligible to receive grants under this subsection:
‘‘(A) The government of a political subdivi-
sion of a State in the Chesapeake Bay watershed,
and the government of the District of Columbia.
‘‘(B) An organization in the Chesapeake
Bay watershed (such as an educational institu-
tion or a community organization)—
‘‘(i) that is described in section 501(c)
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and is
exempt from taxation under section 501(a)
of that Code; and
‘‘(ii) that will administer such grants
in coordination with a government referred
to in subparagraph (A).
‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—The Director
may prescribe any additional requirements, including
procedures, that the Director considers necessary to
carry out the program under this subsection.
‘‘(d) BUDGET LINE ITEM.—The Secretary of Com-
merce shall identify, in the President’s annual budget to
the Congress, the funding request for the Office.
‘‘(e) CHESAPEAKE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL.—For pur-
poses of this section, ‘Chesapeake Executive Council’ means
the representatives from the Commonwealth of Virginia, the
State of Maryland, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the
Environmental Protection Agency, the District of Colum-
bia, and the Chesapeake Bay Commission, who are signato-
ries to the Chesapeake Bay Agreement, and any future sig-
natories to that Agreement.
‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is
authorized to be appropriated to the Department of Com-
merce for the Chesapeake Bay Office $6,000,000 for each
of fiscal years 2002 through 2006.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 2 of the Na-
tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine
Fisheries Program Authorization Act (Public Law 98–210;
97 Stat. 1409) is amended by striking subsection (e).
(c) MULTIPLE SPECIES MANAGEMENT STRATEGY.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after
the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the
Chesapeake Bay Office of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration shall begin a 5-year
study, in cooperation with the scientific community
of the Chesapeake Bay, appropriate State and inter-
state resource management entities, and appropriate
Federal agencies—
(A) to determine and expand the under-
standing of the role and response of living re-
sources in the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem; and
(B) to develop a multiple species manage-
ment strategy for the Chesapeake Bay.
(2) REQUIRED ELEMENTS OF STUDY.—In order
to improve the understanding necessary for the devel-
opment of the strategy under paragraph (1)(B), the
study shall—
(A) determine the current status and trends
of fish and shellfish that live in the Chesapeake
Bay and its tributaries and are selected for
study;
(B) evaluate and assess interactions among
the fish and shellfish referred to in subparagraph
(A) and other living resources, with particular
attention to the impact of changes within and
among trophic levels; and
(C) recommend management actions to op-
timize the return of a healthy and balanced eco-
system for the Chesapeake Bay.