I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2973
To amend the Act popularly known as the Federal Aid in Fish Restoration
Act, authorizing assistance to the States for fish restoration and manage-
ment projects, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER 8, 1997
Mr. TANNER (for himself, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. CHAMBLISS, Mr. PETERSON
of Minnesota, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. BAKER, Mr.
MCCRERY, Mr. SAXTON, Mr. CLEMENT, Mr. JOHN, Mr. CRAMER, Mr.
JEFFERSON, Mr. BONIOR, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. GILCHREST, Mr.
MCHUGH, Mr. COOKSEY, Mr. WATKINS, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts,
Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. CASTLE, and Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Re-
sources, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infra-
structure, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To amend the Act popularly known as the Federal Aid
in Fish Restoration Act, authorizing assistance to the
States for fish restoration and management projects, 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 ‘‘Sportfishing and Boat-
ing Improvement Act of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENT OF 1950 ACT.
Whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal is ex-
pressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a sec-
tion or other provision of the 1950 Act, the reference shall
be considered to be made to a section or other provision
of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide that the United
States shall aid the States in fish restoration and manage-
ment projects, and for other purposes,’’ approved August
9, 1950 (16 U.S.C. 777 et seq.), popularly known as the
Federal Aid in Fish Restoration Act.
SEC. 3. OUTREACH AND COMMUNICATIONS PROGRAMS.
(a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2 of the 1950 Act (16
U.S.C. 777a) is amended—
(1) by indenting the left margin of so much of
the text as precedes ‘‘(a)’’ by 2 ems;
(2) by inserting ‘‘For purposes of this Act—’’
after the section caption;
(3) by striking ‘‘For the purpose of this Act
the’’ in the first paragraph and inserting ‘‘(1) the’’;
(4) by indenting the left margin of so much of
the text as follows ‘‘include—’’ by 4 ems;
(5) by striking ‘‘(a)’’, ‘‘(b)’’, ‘‘(c)’’, and ‘‘(d)’’
and inserting ‘‘(A)’’, ‘‘(B)’’, ‘‘(C)’’, and ‘‘(D)’’, re-
spectively;
(6) by striking ‘‘department.’’ and inserting
‘‘department;’’; and
(7) by adding at the end thereof the following:
‘‘(2) the term ‘outreach and communications
program’ means a program to improve communica-
tions with anglers, boaters, and the general public
regarding angling and boating opportunities, to re-
duce barriers to participation in these activities, to
advance adoption of sound fishing and boating prac-
tices, to promote conservation and the responsible
use of the nation’s aquatic resources, and to further
safety in fishing and boating; and
‘‘(3) the term ‘aquatic resource education pro-
gram’ means a program designed to enhance the
public’s understanding of aquatic resources and
sport-fishing, and to promote the development of re-
sponsible attitudes and ethics toward the aquatic en-
vironment.’’.
(b) INCREASE IN STATE ALLOCATION.—Section 8 of
the 1950 Act (16 U.S.C. 777g) is amended—
(1) in subsection (b) by striking ‘‘121⁄2 per cen-
tum’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘15 per-
cent’’;
(2) in subsection (c) by striking ‘‘10 per cen-
tum’’ and inserting ‘‘15 percent’’;
(3) in subsection (c) by inserting ‘‘and commu-
nications’’ after ‘‘outreach’’; and
(4) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub-
section (f); and by inserting after subsection (c) the
following:
‘‘(d) NATIONAL OUTREACH AND COMMUNICATIONS
PROGRAM.—
‘‘(1) IMPLEMENTATION.—Within 1 year after
the date of enactment of the Sportfishing and Boat-
ing Improvement Act of 1997, the Secretary of the
Interior shall develop and implement, in cooperation
and consultation with the Sport Fishing and Boat-
ing Partnership Council, a national plan for out-
reach and communications.
‘‘(2) CONTENT.—The plan shall provide—
‘‘(A) guidance, including guidance on the
development of an administrative process and
funding priorities, for outreach and communica-
tions programs; and
‘‘(B) for the establishment of a national
program.
‘‘(3) SECRETARY MAY MATCH OR FUND PRO-
GRAMS.—Under the plan, the Secretary may—
‘‘(A) make grants to any State or private
entity to pay all or any portion of the cost of
carrying out any outreach or communications
program under the plan; or
‘‘(B) contract with States or private enti-
ties to carry out such a program.
‘‘(4) REVIEW.—The plan shall be reviewed peri-
odically, but not less frequently than once every 3
years.
‘‘(e) STATE OUTREACH AND COMMUNICATIONS PRO-
GRAM.—Within 12 months after the completion of the na-
tional plan under subsection (d)(1), a State shall develop
a plan for an outreach and communications program and
submit it to the Secretary. In developing the plan, a State
shall—
‘‘(1) review the national plan developed under
subsection (d);
‘‘(2) 
consult 
with 
anglers, 
boaters, 
the
sportfishing and boating industries, and the general
public; and
‘‘(3) establish priorities for the State outreach
and communications program proposed for imple-
mentation.’’.
SEC. 4. CLEAN VESSEL ACT FUNDING.
Section 4(b) of the 1950 Act (16 U.S.C. 777c(b)) is
amended to read as follows:
‘‘(b) USE OF BALANCE AFTER DISTRIBUTION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Of the balance of each an-
nual appropriation remaining after making the dis-
tribution under subsection (a), an amount equal to
$42,500,000 for each of fiscal years 1998 through
2003 shall be used as follows:
‘‘(A) $15,000,000 shall be transferred to
the Secretary of Transportation and shall be ex-
pended for State recreational boating safety
programs under section 13106(a)(1) of title 46,
United States Code.
‘‘(B) $10,000,000 shall be available to the
Secretary of the Interior for obligation for
qualified projects under section 5604(c) of the
Clean Vessel Act of 1992 (33 U.S.C. 1322
note).
‘‘(C) $10,000,000 shall be available to the
Secretary of the Interior for obligation for
qualified projects under section (5)(d) of the
Sportfishing and Boating Improvement Act of
1997.
‘‘(D) $7,500,000 shall be available to the
Secretary of the Interior for obligation for the
national outreach and communications program
under section 8(d).
The Secretary of the Interior shall publish a detailed
accounting of the projects, programs, and activities
funded under subparagraph (D) annually in the
Federal Register. No funds available to the Sec-
retary under this subsection may be used to replace
funding traditionally provided through general ap-
propriations, nor for any purposes except those pur-
poses authorized by this Act.
‘‘(2) AMOUNT REMAINING UNOBLIGATED AFTER
3 YEARS.—Amounts available under subparagraphs
(B) and (C) of paragraph (1) that are unobligated
by the Secretary of the Interior after 3 years shall
be transferred to the Secretary of Transportation
and be expended for State recreational boating safe-
ty programs under section 13106(a)(1) of title 46,
United States Code.
‘‘(3) CARRYFORWARD.—Amounts available for
the national outreach and education program under
paragraph (1)(D) shall remain available for 2 fiscal
years after the fiscal year in which the amounts are
first available. Amounts available to the program
under that paragraph that are unobligated by the
Secretary of the Interior more than 2 years after the
first fiscal year in which the amounts are available
shall be available to the Secretary, in addition to
amounts otherwise available, for apportionment
under section 4(d).’’.
SEC. 5. BOATING INFRASTRUCTURE.
(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to pro-
vide funds to States for the development and maintenance
of public facilities for transient nontrailerable recreational
vessels.
(b) SURVEY.—Section 8 of the 1950 Act (16 U.S.C.
777g), as amended by section 3, is amended by adding
at the end thereof the following:
‘‘(g) SURVEYS.—
‘‘(1) 
NATIONAL
FRAMEWORK.—Within 
months after the date of enactment of the
Sportfishing and Boating Improvement Act of 1997,
the Secretary, in consultation with the States, shall
adopt a national framework for a public boat access
needs assessment which may be used by States to
conduct surveys to determine the adequacy, number,
location, and quality of facilities providing access to
recreational waters for all sizes of recreational boats.
‘‘(2) STATE SURVEYS.—Within 18 months after
such date of enactment, each State that agrees to
conduct a public boat access needs survey following
the recommended national framework shall report its
findings to the Secretary for use in the development
of a comprehensive national recreational boat access
needs assessment.
‘‘(3) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (2) does not
apply to a State if, within 18 months after such date
of enactment, the Secretary certifies that the State
has developed and is implementing a plan that en-
sures there are and will be public boat access ade-
quate to meet the needs of recreational boaters on
its waters.
‘‘(4) FUNDING.—A State that conducts a public
boat access needs survey under paragraph (2) may
fund the costs of conducting that assessment out of
amounts allocated to it as funding dedicated to mo-
torboat access to recreational waters under sub-
section (b)(1) of this section.’’.
(c) PLAN.—Within 6 months after submitting a sur-
vey to the Secretary under section 8(g) of the Act entitled
‘‘An Act to provide that the United States shall aid the
States in fish restoration and management projects, and
for other purposes,’’ approved August 9, 1950 (16 U.S.C.
777g(g)), as added by subsection (b) of this section, a
State may develop and submit to the Secretary a plan for
the construction, renovation, and maintenance of public
facilities, and access to those facilities, for transient
nontrailerable recreational vessels to meet the needs of
nontrailerable recreational vessels operating on navigable
waters in the State.
(d) GRANT PROGRAM.—
(1) MATCHING GRANTS.—The Secretary of the
Interior shall obligate amounts made available under
section 4(b)(1)(C) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to
provide that the United States shall aid the States
in fish restoration and management projects, and for
other purposes,’’ approved August 9, 1950 (16
U.S.C. 777c(b)(1)(C)) to make grants to any State
to pay not more than 75 percent of the cost to a
State of constructing, renovating, or maintaining
public facilities for transient nontrailerable rec-
reational vessels.
(2) PRIORITIES.—In awarding grants under
paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give priority to
projects that—
(A) consist of the construction, renovation,
or maintenance of public facilities for transient
nontrailerable recreational vessels in accordance
with a plan submitted by a State under sub-
section (c);
(B) provide for public/private partnership
efforts to develop, maintain, and operate facili-
ties for transient nontrailerable recreational
vessels; and
(C) propose innovative ways to increase the
availability 
of 
facilities 
for 
transient
nontrailerable recreational vessels.
(e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the
term—
(1) ‘‘nontrailerable recreational vessel’’ means a
recreational vessel 26 feet in length or longer—
(A) operated primarily for pleasure; or
(B) leased, rented, or chartered to another
for the latter’s pleasure;
(2) ‘‘public facilities for transient nontrailerable
recreational vessels’’ includes mooring buoys, day-
docks, navigational aids, seasonal slips, or similar
structures located on navigable waters, that are
available to the general public and designed for tem-
porary use by nontrailerable recreational vessels; and
(4) ‘‘State’’ means each of the several States of
the United States, the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American
Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth
of the Northern Mariana Islands.
(f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect
on October 1, 1997.
SEC. 6. AQUATIC RESOURCES TRUST FUND.
(a) 
EXCISE
TAX
AMENDMENTS.—Sections
4041(a)(2) and 4081(d)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986 are each amended by striking ‘‘1999’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘2005’’.
(b) TRUST FUND AMENDMENTS.—
(1) Section 9503 of such Code is amended—
(A) by striking ‘‘1997’’ in subsection
(c)(4)(A)(i) and inserting ‘‘2005’’;
(B) by striking subsection (c)(4)(A)(ii) and
inserting the following:
‘‘(ii) LIMIT
ON
TRANSFERS
DURING
ANY FISCAL YEAR.—The aggregate amount
transferred under this subparagraph dur-
ing any fiscal year shall not exceed
$60,000,000 for fiscal year 1998 and for
each fiscal year thereafter.’’; and
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, $5,000,000 is avail-
able to the Secretary for payment of expenses of the Coast
Guard for personnel and activities directly related to car-
rying out the national recreational boating safety program
under this title. No funds available to the Secretary under
this subsection may be used to replace funding tradition-
ally provided through general appropriations, nor for any
purposes except those purposes authorized by the Act of
August 9, 1950 (16 U.S.C. 777 et seq.). Amounts made
available by this subsection shall remain available until ex-
pended. The Secretary shall publish annually in the Fed-
eral Register a detailed accounting of the projects, pro-
grams, and activities funded under this subsection.’’.
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