mollusks, sponges and other invertebrates, plants 
and algae, and other species, subspecies, and any 
part, product, egg, or offspring thereof. 
(4) VESSEL MONITORING SYSTEM.—The term 
‘‘vessel monitoring system’’ means real time satellite 
position fixing transmitters that allow for remote 
tracking of the position of vessels, and, where spe-
cifically permitted, communications with vessels. 
(5) COOPERATIVE
MANAGEMENT.—The term 
‘‘cooperative 
management’’ 
means 
management 
under cooperative arrangements between the Na-
tional Ocean Service and other Federal agencies and 
the State of Hawaii that specify how such agencies 
and the State will cooperate with the National 
Ocean Service in the management of the Refuge. 
(6) 
DAMAGES.—The 
term 
‘‘damages’’ 
in-
cludes— 
(A) compensation for— 
(i)(I) the cost of replacing, restoring, 
or acquiring the equivalent of a Refuge re-
source; and 
(II) the value of the lost use of a Ref-
uge resource pending its restoration or re-
placement or the acquisition of an equiva-
lent Refuge resource; or
(ii) the value of a Refuge resource if 
the Refuge resource cannot be restored or 
replaced or if the equivalent of such re-
source cannot be acquired; 
(B) the cost of damage assessments under 
section 9(b)(2); 
(C) the reasonable cost of monitoring ap-
propriate to the injured, restored, or replaced 
Refuge resources; 
(D) the cost of curation and conservation 
of archeological, historical, and cultural Refuge 
resources; and 
(E) the cost of enforcement actions under-
taken by the Secretary in response to the de-
struction or loss of, or injury to, a Refuge re-
source. 
(7) RESPONSE
COSTS.—The term ‘‘response 
costs’’ means the costs of actions taken or author-
ized by the Secretary to minimize destruction or loss 
of, or injury to, Refuge resources, or to minimize the 
imminent risks of such destruction, loss, or injury, 
including costs related to seizure, forfeiture, storage, 
or disposal arising from liability under section 10. 
(8) NWHI.—The term ‘‘NWHI’’ means the 
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, and encompasses
all terrestrial possessions of the United States from 
the Island of Nihoa through and including Kure 
Atoll. 
(9) REFUGE.—The term ‘‘Refuge’’ means the 
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Marine 
Refuge designated by section 5. 
(10) ONMSR.—The term ‘‘ONMSR’’ means 
the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and Ref-
uges established under section 6. 
SEC. 5. DESIGNATION. 
(a) DESIGNATION.—The area described in this sec-
tion is designated as the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands 
National Marine Refuge. 
(b) INCLUDED
ISLANDS, ATOLLS, ROCKS, AND 
REEFS.—Subject to the specific boundaries set forth in 
subsections (c) and (d), the Northwestern Hawaiian Is-
lands National Marine Refuge shall include the islands, 
atolls, rocks, reefs and other substrate, submerged reefs 
and other substrate, and oceans and waters of the North-
western Hawaiian Islands Archipelago between latitudes 
22 degrees and 30 degrees north and longitudes 161 de-
grees and 180 degrees west. 
(c) SEAWARD BOUNDARY.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The seaward boundary of 
the Refuge is a line that is 50 nautical miles from
the approximate geographic center positions of each 
of Nihoa Island, Necker Island (also known as 
Mokumanamana Island), French Frigate Shoals, 
Gardner Pinnacles, Maro Reef, Laysan Island, 
Lisianski Island, Pearl and Hermes Reef, Midway 
Atoll and Kure Atoll, except that at Kure Atoll the 
seaward boundary shall extend northwest by west 
(approximately 300 compass degrees) to the limits of 
the United States exclusive economic zone between 
two parallel lines that are tangent to the 50 nautical 
mile boundary around Kure Atoll. 
(2) INTERMEDIATE AREAS.—Where the areas 
described in paragraph (1) are not contiguous, par-
allel lines drawn tangent to and connecting those 
semicircles of the 50 nautical mile areas that lie 
around such areas shall delimit the remainder of the 
Refuge. 
(d) INLAND BOUNDARY.—The inland boundary of 
the Refuge around each of the areas described in sub-
section (b) is, as appropriate— 
(1) the seaward boundary of the Hawaiian Is-
lands National Wildlife Refuge; 
(2) the seaward boundary of the Midway Atoll 
National Wildlife Refuge; and 
(3) the ordinary low watermark of Kure Atoll.
SEC. 6. MANAGEMENT. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE.—There is estab-
lished within the National Ocean Service of the Depart-
ment of Commerce the Office of National Marine Sanc-
tuaries and Refuges. 
(b) PRIMARY AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Com-
merce, acting through the ONMSR, has primary jurisdic-
tion and ultimate management authority and control over 
the Refuge area and its resources. 
(c) MANAGEMENT OF REFUGE.—The Secretary of 
Commerce, acting through the ONMSR, shall provide for 
the following: 
(1) Cooperative management arrangements with 
the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge, Mid-
way Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, other appro-
priate Federal agencies, and the State of Hawaii, all 
consistent with relevant authorities. 
(2) Coordination among Federal agencies and 
the Director of the National Science Foundation to 
make vessels and other resources available for con-
servation and research activities in the Refuge. 
(3) Research and monitoring for the purposes 
of understanding, maintaining, protecting, and if 
necessary restoring the natural biological commu-
nities, habitats, native species, populations, and eco-
logical processes of the Refuge.
(4) The cleanup and prevention of marine de-
bris in the Refuge. 
(5) The anticipation and mitigation of threats 
to Refuge resources and cooperation with other Fed-
eral and State agencies to maintain contingency 
planning, emergency response, damage assessment, 
and restoration measures. 
(6) The development and maintenance of en-
forcement and surveillance programs to maximize 
protection of the Refuge, including the use of new 
technologies and coordination with the Coast Guard 
and other relevant agencies. 
(7) Identification, in consultation with Native 
Hawaiian interests, of culturally significant, non-
commercial subsistence, cultural, and religious prac-
tices and locations within the Refuge. 
(8) Any regulations, in addition to the con-
servation measures established under this Act, that 
the Secretary determines are necessary to mange the 
Refuge in accordance with this Act. 
(9) A report to the Congress every 12 months 
on the status of the Refuge. 
(d) MEMORANDA OF AGREEMENT.—To promote co-
operative management of the entirety of the shallow areas 
of the coral reef ecosystem throughout the Northwestern
Hawaiian Islands, the Secretary shall work with the Sec-
retary of the Interior and the Governor of the State of 
Hawaii to enter into memoranda of agreement for the co-
operative management of the Refuge, Midway Atoll Na-
tional Wildlife Refuge, Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife 
Refuge, and State waters and submerged lands within the 
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Marine Refuge. 
(e) ADVISORY COUNCIL.— 
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es-
tablish a Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National 
Marine Refuge Advisory Council to provide advice 
and recommendations to the Secretary regarding 
management of the Refuge. The Federal Advisory 
Committee Act (5 App. U.S.C.) shall not apply to 
the Advisory Council. 
(2) FUNCTIONS.—The Advisory Council shall— 
(A) review permitted activities pursuant to 
the purposes, policies, and management require-
ments of the Refuge, other pertinent laws, and 
international conventions; 
(B) recommend to the Secretary and to 
other Federal officials such steps as it considers 
necessary or desirable for the protection and 
conservation of the natural and cultural re-
sources of the Refuge;
(C) in cooperation with the National Ocean 
Service, recommend to the Secretary such revi-
sions of the endangered species list and threat-
ened species list, critical habitat designations, 
and conservation measures pursuant thereto as 
may be appropriate; and 
(D) recommend to the Secretary, other ap-
propriate Federal officials, and the Congress, 
such additional measures as it considers nec-
essary or desirable to further the purposes and 
policies of this Act, including provisions for the 
protection and exercise of the traditional prac-
tices of Native Hawaiians. 
(3) VOTING MEMBERS.—The voting members of 
the Advisory Council shall include the following: 
(A) Two Native Hawaiian representatives, 
including one Native Hawaiian elder with expe-
rience or knowledge regarding Native Hawaiian 
subsistence, cultural, religious, or other prac-
tices in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. 
(B) Three representatives from the science 
community with experience specific to the 
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and with exper-
tise in at least one of the following areas: 
(i) Marine mammal science.
(ii) Coral reef ecology. 
(iii) Native marine flora and fauna of 
the Hawaiian Islands. 
(iv) Oceanography. 
(v) Any other scientific discipline the 
Secretary determines to be appropriate. 
(C) Two representatives from nongovern-
mental wildlife, marine life, environmental, or 
conservation organizations with a demonstrated 
interest in conservation and protection of refuge 
resources. 
(4) NONVOTING
MEMBERS.—The nonvoting 
members of the Advisory Council shall include the 
following: 
(A) One representative from the State of 
Hawaii appointed by the Governor. 
(B) One representative from each of the 
Department of the Interior, the Coast Guard, 
the National Marine Sanctuary Program, and 
the Marine Mammal Commission. 
(5) COMPENSATION AND EXPENSES.—The vot-
ing members of the Advisory Council who are not 
employed by the Federal Government or any State 
or local government shall receive compensation at 
the daily rate or the daily equivalent rate for step
7 of GS–15 of the General Schedule under section 
5332 of title 5, United States Code, when engaged 
in the actual performance of duties for the Council. 
The voting members of the Council shall be reim-
bursed for actual expenses incurred in the perform-
ance of their duties, including travel expenses and 
per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by sec-
tion 5703 of title 5, United States Code for persons 
in Government service employed intermittently. Non-
voting members and Council staff members may be 
reimbursed for actual expenses. 
(6) STAFFING
AND
ASSISTANCE.—The Sec-
retary may make available to the Council any staff, 
information, administrative services, or assistance 
the Secretary determines are reasonably required to 
enable the Council to carry out its functions. 
(7) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND PROCEDURAL 
MATTERS.—The following guidelines apply with re-
spect to the conduct of business meetings of the 
Council: 
(A) Each meeting should be open to the 
public, and interested persons should be per-
mitted to present oral or written statements on 
items on the agenda.
(B) Emergency meetings may be held at 
the call of the chairman or presiding officer. 
(C) Minutes of each meeting should be 
kept and contain a summary of the attendees 
and matters discussed. 
SEC. 7. PROTECTION AND CONSERVATION MEASURES. 
(a) VESSEL REQUIREMENT.—Any United States- 
flagged vessel over 25 feet in length traveling through or 
in the Refuge— 
(1) shall be inspected for and certified to be 
free of any species alien to the NWHI, including any 
hull-encrusting organisms, by an inspector author-
ized by the head of ONMSR within no more than 14 
days before entering the Refuge; 
(2) shall carry an approved and active vessel 
monitoring system; 
(3) shall carry a Federal Government observer; 
(4) shall post a $1,000,000 vessel-grounding 
bond, or carry an equivalent amount of vessel 
grounding insurance; and 
(5) shall notify the Refuge manager by tele-
phone, radio, or other electronic means when enter-
ing and leaving the Refuge. 
(b) PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES.—Except as authorized 
by a permit under subsection (d), it shall be unlawful for
any person to take, injure, destroy, cause the loss of, or 
disturb any Refuge resource, including the following acts: 
(1) To possess, sell, offer for sale, purchase, im-
port, export, deliver, carry, transport, or ship by any 
means any Refuge resource taken in violation of this 
section. 
(2) To anchor in any area of the Refuge that 
contains available mooring buoys, or to anchor out-
side an available anchoring area if such area has 
been designated by the Secretary. 
(3) To touch living coral or live rock in the Ref-
uge. 
(4) To anchor a vessel in the Refuge on any liv-
ing coral or live rock with an anchor, an anchor 
chain, or an anchor rope when visibility is such that 
the seabed can be seen. 
(5) To explore for, develop, or produce oil, gas, 
or any mineral in the Refuge. 
(6) To drill into, dredge, or otherwise alter the 
seabed in the Refuge. 
(7) To construct, place, or abandon any struc-
ture, material, or other matter on the seabed in the 
Refuge.
(8) To discard plastic in the Refuge, including 
any synthetic rope, synthetic fishing net, or plastic 
garbage bag. 
(9) To discard rags, glass, metal, bottles, crock-
ery, paper products, dunnage, lining, or packing ma-
terial in the Refuge that will float, or any similar 
refuse. 
(10) To discharge or deposit any material or 
other matter in the Refuge, or to discharge or de-
posit any material or other matter outside the Ref-
uge that subsequently enters the Refuge and injures 
any resource of the Refuge, except the following may 
be discharged or deposited by permit only: 
(A) Fish parts used in and during oper-
ations authorized under this Act. 
(B) Biodegradable effluent incident to ves-
sel use and generated by a marine sanitation 
device in accordance with section 312 of the 
Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 
1322). 
(C) Water generated by routine vessel op-
erations, including water from deck washdown 
and gray water as defined in section 312 of the 
Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C.