I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 556 
To establish a program of research, recovery, and other activities to provide 
for the recovery of the southern sea otter. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 15, 2009 
Mr. FARR (for himself, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. KENNEDY, Ms. LEE 
of California, Mr. HONDA, and Ms. ESHOO) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To establish a program of research, recovery, and other 
activities to provide for the recovery of the southern 
sea otter. 
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 ‘‘Southern Sea Otter 
Recovery and Research Act’’. 
SEC. 2. SOUTHERN SEA OTTER RECOVERY AND RESEARCH 
PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior, act-
ing through the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, 
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shall carry out a recovery and research program for south-
ern sea otter populations along the coast of California, in-
formed by the prioritized research recommendations of the 
Final Revised Recovery Plan for the southern sea otter 
(Enhydra lutris nereis) published by the United States 
Fish and Wildlife Service and dated February 24, 2003, 
the Research Plan for California Sea Otter Recovery 
issued by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 
Southern Sea Otter Recovery Implementation Team and 
dated March 2, 2007, and any other recovery or research 
plan adopted by the United States Fish and Wildlife Serv-
ice after the date of enactment of this Act in accordance 
with otherwise applicable law. The Recovery and Research 
Program shall include the following: 
(1) Monitoring, analysis, and assessment of 
southern sea otter population demographics, health, 
causes of mortality, and life history parameters, in-
cluding range-wide population surveys. 
(2) Development and implementation of meas-
ures to reduce or eliminate potential factors limiting 
southern sea otter populations that are related to 
marine ecosystem health or human activities. 
(b) SOUTHERN SEA OTTER RESEARCH AND RECOV-
ERY GRANTS.— 
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(1) GRANT AUTHORITY.—The Secretary shall 
establish a peer-reviewed, merit-based process to 
award competitive grants for research regarding 
southern sea otters and for projects assisting the re-
covery of southern sea otter populations. 
(2) RESEARCH
GRANT
SUBJECTS.—Research 
funded with grants under this subsection shall be in 
accordance with the research goals recommended by 
the Committee under section 3, and may include the 
following topics: 
(A) Causes of sea otter mortality. 
(B) Southern sea otter demographics and 
natural history. 
(C) Effects and sources of pollutants, nu-
trients, and toxicants on southern sea otters 
and sequestration of contaminants. 
(D) Effects and sources of infectious dis-
eases and parasites affecting southern sea ot-
ters. 
(E) Limitations on the availability of food 
resources for southern sea otters and the im-
pacts of food limitation on southern sea otter 
carrying capacity. 
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(i) reduce, mitigate, or eliminate fac-
tors contributing to mortality, adversely af-
fecting health, or restricting distribution 
and abundance; and 
(ii) reduce, mitigate, or eliminate fac-
tors that harm or reduce the quality of 
southern sea otter habitat or the health of 
coastal marine ecosystems; and 
(C) implement emergency response and 
contingency plans. 
(4) RECOMMENDATION OF GRANTS BY SOUTH-
ERN
SEA
OTTER
SCIENTIFIC
ADVISORY
COM-
MITTEE.—The Secretary— 
(A) shall submit each grant proposal sub-
mitted under this subsection to the Southern 
Sea Otter Scientific Advisory Committee estab-
lished under section 3; and 
(B) may not make a grant under this sec-
tion unless the grant proposal has been re-
viewed by the Committee. 
(c) REPORT.—The Secretary shall— 
(1) within 12 months after the date of enact-
ment of this Act, report to Congress on— 
(A) the status of southern sea otter popu-
lations; 
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(B) implementation of the Recovery and 
Research Program and the grant program; and 
(C) any relevant formal consultations con-
ducted under section 7 of the Endangered Spe-
cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536) with respect 
to the southern sea otter; and 
(2) within 24 months after the date of enact-
ment of this Act and every 5 years thereafter, and 
in consultation with the Southern Sea Otter Sci-
entific Advisory Committee established under section 
3, report to Congress and the public on— 
(A) an evaluation of southern sea otter 
health, causes of southern sea otter mortality, 
and the interactions of southern sea otters with 
California’s coastal marine ecosystems; 
(B) an evaluation of actions taken to im-
prove southern sea otter health, reduce south-
ern sea otter mortality, and improve southern 
sea otter habitat; and 
(C) recommendation for actions, pursuant 
to current law, to improve southern sea otter 
health, reduce the occurrence of human-related 
mortality, and improve the health of such coast-
al marine ecosystems. 
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SEC. 3. SOUTHERN SEA OTTER SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY COM-
MITTEE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 
and appoint the members of a Southern Sea Otter Sci-
entific Advisory Committee in accordance with this sec-
tion. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 App. 
U.S.C.) shall not apply to the Committee. 
(b) FUNCTIONS.—The Committee shall advise the 
Secretary on— 
(1) research goals and priorities for the Recov-
ery and Research Program; 
(2) overall recovery actions necessary to imple-
ment the Recovery and Research Program; 
(3) revisions to the Final Revised Recovery 
Plan referred to in section 2(a) as new information 
is obtained or unexpected conservation issues requir-
ing additional research arise; 
(4) scientific merit and quality of southern sea 
otter research proposals submitted for grants under 
section 2(b) in response to a request by the Sec-
retary for proposals, based on the research and re-
covery goals and priorities recommended by the 
Committee; and 
(5) proposals that merit funding with such 
grants. 
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(c) MEMBERSHIP.—The Secretary shall appoint as 
members of the Committee— 
(1) the Executive Director of the Marine Mam-
mal Commission (or his or her designee); and 
(2) in consultation with the Marine Mammal 
Commission, no more than 9 individuals with a doc-
torate, graduate degrees, or knowledge and experi-
ence in marine science; sea otter science; conserva-
tion and management; sea otter veterinary, pathol-
ogy, and husbandry practices; fishing practices; fish-
ery science; nearshore and intertidal ecology; or 
other related disciplines or issue areas. 
(d) TERMS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), the term of a member of the Committee 
shall be 3 years. 
(2) INITIAL APPOINTMENTS.—Of the members 
first appointed as members of the Committee— 
(A) 3 shall be appointed to an initial term 
of 1 year; and 
(B) 3 shall be appointed to an initial term 
of 2 years. 
(e) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.—A member of the 
Committee who participated in the development of a pro-
posal may not participate in the review and recommenda-
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tion, by the Committee under this section, of grants with 
respect to the proposal. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) 
COMMITTEE.—The 
term 
‘‘Committee’’ 
means the Southern Sea Otter Scientific Advisory 
Committee established under section 3. 
(2) RECOVERY AND RESEARCH PROGRAM.—The 
term ‘‘Recovery and Research Program’’ means the 
recovery and research program under section 2(a). 
(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 
United States Fish and Wildlife Service. 
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro-
priated to the Secretary to carry out this Act $5,000,000 
for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2015 of which— 
(1) no less than 30 percent shall be for research 
grants under section 2(b)(2); and 
(2) no less than 30 percent shall be for recovery 
projects under section 2(b)(3). 
(b) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of amounts avail-
able each fiscal year to carry out this Act, the Secretary 
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may expend not more than 7 percent to pay the adminis-
trative expenses necessary to carry out this Act. 
Æ 
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