I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7431 
To direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish a grant program to facilitate 
the training and employment of veterans for certain conservation activi-
ties, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 6, 2022 
Mr. SOTO (for himself, Ms. SALAZAR, Mr. POSEY, Mr. CASE, Mr. GIMENEZ, 
Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Ms. MALLIOTAKIS, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, and 
Mr. BILIRAKIS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish a grant 
program to facilitate the training and employment of 
veterans for certain conservation activities, 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 ‘‘Don Young Veterans 
Advancing Conservation Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
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(1) Veterans are among the greatest assets of 
the United States. 
(2) Veterans are highly skilled and trained indi-
viduals whose mission is to protect their commu-
nities. 
(3) Studies show that community-focused 
growth and engagement assists veterans with mental 
health and combat-related trauma. 
(4) SCUBA diving has been found to help im-
prove mental, physical, and emotional health and 
has been specifically linked to improvement in the 
symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. 
SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE VETERANS ADVANC-
ING CONSERVATION GRANT PROGRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 120 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es-
tablish a program, to be known as the Veterans Advancing 
Conservation Grant Program, to award grants, on a com-
petitive basis, to facilitate the training and employment 
of veterans for marine and coastal conservation activities. 
(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award a 
grant under this section to a non-profit organization 
that conducts marine and coastal conservation ac-
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tivities in partnership with Federal, State, or sci-
entific organizations. 
(2) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a 
grant under this section, an organization shall sub-
mit to the Secretary an application in such form, at 
such time, and containing such information as the 
Secretary determines appropriate. 
(c) USE OF FUNDS.—An organization awarded grant 
funds under this section may use such funds to train or 
employ veterans to conduct marine and coastal conserva-
tion activities, which may include— 
(1) coral disease response; 
(2) coral restoration and rehabilitation; 
(3) invasive species eradication; 
(4) marine debris removal; 
(5) marine mammal and reptile rescue; 
(6) scientific research and development; 
(7) shark tagging; 
(8) shipwreck mapping; and 
(9) underwater survey work. 
(d) COORDINATION.—In carrying out this section, the 
Secretary shall coordinate with the Secretary of the Inte-
rior and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 
(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section— 
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(1) $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 
(2) $1,200,000 for fiscal year 2023; 
(3) $1,400,000 for fiscal year 2024; 
(4) $1,600,000 for fiscal year 2025; and 
(5) $1,800,000 for fiscal year 2026. 
(f) SECRETARY.—In this section, the term ‘‘Sec-
retary’’ means the Secretary of Commerce, acting through 
the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration. 
Æ 
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