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104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 2956
To amend the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act of 1986 to authorize the
provision of certain disaster assistance to commercial fishermen through
State and local government agencies and nonprofit organizations, and
for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 1, 1996
Mr. STUDDS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Resources
A BILL
To amend the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act of 1986 to
authorize the provision of certain disaster assistance to
commercial fishermen through State and local govern-
ment agencies and nonprofit organizations, 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 ‘‘Fisheries Disaster As-
sistance Act of 1996’’.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO INTERJURISDICTIONAL FISH-
ERIES ACT OF 1986.
Section 308(d) of the Interjurisdictional Fisheries
Act of 1986 (16 U.S.C. 4107(d)) is amended—
(1) in the heading by striking ‘‘GRANTS’’ and
inserting ‘‘ASSISTANCE’’;
(2) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘award grants
to persons engaged in commercial fisheries, for unin-
sured losses determined by the Secretary to have
been suffered’’ and inserting ‘‘help persons engaged
in commercial fisheries, either by providing assist-
ance directly to those persons or by providing assist-
ance indirectly through State and local government
agencies and nonprofit organizations, for projects or
other measures to alleviate harm determined by the
Secretary to have been incurred’’;
(3) in paragraph (3) by striking ‘‘a grant under
this subsection’’ and inserting ‘‘assistance provided
directly to a person under this subsection’’;
(4) by amending paragraph (4) to read as fol-
lows:
‘‘(4)(A) The Secretary may not award any assistance
under this subsection under a fishing capacity reduction
program designed to remove fishing vessels and fishing
permits from any New England fishery until there has
taken effect, after the date of enactment of the Fisheries
Disaster Assistance Act of 1996, an amendment to the
Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan that is
designed to rebuild stocks of cod, haddock, and yellow tail
flounder in a manner that is consistent with requirements
under the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Manage-
ment Act (if any are in effect) for rebuilding overfished
stocks.
‘‘(B) As a condition of awarding assistance with re-
spect to a vessel under a fishing capacity reduction pro-
gram described in subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall—
‘‘(i) prohibit the vessel from being used for fish-
ing; and
‘‘(ii) require that the vessel be—
‘‘(I) scrapped or otherwise disposed of in a
manner approved by the Secretary; or
‘‘(II) donated to a nonprofit organization
and thereafter used only for purposes of re-
search, education, or training.
‘‘(C) A vessel that is prohibited from fishing under
subparagraph (B) shall not be eligible for a fishery en-
dorsement under section 12108(a) of title 46, United
States Code, and any such endorsement for the vessel shall
not be effective.’’; and
(5) in paragraph (5) by striking ‘‘for awarding
grants’’ and all that follows through the end of the
paragraph and inserting ‘‘receiving assistance under
this subsection.’’.
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