SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENT OF WESTERN ALASKA COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT QUOTA PROGRAM.
Section 305 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Con-
servation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1855) is
amended—
(1) by amending the subsection heading for
subsection (i) to read as follows:
‘‘(i) WESTERN PACIFIC COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAM.—’’;
(2) by striking paragraph (1) of subsection (i);
(3) by redesignating paragraph (2) of sub-
section (i) as paragraph (1);
(4) by inserting before paragraph (3) of sub-
section (i) the following:
‘‘(k) GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO COMMU-
NITY DEVELOPMENT QUOTA PROGRAMS.—’’;
(5) in subsection (k) (as designated by para-
graph (4) of this section) by redesignating para-
graphs (3) and (4) as paragraphs (1) and (2) of
subsection (k), respectively; and
(6) by inserting after subsection (i) the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(j) WESTERN ALASKA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAM.—
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The North Pacific
Council and the Secretary shall establish a western
Alaska community development quota program—
‘‘(A) to afford eligible communities a fair
and equitable opportunity to participate in Ber-
ing Sea fisheries; and
‘‘(B) to assist eligible communities to
achieve sustainable long-term diversified local
economic development.
‘‘(2) ALLOCATION OF PERCENTAGES OF BERING
SEA DIRECTED FISHERIES.—The Secretary shall al-
locate the following percentages of the total allow-
able catches and guideline harvest levels of Bering
Sea directed fisheries as directed fishing allowances
to the western Alaska community development quota
program:
‘‘(A) No less than 10 percent of the total
allowable catch of the Bering Sea directed pol-
lock fishery.
‘‘(B) No less than 7.5 percent of the total
allowable catch of all other Bering Sea directed
groundfish fisheries.
‘‘(C) No less than 7.5 percent of the guide-
line harvest level of each Bering Sea directed
crab fishery.
‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY TO PARTICIPATE.—To be eli-
gible to participate in the western Alaska community
development quota program, a community must—
‘‘(A) be located—
‘‘(i) within 50 nautical miles from the
baseline from which the breadth of the ter-
ritorial sea is measured along the Bering
Sea coast from the Bering Strait to the
westernmost of the Aleutian Islands; or
‘‘(ii) on an island within the Bering
Sea;
‘‘(B) not be located on the Gulf of Alaska
coast of the north Pacific Ocean;
‘‘(C) be certified by the Secretary of the
Interior pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1610 et seq.) to be
a Native village;
‘‘(D) consist of residents who conduct
more than one-half of their current commercial
or subsistence fishing effort in the waters of the
Bering Sea or waters surrounding the Aleutian
Islands;
‘‘(E) not have previously developed har-
vesting or processing capability sufficient to
support substantial participation in the ground-
fish fisheries of the Bering Sea, unless the com-
munity demonstrates that its participation in
the western Alaska community development
program is the only way for the community to
realize a return from previous investments in
harvesting or processing capability; and
‘‘(F) be a member of a CDQ group.
‘‘(4) AUTHORITY TO HARVEST.—(A) The Sec-
retary may authorize a CDQ group to harvest a
share of the percentage of the total allowable catch
or guideline harvest level of a Bering Sea directed
fishery allocated under paragraph (2) if the CDQ
group submits a community development plan to the
Secretary in accordance with this paragraph.
‘‘(B) A community development plan shall—
‘‘(i) request a share of the percentage
of the total allowable catch or guideline
harvest level of the fishery that the CDQ
group that submits the plan desires to har-
vest annually during the effective period of
the plan; and
‘‘(ii) describe all CDQ projects that
the CDQ group that submits the plan in-
tends to participate in during the 36-
month duration of the plan.
‘‘(C)(i) The Secretary shall timely approve or
disapprove each community development plan sub-
mitted under this paragraph that contains the infor-
mation described in subparagraph (B). If approved,
a community development plan shall be effective for
36 months, except as provided in clause (ii).
‘‘(ii) The community development plans that
the Secretary approved before the 2001 fishing year
shall expire on December 31, 2003.
‘‘(D) In approving a community development
plan, the Secretary shall specify the share of the
total allowable catch or guideline harvest level that
the CDQ group is authorized to harvest annually
under the plan, in accordance with paragraph (5).
‘‘(5) SPECIFICATION
OF
HARVEST
SHARES.—
(A) If the total of the harvest shares requested pur-
suant to paragraph (4)(B)(i) for a fishery is greater
than the percentage of the total allowable catch or
guideline harvest level for the fishery allocated under
paragraph (2) to the western Alaska community de-
velopment quota program, the Secretary shall au-
thorize each CDQ group requesting a harvest share
to harvest annually the share of the percentage of
the total allowable catch or guideline harvest level of
the fishery that the Secretary determines is appro-
priate.
‘‘(B) If the Secretary authorizes a CDQ group
to harvest a share of a fishery that is less than the
harvest share requested in the community develop-
ment plan submitted by the CDQ group, the Sec-
retary shall give the CDQ group an opportunity to
amend the plan to reflect the reduction in harvest
share authorized by the Secretary.
‘‘(C)(i) Within 24 months after the date of en-
actment of the Western Alaska Community Develop-
ment Program Implementation Improvement Act of
2000, each CDQ group may submit criteria to the
Secretary for the Secretary to consider in deter-
mining harvest shares under subparagraph (A).
‘‘(ii) If, pursuant to clause (i), each CDQ group
submits the same criteria to the Secretary, the Sec-
retary shall consider only those criteria in deter-
mining harvest shares under subparagraph (A).
‘‘(iii) If, pursuant to clause (i), all CDQ groups
do not submit the same criteria to the Secretary, the
Secretary shall, by not later than 30 months after
the date of enactment of the Western Alaska Com-
munity Development Program Implementation Im-
provement Act of 2000, promulgate regulations that