Prevention of Escapement of Genetically Altered Salmon in the United States Act
Bill: H.R.273 | Sponsor: Rep. Young, Don (R-AK)
Policy area: Commerce

Summary:
Prevention of Escapement of Genetically Altered Salmon in the United States Act
This bill prohibits a person from
Fish, fish parts, or products confined for scientific research or collected to enforce this bill are exempted from the prohibition. An additional exemption is established if the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (1) prepares a finding of no significant impact in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 after reviewing an application requesting a federal agency to permit activity prohibited by this bill, or (2) finds the application to be consistent with an environmental impact statement that includes an environmental risk analysis and specified assessments of costs and potential economic damage.

To prevent the escapement of genetically altered salmon in the United 
                    States, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Prevention of Escapement of 
Genetically Altered Salmon in the United States Act''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON SALE OF GENETICALLY ALTERED SALMON.

    (a) Prohibition.--It shall be unlawful for a person--
            (1) to ship, transport, offer for sale, sell, or purchase a 
        covered fish, or a product containing covered fish, in 
        interstate or foreign commerce;
            (2) to have custody, control, or possession of, with the 
        intent to ship, transport, offer for sale, sell, or purchase a 
        covered fish, or a product containing covered fish, in 
        interstate commerce;
            (3) to engage in net-pen aquaculture of covered fish;
            (4) to release a covered fish into a natural environment; 
        or
            (5) to have custody, control, or possession of a covered 
        fish with the intent to release it into a natural environment.
    (b) Exception.--Subsection (a) shall not apply to a fish, fish 
part, or product--
            (1) under confined use, or intended for confined use, for 
        scientific research;
            (2) collected for the purpose of enforcing this Act; or
            (3) if the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and 
        Atmosphere, in consultation with the Director of the United 
        States Fish and Wildlife Service and any other Federal, State, 
        or tribal entity the Under Secretary considers appropriate, 
        reviews any application requesting an action by a department or 
        agency of the Federal Government to permit an act prohibited 
        under subsection (a), including any environmental assessment 
        prepared as part of that application, and--
                    (A) prepares a finding of no significant impact in 
                accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act 
                of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); or
                    (B) finds the application to be consistent with an 
                environmental impact statement prepared by the Under 
                Secretary in accordance with section 102(2)(C) of the 
                National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 
                4332) that includes--
                            (i) an environmental risk analysis that 
                        assesses the potential direct and indirect 
                        impacts from escapement of covered fish on wild 
                        and cultured fish stocks and environments that 
                        may be exposed to such covered fish;
                            (ii) a failure mode and effects analysis 
                        that quantitatively assesses the best- and 
                        worst-case probabilities of failure of each 
                        applicable confinement technique;
                            (iii) an assessment of the costs of control 
                        or eradication of escaped covered fish; and
                            (iv) an assessment of the potential 
                        economic damage in terms of loss of production 
                        or sales to relevant wild and cultured fish 
                        stocks and environments from the escapement of 
                        covered fish.
    (c) Environmental Impact Considerations.--
            (1) Notice.--Each agency, department, or other unit of the 
        Federal Government shall promptly notify the Under Secretary of 
        Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere when an action involving 
        covered fish, or a product containing covered fish is first 
        identified by such unit.
            (2) Ensuring compliance.--The Under Secretary of Commerce 
        for Oceans and Atmosphere, in cooperation with each Federal, 
        State, or tribal entity that the Under Secretary considers 
        appropriate, may monitor any mitigation measures proposed under 
        subsection (b)(3) to ensure implementation and compliance 
        therewith.
            (3) Provisions as complementary.--The provisions of this 
        Act are in addition to, and shall not affect the operation of, 
        other Federal, State, or local laws regulating a covered fish, 
        or a product containing covered fish.
    (d) Rules and Regulations.--The Secretary shall prescribe such 
rules and regulations as the Secretary considers necessary to carry out 
the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT AND PENALTIES.

    (a) Enforcement.--The Secretary of Commerce may enforce section 2 
in the same manner, by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, 
powers, and duties provided under sections 308, 309, 310, and 311 of 
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 
1858, 1859, 1860, and 1861).
    (b) Penalties.--A person who violates section 2 shall be subject to 
the penalties, and entitled to the privileges and immunities, under 
sections 308, 309, 310, and 311 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1858, 1859, 1860, and 1861).

SEC. 4. REPORT ON RISKS TO WILD FISH STOCKS.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere shall 
transmit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 
the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of 
Representatives the report under section 1007 of the Food and Drug 
Administration Amendments Act of 2007 (21 U.S.C. 2106).

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Confined use.--The term ``confined use'' means any 
        operation, undertaken within a secured, land-based facility, 
        that involves a covered fish controlled by specific measures 
        that effectively prevent the covered fish from having contact 
        with and impact on the external environment, including 
        biological and physical confinement measures.
            (2) Covered fish.--The term ``covered fish'' means any 
        finfish, live or dead, including the gametes, fertilized eggs, 
        offspring, and descendants thereof, that is modified or 
        produced through the application of recombinant 
        deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) technologies, using DNA from an 
        organism's own genome or that of another species, that overcome 
        natural physiological reproductive barriers and that are not 
        techniques used in traditional breeding and selection.
            (3) Finding of no significant impact.--The term ``finding 
        of no significant impact'' has the meaning given the term in 
        section 1508.13 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations.
            (4) Product.--The term ``product'' means an item 
        manufactured or produced for sale or use as food.
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