Union Calendar No. 194
116th CONGRESS 1st Session |
[Report No. 116–244, Part I]
To assist in the conservation of the North Atlantic right whale by supporting and providing financial resources for North Atlantic right whale conservation programs and projects of persons with expertise required for the conservation of North Atlantic right whales, and for other purposes.
March 6, 2019
Mr. Moulton (for himself, Mr. Rutherford, Mr. Huffman, Mr. Posey, and Mr. Keating) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
October 18, 2019
Additional sponsors: Mr. Mast, Mr. Cicilline, Ms. Brownley of California, Mr. Sablan, Mr. Casten of Illinois, Mr. Lipinski, Mr. Buchanan, Ms. Kuster of New Hampshire, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Neguse, Mr. Van Drew, Mr. Hastings, Mr. Case, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Beyer, Mr. Soto, Mr. Deutch, Ms. Clark of Massachusetts, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Lowenthal, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Cunningham, Mr. Trone, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Pappas, Ms. Pressley, Ms. Mucarsel-Powell, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. Neal, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Velázquez, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Crist, Mr. Schneider, Ms. Slotkin, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Castor of Florida, Mr. Suozzi, Mrs. Davis of California, Mr. Ted Lieu of California, Mr. Cisneros, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Lewis, Mr. Carter of Georgia, Mrs. Trahan, Mr. Harder of California, and Mr. Schiff
October 18, 2019
Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
October 18, 2019
Committee on the Budget discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 6, 2019]
To assist in the conservation of the North Atlantic right whale by supporting and providing financial resources for North Atlantic right whale conservation programs and projects of persons with expertise required for the conservation of North Atlantic right whales, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
This Act may be cited as the “Scientific Assistance for Very Endangered North Atlantic Right Whales Act of 2019” or the “SAVE Right Whales Act”.
SEC. 101. North Atlantic right whale conservation assistance.
(a) Assistance.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of funds and in consultation with other Federal officials, the Secretary of Commerce (in this title referred to as the “Secretary”) shall provide competitive financial assistance, including multiyear grants, for projects for the conservation of North Atlantic right whales for which project proposals are approved by the Secretary in accordance with this section.
(2) USE OF EXISTING AUTHORITIES.—Assistance provided under this section shall be carried out in a manner consistent with authorities available to the Secretary under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.).
(b) Project proposals.—
(1) ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.—A project proposal may be submitted to the Secretary under this section by—
(A) relevant State and tribal agencies, research institutions, and nonprofit organizations with expertise required for the conservation of North Atlantic right whales; and
(B) any other individual or entity, as determined appropriate by the Secretary, with the expertise required for the conservation of North Atlantic right whales, including large whale disentanglement teams approved by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and members in good standing of the National Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program, sectors of the shipping and fishing industries, fishing gear manufacturers, and rope manufacturers.
(2) FEDERAL PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES.—A Federal agency may not be a lead entity or receive funding for a project under this section, but may be included as a partner or collaborator on a project that receives such funding.
(c) Annual grant project proposal solicitation, review, and approval.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall annually—
(2) CONSULTATION; APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL.—Subject to the availability of funds, the Secretary shall, with respect to each project proposal submitted under this section, and after consulting with other Federal officials, as appropriate—
(A) consult with respect to the proposal with the government of each State and foreign country in which the project is to be conducted;
(d) Criteria for approval.—The Secretary may approve a project proposal under this section if the project shows promise for contributing to recovering and sustaining a viable population of North Atlantic right whales in the wild by assisting efforts to—
(e) Priority.—To the extent practicable, in determining whether to approve project proposals under this section, the Secretary shall prioritize projects that are designed to reduce the lethal and sub-lethal effects of human activities on North Atlantic right whales. In prioritizing such projects, the Secretary shall prioritize, among such projects, projects that are cooperative in nature and include fishing or shipping sector participants.
(f) Matching requirement.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in paragraph (3), the non-Federal share of the costs of an activity conducted with financial assistance under this section shall be 25 percent of such costs.
(g) Project reporting.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Each individual or entity that receives assistance under this section for a project shall submit to the Secretary periodic reports (at such intervals as the Secretary may require) that include all information that the Secretary, after consultation with other government officials, determines is necessary to evaluate the progress and success of the project for the purposes of ensuring positive results, assessing problems, and fostering improvements.
SEC. 102. North Atlantic right whale interagency budget.
(a) In general.—The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall include, in the budget of the President submitted to Congress under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, for fiscal year 2021 and each fiscal year thereafter, an interagency budget that displays for each Federal agency that engages in North Atlantic right whale activities—
(1) the amount of appropriations and expenditures for the preceding fiscal year for such activities and a description of such activities;
(b) North Atlantic right whale activities defined.—In this section, the term “North Atlantic right whale activities” means any activity of a Federal agency to study, observe, monitor, manage, protect, conserve, or restore the North Atlantic right whale population through direct or indirect means, including through the provision of competitive financial assistance to non-Federal entities.
Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the results and effectiveness of projects receiving assistance provided under this title, including recommendations concerning how this title might be improved and whether funding for this title should be continued in the future.
(a) Authorization of appropriations.—
(1) AUTHORIZATION.—There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this title $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2029.
(a) In general.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and on an ongoing basis thereafter, the Secretary of Commerce shall conduct a continuous plankton recorder survey.
(b) Required elements.—For the purpose of conducting the survey required under subsection (a), the Secretary of Commerce shall—
(1) to the extent possible, utilize the resources of and partner with, on a volunteer basis, research institutions, nonprofit organizations, commercial vessels, and other Federal agencies;
(2) in as short a time as possible, ensure relevant survey samples and results are analyzed, stored, archived, and made publicly available;
Union Calendar No. 194 | |||||
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[Report No. 116–244, Part I] | |||||
A BILL | |||||
To assist in the conservation of the North Atlantic right whale by supporting and providing
financial resources for North Atlantic right whale conservation programs
and projects of persons with expertise required for the conservation of
North Atlantic right whales, and for other purposes. | |||||
October 18, 2019 | |||||
Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with an amendment | |||||
October 18, 2019 | |||||
Committee on the Budget discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to
be printed |