Oyster Conservation Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3864 To require the Secretary of the Commerce, acting through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to provide grants supporting research on the conservation, restoration, or manage- ment of oysters in estuarine ecosystems, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 14, 2021 Mr. BROWN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To require the Secretary of the Commerce, acting through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos- pheric Administration, to provide grants supporting re- search on the conservation, restoration, or management of oysters in estuarine ecosystems, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act maybe cited as the ‘‘Oyster Conservation 4 Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:44 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3864.IH H3864 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3864 IH SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR RECOVERING OYSTERS. 1 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall es- 2 tablish a grant program (in this section referred to as the 3 ‘‘Program’’) under which the Administrator shall award 4 grants to eligible entities for the purpose of conducting 5 research on the conservation, restoration, or management 6 of oysters in estuarine ecosystems. 7 (b) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 8 under this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the 9 Administrator an application at such time, in such man- 10 ner, and containing such information as the Administrator 11 may require. 12 (c) ALLOCATION OF GRANT FUNDS.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 14 award a grant under the Program to eligible entities 15 that submit an application under subsection (b). 16 (2) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 18 subparagraph (B), the total amount of Federal 19 funding received under the Program by an eligi- 20 ble entity may not exceed 85 percent of the 21 total cost of the research project for which the 22 funding was awarded. For the purposes of this 23 subparagraph, the non-Federal share of project 24 costs may be provided by in-kind contributions 25 and other noncash support. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:44 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3864.IH H3864 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3864 IH (B) WAIVER.—The Administrator may 1 waive all or part of the requirement in subpara- 2 graph (A) if the Administrator determines that 3 no reasonable means are available through 4 which an eligible entity applying for a grant 5 under this section can meet such requirement 6 and the probable benefit of such research 7 project outweighs the public interest in such re- 8 quirement. 9 (3) EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION.—The Adminis- 10 trator shall ensure, to the maximum extent prac- 11 ticable, that grant funding under this section is ap- 12 portioned according to the historic baseline oyster 13 population of each estuary of the United States. 14 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi- 15 nitions apply: 16 (1) ACADEMIC COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘aca- 17 demic community’’ means faculty, researchers, pro- 18 fessors, and representatives of State-accredited col- 19 leges and universities. 20 (2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 21 trator’’ means the Secretary of Commerce acting 22 through the Administrator of the National Oceanic 23 and Atmospheric Administration. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:44 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3864.IH H3864 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3864 IH (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 1 ty’’ means a member of the academic community, 2 the seafood industry, a relevant nonprofit organiza- 3 tion, or a relevant State agency, that is proposing or 4 conducting a research project on the conservation, 5 restoration, or management of oysters in an estua- 6 rine ecosystem developed through consultation with 7 a member of the academic community, a member of 8 the seafood industry, a relevant nonprofit organiza- 9 tion, or a relevant State agency. 10 (4) HISTORIC BASELINE.—The term ‘‘historic 11 baseline’’ means the estimated population of oysters 12 in an estuary in 1850. 13 (5) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 14 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization de- 15 scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 16 Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under section 17 501(a) of such Code. 18 (6) SEAFOOD INDUSTRY.—The term ‘‘seafood 19 industry’’ means shellfish growers, shellfish har- 20 vesters, commercial fishermen, and recreational fish- 21 ermen. 22 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 23 authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:44 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3864.IH H3864 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3864 IH $5,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2022 through 2026 1 to carry out this section. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:44 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3864.IH H3864 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS