SAVE Right Whales Act

IB Union Calendar No. 194 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1568 [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 conserva- tion programs and projects of persons with expertise required for the conservation of North Atlantic right whales, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 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 Speak- er, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the ju- risdiction 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. GRI- JALVA, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, 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 Cali- fornia, Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. CARTER of Geor- gia, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. HARDER of California, and Mr. SCHIFF VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:33 Oct 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1568.RH H1568 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1568 RH 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] 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. VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:33 Oct 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1568.RH H1568 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1568 RH 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 may be cited as the ‘‘Scientific Assistance for 4 Very Endangered North Atlantic Right Whales Act of 2019’’ 5 or the ‘‘SAVE Right Whales Act’’. 6 TITLE I—NORTH ATLANTIC 7 RIGHT WHALE CONSERVATION 8 SEC. 101. NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE CONSERVATION 9 ASSISTANCE. 10 (a) ASSISTANCE.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of 12 funds and in consultation with other Federal officials, 13 the Secretary of Commerce (in this title referred to as 14 the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall provide competitive financial 15 assistance, including multiyear grants, for projects for 16 the conservation of North Atlantic right whales for 17 which project proposals are approved by the Secretary 18 in accordance with this section. 19 (2) USE OF EXISTING AUTHORITIES.—Assistance 20 provided under this section shall be carried out in a 21 manner consistent with authorities available to the 22 Secretary under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 23 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and the Marine Mammal 24 Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:33 Oct 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1568.RH H1568 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1568 RH (b) PROJECT PROPOSALS.— 1 (1) ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.—A project proposal 2 may be submitted to the Secretary under this section 3 by— 4 (A) relevant State and tribal agencies, re- 5 search institutions, and nonprofit organizations 6 with expertise required for the conservation of 7 North Atlantic right whales; and 8 (B) any other individual or entity, as deter- 9 mined appropriate by the Secretary, with the ex- 10 pertise required for the conservation of North At- 11 lantic right whales, including large whale 12 disentanglement teams approved by the National 13 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and 14 members in good standing of the National Ma- 15 rine Mammal Health and Stranding Response 16 Program, sectors of the shipping and fishing in- 17 dustries, fishing gear manufacturers, and rope 18 manufacturers. 19 (2) FEDERAL PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES.—A 20 Federal agency may not be a lead entity or receive 21 funding for a project under this section, but may be 22 included as a partner or collaborator on a project 23 that receives such funding. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:33 Oct 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1568.RH H1568 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1568 RH (3) REQUIRED ELEMENTS.—A project proposal 1 shall include— 2 (A) a statement of the purposes of the 3 project; 4 (B) the name of the entity or individual 5 with overall responsibility for the project; 6 (C) a description of the qualifications of the 7 entity or individuals that will conduct the 8 project; 9 (D) a description of— 10 (i) methods for project implementation 11 and outcome assessment; 12 (ii) staffing and stakeholder engage- 13 ment for the project; 14 (iii) the logistics of the project; 15 (iv) an estimated timeline for the 16 project; and 17 (v) anticipated outcomes of the project; 18 (E) a proposed budget for the funds and 19 time required to complete the project; 20 (F) information regarding the source and 21 amount of matching funding available for the 22 project; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:33 Oct 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1568.RH H1568 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1568 RH (G) information that demonstrates the clear 1 potential of the project to contribute to the con- 2 servation of North Atlantic right whales; and 3 (H) any other information that the Sec- 4 retary considers to be necessary for evaluating 5 the eligibility of the project for funding under 6 this Act. 7 (c) ANNUAL GRANT PROJECT PROPOSAL SOLICITA- 8 TION, REVIEW, AND APPROVAL.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall annu- 10 ally— 11 (A) solicit project proposals for grants 12 under this section; 13 (B) provide to other Federal officials, as ap- 14 propriate, copies of each proposal submitted in 15 response to the solicitation; and 16 (C) review each such proposal on a timeline 17 that recognizes the urgency of the declining 18 North Atlantic right whale population to deter- 19 mine whether the proposal meets the criteria 20 specified in subsection (d). 21 (2) CONSULTATION; APPROVAL OR DIS- 22 APPROVAL.—Subject to the availability of funds, the 23 Secretary shall, with respect to each project proposal 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:33 Oct 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1568.RH H1568 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1568 RH submitted under this section, and after consulting 1 with other Federal officials, as appropriate— 2 (A) consult with respect to the proposal 3 with the government of each State and foreign 4 country in which the project is to be conducted; 5 (B) after taking into consideration any 6 comments resulting from the consultation and 7 any potential losses that could be incurred to the 8 fishing industry as a result of the proposal, ap- 9 prove or disapprove the proposal; and 10 (C) provide written notification of the ap- 11 proval or disapproval to the individual or entity 12 that submitted the proposal, other Federal offi- 13 cials, and each State and foreign country de- 14 scribed in subparagraph (A). 15 (d) CRITERIA FOR APPROVAL.—The Secretary may 16 approve a project proposal under this section if the project 17 shows promise for contributing to recovering and sustaining 18 a viable population of North Atlantic right whales in the 19 wild by assisting efforts to— 20 (1) implement conservation programs; 21 (2) address the unintentional conflicts between 22 humans and North Atlantic right whales through de- 23 velopment, testing, and use of innovative technology 24 or other methods to reduce the lethal and sub-lethal ef- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:33 Oct 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1568.RH H1568 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1568 RH fects on North Atlantic right whales from vessel colli- 1 sions and fishing gear entanglements; 2 (3) promote cooperative projects on such topics 3 with foreign governments; or 4 (4) promote cooperative projects on such topics 5 with affected local communities, small businesses such 6 as fishermen, others in the private sector, or non- 7 governmental organizations. 8 (e) PRIORITY.—To the extent practicable, in deter- 9 mining whether to approve project proposals under this sec- 10 tion, the Secretary shall prioritize projects that are designed 11 to reduce the lethal and sub-lethal effects of human activities 12 on North Atlantic right whales. In prioritizing such 13 projects, the Secretary shall prioritize, among such projects, 14 projects that are cooperative in nature and include fishing 15 or shipping sector participants. 16 (f) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 18 graph (3), the non-Federal share of the costs of an ac- 19 tivity conducted with financial assistance under this 20 section shall be 25 percent of such costs. 21 (2) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—The Secretary 22 may apply to the non-Federal share of an activity 23 conducted with financial assistance under this section 24 the amount of funds, and the fair market value of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:33 Oct 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1568.RH H1568 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1568 RH property and services, provided by non-Federal 1 sources and used for the activity. 2 (3) WAIVER OF REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary 3 may waive the application of paragraph (1) if the 4 Secretary finds that such waiver is necessary to sup- 5 port a conservation project that the Secretary has 6 identified as of high priority. 7 (g) PROJECT REPORTING.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each individual or entity 9 that receives assistance under this section for a project 10 shall submit to the Secretary periodic reports (at such 11 intervals as the Secretary may require) that include 12 all information that the Secretary, after consultation 13 with other government officials, determines is nec- 14 essary to evaluate the progress and success of the 15 project for the purposes of ensuring positive results, 16 assessing problems, and fostering improvements. 17 (2) AVAILABILITY TO THE PUBLIC.—Reports 18 under paragraph (1), and any other documents relat- 19 ing to projects for which financial assistance is pro- 20 vided under this Act, shall be made available to the 21 public in a timely manner. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:33 Oct 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1568.RH H1568 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1568 RH SEC. 102. NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE INTERAGENCY 1 BUDGET. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of Man- 3 agement and Budget shall include, in the budget of the 4 President submitted to Congress under section 1105(a) of 5 title 31, United States Code, for fiscal year 2021 and each 6 fiscal year thereafter, an interagency budget that displays 7 for each Federal agency that engages in North Atlantic 8 right whale activities— 9 (1) the amount of appropriations and expendi- 10 tures for the preceding fiscal year for such activities 11 and a description of such activities; 12 (2) the estimated amount to be expended during 13 the current fiscal year for such activities and a de- 14 scription of such activities; and 15 (3) the amount estimated to be necessary for the 16 next fiscal year for such activities and a description 17 of such activities. 18 (b) NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE ACTIVITIES DE- 19 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘North Atlantic right 20 whale activities’’ means any activity of a Federal agency 21 to study, observe, monitor, manage, protect, conserve, or re- 22 store the North Atlantic right whale population through di- 23 rect or indirect means, including through the provision of 24 competitive financial assistance to non-Federal entities. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:33 Oct 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1568.RH H1568 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1568 RH SEC. 103. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 1 Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment 2 of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall sub- 3 mit to Congress a report on the results and effectiveness of 4 projects receiving assistance provided under this title, in- 5 cluding recommendations concerning how this title might 6 be improved and whether funding for this title should be 7 continued in the future. 8 SEC. 104. FUNDING. 9 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 10 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—There is authorized to be 11 appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this title 12 $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2029. 13 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of the 14 amounts authorized to be appropriated under this 15 subsection for a fiscal year, the Secretary may expend 16 not more than 5 percent, or up to $80,000, whichever 17 is greater, to pay the administrative expenses nec- 18 essary to carry out this Act. 19 (3) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—The amount 20 authorized to be appropriated by paragraph (1) shall 21 supplement and not supplant other amounts available 22 to the Secretary. 23 (b) ACCEPTANCE AND USE OF DONATIONS.—The Sec- 24 retary may accept, receive, solicit, hold, administer, and use 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:33 Oct 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1568.RH H1568 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 1568 RH any gift, devise, or bequest to provide assistance under sec- 1 tion 5. 2 TITLE II—CONTINUOUS 3 PLANKTON RECORDER 4 SEC. 201. SURVEY. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 6 date of the enactment of this Act, and on an ongoing basis 7 thereafter, the Secretary of Commerce shall conduct a con- 8 tinuous plankton recorder survey. 9 (b) REQUIRED ELEMENTS.—For the purpose of con [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]