National Fish Habitat Conservation Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 754 To encourage partnerships among public agencies and other interested parties to promote fish conservation, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 12, 2019 Mr. CRAPO (for himself and Mr. CARDIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To encourage partnerships among public agencies and other interested parties to promote fish conservation, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘National Fish Habitat 4 Conservation Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Mar 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S754.IS S754 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 754 IS SEC. 2. NATIONAL FISH HABITAT CONSERVATION 1 THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS. 2 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en- 3 courage partnerships among public agencies and other in- 4 terested parties to promote fish conservation— 5 (1) to achieve measurable habitat conservation 6 results through strategic actions of Fish Habitat 7 Partnerships that lead to better fish habitat condi- 8 tions and increased fishing opportunities by— 9 (A) improving ecological conditions; 10 (B) restoring natural processes; or 11 (C) preventing the decline of intact and 12 healthy systems; 13 (2) to establish a consensus set of national con- 14 servation strategies as a framework to guide future 15 actions and investment by Fish Habitat Partner- 16 ships; 17 (3) to broaden the community of support for 18 fish habitat conservation by— 19 (A) increasing fishing opportunities; 20 (B) fostering the participation of local 21 communities, especially young people in local 22 communities, in conservation activities; and 23 (C) raising public awareness of the role 24 healthy fish habitat play in the quality of life 25 and economic well-being of local communities; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Mar 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S754.IS S754 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 754 IS (4) to fill gaps in the National Fish Habitat As- 1 sessment and the associated database of the Na- 2 tional Fish Habitat Assessment— 3 (A) to empower strategic conservation ac- 4 tions supported by broadly available scientific 5 information; and 6 (B) to integrate socioeconomic data in the 7 analysis to improve the lives of humans in a 8 manner consistent with fish habitat conserva- 9 tion goals; and 10 (5) to communicate to the public and conserva- 11 tion partners— 12 (A) the conservation outcomes produced 13 collectively by Fish Habitat Partnerships; and 14 (B) new opportunities and voluntary ap- 15 proaches for conserving fish habitat. 16 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 17 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 18 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 19 mittees’’ means— 20 (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 21 and Transportation and the Committee on En- 22 vironment and Public Works of the Senate; and 23 (B) the Committee on Natural Resources 24 of the House of Representatives. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Mar 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S754.IS S754 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 754 IS (2) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the Na- 1 tional Fish Habitat Board established by subsection 2 (c)(1)(A). 3 (3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 4 the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife 5 Service. 6 (4) EPA ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR.—The 7 term ‘‘EPA Assistant Administrator’’ means the As- 8 sistant Administrator for Water of the Environ- 9 mental Protection Agency. 10 (5) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 11 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 12 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 13 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 14 (6) NOAA ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR.—The 15 term ‘‘NOAA Assistant Administrator’’ means the 16 Assistant Administrator for Fisheries of the Na- 17 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 18 (7) PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘‘Partnership’’ 19 means a self-governed entity designated by Congress 20 as a Fish Habitat Partnership under subsection 21 (d)(6) after a recommendation by the Board under 22 subsection (d)(1). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Mar 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S754.IS S754 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 754 IS (8) REAL PROPERTY INTEREST.—The term 1 ‘‘real property interest’’ means an ownership interest 2 in— 3 (A) land; or 4 (B) water (including water rights). 5 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 6 the Secretary of the Interior. 7 (10) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 8 the several States. 9 (11) STATE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘State agen- 10 cy’’ means— 11 (A) the fish and wildlife agency of a State; 12 and 13 (B) any department or division of a de- 14 partment or agency of a State that manages in 15 the public trust the inland or marine fishery re- 16 sources or sustains the habitat for those fishery 17 resources of the State pursuant to State law or 18 the constitution of the State. 19 (c) NATIONAL FISH HABITAT BOARD.— 20 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 21 (A) FISH HABITAT BOARD.—There is es- 22 tablished a board, to be known as the ‘‘National 23 Fish Habitat Board’’, whose duties are— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Mar 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S754.IS S754 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 754 IS (i) to promote, oversee, and coordinate 1 the implementation of this section; 2 (ii) to establish national goals and pri- 3 orities for fish habitat conservation; 4 (iii) to recommend to Congress enti- 5 ties for designation as Partnerships; and 6 (iv) to review and make recommenda- 7 tions regarding fish habitat conservation 8 projects. 9 (B) MEMBERSHIP.—The Board shall be 10 composed of 25 members, of whom— 11 (i) 1 shall be a representative of the 12 Department of the Interior; 13 (ii) 1 shall be a representative of the 14 United States Geological Survey; 15 (iii) 1 shall be a representative of the 16 Department of Commerce; 17 (iv) 1 shall be a representative of the 18 Department of Agriculture; 19 (v) 1 shall be a representative of the 20 Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies; 21 (vi) 4 shall be representatives of State 22 agencies, 1 of whom shall be nominated by 23 a regional association of fish and wildlife 24 agencies from each of the Northeast, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Mar 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S754.IS S754 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 754 IS Southeast, Midwest, and Western regions 1 of the United States; 2 (vii) 1 shall be a representative of ei- 3 ther— 4 (I) Indian tribes in the State of 5 Alaska; or 6 (II) Indian tribes in States other 7 than the State of Alaska; 8 (viii) 1 shall be a representative of ei- 9 ther— 10 (I) the Regional Fishery Manage- 11 ment Councils established under sec- 12 tion 302 of the Magnuson-Stevens 13 Fishery Conservation and Manage- 14 ment Act (16 U.S.C. 1852); or 15 (II) a representative of the Ma- 16 rine Fisheries Commissions, which is 17 composed of— 18 (aa) the Atlantic States Ma- 19 rine Fisheries Commission; 20 (bb) the Gulf States Marine 21 Fisheries Commission; and 22 (cc) the Pacific States Ma- 23 rine Fisheries Commission; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Mar 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S754.IS S754 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 754 IS (ix) 1 shall be a representative of the 1 Sportfishing and Boating Partnership 2 Council; 3 (x) 7 shall be representatives selected 4 from each of— 5 (I) the recreational sportfishing 6 industry; 7 (II) the commercial fishing in- 8 dustry; 9 (III) marine recreational anglers; 10 (IV) freshwater recreational an- 11 glers; 12 (V) habitat conservation organi- 13 zations; and 14 (VI) science-based fishery organi- 15 zations; 16 (xi) 1 shall be a representative of a 17 national private landowner organization; 18 (xii) 1 shall be a representative of an 19 agricultural production organization; 20 (xiii) 1 shall be a representative of 21 local government interests involved in fish 22 habitat restoration; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Mar 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S754.IS S754 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 754 IS (xiv) 2 shall be representatives from 1 different sectors of corporate industries, 2 which may include— 3 (I) natural resource commodity 4 interests, such as petroleum or min- 5 eral extraction; 6 (II) natural resource user indus- 7 tries; and 8 (III) industries with an interest 9 in fish and fish habitat conservation; 10 and 11 (xv) 1 shall be a leadership private 12 sector or landowner representative of an 13 active partnership. 14 (C) COMPENSATION.—A member of the 15 Board shall serve without compensation. 16 (D) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—A member of the 17 Board may be allowed travel expenses, includ- 18 ing per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates au- 19 thorized for an employee of an agency under 20 subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United 21 States Code, while away from the home or reg- 22 ular place of business of the member in the per- 23 formance of the duties of the Board. 24 (2) APPOINTMENT AND TERMS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Mar 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S754.IS S754 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 754 IS (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise 1 provided in this subsection, a member of the 2 Board described in any of clauses (vi) through 3 (xiv) of paragraph (1)(B) shall serve for a term 4 of 3 years. 5 (B) INITIAL BOARD MEMBERSHIP.— 6 (i) IN GENERAL.—The initial Board 7 will consist of representatives as described 8 in clauses (i) through (vi) of paragraph 9 (1)(B). 10 (ii) REMAINING MEMBERS.—Not later 11 than 60 days after the date of enactment 12 of this Act, the representatives of the ini- 13 tial Board pursuant to clause (i) shall ap- 14 point the remaining members of the Board 15 described in clauses (viii) through (xiv) of 16 paragraph (1)(B). 17 (iii) TRIBAL REPRESENTATIVES.—Not 18 later than 60 days after the enactment of 19 this Act, the Secretary shall provide to the 20 Board a recommendation of not fewer than 21 3 Tribal representatives, from which the 22 Board shall appoint 1 representative pur- 23 suant to clause (vii) of paragraph (1)(B). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Mar 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S754.IS S754 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 754 IS (C) TRANSITIONAL TERMS.—Of the mem- 1 bers described in paragraph (1)(B)(x) initially 2 appointed to the Board— 3 (i) 2 shall be appointed for a term of 4 1 year; 5 (ii) 2 shall be appointed for a term of 6 2 years; and 7 (iii) 3 shall be appointed for a term of 8 3 years. 9 (D) VACANCIES.— 10 (i) IN GENERAL.—A vacancy of a 11 member of the Board described in any of 12 clauses (viii) through (xiv) of paragraph 13 (1)(B) shall be filled by an appointment 14 made by the remaining members of the 15 Board. 16 (ii) TRIBAL REPRESENTATIVES.—Fol- 17 lowing a vacancy of a member of the 18 Board described in clause (vii) of para- 19 graph (1)(B), the Secretary shall rec- 20 ommend to the Board a list of not fewer 21 than 3 Tribal representatives, from which 22 the remaining members of the Board shall 23 appoint a representative to fill the vacancy. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Mar 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S754.IS S754 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 754 IS (E) CONTINUATION OF SERVICE.—An indi- 1 vidual whose term of service as a member of the 2 Board expires may continue to serve on the 3 Board until a successor is appointed. 4 (F) REMOVAL.—If a member of the Board 5 described in any of clauses (viii) through (xiv) 6 of paragraph (1)(B) misses 3 consecutive regu- 7 larly scheduled Board meetings, the members of 8 the Board may— 9 (i) vote to remove that member; and 10 (ii) appoint another individual in ac- 11 cordance with subparagraph (D). 12 (3) CHAIRPERSON.— 13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The representative of 14 the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies 15 appointed pursuant to paragraph (1)(B)(v) 16 shall serve as Chairperson of the Board. 17 (B) TERM.—The Chairperson of the Board 18 shall serve for a term of 3 years. 19 (4) MEETINGS.— 20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall 21 meet— 22 (i) at the call of the Chairperson; but 23 (ii) not less frequently than twice each 24 calendar year. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Mar 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S754.IS S754 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •S 754 IS (B) PUBLIC ACCESS.—All meetings of the 1 Board shall be open to the public. 2 (5) PROCEDURES.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall estab- 4 lish procedures to carry out the business of the 5 Board, including— 6 (i) a requirement that a quorum of 7 the members of the Board be present to 8 transact business; 9 (ii) a requirement that no rec- 10 ommendations may be adopted by the 11 Board, except by the vote of 2⁄3 of all mem- 12 bers; 13 (iii) procedures for establishing na- 14 tional goals and priorities for fish habitat 15 conservation for the purposes of this sec- 16 tion; 17 (iv) procedures for designating Part- 18 nerships under subsection (d); and 19 (v) procedures for reviewing, evalu- 20 ating, and making recommendations re- 21 garding fish habitat conservation projects. 22 (B) QUORUM.—A majority of the members 23 of the Board shall constitute a quorum. 24 (d) FISH HABITAT PARTNERSHIPS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Mar 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S754.IS S754 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 14 •S 754 IS (1) AUTHORITY TO RECOMMEND.—The Board 1 may recommend to Congress the designation of Fish 2 Habitat Partnerships in accordance with this sub- 3 section. 4 (2) PURPOSES.—The purposes of a Partnership 5 shall be— 6 (A) to work with other regional habitat 7 conservation programs to promote cooperation 8 and coordination to enhance fish and fish habi- 9 tats; 10 (B) to engage local and regional commu- 11 nities to build support for fish habitat conserva- 12 tion; 13 (C) to involve diverse groups of public and 14 private partners; 15 (D) to develop collaboratively a strategic 16 vision and achievable implementation plan that 17 is scientifically sound; 18 (E) to leverage funding from sources that 19 support local and regional partnerships; 20 (F) to use adaptive management prin- 21 ciples, including evaluation of project success 22 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]