National Sea Grant College Program Amendments Act of 2019

IB Union Calendar No. 262 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2405 [Report No. 116–323] To reauthorize and amend the National Sea Grant College Program Act, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 30, 2019 Mr. HUFFMAN (for himself, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. KILMER, Mr. KATKO, Mr. BEYER, Mr. ZELDIN, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. PANETTA, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. CASE, Ms. GABBARD, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. SIRES, Mr. PAPPAS, and Mr. KEATING) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Natural Resources DECEMBER 5, 2019 Additional sponsors: Mrs. LURIA, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Mrs. RADEWAGEN, Miss GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N of Puerto Rico, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. MOORE, Mr. SCHRADER, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Mr. WELCH, Mr. GOLDEN, Mr. KENNEDY, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. POSEY, Mr. WITTMAN, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Mr. HECK, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. BYRNE, Mr. TRONE, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. KIND, Mr. CICILLINE, Mrs. DINGELL, and Mr. STAUBER DECEMBER 5, 2019 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 30, 2019] VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Dec 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2405.RH H2405 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 2405 RH A BILL To reauthorize and amend the National Sea Grant College Program Act, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Dec 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2405.RH H2405 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 2405 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 ‘‘National Sea Grant Col- 4 lege Program Amendments Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. REFERENCES TO THE NATIONAL SEA GRANT COL- 6 LEGE PROGRAM ACT. 7 Except as otherwise expressly provided, wherever in 8 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of 9 an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, 10 the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or 11 other provision of the National Sea Grant College Program 12 Act (33 U.S.C. 1121 et seq.). 13 SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF DEAN JOHN A. KNAUSS MARINE 14 POLICY FELLOWSHIP. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 208(b) (33 U.S.C. 1127(b)) 16 is amended by striking ‘‘may’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’. 17 (b) PLACEMENTS IN CONGRESS.—Such section is fur- 18 ther amended— 19 (1) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘The Sec- 20 retary’’ and inserting the following: 21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary’’; and 22 (2) in paragraph (1), as designated by para- 23 graph (1) of this section, in the second sentence, by 24 striking ‘‘A fellowship’’ and inserting the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Dec 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2405.RH H2405 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 2405 RH ‘‘(2) PLACEMENT PRIORITIES.— 1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In each year in which 2 the Secretary awards a legislative fellowship 3 under this subsection, when considering the 4 placement of fellows, the Secretary shall 5 prioritize placement of fellows in the following: 6 ‘‘(i) Positions in offices of committees 7 of Congress that have jurisdiction over the 8 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin- 9 istration. 10 ‘‘(ii) Positions in offices of Members of 11 Congress who are on such committees. 12 ‘‘(iii) Positions in offices of Members of 13 Congress that have a demonstrated interest 14 in ocean, coastal, or Great Lakes resources. 15 ‘‘(B) EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION.— 16 ‘‘(i) FINDING AND RECOGNITION.— 17 Congress— 18 ‘‘(I) finds that both host offices 19 and fellows benefit when fellows have 20 the opportunity to choose from a range 21 of host offices from different States and 22 regions, both chambers of Congress, 23 and both political parties; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Dec 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2405.RH H2405 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 2405 RH ‘‘(II) recognizes the steps taken by 1 the National Sea Grant College Pro- 2 gram to facilitate an equitable dis- 3 tribution of fellows among the political 4 parties. 5 ‘‘(ii) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 6 shall ensure, to the maximum extent prac- 7 ticable, that fellows have the opportunity to 8 choose from offices that are described in 9 clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of subparagraph 10 (A) and that are equitably distributed 11 among— 12 ‘‘(I) the political parties; and 13 ‘‘(II) the Senate and the House of 14 Representatives. 15 ‘‘(iii) POLITICAL AND CAMERAL EQ- 16 UITY.—The Secretary shall ensure that 17 placements are equitably distributed be- 18 tween— 19 ‘‘(I) the political parties; and 20 ‘‘(II) the Senate and the House of 21 Representatives. 22 ‘‘(3) DURATION.—A fellowship’’. 23 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by sub- 24 section (b) shall apply with respect to the first calendar 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Dec 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2405.RH H2405 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 2405 RH year beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act 1 and each fiscal year thereafter. 2 (d) SENSE OF CONGRESS CONCERNING FEDERAL HIR- 3 ING OF FORMER FELLOWS.—It is the sense of Congress that 4 in recognition of the competitive nature of the fellowship 5 under section 208(b) of the National Sea Grant College Pro- 6 gram Act (33 U.S.C. 1127(b)), and of the exceptional quali- 7 fications of fellowship awardees— 8 (1) the Secretary of Commerce, acting through 9 the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and At- 10 mosphere, should encourage participating Federal 11 agencies to consider opportunities for fellowship 12 awardees at the conclusion of their fellowships for 13 workforce positions appropriate for their education 14 and experience; and 15 (2) Members and committees of Congress should 16 consider opportunities for such awardees for such po- 17 sitions. 18 SEC. 4. MODIFICATION OF AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OF 19 COMMERCE TO ACCEPT DONATIONS FOR NA- 20 TIONAL SEA GRANT COLLEGE PROGRAM. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 204(c)(4)(E) (33 U.S.C. 22 1123(c)(4)(E)) is amended to read as follows: 23 ‘‘(E) accept donations of money and, not- 24 withstanding section 1342 of title 31, United 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Dec 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2405.RH H2405 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 2405 RH States Code, of voluntary and uncompensated 1 services;’’. 2 (b) PRIORITIES.—The Secretary of Commerce, acting 3 through the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and 4 Atmosphere, shall establish priorities for the use of dona- 5 tions accepted under section 204(c)(4)(E) of the National 6 Sea Grant College Program Act (33 U.S.C. 1123(c)(4)(E)), 7 and shall consider among those priorities the possibility of 8 expanding the Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellow- 9 ship’s placement of additional fellows in relevant legislative 10 offices under section 208(b) of that Act (33 U.S.C. 1127(b)), 11 in accordance with the recommendations under subsection 12 (c) of this section. 13 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 14 of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the National 15 Sea Grant College Program, in consultation with the Na- 16 tional Sea Grant Advisory Board and the Sea Grant Asso- 17 ciation, shall— 18 (1) develop recommendations for the optimal use 19 of any donations accepted under section 204(c)(4)(E) 20 of the National Sea Grant College Program Act (33 21 U.S.C. 1123(c)(4)(E)); and 22 (2) submit to Congress a report on the rec- 23 ommendations developed under paragraph (1). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Dec 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2405.RH H2405 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 2405 RH (d) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall be 1 construed to limit or otherwise affect any other amounts 2 available for marine policy fellowships under section 208(b) 3 of the National Sea Grant College Program Act (33 U.S.C. 4 1127(b)), including amounts— 5 (1) accepted under section 204(c)(4)(F) of that 6 Act (33 U.S.C. 1123(c)(4)(F)); or 7 (2) appropriated under section 212 of that Act 8 (33 U.S.C. 1131). 9 SEC. 5. REPEAL OF REQUIREMENT FOR REPORT ON CO- 10 ORDINATION OF OCEANS AND COASTAL RE- 11 SEARCH ACTIVITIES. 12 Section 9 of the National Sea Grant College Program 13 Act Amendments of 2002 (33 U.S.C. 857–20) is repealed. 14 SEC. 6. REDUCTION IN FREQUENCY REQUIRED FOR NA- 15 TIONAL SEA GRANT ADVISORY BOARD RE- 16 PORT. 17 Section 209(b)(2) (33 U.S.C. 1128(b)(2)) is amend- 18 ed— 19 (1) in the heading, by striking ‘‘BIENNIAL’’ and 20 inserting ‘‘PERIODIC’’; and 21 (2) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘The Board 22 shall report to the Congress every two years’’ and in- 23 serting ‘‘Not less frequently than once every 4 years, 24 the Board shall submit to Congress a report’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Dec 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2405.RH H2405 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 2405 RH SEC. 7. MODIFICATION OF ELEMENTS OF NATIONAL SEA 1 GRANT COLLEGE PROGRAM. 2 Section 204(b) (33 U.S.C. 1123(b)) is amended, in the 3 matter preceding paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘for research, 4 education, extension, training, technology transfer, public 5 service,’’ after ‘‘financial assistance’’. 6 SEC. 8. DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY; DEAN JOHN A. KNAUSS 7 MARINE POLICY FELLOWSHIP. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—During fiscal year 2019 and any 9 fiscal year thereafter, the head of any Federal agency may 10 appoint, without regard to the provisions of subchapter I 11 of chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, other than sec- 12 tions 3303 and 3328 of that title, a qualified candidate de- 13 scribed in subsection (b) directly to a position with the Fed- 14 eral agency for which the candidate meets Office of Per- 15 sonnel Management qualification standards. 16 (b) QUALIFIED CANDIDATE.—Subsection (a) applies 17 with respect to a former recipient of a Dean John A. 18 Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship under section 208(b) of 19 the National Sea Grant College Program Act (33 U.S.C. 20 1127(b)) who— 21 (1) earned a graduate or post-graduate degree in 22 a field related to ocean, coastal, or Great Lakes re- 23 sources or policy from an institution of higher edu- 24 cation accredited by an agency or association recog- 25 nized by the Secretary of Education pursuant to sec- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Dec 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2405.RH H2405 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 2405 RH tion 496(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 1 U.S.C. 1099b(a)); 2 (2) received a Dean John A. Knauss Marine Pol- 3 icy Fellowship under section 208(b) of the National 4 Sea Grant College Program Act (33 U.S.C. 1127(b)) 5 within 5 years before the date the individual is ap- 6 pointed under this section; and 7 (3) successfully fulfilled the requirements of the 8 fellowship within the executive or legislative branch of 9 the United States Government. 10 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR NA- 11 TIONAL SEA GRANT COLLEGE PROGRAM. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 212(a) (33 U.S.C. 1131(a)) 13 is amended— 14 (1) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol- 15 lows: 16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 17 appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this title— 18 ‘‘(A) $87,520,000 for fiscal year 2020; 19 ‘‘(B) $91,900,000 for fiscal year 2021; 20 ‘‘(C) $96,500,000 for fiscal year 2022; 21 ‘‘(D) $101,325,000 for fiscal year 2023; 22 ‘‘(E) $106,380,000 for fiscal year 2024; and 23 ‘‘(F) $111,710,813 for fiscal year 2025.’’; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Dec 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2405.RH H2405 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 2405 RH (2) by amending paragraph (2) to read as fol- 1 lows: 2 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY ACTIVITIES FOR FISCAL YEARS 3 2020 THROUGH 2025.—In addition to the amounts au- 4 thorized to be appropriated under paragraph (1), 5 there are authorized to be appropriated $6,000,000 for 6 each of fiscal years 2020 through 2025 for competitive 7 grants for the following: 8 ‘‘(A) University research on the biology, 9 prevention, and control of aquatic nonnative spe- 10 cies. 11 ‘‘(B) University research on oyster diseases, 12 oyster restoration, and oyster-related human 13 health risks. 14 ‘‘(C) University research on the biology, 15 prevention, and forecasting of harmful algal 16 blooms. 17 ‘‘(D) University research, education, train- 18 ing, and extension services and activities focused 19 on coastal resilience and United States working 20 waterfronts and other regional or national pri- 21 ority issues identified in the strategic plan under 22 section 204(c)(1). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Dec 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2405.RH H2405 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 2405 RH ‘‘(E) University research and extension on 1 sustainable aquaculture techniques and tech- 2 nologies. 3 ‘‘(F) Fishery research and extension activi- 4 ties conducted by sea grant colleges or sea grant 5 institutes to enhance, and not supplant, existing 6 core program funding.’’. 7 (b) MODIFICATION OF LIMITATIONS ON AMOUNTS FOR 8 ADMINISTRATION.—Paragraph (1) of section 212(b) (33 9 U.S.C. 1131(b)) is amended to read as follows: 10 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATION.— 11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There may not be used 12 for administration of programs under this title 13 in a fiscal year more than 5.5 percent of the less- 14 er of— 15 ‘‘(i) the amount authorized to be ap- 16 propriated under this title for the fiscal 17 year; or 18 ‘‘(ii) the amount appropriated under 19 this title for the fiscal year. 20 ‘‘(B) CRITICAL STAFFING REQUIREMENTS.— 21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall 22 use the authority under subchapter VI of 23 chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, to 24 meet any critical staffing requirement while 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Dec 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2405.RH H2405 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •HR 2405 RH carrying out the activities authorized under 1 this title. 2 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION FROM CAP.—For pur- 3 poses of subparagraph (A), any costs in- 4 curred as a result of an exercise of authority 5 described in clause (i) shall not be consid- 6 ered an amount used for administration of 7 programs under t [Text truncated for display. 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