Fishery Failures: Urgently Needed Disaster Declarations Act

116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 2346 AN ACT To improve the Fishery Resource Disaster Relief program of the National Marine Fisheries Service, 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 2 † S 2346 ES SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fishery Failures: Ur- 2 gently Needed Disaster Declarations Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. FISHERY RESOURCE DISASTER RELIEF. 4 Section 312(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 5 Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1861a(a)) 6 is amended to read as follows: 7 ‘‘(a) FISHERY RESOURCE DISASTER RELIEF.— 8 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 9 ‘‘(A) ALLOWABLE CAUSE.—The term ‘al- 10 lowable cause’ means a natural cause, discrete 11 anthropogenic cause, or undetermined cause. 12 ‘‘(B) ANTHROPOGENIC CAUSE.—The term 13 ‘anthropogenic cause’ means an anthropogenic 14 event, such as an oil spill or spillway opening— 15 ‘‘(i) that could not have been ad- 16 dressed or prevented by fishery manage- 17 ment measures; and 18 ‘‘(ii) that is otherwise beyond the con- 19 trol of fishery managers to mitigate 20 through conservation and management 21 measures, including regulatory restrictions 22 imposed as a result of judicial action or to 23 protect human health or marine animals, 24 plants, or habitats. 25 3 † S 2346 ES ‘‘(C) FISHERY RESOURCE DISASTER.—The 1 term ‘fishery resource disaster’ means a dis- 2 aster that is determined by the Secretary in ac- 3 cordance with this subsection and— 4 ‘‘(i) is an unexpected large decrease in 5 fish stock biomass or other change that re- 6 sults in significant loss of access to the 7 fishery resource, which may include loss of 8 fishing vessels and gear for a substantial 9 period of time and results in significant 10 revenue or subsistence loss due to an al- 11 lowable cause; and 12 ‘‘(ii) does not include— 13 ‘‘(I) reasonably predictable, fore- 14 seeable, and recurrent fishery cyclical 15 variations in species distribution or 16 stock abundance; or 17 ‘‘(II) reductions in fishing oppor- 18 tunities resulting from conservation 19 and management measures taken pur- 20 suant to this Act. 21 ‘‘(D) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian 22 Tribe’ has the meaning given such term in sec- 23 tion 102 of the Federally Recognized Indian 24 Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5130), and 25 4 † S 2346 ES the term ‘Tribal’ means of or pertaining to such 1 an Indian tribe. 2 ‘‘(E) NATURAL CAUSE.—The term ‘natural 3 cause’— 4 ‘‘(i) means a weather, climatic, haz- 5 ard, or biology-related event, such as— 6 ‘‘(I) a hurricane; 7 ‘‘(II) a flood; 8 ‘‘(III) a harmful algal bloom; 9 ‘‘(IV) a tsunami; 10 ‘‘(V) a hypoxic zone; 11 ‘‘(VI) a drought; 12 ‘‘(VII) El Nin˜o effects on water 13 temperature; 14 ‘‘(VIII) a marine heat wave; or 15 ‘‘(IX) disease; and 16 ‘‘(ii) does not mean a normal or cycli- 17 cal variation in a species distribution or 18 stock abundance. 19 ‘‘(F) 12-MONTH REVENUE LOSS.—The 20 term ‘12-month revenue loss’ means the per- 21 centage reduction, as applicable, in commercial, 22 charter, headboat, or processor revenue for the 23 12 months during which the fishery resource 24 disaster occurred, when compared to average 25 5 † S 2346 ES annual revenue in the most recent 5 years when 1 no fishery resource disaster occurred or equiva- 2 lent for stocks with cyclical life histories. 3 ‘‘(G) UNDETERMINED CAUSE.—The term 4 ‘undetermined cause’ means a cause in which 5 the current state of knowledge does not allow 6 the Secretary to identify the exact cause, and 7 there is no current conclusive evidence sup- 8 porting a possible cause of the fishery resource 9 disaster. 10 ‘‘(2) GENERAL AUTHORITY.— 11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 12 have the authority to determine the existence, 13 extent, and beginning and end dates of a fish- 14 ery resource disaster under this subsection in 15 accordance with this subsection. 16 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—After the 17 Secretary determines that a fishery resource 18 disaster has occurred, the Secretary is author- 19 ized to make sums available, from funds appro- 20 priated for such purposes, to be used by the af- 21 fected State, Tribal government, or interstate 22 marine fisheries commission, or by the Sec- 23 retary in cooperation with the affected State, 24 6 † S 2346 ES Tribal government, or interstate marine fish- 1 eries commission. 2 ‘‘(C) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—The requirements 3 under this subsection shall take effect only with 4 respect to requests for a fishery resource dis- 5 aster determination submitted after the date of 6 enactment of the Fishery Failures: Urgently 7 Needed Disaster Declarations Act. 8 ‘‘(3) INITIATION OF A FISHERY RESOURCE DIS- 9 ASTER REVIEW.— 10 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE REQUESTERS.—Not later 11 than 1 year after the date of the conclusion of 12 the fishing season, a request for a fishery re- 13 source disaster determination may be submitted 14 to the Secretary, if the Secretary has not inde- 15 pendently determined that a fishery resource 16 disaster has occurred, by— 17 ‘‘(i) the Governor of an affected State; 18 ‘‘(ii) an official Tribal resolution; or 19 ‘‘(iii) any other comparable elected or 20 politically appointed representative as de- 21 termined by the Secretary. 22 ‘‘(B) REQUIRED INFORMATION.—A com- 23 plete request for a fishery resource disaster de- 24 7 † S 2346 ES termination under subparagraph (A) shall in- 1 clude— 2 ‘‘(i) identification of all presumed af- 3 fected fish stocks; 4 ‘‘(ii) identification of the fishery as 5 Federal, non-Federal, or both; 6 ‘‘(iii) the geographical boundaries of 7 the fishery; 8 ‘‘(iv) preliminary information on 9 causes of the fishery resource disaster, if 10 known; and 11 ‘‘(v) information needed to support a 12 finding of a fishery resource disaster, in- 13 cluding— 14 ‘‘(I) information demonstrating 15 the occurrence of an unexpected large 16 decrease in fish stock biomass or 17 other change that results in signifi- 18 cant loss of access to the fishery re- 19 source, which could include the loss of 20 fishing vessels and gear, for a sub- 21 stantial period of time; 22 ‘‘(II) 12-month revenue loss or 23 subsistence loss for the affected fish- 24 ery, or if a fishery resource disaster 25 8 † S 2346 ES has occurred at any time in the pre- 1 vious 5-year period, the most recent 5 2 years when no fishery resource dis- 3 aster occurred; 4 ‘‘(III) if applicable, information 5 on lost resource tax revenues assessed 6 by local communities, such as a raw 7 fish tax and local sourcing require- 8 ments; and 9 ‘‘(IV) if applicable and available, 10 information on 12-month revenue loss 11 for charter, headboat, or processors 12 related to the information provided 13 under subclause (I), subject to section 14 402(b). 15 ‘‘(C) ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary may 16 provide data and analysis assistance to an eligi- 17 ble requester described in paragraph (1), if— 18 ‘‘(i) the assistance is so requested; 19 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary is in possession of 20 the required information described in sub- 21 paragraph (B); and 22 ‘‘(iii) the data is not available to the 23 requester, in carrying out the complete re- 24 quest under subparagraph (B). 25 9 † S 2346 ES ‘‘(D) INITIATION OF REVIEW.—The Sec- 1 retary shall have the discretion to initiate a 2 fishery resource disaster review without a re- 3 quest. 4 ‘‘(4) REVIEW PROCESS.— 5 ‘‘(A) INTERIM RESPONSE.—Not later than 6 20 days after receipt of a request under para- 7 graph (3), the Secretary shall provide an in- 8 terim response to the individual that— 9 ‘‘(i) acknowledges receipt of the re- 10 quest; 11 ‘‘(ii) provides a regional contact with- 12 in the National Oceanographic and Atmos- 13 pheric Administration; 14 ‘‘(iii) outlines the process and timeline 15 by which a request shall be considered; and 16 ‘‘(iv) requests additional information 17 concerning the fishery resource disaster, if 18 the original request is considered incom- 19 plete. 20 ‘‘(B) EVALUATION OF REQUESTS.— 21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 22 shall complete a review, within the time 23 frame described in clause (ii), using the 24 best scientific information available, in 25 10 † S 2346 ES consultation with the affected fishing com- 1 munities, States, or Tribes, of— 2 ‘‘(I) the information provided by 3 the requester and any additional in- 4 formation relevant to the fishery, 5 which may include— 6 ‘‘(aa) fishery characteristics; 7 ‘‘(bb) stock assessments; 8 ‘‘(cc) the most recent fishery 9 independent surveys and other 10 fishery resource assessments and 11 surveys conducted by Federal, 12 State, or Tribal officials; 13 ‘‘(dd) estimates of mortality; 14 and 15 ‘‘(ee) overall effects; and 16 ‘‘(II) the available economic in- 17 formation, which may include an anal- 18 ysis of— 19 ‘‘(aa) landings data; 20 ‘‘(bb) revenue; 21 ‘‘(cc) the number of partici- 22 pants involved; 23 11 † S 2346 ES ‘‘(dd) the number and type 1 of jobs and persons impacted, 2 which may include— 3 ‘‘(AA) fishers; 4 ‘‘(BB) charter fishing 5 operators; 6 ‘‘(CC) subsistence 7 users; 8 ‘‘(DD) United States 9 fish processors; and 10 ‘‘(EE) an owner of a 11 related fishery infrastructure 12 or business affected by the 13 disaster, such as a marina 14 operator, recreational fishing 15 equipment retailer, or char- 16 ter, headboat, or tender ves- 17 sel owner, operator, or crew; 18 ‘‘(ee) an impacted Indian 19 Tribe; 20 ‘‘(ff) other forms of disaster 21 assistance made available to the 22 fishery, including prior awards of 23 disaster assistance for the same 24 event; 25 12 † S 2346 ES ‘‘(gg) the length of time the 1 resource, or access to the re- 2 source, has been restricted; 3 ‘‘(hh) status of recovery 4 from previous fishery resource 5 disasters; 6 ‘‘(ii) lost resource tax reve- 7 nues assessed by local commu- 8 nities, such as a raw fish tax; 9 and 10 ‘‘(jj) other appropriate indi- 11 cators to an affected fishery, as 12 determined by the National Ma- 13 rine Fisheries Service. 14 ‘‘(ii) TIME FRAME.—The Secretary 15 shall complete the review described in 16 clause (i), if the fishing season, applicable 17 to the fishery— 18 ‘‘(I) has concluded or there is no 19 defined fishing season applicable to 20 the fishery, not later than 120 days 21 after the Secretary receives a com- 22 plete request for a fishery resource 23 disaster determination; 24 13 † S 2346 ES ‘‘(II) has not concluded, not later 1 than 120 days after the conclusion of 2 the fishing season; or 3 ‘‘(III) is expected to be closed for 4 the entire fishing season, not later 5 than 120 days after the Secretary re- 6 ceives a complete request for a fishery 7 resource disaster determination. 8 ‘‘(C) FISHERY RESOURCE DISASTER DE- 9 TERMINATION.—The Secretary shall make the 10 determination of a fishery resource disaster 11 based on the criteria for determinations listed 12 in paragraph (5). 13 ‘‘(D) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 14 14 days after the conclusion of the review under 15 this paragraph, the Secretary shall notify the 16 requester and the Governor of the affected 17 State or Tribal representative of the determina- 18 tion of the Secretary. 19 ‘‘(5) CRITERIA FOR DETERMINATIONS.— 20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 21 make a determination about whether a fishery 22 resource disaster has occurred, based on the 23 revenue loss thresholds under subparagraph 24 (B), and, if a fishery resource disaster has oc- 25 14 † S 2346 ES curred, whether the fishery resource disaster 1 was due to— 2 ‘‘(i) a natural cause; 3 ‘‘(ii) an anthropogenic cause; 4 ‘‘(iii) a combination of a natural cause 5 and an anthropogenic cause; or 6 ‘‘(iv) an undetermined cause. 7 ‘‘(B) REVENUE LOSS THRESHOLDS.— 8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Based on the in- 9 formation provided or analyzed under 10 paragraph (4)(B), the Secretary shall 11 apply the following 12-month revenue loss 12 thresholds in determining whether a fish- 13 ery resource disaster has occurred: 14 ‘‘(I) Losses greater than 80 per- 15 cent may result in a positive deter- 16 mination that a fishery resource dis- 17 aster has occurred, based on the infor- 18 mation provided or analyzed under 19 paragraph (4)(B). 20 ‘‘(II) Losses between 35 percent 21 and 80 percent shall be evaluated to 22 determine whether economic impacts 23 are severe enough to declare that a 24 fishery resource disaster has occurred. 25 15 † S 2346 ES ‘‘(III) Losses less than 35 per- 1 cent shall not be eligible for a deter- 2 mination that a fishery resource dis- 3 aster has occurred. 4 ‘‘(ii) CHARTER FISHING.—In making 5 a determination of whether a fishery re- 6 source disaster has occurred, the Secretary 7 shall consider the economic impacts to the 8 charter fishing industry to ensure financial 9 coverage for charter fishing businesses. 10 ‘‘(iii) SUBSISTENCE LOSS.—In consid- 11 ering subsistence loss, the Secretary shall 12 evaluate the severity of loss to the fishing 13 community instead of applying the revenue 14 loss thresholds described in clause (i). 15 ‘‘(C) INELIGIBLE FISHERIES.—A fishery 16 subject to overfishing in any of the 3 years pre- 17 ceding the date of a determination under this 18 subsection is not eligible for a determination of 19 whether a fishery resource disaster has occurred 20 unless the Secretary determines that overfishing 21 was not a contributing factor to the fishery re- 22 source disaster. 23 ‘‘(D) EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES.—In 24 an exceptional circumstance where substantial 25 16 † S 2346 ES economic impacts to the affected fishery and 1 fishing community have been subject to a dis- 2 aster declaration under another statutory au- 3 thority, such as in the case of a natural disaster 4 or from the direct consequences of a Federal 5 action taken to prevent, or in response to, a 6 natural disaster for purposes of protecting life 7 and safety, the Secretary may determine a fish- 8 ery resource disaster has occurred without a re- 9 quest. 10 ‘‘(6) DISBURSAL OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS.— 11 ‘‘(A) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary 12 shall allocate funds available under paragraph 13 (9) for fishery resource disasters. 14 ‘‘(B) ALLOCATION OF APPROPRIATED 15 FISHERY RESOURCE DISASTER ASSISTANCE.— 16 ‘‘(i) NOTIFICATION OF FUNDING 17 AVAILABILITY.—When there are appro- 18 priated funds for 1 or more fishery re- 19 source disasters, the Secretary shall no- 20 tify— 21 ‘‘(I) the public; and 22 ‘‘(II) representatives of affected 23 fishing communities with a positive 24 17 † S 2346 ES disaster determination that is un- 1 funded; 2 of the availability of funds, not more than 3 14 days after the date of the appropriation 4 or the determination of a fishery resource 5 disaster, whichever occurs later. 6 ‘‘(ii) EX [Text truncated for display. 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