Sport Fish Restoration and Recreational Boating Safety Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4828 To amend the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act with respect to sport fish restoration and recreational boating safety, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 23, 2019 Mr. CUNNINGHAM (for himself, Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. VEASEY, and Mrs. DINGELL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned A BILL To amend the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act with respect to sport fish restoration and recreational boating safety, 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 ‘‘Sport Fish Restoration 4 and Recreational Boating Safety Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4828.IH H4828 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4828 IH (1) The Sport Fish Restoration and Boating 1 Trust Fund (Trust Fund) was established in 1950 2 to provide dedicated funding for aquatic conserva- 3 tion and boating safety. 4 (2) The Trust Fund is a user fee-public benefit 5 system funded through motorboat fuel tax receipts, 6 import duties, and excise taxes on small engines, 7 fishing equipment, and electric motors. 8 (3) The Trust Fund provides nearly $650 mil- 9 lion annually for recreational infrastructure projects, 10 coastal wetlands restoration, and boating safety and 11 conservation programs in all 50 States. 12 (4) Since 2010, more than 28,000 acres of 13 habitats have been restored and improved through- 14 out coastal wetland ecosystems—which not only 15 serve a critical role in conservation but provide a sig- 16 nificant economic impact to coastal communities. 17 (5) The recreational boating and angling com- 18 munity, as well as State agencies, recognize the sig- 19 nificant increase in the use of non-motorized, 20 human-propelled vessels in recent years. Growth of 21 the human-propelled vessel community has required 22 United States Coast Guard and State agencies to 23 use significant resources to address human-propelled 24 infrastructure, boating safety, law enforcement, and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4828.IH H4828 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4828 IH search and rescue needs, all of which is paid for by 1 the Trust Fund. 2 SEC. 3. DIVISION OF ANNUAL APPROPRIATIONS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4 of the Dingell-Johnson 4 Sport Fish Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 777c) is amend- 5 ed— 6 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘2021’’ and 7 inserting ‘‘2024’’; 8 (2) in subsection (b)— 9 (A) in paragraph (1)— 10 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 11 ‘‘2021’’ and inserting ‘‘2024’’; and 12 (ii) by amending subparagraph (B) to 13 read as follows— 14 ‘‘(B) AVAILABLE AMOUNTS.—The available 15 amount referred to in subparagraph (A) is— 16 ‘‘(i) for fiscal year 2020, $12,671,235; 17 and 18 ‘‘(ii) for fiscal year 2021 and each fis- 19 cal year thereafter, the sum of— 20 ‘‘(I) the available amount for the 21 preceding fiscal year; and 22 ‘‘(II) the amount determined by 23 multiplying— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4828.IH H4828 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4828 IH ‘‘(aa) the available amount 1 for the preceding fiscal year; and 2 ‘‘(bb) the change, relative to 3 the preceding fiscal year, in the 4 Consumer Price Index for All 5 Urban Consumers published by 6 the Department of Labor.’’; and 7 (B) in paragraph (2)— 8 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 9 ‘‘2016 through 2021’’ and inserting ‘‘2020 10 through 2024’’; and 11 (ii) by amending subparagraph (B) to 12 read as follows— 13 ‘‘(B) AVAILABLE AMOUNTS.—The available 14 amount referred to in subparagraph (A) is— 15 ‘‘(i) for fiscal year 2020, $8,339,466; 16 and 17 ‘‘(ii) for fiscal year 2021 and each fis- 18 cal year thereafter, the sum of— 19 ‘‘(I) the available amount for the 20 preceding fiscal year; and 21 ‘‘(II) the amount determined by 22 multiplying— 23 ‘‘(aa) the available amount 24 for the preceding fiscal year; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4828.IH H4828 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4828 IH ‘‘(bb) the change, relative to 1 the preceding fiscal year, in the 2 Consumer Price Index for All 3 Urban Consumers published by 4 the Department of Labor.’’; and 5 (3) in subsection (e)(2), by striking ‘‘$900,000’’ 6 and inserting ‘‘$1,300,000’’. 7 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—Section 9(a) of the Dingell- 8 Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 777h(a)) 9 is amended— 10 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘on a full-time 11 basis’’; 12 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘on a part- 13 time basis for at least 20 hours each week’’; 14 (3) in paragraph (5)(B), by striking ‘‘full-time 15 equivalent’’; and 16 (4) in paragraph (9)(A), by striking ‘‘on a full- 17 time basis’’. 18 (c) OTHER ACTIVITIES.—Section 14(e) of the Din- 19 gell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 20 777m) is amended by adding at the end the following: 21 ‘‘(3) A portion, as determined by the Sport 22 Fishing and Boating Partnership Council, of funds 23 disbursed for the purposes described in paragraph 24 (2) but remaining unobligated prior to fiscal year 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Oct 31, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4828.IH H4828 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4828 IH 2020 shall be used to study the impact of derelict 1 vessels and identify recyclable solutions for rec- 2 reational vessels.’’. 3 SEC. 4. RECREATIONAL BOATING ACCESS. 4 The United States Comptroller General shall, not 5 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, 6 submit a report to the Sport Fishing and Boating Part- 7 nership Council, the Committees on Natural Resources 8 and Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of 9 Representatives, and the Committees on Commerce, 10 Science, and Transportation and Environment and Public 11 Works of the Senate. The United States Comptroller Gen- 12 eral shall consult with the Sport Fishing and Boating 13 Partnership Council and the National Boating Safety Ad- 14 visory Council on study design, scope, and priorities. To 15 the extent practicable, given data available, the report 16 shall document— 17 (1) the use of non-motorized vessels in each 18 State and how the increased use of non-motorized 19 vessels is impacting motorized and non-motorized 20 vessel access; 21 (2) user conflicts at waterway access points; 22 and 23 (3) the use of Sport Fish Restoration Program 24 funds to improve non-motorized access at waterway 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Oct 31, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4828.IH H4828 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4828 IH entry points and the reasons for providing such ac- 1 cess, and Recreational Boating Safety Program 2 funds for non-motorized boating safety programs. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4828.IH H4828 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS