Fishery Failures: Urgently Needed Disaster Declarations Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5548 To improve the Fishery Resource Disaster Relief program of the National Marine Fisheries Service, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 7, 2020 Mr. HUFFMAN (for himself, Mr. PALAZZO, Mr. KILMER, and Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris- diction of the committee concerned A BILL 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fishery Failures: Ur- 4 gently Needed Disaster Declarations Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Jan 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5548.IH H5548 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5548 IH SEC. 2. FISHERY RESOURCE DISASTER RELIEF. 1 Section 312(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 2 Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1861a(a)) 3 is amended to read as follows: 4 ‘‘(a) FISHERY RESOURCE DISASTER RELIEF.— 5 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 6 ‘‘(A) ALLOWABLE CAUSE.—The term ‘al- 7 lowable cause’ means a natural cause, discrete 8 anthropogenic cause, or undetermined cause. 9 ‘‘(B) ANTHROPOGENIC CAUSE.—The term 10 ‘anthropogenic cause’ means an anthropogenic 11 event, such as an oil spill or spillway opening— 12 ‘‘(i) that could not have been ad- 13 dressed or prevented by fishery manage- 14 ment measures; and 15 ‘‘(ii) that is otherwise beyond the con- 16 trol of fishery managers to mitigate 17 through conservation and management 18 measures, including regulatory restrictions 19 imposed as a result of judicial action or to 20 protect human health or marine animals, 21 plants, or habitats. 22 ‘‘(C) FISHERY RESOURCE DISASTER.—The 23 term ‘fishery resource disaster’ means a dis- 24 aster that is determined by the Secretary in ac- 25 cordance with this subsection and— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Jan 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5548.IH H5548 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5548 IH ‘‘(i) is an unexpected decrease in fish 1 stock biomass or other change that results 2 in significant loss of access to the fishery 3 resource, which may include loss of fishing 4 vessels and gear for a substantial period of 5 time and results in significant revenue or 6 subsistence loss due to an allowable cause; 7 and 8 ‘‘(ii) does not include— 9 ‘‘(I) reasonably predictable, fore- 10 seeable, and recurrent fishery cyclical 11 variations in species distribution or 12 stock abundance; or 13 ‘‘(II) reductions in fishing oppor- 14 tunities resulting from conservation 15 and management measures taken pur- 16 suant to this Act. 17 ‘‘(D) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian 18 Tribe’ has the meaning given such term in sec- 19 tion 102 of the Federally Recognized Indian 20 Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5130), and 21 the term ‘Tribal’ means of or pertaining to such 22 an Indian tribe. 23 ‘‘(E) NATURAL CAUSE.—The term ‘natural 24 cause’— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Jan 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5548.IH H5548 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5548 IH ‘‘(i) means a weather, climatic, haz- 1 ard, or biology-related event, such as— 2 ‘‘(I) a hurricane; 3 ‘‘(II) a flood; 4 ‘‘(III) a harmful algal bloom; 5 ‘‘(IV) a tsunami; 6 ‘‘(V) a hypoxic zone; 7 ‘‘(VI) a drought; 8 ‘‘(VII) El Nin˜o effects on water 9 temperature; 10 ‘‘(VIII) a marine heat wave; or 11 ‘‘(IX) disease; and 12 ‘‘(ii) does not mean a normal or cycli- 13 cal variation in a species distribution or 14 stock abundance. 15 ‘‘(F) 12-MONTH REVENUE LOSS.—The 16 term ‘12-month revenue loss’ means the per- 17 centage reduction in commercial, charter, 18 headboat, and processor revenue for the 12 19 months during the fishery resource disaster pe- 20 riod that is due to the fishery resource disaster, 21 when compared to average annual revenue in 22 the most recent 5-year period or equivalent for 23 stocks with cyclical life histories. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Jan 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5548.IH H5548 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5548 IH ‘‘(G) UNDETERMINED CAUSE.—The term 1 ‘undetermined cause’ means a cause in which 2 the current state of knowledge does not allow 3 the Secretary to identify the exact cause, and 4 there is no current conclusive evidence sup- 5 porting a possible cause of the fishery resource 6 disaster. 7 ‘‘(2) GENERAL AUTHORITY.— 8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 9 have the authority to determine the existence, 10 extent, and beginning and end dates of a fish- 11 ery resource disaster under this subsection in 12 accordance with this subsection. 13 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—After the 14 Secretary determines that a fishery resource 15 disaster has occurred, the Secretary is author- 16 ized to make sums available, from funds appro- 17 priated under paragraph (9) and from any sup- 18 plemental appropriations that are available, to 19 be used by the affected State, Tribal govern- 20 ment, or interstate marine fisheries commission, 21 or by the Secretary in cooperation with the af- 22 fected State, Tribal government, or interstate 23 marine fisheries commission. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Jan 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5548.IH H5548 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5548 IH ‘‘(C) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—The requirements 1 under this subsection shall take effect only with 2 respect to requests for a fishery resource dis- 3 aster determination submitted after the date of 4 enactment of the Fishery Failures: Urgently 5 Needed Disaster Declarations Act. 6 ‘‘(3) INITIATION OF A FISHERY RESOURCE DIS- 7 ASTER REVIEW.— 8 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE REQUESTERS.—Not later 9 than 1 year after the date of the conclusion of 10 the fishing season, a request for a fishery re- 11 source disaster determination may be submitted 12 to the Secretary, if the Secretary has not inde- 13 pendently determined that a fishery resource 14 disaster has occurred, by— 15 ‘‘(i) the Governor of an affected State; 16 ‘‘(ii) an official Tribal resolution; or 17 ‘‘(iii) any other comparable elected or 18 politically appointed representative as de- 19 termined by the Secretary. 20 ‘‘(B) REQUIRED INFORMATION.—A com- 21 plete request for a fishery resource disaster de- 22 termination under subparagraph (A) shall in- 23 clude— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Jan 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5548.IH H5548 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5548 IH ‘‘(i) identification of all presumed af- 1 fected fish stocks; 2 ‘‘(ii) identification of the fishery as 3 Federal, non-Federal, or both; 4 ‘‘(iii) the geographical boundaries of 5 the fishery; 6 ‘‘(iv) preliminary information on 7 causes of the fishery resource disaster, if 8 known; and 9 ‘‘(v) information needed to support a 10 finding of a fishery resource disaster, in- 11 cluding— 12 ‘‘(I) information demonstrating 13 the occurrence of an unexpected de- 14 crease in fish stock biomass or other 15 change that results in significant loss 16 of access to the fishery resource, 17 which could include the loss of fishing 18 vessels and gear, for a substantial pe- 19 riod of time; 20 ‘‘(II) 12-month revenue loss or 21 subsistence loss for the affected Fed- 22 eral fishery, or if a fishery resource 23 disaster has occurred at any time in 24 the previous 5-year period, an appro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Jan 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5548.IH H5548 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 5548 IH priate time frame as determined by 1 the Secretary; 2 ‘‘(III) if applicable, information 3 on lost resource tax revenues assessed 4 by local communities, such as a raw 5 fish tax; and 6 ‘‘(IV) if applicable, information 7 on 12-month revenue loss for proc- 8 essors related to the information pro- 9 vided under subclause (I), subject to 10 section 402(b). 11 ‘‘(C) ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary may 12 provide assistance, data, and analysis to an eli- 13 gible requester described in paragraph (1), if so 14 requested and the data is not available to the 15 requester, in carrying out the compete request 16 under subparagraph (A). 17 ‘‘(4) REVIEW PROCESS.— 18 ‘‘(A) INTERIM RESPONSE.—Not later than 19 20 days after receipt of a request under para- 20 graph (3), the Secretary shall provide an in- 21 terim response to the individual that— 22 ‘‘(i) acknowledges receipt of the re- 23 quest; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Jan 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5548.IH H5548 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 5548 IH ‘‘(ii) provides a regional contact with- 1 in the National Oceanographic and Atmos- 2 pheric Administration; 3 ‘‘(iii) outlines the process and timeline 4 by which a request shall be considered; and 5 ‘‘(iv) requests additional information 6 concerning the fishery resource disaster, if 7 the original request is considered incom- 8 plete. 9 ‘‘(B) EVALUATION OF REQUESTS.— 10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 11 shall complete a review, within the time 12 frame described in clause (ii), using the 13 best scientific information available, in 14 consultation with the affected fishing com- 15 munities, States, or Tribes, of— 16 ‘‘(I) the information provided by 17 the requester and any additional in- 18 formation relevant to the fishery, 19 which may include— 20 ‘‘(aa) fishery characteristics; 21 ‘‘(bb) stock assessments; 22 ‘‘(cc) the most recent fishery 23 independent surveys and other 24 fishery resource assessments and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Jan 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5548.IH H5548 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 5548 IH surveys conducted by Federal, 1 State, or Tribal officials; 2 ‘‘(dd) estimates of mortality; 3 and 4 ‘‘(ee) overall effects; and 5 ‘‘(II) the available economic in- 6 formation, which may include an anal- 7 ysis of— 8 ‘‘(aa) landings data; 9 ‘‘(bb) revenue; 10 ‘‘(cc) the number of partici- 11 pants involved; 12 ‘‘(dd) the number and type 13 of jobs and persons impacted, 14 which may include— 15 ‘‘(AA) fishers; 16 ‘‘(BB) charter fishing 17 operators; 18 ‘‘(CC) subsistence 19 users; 20 ‘‘(DD) United States 21 fish processors; and 22 ‘‘(EE) an owner of a 23 related fishery infrastructure 24 or business affected by the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Jan 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5548.IH H5548 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 5548 IH disaster, such as a marina 1 operator, recreational fishing 2 equipment retailer, or char- 3 ter, headboat, or tender ves- 4 sel owner, operator, or crew; 5 ‘‘(ee) an impacted Indian 6 Tribe; 7 ‘‘(ff) an impacted business 8 or other entity; 9 ‘‘(gg) the availability of haz- 10 ard insurance to address finan- 11 cial losses due to a disaster; 12 ‘‘(hh) other forms of dis- 13 aster assistance made available to 14 the fishery, including prior 15 awards of disaster assistance for 16 the same event; 17 ‘‘(ii) the length of time the 18 resource, or access to the re- 19 source, has been restricted; 20 ‘‘(jj) status of recovery from 21 previous fishery resource disas- 22 ters; 23 ‘‘(kk) lost resource tax reve- 24 nues assessed by local commu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Jan 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5548.IH H5548 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 5548 IH nities, such as a raw fish tax; 1 and 2 ‘‘(ll) other appropriate indi- 3 cators to an affected fishery, as 4 determined by the National Ma- 5 rine Fisheries Service. 6 ‘‘(ii) TIME FRAME.—The Secretary 7 shall complete the review described in 8 clause (i), if the fishing season, applicable 9 to the fishery— 10 ‘‘(I) has concluded or there is no 11 defined fishing season applicable to 12 the fishery, not later than 120 days 13 after the Secretary receives a com- 14 plete request for a fishery resource 15 disaster determination; 16 ‘‘(II) has not concluded, not later 17 than 120 days after the conclusion of 18 the fishing season; or 19 ‘‘(III) has not been opened, not 20 later than 120 days after the Sec- 21 retary receives a complete request for 22 a fishery resource disaster determina- 23 tion. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Jan 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5548.IH H5548 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 5548 IH ‘‘(C) FISHERY RESOURCE DISASTER DE- 1 TERMINATION.—The Secretary shall make the 2 determination of a fishery resource disaster 3 based on the criteria for determinations listed 4 in paragraph (5). 5 ‘‘(D) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 14 6 days after the conclusion of the review under 7 this paragraph, the Secretary shall notify the 8 requestor and the Governor of the affected 9 State or Tribal representative of the determina- 10 tion of the Secretary. 11 ‘‘(5) CRITERIA FOR DETERMINATIONS.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 13 make a determination about whether a fishery 14 resource disaster has occurred, based on the 15 revenue loss thresholds under subparagraph 16 (B), and, if a fishery resource disaster has oc- 17 curred, whether the fishery resource disaster 18 was due to— 19 ‘‘(i) a natural cause; 20 ‘‘(ii) an anthropogenic cause; 21 ‘‘(iii) a combination of a natural cause 22 and an anthropogenic cause; or 23 ‘‘(iv) an undetermined cause. 24 ‘‘(B) REVENUE LOSS THRESHOLDS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Jan 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5548.IH H5548 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 14 •HR 5548 IH ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 1 shall apply the following 12-month revenue 2 loss thresholds in determining whether a 3 fishery resource disaster has occurred: 4 ‘‘(I) Losses greater than 80 per- 5 cent shall result in a positive deter- 6 mination that a fishery resource dis- 7 aster has occurred. 8 ‘‘(II) Losses between 35 percent 9 and 80 percent shall be evaluated to 10 determine whether a fishery resource 11 disaster has occurred, based on the in- 12 formation provided or analyzed under 13 paragraph (4)(B). 14 ‘‘(III) Losses less than 35 per- 15 cent shall not be eligible for a deter- 16 mination that a fishery resource dis- 17 aster has occurred, except where the 18 Secretary determines there ar [Text truncated for display. 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