To express the sense of Congress that the Chesapeake Bay Office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall be the primary representative of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the Chesapeake Bay, to require the Secretary of the Commerce, acting through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to provide grants supporting research on the conservation, restoration, or management of oysters in estuarine ecosystems, and for other purposes.

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8627 To express the sense of Congress that the Chesapeake Bay Office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall be the primary representative of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the Chesapeake Bay, to require the Secretary of the Commerce, acting through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos- pheric Administration, to provide grants supporting research on the con- servation, restoration, or management of oysters in estuarine ecosystems, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 20, 2020 Mr. BROWN of Maryland introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To express the sense of Congress that the Chesapeake Bay Office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis- tration shall be the primary representative of the Na- tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the Chesapeake Bay, to require the Secretary of the Com- merce, acting through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to provide grants supporting research on the conservation, restora- tion, or management of oysters in estuarine ecosystems, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:08 Nov 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H8627.IH H8627 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8627 IH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 3 It is the sense of Congress that the Chesapeake Bay 4 Office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis- 5 tration shall be the primary representative of the National 6 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the Chesa- 7 peake Bay. 8 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR RECOVERING OYSTERS. 9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall es- 10 tablish a grant program (in this section referred to as the 11 ‘‘Program’’) under which the Administrator shall award 12 grants to eligible entities for the purpose of conducting 13 research on the conservation, restoration, or management 14 of oysters in estuarine ecosystems. 15 (b) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 16 under this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the 17 Administrator an application at such time, in such man- 18 ner, and containing such information as the Administrator 19 may require. 20 (c) ALLOCATION OF GRANT FUNDS.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 22 award a grant under the Program to eligible entities 23 that submit an application under subsection (b). 24 (2) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:08 Nov 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8627.IH H8627 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8627 IH (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 1 subparagraph (B), the total amount of Federal 2 funding received under the Program by an eligi- 3 ble entity may not exceed 85 percent of the 4 total cost of the research project for which the 5 funding was awarded. For the purposes of this 6 subparagraph, the non-Federal share of project 7 costs may be provided by in-kind contributions 8 and other noncash support. 9 (B) WAIVER.—The Administrator may 10 waive all or part of the requirement in subpara- 11 graph (A) if the Administrator determines that 12 no reasonable means are available through 13 which an eligible entity applying for a grant 14 under this section can meet such requirement 15 and the probable benefit of such research 16 project outweighs the public interest in such re- 17 quirement. 18 (3) EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION.—The Adminis- 19 trator shall ensure, to the maximum extent prac- 20 ticable, that grant funding under this section is ap- 21 portioned according to the historic baseline oyster 22 population of each estuary of the United States. 23 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi- 24 nitions apply: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:08 Nov 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8627.IH H8627 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8627 IH (1) ACADEMIC COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘aca- 1 demic community’’ means faculty, researchers, pro- 2 fessors, and representatives of State-accredited col- 3 leges and universities. 4 (2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 5 trator’’ means the Secretary of Commerce acting 6 through the Administrator of the National Oceanic 7 and Atmospheric Administration. 8 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 9 ty’’ means a member of the academic community, 10 the seafood industry, a relevant nonprofit organiza- 11 tion, or a relevant State agency, that is proposing or 12 conducting a research project on the conservation, 13 restoration, or management of oysters in an estua- 14 rine ecosystem developed through consultation with 15 a member of the academic community, a member of 16 the seafood industry, a relevant nonprofit organiza- 17 tion, or a relevant State agency. 18 (4) HISTORIC BASELINE.—The term ‘‘historic 19 baseline’’ means the estimated population of oysters 20 in an estuary in 1850. 21 (5) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 22 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization de- 23 scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:08 Nov 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8627.IH H8627 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8627 IH Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under section 1 501(a) of such Code. 2 (6) SEAFOOD INDUSTRY.—The term ‘‘seafood 3 industry’’ means shellfish growers, shellfish har- 4 vesters, commercial fishermen, and recreational fish- 5 ermen. 6 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 7 authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator 8 $6,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2021 through 2025 9 to carry out this section. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:08 Nov 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8627.IH H8627 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS