Don Young Veterans Advancing Conservation Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1918 To require the Secretary of Commerce to establish a grant program to facilitate the training and employment of veterans for certain conserva- tion activities, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 8, 2023 Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. SULLIVAN, and Ms. BALDWIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To require the Secretary of Commerce to establish a grant program to facilitate the training and employment of veterans for certain conservation activities, 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 ‘‘Don Young Veterans 4 Advancing Conservation Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Jul 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1918.IS S1918 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1918 IS (1) Veterans are among the greatest assets of 1 the United States. 2 (2) Veterans are highly skilled and trained indi- 3 viduals whose mission is to protect their commu- 4 nities. 5 (3) Studies show that community-focused 6 growth and engagement assists veterans with mental 7 health and combat-related trauma. 8 (4) Scuba diving has been found to help im- 9 prove mental, physical, and emotional health and 10 has been specifically linked to improvement in the 11 symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. 12 SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE VETERANS ADVANC- 13 ING CONSERVATION GRANT PROGRAM. 14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 120 days after 15 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 16 establish a program, to be known as the ‘‘Veterans Ad- 17 vancing Conservation Grant Program’’, under which the 18 Secretary may award grants, on a competitive basis, to 19 nonprofit organizations that train or employ veterans to 20 conduct underwater marine and coastal conservation ac- 21 tivities. 22 (b) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a grant 23 under this section, an organization shall submit to the 24 Secretary an application in such form, at such time, and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Jul 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1918.IS S1918 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1918 IS containing such information as the Secretary determines 1 appropriate. 2 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—An organization awarded a 3 grant under this section may use grant funds to train or 4 employ veterans to conduct activities described in sub- 5 section (a), which may include— 6 (1) response to coral disease; 7 (2) restoration and rehabilitation of coral; 8 (3) eradication of invasive species; 9 (4) removal of marine debris; 10 (5) rescue of marine mammals and reptiles; 11 (6) scientific research and development; 12 (7) tagging of sharks and other marine animals; 13 (8) mapping of shipwrecks; 14 (9) underwater survey work; 15 (10) hurrican recovery; and 16 (11) coastal restoration and resilience activities. 17 (d) COORDINATION.—In carrying out this section, the 18 Secretary shall coordinate with the Secretary of the Inte- 19 rior. 20 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 21 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section— 22 (1) $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; 23 (2) $1,200,000 for fiscal year 2025; 24 (3) $1,400,000 for fiscal year 2026; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Jul 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1918.IS S1918 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1918 IS (4) $1,600,000 for fiscal year 2027; and 1 (5) $1,800,000 for fiscal year 2028. 2 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 3 (1) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 4 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization de- 5 scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 6 Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation under 7 501(a) of that Code. 8 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 9 the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Ad- 10 ministrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos- 11 pheric Administration. 12 (3) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 13 meaning given that term in section 101 of title 38, 14 United States Code. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Jul 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1918.IS S1918 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB