(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the House on June 23, 2009. The summary of that version is repeated here.)
Southern Sea Otter Recovery and Research Act - (Sec. 2) Requires the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS), to carry out a Recovery and Research Program for southern sea otter populations along the coast of California that includes: (1) monitoring, analysis, and assessment of population demographics, health, mortality, and life history parameters; and (2) implementation of measures to reduce or eliminate potential factors limiting populations that are related to marine ecosystem health or human activities.
Requires the Secretary to: (1) appoint persons to a southern sea otter recovery implementation team as authorized under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 within a year; (2) establish a peer-reviewed, merit-based process to award competitive grants for research regarding such otters and for projects assisting the recovery of otter populations; and (3) establish a peer review panel to provide scientific advice and guidance to prioritize proposals for grants.
Authorizes research grant topics to include: (1) causes of sea otter mortality; (2) southern sea otter demographics and natural history; (3) effects and sources of pollutants, nutrients, and toxicants on such otters and sequestration of contaminants; (4) effects and sources of infectious diseases and parasites affecting such otters; (5) limitations on the availability of food resources for such otters and the impacts of food limitation on southern sea otter carrying capacity; (6) interactions between southern sea otters and coastal fisheries and other human activities in the marine environment; (7) assessment of the keystone ecological role of sea otters in southern and central California's coastal marine ecosystems; and (8) assessment of the adequacy of emergency response and contingency plans.
Authorizes funded recovery projects to include projects to: (1) protect and recover southern sea otters; (2) reduce, mitigate, or eliminate potential factors limiting southern sea otter populations that are related to human activities; and (3) implement emergency response and contingency plans.
Requires the Secretary, within 12 months, to report to Congress on: (1) the status of southern sea otter populations; (2) implementation of the research and grant programs; and (3) endangered species consultations regarding southern sea otters.
Requires the Secretary, within 24 months and every five years thereafter, to report to Congress and the public on: (1) an evaluation of southern sea otter health, causes of southern sea otter mortality, and the interactions of southern sea otters with California's coastal marine ecosystems; (2) an evaluation of actions taken to improve otter health, reduce mortality, and improve southern sea otter habitat; (3) recommendation for actions to improve otter health, reduce the occurrence of human-related mortality, and improve the health of such coastal marine ecosystems; and (4) recommendations for funding to implement this Act.
(Sec. 4) Authorizes appropriations for each of FY2010-FY2015.
(Sec. 5) Terminates this Act on the date the Secretary publishes a determination that the southern sea otter should be removed from the endangered species and threatened species lists.
[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[H.R. 556 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 556
To establish a program of research, recovery, and other activities to
provide for the recovery of the southern sea otter.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 15, 2009
Mr. Farr (for himself, Mrs. Capps, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. Kennedy, Ms. Lee of
California, Mr. Honda, and Ms. Eshoo) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a program of research, recovery, and other activities to
provide for the recovery of the southern sea otter.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Southern Sea Otter Recovery and
Research Act''.
SEC. 2. SOUTHERN SEA OTTER RECOVERY AND RESEARCH PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior, acting through the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service, shall carry out a recovery and
research program for southern sea otter populations along the coast of
California, informed by the prioritized research recommendations of the
Final Revised Recovery Plan for the southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris
nereis) published by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and
dated February 24, 2003, the Research Plan for California Sea Otter
Recovery issued by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Southern
Sea Otter Recovery Implementation Team and dated March 2, 2007, and any
other recovery or research plan adopted by the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service after the date of enactment of this Act in accordance
with otherwise applicable law. The Recovery and Research Program shall
include the following:
(1) Monitoring, analysis, and assessment of southern sea
otter population demographics, health, causes of mortality, and
life history parameters, including range-wide population
surveys.
(2) Development and implementation of measures to reduce or
eliminate potential factors limiting southern sea otter
populations that are related to marine ecosystem health or
human activities.
(b) Southern Sea Otter Research and Recovery Grants.--
(1) Grant authority.--The Secretary shall establish a peer-
reviewed, merit-based process to award competitive grants for
research regarding southern sea otters and for projects
assisting the recovery of southern sea otter populations.
(2) Research grant subjects.--Research funded with grants
under this subsection shall be in accordance with the research
goals recommended by the Committee under section 3, and may
include the following topics:
(A) Causes of sea otter mortality.
(B) Southern sea otter demographics and natural
history.
(C) Effects and sources of pollutants, nutrients,
and toxicants on southern sea otters and sequestration
of contaminants.
(D) Effects and sources of infectious diseases and
parasites affecting southern sea otters.
(E) Limitations on the availability of food
resources for southern sea otters and the impacts of
food limitation on southern sea otter carrying
capacity.
(F) Interactions between southern sea otters and
coastal fisheries and other human activities in the
marine environment.
(G) Assessment of the keystone ecological role of
sea otters in southern and central California's coastal
marine ecosystems, including both the direct and
indirect effects of sea otter predation, especially as
these effects influence human welfare, resource
utilization, and ecosystem services.
(H) Assessment of the adequacy of emergency
response and contingency plans.
(3) Recovery project subjects.--Recovery projects funded
with grants under this subsection shall be conducted in
accordance with recovery goals recommended by the Southern Sea
Otter Scientific Advisory Committee established under section 3
and approved by the Secretary, and may include projects to--
(A) protect and recover southern sea otters;
(B) reduce, mitigate, or eliminate potential
factors limiting southern sea otter populations that
are related to human activities, including projects
to--
(i) reduce, mitigate, or eliminate factors
contributing to mortality, adversely affecting
health, or restricting distribution and
abundance; and
(ii) reduce, mitigate, or eliminate factors
that harm or reduce the quality of southern sea
otter habitat or the health of coastal marine
ecosystems; and
(C) implement emergency response and contingency
plans.
(4) Recommendation of grants by southern sea otter
scientific advisory committee.--The Secretary--
(A) shall submit each grant proposal submitted
under this subsection to the Southern Sea Otter
Scientific Advisory Committee established under section
3; and
(B) may not make a grant under this section unless
the grant proposal has been reviewed by the Committee.
(c) Report.--The Secretary shall--
(1) within 12 months after the date of enactment of this
Act, report to Congress on--
(A) the status of southern sea otter populations;
(B) implementation of the Recovery and Research
Program and the grant program; and
(C) any relevant formal consultations conducted
under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973
(16 U.S.C. 1536) with respect to the southern sea
otter; and
(2) within 24 months after the date of enactment of this
Act and every 5 years thereafter, and in consultation with the
Southern Sea Otter Scientific Advisory Committee established
under section 3, report to Congress and the public on--
(A) an evaluation of southern sea otter health,
causes of southern sea otter mortality, and the
interactions of southern sea otters with California's
coastal marine ecosystems;
(B) an evaluation of actions taken to improve
southern sea otter health, reduce southern sea otter
mortality, and improve southern sea otter habitat; and
(C) recommendation for actions, pursuant to current
law, to improve southern sea otter health, reduce the
occurrence of human-related mortality, and improve the
health of such coastal marine ecosystems.
SEC. 3. SOUTHERN SEA OTTER SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
(a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish and appoint the
members of a Southern Sea Otter Scientific Advisory Committee in
accordance with this section. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5
App. U.S.C.) shall not apply to the Committee.
(b) Functions.--The Committee shall advise the Secretary on--
(1) research goals and priorities for the Recovery and
Research Program;
(2) overall recovery actions necessary to implement the
Recovery and Research Program;
(3) revisions to the Final Revised Recovery Plan referred
to in section 2(a) as new information is obtained or unexpected
conservation issues requiring additional research arise;
(4) scientific merit and quality of southern sea otter
research proposals submitted for grants under section 2(b) in
response to a request by the Secretary for proposals, based on
the research and recovery goals and priorities recommended by
the Committee; and
(5) proposals that merit funding with such grants.
(c) Membership.--The Secretary shall appoint as members of the
Committee--
(1) the Executive Director of the Marine Mammal Commission
(or his or her designee); and
(2) in consultation with the Marine Mammal Commission, no
more than 9 individuals with a doctorate, graduate degrees, or
knowledge and experience in marine science; sea otter science;
conservation and management; sea otter veterinary, pathology,
and husbandry practices; fishing practices; fishery science;
nearshore and intertidal ecology; or other related disciplines
or issue areas.
(d) Terms.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the
term of a member of the Committee shall be 3 years.
(2) Initial appointments.--Of the members first appointed
as members of the Committee--
(A) 3 shall be appointed to an initial term of 1
year; and
(B) 3 shall be appointed to an initial term of 2
years.
(e) Conflicts of Interest.--A member of the Committee who
participated in the development of a proposal may not participate in
the review and recommendation, by the Committee under this section, of
grants with respect to the proposal.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Committee.--The term ``Committee'' means the Southern
Sea Otter Scientific Advisory Committee established under
section 3.
(2) Recovery and research program.--The term ``Recovery and
Research Program'' means the recovery and research program
under section 2(a).
(3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior, acting through the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service.
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) In General.--There is authorized to be appropriated to the
Secretary to carry out this Act $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years
2010 through 2015 of which--
(1) no less than 30 percent shall be for research grants
under section 2(b)(2); and
(2) no less than 30 percent shall be for recovery projects
under section 2(b)(3).
(b) Administrative Expenses.--Of amounts available each fiscal year
to carry out this Act, the Secretary may expend not more than 7 percent
to pay the administrative expenses necessary to carry out this Act.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife.
Subcommittee Hearings Held.
Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife Discharged.
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote.
Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 111-175.
Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 111-175.
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 92.
Ms. Bordallo moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H8830-8831)
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line
DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 556.
At the conclusion of debate, the chair put the question on the motion to suspend the rules. Mr. Hastings (WA) objected to the vote on the grounds that a quorum was not present. Further proceedings on the motion were postponed. The point of no quorum was withdrawn.
Considered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H8933-8934)
Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 316 - 107 (Roll no. 651).(text: CR 7/28/2009 H8930)
Roll Call #651 (House)On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 316 - 107 (Roll no. 651). (text: CR 7/28/2009 H8930)
Roll Call #651 (House)Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.