Alabama Underwater Forest National Marine Sanctuary and Protection Act 2021-12-07 Introduced in House Alabama Underwater Forest National Marine Sanctuary and Protection Act

This bill designates an ancient cypress forest in the Gulf of Mexico as the Alabama Underwater Forest National Marine Sanctuary under the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972.

In the sanctuary, the following activities are prohibited:

  • cutting, removing, or any kind of subsurface salvage of the cypress trees;
  • lowering certain devices (e.g., dredging) below the surface of the water;
  • detonating explosives below the surface of the water;
  • drilling or coring the seabed; and
  • lowering, laying, positioning, or raising any type of seabed cable or cable-laying device.

However, the prohibitions do not apply to

  • fishing, diving, mooring, or similar recreational or commercial activities;
  • necessary operations of public vessels;
  • construction or placement of artificial reef structures for the purpose of enhancing fishery resources, fishing opportunities, or recreational diving opportunities;
  • exploration, development, or production of oil or gas projects authorized before this bill's enactment; and
  • certain other activities authorized by the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) must develop a comprehensive management plan for the sanctuary. NOAA must also establish an advisory council for the sanctuary.

]]> text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress This file contains bill summaries for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.