[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4409 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4409

To amend the National Marine Sanctuaries Act to establish the National 
Marine Sanctuary Foundation to accept and use donations for the benefit 
    of the National Marine Sanctuary System, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 9, 2000

  Mr. Saxton introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the National Marine Sanctuaries Act to establish the National 
Marine Sanctuary Foundation to accept and use donations for the benefit 
    of the National Marine Sanctuary System, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY FOUNDATION.

    Title III of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act is amended by 
adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 317. NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY FOUNDATION.

    ``(a) Establishment.--There is hereby established a charitable and 
nonprofit corporation to be known as the `National Marine Sanctuary 
Foundation' (in this section referred to as the `Foundation').
    ``(b) Operation.--The Foundation shall be subject to the laws of 
the District of Columbia that govern charitable and nonprofit 
corporations.
    ``(c) Board.--
            ``(1) In general.--The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation 
        shall be under the direction of a Board comprised of--
                    ``(A) at least 6, but not more than 14, private 
                citizens of the United States appointed by the 
                Secretary; and
                    ``(B) the Secretary and the Under Secretary of 
                Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, who shall be ex 
                officio members.
            ``(2) Terms of appointed members.--(A) Except as provided 
        in subparagraphs (B) and (C), the members of the Board 
        appointed by the Secretary shall serve a term of 6 years.
            ``(B) Of the members initially appointed by the Secretary, 
        as specified by the Secretary at the time of appointment--
                    ``(i) 2 shall serve a term of 4 years; and
                    ``(ii) 2 shall serve a term of 2 years.
            ``(C) A member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior 
        to the expiration of the term for which the predecessor was 
        appointed shall be appointed only for the remainder of that 
        term.
            ``(3) Chair.--The Board shall choose one of its members to 
        be the Chair of the Board. The members of the Board appointed 
        by the Secretary shall not be considered to be employees of the 
        United States based on such membership.
            ``(4) Meetings.--A majority of the members of the Board 
        serving shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of 
        business. The Board shall meet at the call of the Chair. The 
        Chair shall call at least 1 meeting each year.
            ``(5) Compensation.--Members of the Board shall not receive 
        any pay or benefits from the United States for their services 
        as members, but may be reimbursed by the Foundation for actual 
        and necessary traveling and subsistence expenses incurred by 
        them in the performance of their duties as such members out of 
        National Marine Sanctuary Foundation funds available to the 
        Board for such purposes.
            ``(6) Official seal.--The Foundation shall adopt an 
        official seal, which shall be judicially noticed.
            ``(7) Immunity.--The members of the Board shall not be 
        personally liable for their official actions except for 
        malfeasance.
    ``(d) Gifts, Devises, and Bequests.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 
        Foundation may encourage, solicit, accept, receive, hold, 
        administer, and use any gift, devise, or bequest, either 
        absolutely or in trust, of real or personal property, and any 
        income therefrom or other interest therein--
                    ``(A) for the benefit of the National Marine 
                Sanctuary System or any individual sanctuary; and
                    ``(B) for activities that the Secretary determines 
                will implement the final management plan under section 
                304 for any sanctuary.
            ``(2) Limitation.--The Foundation may not accept any gift, 
        devise, or bequest that is conditioned on the making of any 
        expenditure other than from the resources of the Foundation, 
        except expenditures of matching funds under paragraph (5).
            ``(3) Encumbered or restricted donations.--The Foundation 
        may accept a gift, devise, or bequest even though it is 
        encumbered, restricted, or subject to beneficial interests of 
        private persons if any current or future interest therein is 
        for the benefit of the National Marine Sanctuary System and 
        activities that the Secretary determines will implement a final 
        management plan for a national marine sanctuary under section 
        304.
            ``(4) Use of certain gifts, devises, and bequests.--The 
        Foundation shall use any gift, devise, or bequest made for the 
        benefit of a particular national marine sanctuary only for the 
        benefit of that sanctuary.
            ``(5) Matching amounts.--Subject to the availability of 
        appropriations, the Secretary may transfer funds to the 
        Foundation to match gifts, devises, and bequests to the 
        Foundation. With respect to each gift, devise, or bequest, the 
        amount of Federal funds provided under this paragraph may not 
        exceed the amount or fair market value of the gift, devise, or 
        bequest.
            ``(6) Transfers to secretary.--The Foundation may transfer 
        to the Secretary any gift, devise, or bequest made to the 
        Foundation to support the National Marine Sanctuary System. 
        Amounts transferred to the Secretary may be used by the 
        Secretary, without further appropriation, in accordance with 
        the terms of the gift, devise, or bequest.
    ``(e) Property and Income Management and Transactions.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as otherwise required by the 
        instrument of transfer by which the Foundation acquires 
        property, the Foundation may sell, lease, invest, reinvest, 
        retain, manage, or otherwise dispose of any property held by 
        the Foundation, or income thereof, as the Board may from time 
        to time determine.
            ``(2) Services of federal agencies.--The Foundation may 
        utilize the services and facilities of any agency of the 
        Department of Commerce, and the head of such an agency may 
        provide such services and facilities to the Foundation on 
        request by the Board to the extent practicable without 
        reimbursement therefor.
    ``(f) Liability of United States.--The United States shall not be 
liable for any debts, defaults, acts, or omissions of the Foundation.
    ``(g) Annual Reports to Congress.--The Foundation shall, as soon as 
practicable after the end of each fiscal year, transmit to the Congress 
an annual report of its proceedings and activities, including a full 
and complete statement of its receipts, expenditures, and investments.
    ``(h) Authorization and Use of National Marine Sanctuary Symbols.--
The Secretary may authorize the Foundation to conduct the following 
activities under section 316:
            ``(1) Solicit persons to be designated as official sponsors 
        of the national marine sanctuary program or of any individual 
        national marine sanctuary.
            ``(2) Designate persons as official sponsors of the 
        national marine sanctuary program or of any individual 
        sanctuary.
            ``(3) Authorize the manufacture, reproduction, or other use 
        of any symbol published under section 316(a)(1), including the 
        sale of items bearing such a symbol, by official sponsors of 
        the national marine sanctuary program or of any individual 
        national marine sanctuary.
            ``(4) Create, market, and sell products to promote the 
        National Marine Sanctuary System or any individual national 
        marine sanctuary, and to enter into exclusive or nonexclusive 
        agreements authorizing entities to create, market or sell on 
        the Secretary's behalf.
            ``(5) Solicit monetary or in-kind contributions from 
        official sponsors for the manufacture, reproduction or use of 
        the symbols published under section 316(a)(1).''.

SEC. 2. USE OF NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY PROGRAM SYMBOLS.

    Section 316 (16 U.S.C. 1445b) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(4) by striking ``use of any symbol 
        published under paragraph (1)'' and inserting ``manufacture, 
        reproduction, or other use of any symbol published under 
        paragraph (1), including the sale of items bearing such a 
        symbol,'';
            (2) by amending subsection (e)(3) to read as follows:
            ``(3) to manufacture, reproduce, or otherwise use any 
        symbol adopted by the Secretary under subsection (a)(1), 
        including to sell any item bearing such a symbol, unless 
        authorized by the Secretary under subsection (a)(4) or 
        subsection (f); or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) Collaborations.--The Secretary may authorize the use of a 
symbol adopted by the Secretary under subsection (a)(1) by any person 
engaged in a collaborative effort with the Secretary to carry out the 
purposes and policies of this title and to benefit a national marine 
sanctuary or the System.''.
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