[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2859 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2859

To amend the National Aquaculture Act of 1980 to prohibit the issuance 
  of permits for marine aquaculture facilities until requirements for 
                   such permits are enacted into law.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 29, 2004

 Ms. Murkowski introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the National Aquaculture Act of 1980 to prohibit the issuance 
  of permits for marine aquaculture facilities until requirements for 
                   such permits are enacted into law.

    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 ``Natural Stock Conservation Act of 
2004''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON PERMITS FOR AQUACULTURE.

    The National Aquaculture Act of 1980 (16 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.) is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating sections 10 and 11 as sections 11 and 
        12 respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after section 9 the following new section:

                 prohibition on permits for aquaculture

    ``Sec. 10. (a) In General.--The head of an agency with jurisdiction 
to regulate aquaculture may not issue a permit or license to permit an 
aquaculture facility located in the exclusive economic zone to operate 
until after the date on which a bill is enacted into law that--
            ``(1) sets out the type and specificity of the analyses 
        that the head of an agency with jurisdiction to regulate 
        aquaculture shall carry out prior to issuing any such permit or 
        license, including analyses related to--
                    ``(A) disease control;
                    ``(B) structural engineering;
                    ``(C) pollution;
                    ``(D) biological and genetic impacts;
                    ``(E) access and transportation;
                    ``(F) food safety; and
                    ``(G) social and economic impacts of such facility 
                on other marine activities, including commercial and 
                recreational fishing; and
            ``(2) requires that a decision to issue such a permit or 
        license be--
                    ``(A) made only after the head of the agency that 
                issues such license or permit consults with the 
                Governor of each State located within a 200-mile radius 
                of the aquaculture facility; and
                    ``(B) approved by the regional fishery management 
                council that is granted authority under title III of 
                the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
                Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1851 et seq.) over a fishery 
                in the region where the aquaculture facility will be 
                located.
    ``(b) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Agency with jurisdiction to regulate aquaculture.--
        The term `agency with jurisdiction to regulate aquaculture' 
        means each agency and department of the United States, as 
        follows:
                    ``(A) The Department of Agriculture.
                    ``(B) The Coast Guard.
                    ``(C) The Department of Commerce.
                    ``(D) The Environmental Protection Agency.
                    ``(E) The Department of the Interior.
                    ``(F) The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
            ``(2) Exclusive economic zone.--The term `exclusive 
        economic zone' has the meaning given that term in section 3 of 
        the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
        (16 U.S.C. 1802).
            ``(3) Regional fishery management council.--The term 
        `regional fishery management council' means a regional fishery 
        management council established under section 302(a) of the 
        Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 
        U.S.C. 1852(a)).''.
                                 <all>