Short title

This Act may be cited as the

Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries Boundary Modification and Protection Act

Findings

The Congress finds the following: (1)The Gulf of the Farallones extends approximately 100 miles along the coast of Marin and Sonoma counties of northern California. It includes approximately one-half of California’s nesting seabirds, rich benthic marine life on hard-rock substrate, prolific fisheries, and substantial concentrations of resident and seasonally migratory marine mammals. (2)Cordell Bank is adjacent to the Gulf of the Farallones and is a submerged island with spectacular, unique, and nationally significant marine environments. (3)These marine environments have national and international significance, exceed the biological productivity of tropical rain forests, and support high levels of biological diversity. (4)These biological communities are easily susceptible to damage from human activities, and must be properly conserved for themselves and to protect the economic viability of their contribution to national and regional economies. (5)The Gulf of Farallones and Cordell Bank include some of the Nation’s richest fishing grounds, supporting important commercial and recreational fisheries. These fisheries are regulated by State and Federal fishery agencies and are supported and fostered through protection of the waters and habitats of Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary. (6)The report of the Commission on Ocean Policy established by Public Law 106–256 calls for comprehensive protection for the most productive ocean environments and recommends that they be managed as ecosystems. (7)New scientific discoveries by the National Marine Sanctuary Program support comprehensive protection for these marine environments by broadening the geographic scope of the existing Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary. (8)Cordell Bank is at the nexus of an ocean upwelling system, which produces the highest biomass concentrations on the west coast of the United States.

Policy and purpose

(a)

Policy

It is the policy of the United States in this Act to protect and preserve living and other resources of the Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank marine environments. (b)

Purpose

The purposes of this Act are the following: (1)To extend the boundaries of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary to the areas described in section 5. (2)To strengthen the protections that apply in the Sanctuaries. (3)To educate and interpret for the public the ecological value and national importance of those marine environments. (4)To manage human uses of the Sanctuaries under this Act and the National Marine Sanctuaries Act (16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.). (c)

Effect on Fishing Activities

Nothing in this Act is intended to alter any existing authorities regarding the conduct and location of fishing activities in the Sanctuaries.

Definitions

In this Act: (1)

Mariculture

The term mariculture means the propagation or rearing of aquatic organisms in controlled or selected aquatic environments for any commercial, recreational, or public purpose. (2)

Cordell bank NMS

The term Cordell Bank NMS means the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary. (3)

Farallones NMS

The term Farallones NMS means the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. (4)

Sanctuaries

The term Sanctuaries means the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, as expanded by section 5. (5)

Secretary

The term Secretary means the Secretary of Commerce.

National marine sanctuary boundary adjustments

(a)

Gulf of the farallones

(1)

Boundary adjustment

The areas described in paragraph (2) are added to the existing Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary described in part 922.80 of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations. (2)

Areas included

(A)

In general

The areas referred to in paragraph (1) consist of the following: (i)All submerged lands and waters, including living marine and other resources within and on those lands and waters, from the mean high water line to the boundary described in subparagraph (B). (ii)The submerged lands and waters, including living marine and other resources within those waters, within the approximately two-square-nautical-mile portion of the Cordell Bank NMS (as in effect immediately before the enactment of this Act) that is located south of the area that is added to Cordell Bank NMS by subsection (b)(2), which are transferred to the Farallones NMS from the Cordell Bank NMS. (B)

Boundary described

The boundary referred to in subparagraph (A)(i) commences from the mean high water line (MHWL) at 39.00000 degrees north in a westward direction approximately 29 nautical miles (nm) to 39.00000 north, 124.33333 west. The boundary then extends in a southeasterly direction to 38.30000 degrees north, 124.00000 degrees west, approximately 44 nm westward of Bodega Head. The boundary then extends eastward to the most northeastern corner of the expanded Cordell Bank NMS at 38.30000 north, 123.20000 degrees west, approximately 6 nm miles westward of Bodega Head. The boundary then extends in a southeasterly direction to 38.26500 degrees north, 123.18166 degrees west at the northwestern most point of the current Gulf of the Farallones Boundary. The boundary then follows the current northern Gulf of the Farallones NMS boundary in a northeasterly direction to the MHWL near Bodega Head. The boundary then follows the MHWL in a northeasterly direction to the commencement point at the intersection of the MHWL and 39.00000 north. Coordinates listed in this subparagraph are based on the North American Datum 1983 and the geographic projection. (b)

Cordell bank

(1)

Boundary adjustment

The area described in paragraph (2) is added to the existing Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary described in part 922.80 of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations. (2)

Area included

(A)

In general

The area referred to in paragraph (1) consists of all submerged lands and waters, including living marine and other resources within those waters, within the boundary described in subparagraph (B). (B)

Boundary

The boundary referred to in subparagraph (A) commences at the most northeastern point of the current Cordell Bank NMS boundary at 38.26500 degrees north, 123.18166 degrees west and extends northwestward to 38.30000 degrees north, 123.20000 degrees west, approximately 6 nautical miles (nm) west of Bodega Head. The boundary then extends westward to 38.30000 degrees north, 124.00000 degrees west, approximately 44 nautical miles west of Bodega Head. The boundary then turns southeastward and continues approximately 34 nautical miles to 37.76687 degrees north, 123.75142 degrees west, and then approximately 15 nm eastward to 37.76687 north, 123.42694 west at an intersection with the current Cordell Bank NMS boundary. The boundary then follows the current Cordell Bank NMS, which is coterminous with the current Gulf of the Farallones boundary, in a northeasterly and the northwesterly direction to its commencement point at 38.26500 degrees north, 123.18166 degrees west. Coordinates listed in this subparagraph are based on NAD83 Datum and the geographic projection. (c)

Inclusion in the system

The areas included in the Sanctuaries under subsections (a) and (b) shall be managed as part of the National Marine Sanctuary System, established by section 301(c) of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act (16 U.S.C. 1431(c)), in accordance with that Act. (d)

Updated NOAA charts

The Secretary shall— (1)produce updated National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration nautical charts for the areas in which the Sanctuaries are located; and (2)include on those nautical charts the boundaries of the Sanctuaries, as revised by this Act. (e)

Boundary adjustments

In producing revised nautical charts as directed by subsection (d) and in describing the boundaries in regulations issued by the Secretary, the Secretary may make technical modifications to the boundaries described in this section for clarity and ease of identification, as appropriate.

Prohibition of oil and gas leasing and permitting

No lease or permit may be issued that authorizes exploration, development, production, or transporting by pipeline of minerals or hydrocarbons within the Sanctuaries.

Management plans and regulations

(a)

Interim plan

The Secretary shall complete an interim supplemental management plan for the Sanctuaries by not later than 24 months after the date of enactment of this Act, that focuses on management in the areas added to the Sanctuaries under this Act. The Secretary shall ensure that the supplemental plan does not weaken existing resource protections. (b)

Revised plans

The Secretary shall issue a revised comprehensive management plan for the Sanctuaries during the first management review initiated after the date of the enactment of this Act under section 304(e) of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act (16 U.S.C. 1434(e)) for the Sanctuaries, and issue such final regulations as may be necessary. (c)

Application of existing regulations

The regulations for the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary (15 C.F.R. 922, subpart H) and the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary (15 C.F.R. 922, subpart K), including any changes made as a result of a joint management plan review for the Sanctuaries conducted pursuant to section 304(e) of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act (16 U.S.C. 1434(e)), shall apply to the areas added to each Sanctuary, respectively, under section 5 until the Secretary modifies such regulations in accordance with subsection (d) of this section. (d)

Revised regulations

(1)

In general

The Secretary shall carry out an assessment of necessary revisions to the regulations for the Sanctuaries in a manner that ensures the protection of the resources of the Sanctuaries consistent with the purposes and policies of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act and the goals and objectives for the new areas added to each sanctuary under section 5 of this Act. The assessment and any corresponding regulatory changes shall be complete within 24 months of the date of enactment of this Act. (2)

Regulation of specific activities

In revising the regulations for the Sanctuaries pursuant to this subsection, the Secretary shall consider appropriate regulations for the following activities: (A)The deposit or release of introduced species. (B)The alteration of stream and river drainage into the Sanctuaries. (C)Mariculture operations in the Sanctuaries. (3)

Considerations

In revising the regulations for the Sanctuaries pursuant to this subsection, the Secretary shall consider exempting from further regulation under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act and this Act discharges that are permitted under a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit in effect on the date of enactment of this Act, or under a new or renewed National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit that does not increase pollution in the Sanctuaries and that originates— (A)in the Russian River Watershed outside the boundaries of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary; or (B)from the Bodega Marine Laboratory. (e)

Contents of plans

Revisions to each comprehensive management plan under this section shall, in addition to matters required under section 304(a)(2) of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1434(A)(2))— (1)facilitate all appropriate public and private uses of the national marine sanctuary to which each respective plan applies consistent with the primary objective of sanctuary resource protection; (2)establish temporal and geographical zoning if necessary to ensure protection of sanctuary resources; (3)identify priority needs for research that will— (A)improve management of the Sanctuaries; (B)diminish threats to the health of the ecosystems in the Sanctuaries; or (C)fulfill both of subparagraphs (A) and (B); (4)establish a long-term ecological monitoring program and database, including the development and implementation of a resource information system to disseminate information on the Sanctuaries’ ecosystem, history, culture, and management; (5)identify alternative sources of funding needed to fully implement the plan’s provisions and supplement appropriations under section 313 of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1444); (6)ensure coordination and cooperation between sanctuary superintendents and other Federal, State, and local authorities with jurisdiction over areas within or adjacent to the Sanctuaries to deal with issues affecting the Sanctuaries, including surface water run-off, stream and river drainages, and navigation; (7)in the case of revisions to the plan for the Farallones NMS, promote cooperation with farmers and ranchers operating in the watersheds adjacent to the Farallones NMS and establish voluntary best management practices programs; (8)promote cooperative and educational programs with fishing vessel operators and crews operating in the waters of the Sanctuaries, and, whenever possible, include individuals who engage in fishing and their vessels in cooperative research, assessment, and monitoring programs and educational programs to promote sustainable fisheries, conservation of resources, and navigational safety; and (9)promote education and public awareness, among users of the Sanctuaries, about the need for marine resource conservation and safe navigation and marine transportation. (f)

Public participation

The Secretary shall provide for participation by the general public in the revision of the comprehensive management plans and relevant regulations under this section.

Authorization of appropriations

There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary— (1)$3,000,000 to carry out this Act for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2013, other than for construction and acquisition projects; and (2)$3,500,000 for fiscal year 2009 and such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2013 for construction and acquisition projects related to the Sanctuaries.