[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing 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.
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