[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 844 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 844

To amend the provisions of law relating to the John H. Prescott Marine 
    Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 3, 2009

 Mr. Young of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                 to the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the provisions of law relating to the John H. Prescott Marine 
    Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program, 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance 
Amendments of 2009''.

SEC. 2. STRANDING AND ENTANGLEMENT RESPONSE.

    (a) Collection and Updating of Information.--Section 402(b)(1)(A) 
of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1421a(b)(1)(A)) 
is amended by inserting ``or entangled'' after ``stranded''.
    (b) Entanglement Response Agreements.--
            (1) In general.--Section 403 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1421b) 
        is amended--
                    (A) by amending the section heading to read as 
                follows:

``SEC. 403. STRANDING OR ENTANGLEMENT RESPONSE AGREEMENTS.'';

            and
                    (B) in subsection (a) by inserting ``or 
                entanglement'' before the period.
            (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of contents at the end 
        of the first section is amended by striking the item relating 
        to section 403 and inserting the following:

``Sec. 403. Stranding or entanglement response agreements.''.
    (c) Liability.--Section 406(a) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1421e(a)) is 
amended by inserting ``or entanglement'' after ``stranding''.
    (d) Entanglement Defined.--
            (1) In general.--Section 410 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1421h) 
        is amended--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (6) in 
                order as paragraphs (2) through (7); and
                    (B) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as so 
                redesignated) the following:
            ``(1) The term `entanglement' means an event in the wild in 
        which a living or dead marine mammal has gear, rope, line, net, 
        or other material wrapped around or attached to it and is--
                    ``(A) on a beach or shore of the United States; or
                    ``(B) in waters under the jurisdiction of the 
                United States.''.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--Section 408(a)(2)(B)(i) of such 
        Act (16 U.S.C. 1421f-1(a)(2)(B)(i)) is amended by striking 
        ``section 410(6)'' and inserting ``section 410(7)''.
    (e) John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant 
Program.--
            (1) Authorization of appropriations for grant program.--
        Section 408(h) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1421f-1(h)) is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``$5,000,000 for each of fiscal 
                years 2001 through 2003'' and inserting ``$7,000,000 
                for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2013''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (1) by striking ``$4,000,000'' and 
                inserting ``$6,000,000''.
            (2) Administrative costs and expenses.--Section 408 of such 
        Act (16 U.S.C. 1421f-1) is amended--
                    (A) by adding at the end of subsection (a)(1) the 
                following: ``All funds available to implement this 
                section shall be distributed to eligible stranding 
                network participants for the purposes set forth in this 
                paragraph and paragraph (2), except as provided in 
                subsection (f).''; and
                    (B) by amending subsection (f) to read as follows:
    ``(f) Administrative Costs and Expenses.--Of the amounts available 
each fiscal year to carry out this section, the Secretary may expend 
not more than 6 percent or $80,000, whichever is greater, to pay the 
administrative costs and administrative expenses to implement the grant 
program under subsection (a). Any such funds retained by the Secretary 
for a fiscal year for such costs and expenses that are not used for 
such costs and expenses before the end of the fiscal year shall be 
provided as grants under subsection (a).''.
            (3) Emergency assistance.--Section 408 of such Act (16 
        U.S.C. 1421f-1) is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a) by redesignating paragraph 
                (2) as paragraph (3), and by inserting after paragraph 
                (1) the following:
    ``(2) Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Secretary 
may also enter into cooperative agreements, contracts, or such other 
agreements or arrangements as the Secretary considers appropriate to 
address stranding events requiring emergency assistance.'';
                    (B) in subsection (d) by inserting ``(1)'' before 
                the text, and by adding at the end the following:
    ``(2) Funding for emergency stranding projects shall not be subject 
to the funding limit established in paragraph (1).'';
                    (C) in subsection (e)--
                            (i) in paragraph (1) by striking ``The non-
                        Federal'' and inserting ``Except as provided in 
                        paragraph (2), the non-Federal'';
                            (ii) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 
                        paragraph (3); and
                            (iii) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 
                        following:
            ``(2) Emergency assistance.--No non-Federal contribution 
        shall be required for funding for a response to an emergency 
        stranding event.''; and
                    (D) in subsection (g) by redesignating paragraph 
                (2) as paragraph (3) and inserting after paragraph (1) 
                the following:
            ``(2) Emergency assistance.--The term `emergency 
        assistance' means assistance provided for a stranding event 
        that--
                    ``(A) is not an unusual mortality event as defined 
                in section 409(6);
                    ``(B) leads to an immediate increase in required 
                costs for stranding response, recovery, or 
                rehabilitation in excess of regularly scheduled costs;
                    ``(C) may be cyclical or endemic; and
                    ``(D) may involve out-of-habitat animals.''.
            (4) Contributions.--Section 408 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 
        1421f-1) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(i) Contributions.--For purposes of carrying out this section, 
the Secretary may solicit, accept, receive, hold, administer, and use 
gifts, devises, and bequests.''.
    (f) Authorization of Appropriations for Marine Mammal Unusual 
Mortality Event Fund.--Section 409(3) of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1421g(3)) 
is amended by striking ``fiscal year 1993'' and inserting ``each of 
fiscal years 2010 through 2013''.
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