[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 446 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 446

  To authorize the Director of the United States Geological Survey to 
 conduct monitoring, assessment, science, and research, in support of 
         the binational fisheries within the Great Lakes Basin.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 12, 2019

Mr. Peters (for himself, Mr. Portman, Ms. Stabenow, and Ms. Duckworth) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
               Committee on Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To authorize the Director of the United States Geological Survey to 
 conduct monitoring, assessment, science, and research, in support of 
         the binational fisheries within the Great Lakes Basin.

    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 ``Great Lakes Fishery Research 
Authorization Act''.

SEC. 2. GREAT LAKES MONITORING, ASSESSMENT, SCIENCE, AND RESEARCH.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
        the United States Geological Survey.
            (2) Great lakes basin.--The term ``Great Lakes Basin'' 
        means the air, land, water, and living organisms in the United 
        States within the drainage basin of the Saint Lawrence River at 
        and upstream from the point at which such river and the Great 
        Lakes become the international boundary between Canada and the 
        United States.
    (b) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Great Lakes support a diverse ecosystem, on which 
        the vibrant and economically valuable Great Lakes fisheries 
        depend.
            (2) To continue successful fisheries management and 
        coordination, as has occurred since signing of the Convention 
        on Great Lakes Fisheries between the United States and Canada 
        on September 10, 1954, management of the ecosystem and its 
        fisheries require sound, reliable science, and the use of 
        modern scientific technologies.
            (3) Fisheries research is necessary to support multi-
        jurisdictional fishery management decisions and actions 
        regarding recreational and sport fishing, commercial fisheries, 
        tribal harvest, allocation decisions, and fish stocking 
        activities.
            (4) President Richard Nixon submitted, and the Congress 
        approved, Reorganization Plan No. 4 (84 Stat. 2090), conferring 
        science activities and management of marine fisheries to the 
        National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
            (5) Reorganization Plan No. 4 expressly excluded fishery 
        research activities within the Great Lakes from the transfer, 
        retaining management and scientific research duties within the 
        already established jurisdictions under the 1954 Convention on 
        Great Lakes Fisheries, including those of the Great Lakes 
        Fishery Commission and the Department of the Interior.
    (c) Monitoring, Assessment, Science, and Research.--
            (1) In general.--The Director may conduct monitoring, 
        assessment, science, and research, in support of the binational 
        fisheries within the Great Lakes Basin.
            (2) Specific authorities.--The Director shall, under 
        paragraph (1)--
                    (A) execute a comprehensive, multi-lake, freshwater 
                fisheries science program;
                    (B) coordinate with and work cooperatively with 
                regional, State, Tribal, and local governments; and
                    (C) consult with other interested entities, 
                including academia and relevant Canadian agencies.
            (3) Included research.--To properly serve the needs of 
        fisheries managers, monitoring, assessment, science, and 
        research under this section may include--
                    (A) deepwater ecosystem sciences;
                    (B) biological and food-web components;
                    (C) fish movement and behavior investigations;
                    (D) fish population structures;
                    (E) fish habitat investigations;
                    (F) invasive species science;
                    (G) use of existing, new, and experimental 
                biological assessment tools, equipment, vessels, other 
                scientific instrumentation and laboratory capabilities 
                necessary to support fishery management decisions; and
                    (H) studies to assess impacts on Great Lakes 
                Fishery resources.
            (4) Savings clause.--Nothing in this section is intended or 
        shall be construed to impede, supersede, or alter the authority 
        of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, States, and Indian 
        tribes under the Convention on Great Lakes Fisheries between 
        the United States of America and Canada on September 10, 1954, 
        and the Great Lakes Fishery Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 931 et 
        seq.).
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--For each of fiscal years 2020 
through 2024, there is authorized to be appropriated $17,500,000 to 
carry out this section.
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