[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5487 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5487

To require the Secretary of Commerce to establish and carry out a grant 
 program to conserve, restore, and manage kelp forest ecosystems, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 14, 2023

 Mr. Huffman (for himself, Ms. DelBene, Ms. Barragan, Mr. Peters, Mr. 
    Kilmer, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Larsen of Washington, and Mr. Mullin) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Secretary of Commerce to establish and carry out a grant 
 program to conserve, restore, and manage kelp forest ecosystems, 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 ``Help Our Kelp Act''.

SEC. 2. GRANTS TO CONSERVE, RESTORE, AND MANAGE KELP FOREST ECOSYSTEMS.

    (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
purposes of this section and the grants authorized by this section are 
to support native wild kelp forest ecosystems and restore native wild 
kelp to enable long term recovery of naturally functioning kelp forest 
ecosystems that do not involve commercial or mechanized harvesting.
    (b) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this section, the Administrator shall establish and carry 
out a grant program under which the Administrator shall award grants to 
eligible entities described in subsection (c) to carry out projects 
described in subsection (d) relating to the conservation, restoration, 
or management of kelp forest ecosystems.
    (c) Eligible Entity.--To be eligible for a grant under this 
section, an eligible entity shall--
            (1) be--
                    (A) a member of the fishing industry;
                    (B) an institution of higher education;
                    (C) a nonprofit organization;
                    (D) an Indian Tribe;
                    (E) a State agency; or
                    (F) a local government;
            (2) consult or collaborate with any of the other entities 
        described in paragraph (1) throughout the development or 
        implementation of a project relating to the conservation, 
        restoration, or management of kelp forest ecosystems; and
            (3) submit to the Administrator an application describing 
        such project at such time, in such manner, and containing such 
        information as the Administrator may require, including 
        information regarding what criteria will be used to monitor and 
        evaluate the effectiveness of the project and the 
        qualifications of the applicant to conduct, monitor, and 
        evaluate the project.
    (d) Eligible Projects.--The Administrator shall award grants to 
eligible entities for projects that--
            (1) address greatest relative regional declines in kelp 
        forest ecosystems;
            (2) focus on elements such as--
                    (A) long term ecosystem resilience of kelp forest 
                ecosystems;
                    (B) long term socioeconomic resilience related to 
                kelp forest ecosystems;
                    (C) kelp forest seeding and connectivity;
                    (D) re-establishing or recovering natural trophic 
                relationships and structure to support resilience of 
                kelp forest ecosystems through actions such as predator 
                control through targeted urchin removal and recovery of 
                sunflower sea stars;
                    (E) monitoring and assessment of kelp forest 
                ecosystems;
                    (F) integration of Indigenous knowledge and 
                cultural practices into restoration and monitoring of 
                kelp forest ecosystems through consultation with Indian 
                Tribes or promotion of Federal or State co-management 
                with Indian Tribes; or
                    (G) other efforts to restore kelp forest ecosystems 
                and prevent large scale losses of kelp forests; or
            (3) are identified by Indian Tribes or Federal or State 
        restoration or management plans as focal areas for recovery of 
        kelp forests and associated species.
    (e) Matching Requirement.--
            (1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 
        amount of Federal funding received as a grant under this 
        section by an eligible entity may not exceed 85 percent of the 
        total cost of the project for which a grant is awarded. For the 
        purposes of this paragraph, the non-Federal share of project 
        costs may be provided by in-kind contributions and other 
        noncash support.
            (2) Waiver.--The Administrator may waive all or part of the 
        requirement in paragraph (1) if the Administrator determines 
        that--
                    (A) no reasonable means are available through which 
                an eligible entity applying for a grant under this 
                section can meet such requirement;
                    (B) the probable benefit of such project outweighs 
                the public interest in such requirement; and
                    (C) the project undertaken is established on lands 
                owned by or held in trust for an Indian Tribe.
    (f) Guidelines and Criteria.--The Administrator shall--
            (1) issue guidelines regarding the implementation of the 
        grant program established under subsection (b); and
            (2) establish criteria based on best practices, the best 
        available science, and community engagement to rank eligible 
        projects under subsection (d).
    (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            (1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated to 
        the Administrator to carry out this section $5,000,000 for each 
        of fiscal years 2024 through 2028.
            (2) Availability to indian tribes.--
                    (A) In general.--Of the amount authorized to be 
                appropriated by paragraph (1) for a fiscal year, 
                subject to appropriations, not less than $750,000 shall 
                be made available to award grants under this section to 
                eligible entities that are Indian Tribes.
                    (B) Contingency; outreach.--If no Indian Tribe is 
                awarded a grant under this section in a fiscal year--
                            (i) for that fiscal year, the amount 
                        described in subparagraph (A) shall be made 
                        available to award grants under this section to 
                        other eligible entities; and
                            (ii) the Administrator shall conduct 
                        outreach to inform Indian Tribes and 
                        organizations that work with Indian Tribes of 
                        the grant program established under subsection 
                        (b).
    (h) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Administrator of the 
        National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
            (2) Fishing industry.--The term ``fishing industry'' 
        means--
                    (A) processors;
                    (B) commercial fishermen; and
                    (C) recreational fishermen.
            (3) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian Tribe'' has the 
        meaning given such term in section 4 of the Indian Self-
        Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304).
            (4) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        ``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given such 
        term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 1001(a)).
            (5) Kelp forest ecosystem.--The term ``kelp forest 
        ecosystem'' means a naturally occurring, biotic system 
        dominated by canopy-forming, stipitate, or prostrate benthic 
        macroalgae and associated taxa.
            (6) Nonprofit organization.--The term ``nonprofit 
        organization'' means an organization--
                    (A) described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal 
                Revenue Code of 1986; and
                    (B) exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such 
                Code.
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