[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2086 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2086

To require the Secretary of Commerce to establish the Sea Turtle Rescue 
                       Assistance Grant Program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 21, 2023

 Mr. Markey (for himself, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Graham, Mr. 
 Wicker, and Mr. Carper) introduced the following bill; which was read 
     twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                             Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Secretary of Commerce to establish the Sea Turtle Rescue 
                       Assistance Grant Program.

    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 ``Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance Act of 
2023''.

SEC. 2. SEA TURTLE RESCUE ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish a grant program 
to be known as the ``Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance Grant Program'', to 
encourage and facilitate coordinated rapid response and rescue by 
awarding grants for the purposes described in subsection (c).
    (b) Designation of Stranding Regions.--The Secretary shall 
designate geographic regions of the United States as stranding regions 
for the purposes of carrying out this section.
    (c) Purposes.--The purposes of the Program are to provide for--
            (1) the recovery, short- or long-term care, transportation, 
        and treatment of stranded marine turtles;
            (2) the release of rescued and recovered marine turtles;
            (3) the collection of data and samples, including tagging 
        information, from stranded marine turtles for scientific 
        research or assessments, or both, that inform the understanding 
        of causes of mortality; and
            (4) facility operation costs that are directly related to 
        activities described in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3).
    (d) Equitable Distribution of Funds.--The Secretary shall ensure, 
to the extent practicable, that funds awarded under this section are 
distributed equitably among stranding regions, taking into account--
            (1) the number of strandings that occurred in each 
        stranding region in the preceding 5 years;
            (2) region-specific factors that increase risks of 
        strandings; and
            (3) the conservation priorities and recovery needs of 
        species of marine turtles that are threatened or endangered 
        under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 
        seq.).
    (e) Applications.--
            (1) In general.--An applicant for a grant under this 
        section that is an eligible applicant described in paragraph 
        (2) shall submit an application in such form and manner as the 
        Secretary shall prescribe.
            (2) Eligible applicants.--An entity is an eligible 
        applicant if the entity is--
                    (A) a nonprofit member of the Sea Turtle Stranding 
                and Salvage Network;
                    (B) an Indian Tribe;
                    (C) an institution of higher education; or
                    (D) another public or private organization with an 
                established record in the rescue, recovery, 
                rehabilitation, transportation, or release of stranded 
                marine turtles.
    (f) Grant Criteria.--
            (1) Development of criteria.--The Secretary shall, in 
        consultation with the Director of the United States Fish and 
        Wildlife Service, develop criteria for awarding grants under 
        this section and provide such criteria for formal public notice 
        and comment.
            (2) Stakeholder engagement.--As part of the process for 
        developing and finalizing criteria under paragraph (1), the 
        Secretary shall, in consultation with the Director of the 
        United States Fish and Wildlife Service, provide opportunities 
        for engagement with representatives from--
                    (A) stranding regions;
                    (B) Indian Tribes;
                    (C) institutions of higher education; and
                    (D) public or private organizations with an 
                established record in--
                            (i) the rescue, recovery, rehabilitation, 
                        transportation, or release of stranded marine 
                        turtles; or
                            (ii) scientific research, marine 
                        conservation, or forensic science, with respect 
                        to stranded marine turtles.
            (3) Required criteria.--In developing criteria under 
        paragraph (1), the Secretary shall prioritize awarding grants 
        to applicants with an established record of rescuing, 
        recovering, rehabilitating, transporting, or releasing stranded 
        marine turtles or conducting scientific research pertinent to 
        the causes of strandings.
    (g) Acceptance of Donations.--For the purposes of carrying out this 
section, the Secretary may solicit, accept, receive, hold, administer, 
and use gifts, devises, and bequests without any further approval or 
administrative action.
    (h) Liability Waiver.--
            (1) In general.--A person who is acting under the authority 
        of an entity awarded a grant under this section is deemed to be 
        an employee of the government for purposes of chapter 171 of 
        title 28, United States Code, with respect to actions of the 
        person that--
                    (A) are in support of rescue, recovery, 
                rehabilitation, transportation, or release efforts;
                    (B) are in accordance with the purposes of 
                subsection (c); and
                    (C) reflect sound professional judgment and are 
                consistent with the directions of any on-site 
                coordinator or incident commander.
            (2) Limitation.--Paragraph (1) does not apply to actions of 
        a person described in that paragraph that are grossly negligent 
        or that constitute willful misconduct.
    (i) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $5,000,000 for 
each of fiscal years 2024 through 2029 to remain available until 
expended.
    (j) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian Tribe'' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self-
        Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304).
            (2) Institution of higher education.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``institution of higher 
                education'' means an educational institution in any 
                State, district, commonwealth, territory, or possession 
                of the United States, which--
                            (i) admits as regular students only persons 
                        having a certificate of graduation from a 
                        school providing secondary education, or the 
                        recognized equivalent of such a certificate;
                            (ii) is legally authorized within such 
                        State, district, commonwealth, territory, or 
                        possession to provide a program of education 
                        beyond secondary education;
                            (iii) provides an educational program for 
                        which a bachelor's degree or any other higher 
                        degree is awarded;
                            (iv) is a public or other nonprofit 
                        institution; and
                            (v) is accredited by a nationally 
                        recognized accrediting agency or association.
                    (B) Inclusions.--The term ``institution of higher 
                education'' includes a research foundation maintained 
                by an institution of higher education described in 
                subparagraph (A).
            (3) Marine turtle.--The term ``marine turtle'' means any 
        member of the family Cheloniidae or Dermochelyidae.
            (4) Program.--The term ``Program'' means the Sea Turtle 
        Rescue Assistance Grant Program established under subsection 
        (a).
            (5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Commerce.
            (6) Stranding.--The term ``stranding'' means an event in 
        which--
                    (A) a marine turtle is dead and is--
                            (i) on a beach or shore of the United 
                        States;
                            (ii) in State, district, commonwealth, 
                        territory, or possession, or Federal, waters of 
                        the United States; or
                            (iii) outside of its natural habitat and is 
                        in the United States; or
                    (B) a marine turtle is alive and is--
                            (i) on a beach or shore of the United 
                        States and in need of medical attention or 
                        other necessary intervention to aid its 
                        likelihood of survival;
                            (ii) in State, district, commonwealth, 
                        territory, or possession, or Federal, waters of 
                        the United States and in need of medical 
                        attention or other necessary intervention to 
                        aid its likelihood of survival; or
                            (iii) outside of its natural habitat, is 
                        unable to return unassisted, and is in the 
                        United States.
            (7) Stranding region.--The term ``stranding region'' means 
        a geographic region designated by the Secretary under 
        subsection (b).
            (8) United states.--The term ``United States'' means any 
        land or water of the several States of the United States, the 
        District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, 
        American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, the 
        Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any other 
        commonwealth, territory, or possession over which the United 
        States has jurisdiction, including internal waters, State 
        waters, the territorial sea, and the exclusive economic zone of 
        the United States.
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