[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 80 (Thursday, June 22, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5680-S5683]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. SARBANES (for himself, Mr. Warner, Mr. Robb, and Ms. 
        Mikulski):
  S. 2777. A bill to amend the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration Authorization Act of 1992 to revise and enhance 
authorities, and to authorize appropriations, for the Chesapeake Bay 
Office, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation.


       THE NOOA CHESAPEAKE BAY OFFICE REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2000

  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation, 
together with my colleagues, Senators Warner, Robb and Mikulski, to 
reauthorize and enhance the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Program office. This 
office, which was first established in 1992 pursuant to Public Law 102-
567, serves as the focal point for all of NOAA's activities within the 
Chesapeake Bay watershed and is a vital part of the effort to achieve 
the long-term goal of the Bay Program--restoring the Bay's living 
resources to healthy and balanced levels.
  As the lead Federal agency responsible for marine science, NOAA has 
played a critical role in the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay and its 
living marine resources. Since 1984, when the Agency first signed a 
Memorandum of Understanding with EPA to participate in the Chesapeake 
Bay Program as a full Federal partner, NOAA has supported scientific 
investigations and conducted other important activities ranging from 
fisheries stock assessments to monitoring of algal blooms and tracking 
changes in tidal wetlands. This research has been essential to 
improving our understanding of the impacts of climate, harvest and 
pollution on the decline of anadromous fish, oysters and other marines 
species in the Bay and helping to develop management strategies for 
restoring living resources.
  In order to better integrate NOAA's diverse efforts in the Bay region 
and provide a clear focal point within NOAA for Chesapeake Bay 
initiatives, in 1991 I introduced legislation to create a NOAA 
Chesapeake Bay Office or NCBO. The legislation authorized $2.5 million 
a year for the program and prescribed the office's principal functions 
as coordination, strategy development, technical and financial 
assistance and research dissemination. That legislation was 
incorporated in an overall

[[Page S5681]]

NOAA authorization bill and became Public Law 102-567. To implement the 
initiative, NOAA established an office in Annapolis under the 
administration of the National Marine Fisheries Service and has been 
funding peer-reviewed research directed at the Bay's living resource 
problems, providing scientific expertise and technical assistance to 
Bay Program partners, working to involve other relevant NOAA elements 
in the Bay restoration and participating in a wide variety of Bay 
Program projects and activities. During the past eight years, the NCBO 
has made great strides in realizing the objectives of the NOAA 
Authorization Act of 1992 and the overall Bay Program living resource 
goals. Working with other Bay Program Partners, important progress has 
been made in surveying and assessing fishery resources in the Bay, 
developing fishery management plans for selected species, undertaking 
habitat restoration projects, removing barriers to fish passage, and 
undertaking important remote sensing and data analysis activities.
  NOAA's responsibilities to the Bay restoration effort are far from 
complete, however. Some populations of major species of fish and 
shellfish in Chesapeake Bay such as shad and oysters, remain severely 
depressed, while others, such as blue crab are at risk. Bay-wide, some 
16 of 25 ecologically important species are in decline or severe 
decline, due to disease, habitat loss, over-fishing and other factors. 
The underwater grasses that once sustained these fisheries are only at 
a fraction of their historic levels. Research and monitoring must be 
continued and enhanced to track living resource trends, evaluate the 
responses of the estuary's biota to changes in their environment and 
establish clear management goals and progress indicators for restoring 
the productivity, diversity and abundance of these species. Chesapeake 
2000, the soon-to-be-signed new Bay Agreement, has identified several 
living resource goals which will require strong NOAA involvement to 
achieve.

  The legislation which I am introducing would provide NOAA with 
additional resources and authority necessary to ensure its continued 
full participation in the Bay's restoration and in meeting with goals 
and objectives of Chesapeake 2000. First, this measure would move 
administration and oversight of the NOAA Bay Office from the National 
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to the Office of the Undersecretary to 
help facilitate the pooling of all of NOAA's talents and take better 
advantage of NOAA's multiple capabilities. In addition to NMFS there 
are four other line offices within NOAA with programs and 
responsibilities critical to the Bay restoration effort--the Office of 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, National Ocean Service, National 
Weather Service, and National Environmental Satellite, Data and 
Information Service. Getting these different line offices to pool their 
resources and coordinate their activities is a serious challenge when 
they do not have a direct stake or clear line of responsibility to the 
Chesapeake Bay Program. Placing the NOAA Bay office within the Under 
Secretary's Office will help assure the coordination of activities 
across all line organizations of NOAA.
  Second, the legislation authorizes and directs NOAA to undertake a 
special five-year study, in cooperation with the scientific community 
of the Chesapeake Bay and appropriate other federal agencies, to 
develop the knowledge base required for understanding multi-species 
interactions and developing multi-species management plans. To date, 
fisheries management in Chesapeake Bay and other waters, has been 
largely based upon single-species plans that often ignore the critical 
relationships between water and habitat quality, ecosystem health and 
the food webs that support the Bay's living resources. There is a 
growing consensus between scientific leaders and managers alike that we 
must move beyond the one-species-at-a-time approach toward a wider, 
multi-species and ecosystem perspective. Chesapeake 2000 calls for 
developing multi-species management plans for targeted species by the 
year 2005 and implementing the plans by 2007. In order to achieve these 
goals, NOAA must take a leadership role and support a sustained 
research and monitoring program.
  Third, the legislation authorizes NOAA to carry out a small-scale 
fishery and habitat restoration grant and technical assistance program 
to help citizens organizations and local governments in the Chesapeake 
Bay watershed undertake habitat, fish and shellfish restoration 
projects. Experience has shown that, with the proper tools and 
training, citizens' groups and local communities can play a tremendous 
role in fisheries and habitat protection and restoration efforts. The 
Chesapeake Bay Foundation's oyster gardening program, for example, has 
proven to be highly successful in training citizens to grow oysters at 
their docks to help restore oysters' populations in the Bay. The new 
Bay Agreement has identified a critical need to not only to expand and 
promote community-based programs but to restore historic levels of 
oyster production, restore living resource habitat and submerged 
aquatic vegetation. The NOAA small-grants program, which this bill 
would authorize, would complement EPA's Chesapeake Bay small watershed 
program, and make ``seed'' grants available on a competitive, cost-
sharing basis to local governments and nonprofit organizations to 
implement hands-on projects such as improvement of fish passageways, 
creating artificial or natural reefs, restoring wetlands and sea-grass 
beds, and producing oysters for restoration projects.
  Fourth, the legislation would establish an internet-based Coastal 
Predictions Center for the Chesapeake Bay. Resource managers and 
scientists alike agree that we must make better use of the various 
modeling and monitoring systems and new technologies to improve 
prediction capabilities and response to physical and chemical events 
within the Bay and tributary rivers. There are substantial amounts of 
data collected and compiled by Federal, state and local government 
agencies and academic institutions including information on weather, 
tides, currents, circulation, climate, land use, coastal environmental 
quality, aquatic living resources and habitat conditions. 
Unfortunately, little of this data is coordinated and organized in a 
manner that is useful to the wide range of potential users. The Coastal 
Predictions Center would serve as a knowledge bank for assembling 
monitoring and modeling data from relevant government agencies and 
academic institutions, interpreting that data, and organizing it into 
products that are useful to resource managers, scientists and the 
public.
  Finally, the legislation would increase the authorization for the 
NOAA Bay Program from the current level of $2.5 million to $6 million 
per year to enhance current activities and to carry out these new 
initiatives. For more than a decade, funding for NOAA's Bay Program has 
remained static at an annual average of $1.9 million. If we are to 
achieve the ultimate, long-term goal of the Bay Program--protecting, 
restoring and maintaining the health of the living resources of the 
Bay--additional financial resources must be provided.
  Mr. President, this legislation will provide an important boost to 
our efforts to restore the Bay's living resources. It is strongly 
supported by the Chesapeake Bay Commission, the Chesapeake Bay 
Foundation and members of the scientific community. I ask unanimous 
consent that the full text of the measure and supporting letters be 
printed in the Record immediately following my statement.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                S. 2777

       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 ``NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office 
     Reauthorization Act of 2000''.

     SEC. 2. CHESAPEAKE BAY OFFICE.

       (a) Establishment.--Section 307(a) of the National Oceanic 
     and Atmospheric Administration Authorization Act of 1992 (15 
     U.S.C. 1511d(a)) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``Estuarine Resources''; 
     and
       (2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following:
       ``(2) Administration.--
       ``(A) In general.--Beginning not later than 60 days after 
     the date of enactment of this subparagraph, the Office shall 
     be administered by the Office of the Under Secretary of 
     Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere.

[[Page S5682]]

       ``(B) Director.--The Secretary of Commerce shall appoint as 
     Director of the Office an individual who has knowledge of and 
     experience in research or resource management efforts in the 
     Chesapeake Bay.''.
       (b) Functions.--Section 307(b) of the National Oceanic and 
     Atmospheric Administration Authorization Act of 1992 (15 
     U.S.C. 1511d(b)) is amended--
       (1) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following:
       ``(3) coordinate the programs and activities of the various 
     organizations within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
     Administration and the Chesapeake Bay Regional Sea Grant 
     Programs, including--
       ``(A) programs and activities in--
       ``(i) coastal and estuarine research, monitoring, and 
     assessment;
       ``(ii) fisheries research and stock assessments;
       ``(iii) data management;
       ``(iv) remote sensing;
       ``(v) coastal management;
       ``(vi) habitat conservation and restoration; and
       ``(vii) atmospheric deposition; and
       ``(B) programs and activities of the Cooperative Oxford 
     Laboratory of the National Ocean Service with respect to--
       ``(i) nonindigenous species;
       ``(ii) marine species pathology;
       ``(iii) human pathogens in marine environments; and
       ``(iv) ecosystems health;''; and
       (2) in paragraph (7), by striking the period at the end and 
     inserting the following: ``, which report shall include an 
     action plan consisting of--
       ``(A) a list of recommended research, monitoring, and data 
     collection activities necessary to continue implementation of 
     the strategy described in paragraph (2); and
       ``(B) proposals for--
       ``(i) continuing and new National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
     Administration activities in the Chesapeake Bay; and
       ``(ii) the integration of those activities with the 
     activities of the partners in the Chesapeake Bay Program to 
     meet the commitments of the Chesapeake 2000 agreement and 
     subsequent agreements.''.
       (c) Conforming Amendment.--Section 307 of the National 
     Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Authorization Act of 
     1992 (15 U.S.C. 1511d) is amended by striking the section 
     heading and inserting the following:

     ``SEC. 307. CHESAPEAKE BAY OFFICE.''.

     SEC. 3. MULTIPLE SPECIES MANAGEMENT STRATEGY; CHESAPEAKE BAY 
                   FISHERY AND HABITAT RESTORATION SMALL GRANTS 
                   PROGRAM; COASTAL PREDICTION CENTER.

       The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
     Authorization Act of 1992 is amended by inserting after 
     section 307 (15 U.S.C. 1511d) the following:

     ``SEC. 307A. MULTIPLE SPECIES MANAGEMENT STRATEGY.

       ``(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
     of enactment of this section, the Director of the Chesapeake 
     Bay Office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
     Administration shall commence a 5-year study, in cooperation 
     with the scientific community of the Chesapeake Bay and 
     appropriate Federal agencies--
       ``(1) to determine and expand the understanding of the role 
     and response of living resources in the Chesapeake Bay 
     ecosystem; and
       ``(2) to develop a multiple species management strategy for 
     the Chesapeake Bay.
       ``(b) Required Elements of Study.--In order to improve the 
     understanding necessary for the development of the strategy 
     under subsection (a), the study shall--
       ``(1) determine the current status and trends of fish and 
     shellfish that live in the Chesapeake Bay estuaries and are 
     selected for study;
       ``(2) evaluate and assess interactions among the fish and 
     shellfish described in paragraph (1) and other living 
     resources, with particular attention to the impact of changes 
     within and among trophic levels; and
       ``(3) recommend management actions to optimize the return 
     of a healthy and balanced ecosystem for the Chesapeake Bay.

     ``SEC. 307B. CHESAPEAKE BAY FISHERY AND HABITAT RESTORATION 
                   SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM.

       ``(a) In General.--The Director of the Chesapeake Bay 
     Office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
     (referred to in this section as the `Director'), in 
     cooperation with the Chesapeake Executive Council (as defined 
     in section 307(e)), shall carry out a community-based fishery 
     and habitat restoration small grants and technical assistance 
     program in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
       ``(b) Projects.--
       ``(1) Support.--The Director shall make grants under the 
     program under subsection (a) to pay the Federal share of the 
     cost of projects that are carried out by eligible entities 
     described in subsection (c) for the restoration of fisheries 
     and habitats in the Chesapeake Bay.
       ``(2) Federal share.--The Federal share under paragraph (1) 
     shall not exceed 75 percent.
       ``(3) Types of projects.--Projects for which grants may be 
     made under the program include--
       ``(A) the improvement of fish passageways;
       ``(B) the creation of natural or artificial reefs or 
     substrata for habitats;
       ``(C) the restoration of wetland or sea grass;
       ``(D) the production of oysters for restoration projects; 
     and
       ``(E) the restoration of contaminated habitats in the 
     Chesapeake Bay watershed.
       ``(c) Eligible Entities.--The following entities are 
     eligible to receive grants under the program under this 
     section:
       ``(1) The government of a political subdivision of a State 
     in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and the government of the 
     District of Columbia.
       ``(2) An organization in the Chesapeake Bay watershed (such 
     as an educational institution or a community organization) 
     that is described in section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue 
     Code of 1986 and is exempt from taxation under section 501(a) 
     of that Code.
       ``(d) Additional Requirements.--The Director may prescribe 
     any additional requirements, including procedures, that the 
     Director considers necessary to carry out the program under 
     this section.

     ``SEC. 307C. COASTAL PREDICTION CENTER.

       ``(a) Establishment.--
       ``(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
     enactment of this section, the Director of the Chesapeake Bay 
     Office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
     (referred to in this section as the `Director'), in 
     collaboration with regional scientific institutions, shall 
     establish a coastal prediction center for the Chesapeake Bay 
     (referred to in this section as the `center').
       ``(2) Purpose of center.--The center shall serve as a 
     knowledge bank for--
       ``(A) assembling, integrating, and modeling coastal 
     information and data from appropriate government agencies and 
     scientific institutions;
       ``(B) interpreting the data; and
       ``(C) organizing the data into predictive products that are 
     useful to policy makers, resource managers, scientists, and 
     the public.
       ``(b) Activities.--
       ``(1) Information and prediction system.--The center shall 
     develop an Internet-based information system for integrating, 
     interpreting, and disseminating coastal information and 
     predictions concerning--
       ``(A) climate;
       ``(B) land use;
       ``(C) coastal pollution;
       ``(D) coastal environmental quality;
       ``(E) ecosystem health and performance;
       ``(F) aquatic living resources and habitat conditions; and
       ``(G) weather, tides, currents, and circulation that affect 
     the distribution of sediments, nutrients, and organisms, 
     coastline erosion, and related physical and chemical events 
     within the Chesapeake Bay and the tributaries of the 
     Chesapeake Bay.
       ``(2) Agreements to provide data, information, and 
     support.--The Director may enter into agreements with other 
     entities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
     Administration, other appropriate Federal, State, and local 
     government agencies, and academic institutions, to provide 
     and interpret data and information, and provide appropriate 
     support, relating to the activities of the center.
       ``(3) Agreements relating to information products.--The 
     Director may enter into grants, contracts, and interagency 
     agreements with eligible entities for the collection, 
     processing, analysis, interpretation, and electronic 
     publication of information products for the center.''.

     SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       (a) In General.--Section 307 of the National Oceanic and 
     Atmospheric Administration Authorization Act of 1992 (15 
     U.S.C. 1511d) is amended by striking subsection (d) and 
     inserting the following:
       ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--
       ``(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated 
     to the Department of Commerce for the Chesapeake Bay Office 
     $6,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2001 through 2004.
       ``(2) Amounts for new programs.--Of the amount authorized 
     to be appropriated for each fiscal year under paragraph (1)--
       ``(A) not more than $2,500,000 shall be available to carry 
     out section 307A;
       ``(B) not more than $1,000,000 shall be available to carry 
     out section 307B; and
       ``(C) not more than $500,000 shall be available to carry 
     out section 307C.''.
       (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 2 of the National 
     Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Fisheries 
     Program Authorization Act (Public Law 98-210; 97 Stat. 1409) 
     is amended by striking subsection (e) (106 Stat. 4285).

     SEC. 5. TECHNICAL CORRECTION.

       Section 307(b) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
     Administration Authorization Act of 1992 (15 U.S.C. 1511d(b)) 
     is amended by striking ``Chesapeake Bay Executive Council'' 
     and inserting ``Chesapeake Executive Council''.


                                    Chesapeake Bay Commission,

                                                    June 12, 2000.
     Hon. Paul S. Sarbanes,
     U.S. Senate, Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC
       Dear Senator Sarbanes: We understand that you will soon be 
     introducing legislation to reauthorize NOAA's Chesapeake Bay 
     Program. This broadened, $6 million reauthorization would 
     allow NOAA to better address multi-species management issues, 
     to establish a complementary grants program in support of 
     local community projects throughtout the Bay, and to make 
     additional contributions that enhance the restoration of 
     oysters in the estuary.

[[Page S5683]]

       This legislation provides another enhanced mechanism for 
     meeting the ambitious restoration and protection goals 
     contained in the Chesapeake 2000 agreement that we and our 
     Bay partners are signing on June 28. The members of the 
     Chesapeake Bay Commission look forward to the enactment on 
     this NOAA reauthorization and offer our full support and 
     assistance as it moves through the Congress.
           Sincerely,
     Bill Bolling,
       Chairman.
     Brian E. Frosh,
       Vice-Chairman.
     Arthur D. Hershey,
       Vice-Chairman.
                                  ____



                                     Chesapeke Bay Foundation,

                                                    June 20, 2000.
     Hon. Paul S. Sarbanes,
     Hart Building,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Sarbanes: The Chesapeake Bay Foundation fully 
     supports your new bill that would reauthorize and enhance the 
     NOAA Chesapeake Bay Program. We greatly appreciate your 
     leadership on this legislation and your persistent pursuit of 
     a restored Bay.
       The NOAA Bay Program originally was authorized in 1992 and 
     has been a major contributor in protecting and restoring the 
     Bay. The NOAA Bay office has provided a clear focal point 
     within NOAA for Chesapeake Bay initiatives, involving all 
     relevant NOAA entities in Bay restoration efforts, managing 
     peer-reviewed research, and strengthening NOAA's interactions 
     with Chesapeake Bay partners.
       One of the NOAA Bay Program's yearly achievements is its 
     fishery stock assessment. This work is crucial to gauging and 
     managing the health of the Bay's fisheries. In addition, the 
     NOAA Bay Program contributes to ecosystem management, 
     community-based restoration activities, data analysis, and 
     information management. NOAA Bay Program employees 
     participate on Chesapeake Bay Program committees and they 
     chair the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Effects Committee and 
     the Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment Committee.
       Recently, the NOAA Bay Program made a major commitment to 
     restoring the Bay's oyster population, which provides vital 
     filtering of polluted water and unique habitat for marine 
     life. CBF views restoring the oyster population as one of the 
     most important steps we can take to restore the health of the 
     Bay.
       This new bill would consolidate authority for the Program's 
     base funding with other line item programs, such as oyster 
     recovery and multi-species initiatives. Moreover, the bill 
     requires the NOAA Bay Program to help the Bay states meet the 
     goals of the Chesapeake 2000 Agreement. The small watershed 
     grants section, which is a new initiative, would be used for 
     projects like Susquehanna River fish passages, oyster reef 
     reconstruction, and other citizen-led, hands-on projects.
       Lastly, the bill increases authorization to $6 million each 
     year to carry out these activities. The Chesapeake Bay is the 
     most productive estuary in the world and its vast fisheries 
     and marine resources deserve that level of commitment from 
     the federal government.
       This bill represents a tremendous boost for CBF's and 
     NOAA's efforts to Save the Bay. We look forward to working 
     with you to secure passage of this exciting new legislation.
           Very Truly Yours,
                                      Michael F. Hirshfield, PhD.,
                              Vice-President, Resource Protection.
                                 ______