[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 15463-15464]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         INTRODUCTION OF THE SANCTUARY ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2008

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. MADELEINE Z. BORDALLO

                                of guam

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 17, 2008

  Ms. BORDALLO. Madam Speaker, today I have introduced a bill to 
reauthorize and amend the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, which was 
first enacted by the 92nd Congress as Title III of the Marine 
Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (Public Law 92-532).
  The Nation's first national marine sanctuary was designated in 1975 
off the Outer Banks of North Carolina to protect the wreck of a famous 
Civil War ironclad, the U.S.S. Monitor. Since then, 12 other national 
marine sanctuaries and one national marine monument have been 
designated. The various sites, ranging from Fagatele Bay in American 
Samoa to Thunder Bay in Lake Huron, protect deep ocean gardens, near 
shore coral reefs, whale migration corridors, deep sea canyons, and 
underwater archeological sites.
  These marine sites are managed by the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and activities like shipping, 
commercial and recreational fishing, boating, scuba diving, and marine 
tourism are allowed within such sites where determined to be compatible 
with resource protection. However, drilling, mining, dredging, dumping 
waste and removing artifacts are generally prohibited in the 
sanctuaries and considered to be activities inconsistent with the 
purposes of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act.
  Congress last reauthorized the National Marine Sanctuaries Act in 
2000 with the passage of the National Marine Sanctuaries Amendments Act 
of 2000 (Public Law 106-513). The overall purpose of the legislation 
enacted in 2000 was to reauthorize the National Marine Sanctuaries Act 
through fiscal year 2005 and to make substantive changes to the 
management of existing sanctuaries and the designation of additional 
marine sanctuaries.
  The Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, and Oceans has held two 
oversight hearings to date in this Congress to receive testimony from 
stakeholders regarding reauthorization of the National Marine 
Sanctuaries Act. The Subcommittee first convened for this purpose at a 
field hearing in Santa Barbara, California on November 3, 2007, and 
more recently in Washington, DC on June 18, 2008. It is generally 
agreed that the national marine sanctuaries are fulfilling statutory 
set missions to protect nationally significant areas of the marine 
environment and are collectively serving as a useful model 
demonstrating ecosystem-based management. However, since Congress last 
reauthorized the Act several concerns have emerged and have been raised 
by stakeholders and the Administration. These issues have been examined 
by the Subcommittee during both of its oversight hearings. The 
legislation I have introduced today attempts to address many of these 
issues.
  First, over the past decade the science and theory behind the concept 
of marine protected areas and marine reserves (MPAs) has developed, and 
the use of MPAs as a management tool is much more prevalent today than 
it was at the time the National Marine Sanctuaries Act was last 
reauthorized. Supporters of the concept consider the existing statutory 
limitation on new sanctuary designations at odds with current thinking 
and practice, as well as contrary to the purposes of the Act. The bill 
I have introduced today, the Sanctuary Enhancement Act of 2008, would 
repeal the limitation on new sanctuary designations and require the 
Secretary of Commerce to develop a site selection report for potential 
new sanctuaries.
  Second, despite NOAA's best intentions, the agency has been unable to 
complete management plan reviews for all sanctuaries within the 
statutorily-required 5-year period, resulting in a virtually never-
ending planning cycle. Furthermore, critics question whether the 
statutory established timeframe allows adequate time for NOAA to 
properly evaluate the effectiveness of management plans. In order to 
allow adequate time for quality reviews, under the Sanctuary 
Enhancement Act the first management plan review timeframe would be 
expanded from 5 years to 7 years, and the period for subsequent reviews 
would be expanded to 10 years.
  Another area of focus has been on regulating fishing within marine 
sanctuaries. Section 304(a)(5) of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act 
formally incorporates Regional Fisheries Management Councils into the 
process for developing fishing regulations within marine sanctuaries. 
Various interests believe there continues to be a lack of clarity with 
respect to such authorities and such lack of clarity has created 
tensions within some sectors of the fishing community. In an effort to 
reduce some of that tension, the Sanctuary Enhancement Act would 
authorize the Secretary to include fishing regulations in the 
designation documents if the regulations are compatible with the 
purposes of the sanctuary, the mission of the entire system of 
sanctuaries and the National Marine Sanctuaries Act. The Sanctuary 
Enhancement Act also clarifies the role and actions of the Secretary in 
approving or disapproving draft fishing regulations requested from 
Regional Fishery Management Councils.
  Finally, critics contend that the text of the National Marine 
Sanctuaries Act is misinterpreted and that NOAA's implementation of the 
Act as a ``multiple-use'' authority is misguided. Such critics advocate 
that the Act be amended to prioritize the protective missions of the 
sanctuaries and to strengthen the Act in comparison to other laws that 
authorize activities in the marine environment. To resolve this 
problem, the Sanctuary Enhancement Act would formally establish a 
National Marine Sanctuary System and insert a mission statement for the 
System to ``protect, conserve, preserve, restore and recover the 
biodiversity, ecological integrity, and cultural legacy of the living 
and nonliving resources within the system for the benefit of present 
and future generations.''
  I believe the bill I have introduced today enhances the network of 
sanctuaries by establishing a unified structure and system for their 
management and by amending the National Marine Sanctuaries Act to 
address a variety of

[[Page 15464]]

concerns raised by stakeholders since its last reauthorization. I am 
joined today in introducing this bill by Ms. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a co-
chair of the National Marine Sanctuaries Caucus, and ten other 
colleagues, including Mr. Kildee, Mr. Faleomavaega, and Mr. Abercrombie 
of the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans. I invite all of 
my colleagues to join us in the effort to reauthorize and strengthen 
this essential marine conservation law. Working together we can strive 
to leave our children and grandchildren a sanctuary system that can 
grow as a vibrant, healthy and sound system of marine environments.

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