[House Report 117-574]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


117th Congress    }                                    {       Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session       }                                    {      117-574

======================================================================



 
              KEEPING ECOSYSTEMS LIVING AND PRODUCTIVE ACT

                                _______
                                

 November 16, 2022.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Grijalva, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

                        [To accompany H.R. 4458]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 4458) to establish a grant program within the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to award grants 
to eligible entities for the purpose of carrying out projects 
on the conservation, restoration, or management of kelp forest 
ecosystems, having considered the same, reports favorably 
thereon with an amendment and recommends that the bill as 
amended do pass.
    The amendment is as follows:
  Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

  This Act may be cited as the ``Keeping Ecosystems Living and 
Productive Act'' or the ``KELP Act''.

SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR CONSERVING, RECOVERING, AND MAINTAINING KELP FOREST 
                    ECOSYSTEMS.

  (a) Establishment.--The Administrator shall establish a grant program 
under which the Administrator shall award grants to eligible entities 
described in subsection (b) to carry out projects relating to the 
conservation, restoration, or management of kelp forest ecosystems.
  (b) Eligible Entity.--To be eligible for a grant under this section, 
an entity shall--
          (1) be a member of the fishing industry, an institution of 
        higher education, a nonprofit organization, an Indian Tribe, or 
        a State agency;
          (2) propose or be conducting a project relating to the 
        conservation, restoration, or management of kelp forest 
        ecosystems developed through consultation with any of the other 
        entities described in paragraph (1); 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 about 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.
  (c) 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;
                  (B) long term socioeconomic resilience;
                  (C) kelp forest seeding and connectivity;
                  (D) re-establishing trophic structure to support 
                resilience through actions such as targeted urchin 
                removal and predator control efforts;
                  (E) monitoring and assessment of kelp forest 
                ecosystems; or
                  (F) other efforts to restore kelp forest ecosystems 
                and prevent large scale losses of kelp forests; or
          (3) are identified by Federal or State restoration and 
        management plans as focal areas for recovery of kelp forests 
        and associated species.
  (d) 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 subparagraph, 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 no reasonable means are available through which an 
        eligible entity applying for a grant under this section can 
        meet such requirement and the probable benefit of such project 
        outweighs the public interest in such requirement.
  (e) Definitions.--In this section--
          (1) the term ``Administrator'' means the Secretary of 
        Commerce acting through the Administrator of the National 
        Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
          (2) the term ``fishing industry'' means processors, 
        commercial fishermen, and recreational fishermen;
          (3) 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) 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) the term ``kelp forest ecosystem'' means a naturally 
        occurring, biotic system dominated by canopy-forming, 
        stipitate, or prostrate benthic macroalgae and associated taxa; 
        and
          (6) the term ``nonprofit organization'' means an organization 
        described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
        1986 and exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such Code.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

  It is the sense of Congress that the purposes of this Act and the 
grants authorized by section 2 are to support native wild kelp forest 
ecosystems and restoration of native wild kelp to enable long term 
recovery of naturally functioning kelp forest ecosystems that do not 
involve commercial or mechanized harvesting.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 4458 is to establish a grant program 
within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to 
award grants to eligible entities for the purpose of carrying 
out projects on the conservation, restoration, or management of 
kelp forest ecosystems.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    Kelp forests grow predominantly along the Pacific Coast, 
from Alaska and Canada to the waters of Baja California. These 
marine ecosystems provide food and habitat for hundreds of 
species of fish, invertebrates, and marine mammals.\1\ Coastal 
communities also depend on healthy kelp forest ecosystems to 
protect coastlines and support sustainable fisheries.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\Kelp Forest, Oceana, https://oceana.org/marine-life/kelp-forest/ 
(last visited Nov. 3, 2022).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In the past five years, California's kelp forests have 
collapsed. On the North coast of California, more than 95% of 
kelp coverage is lost due to a ``perfect storm'' of harmful 
conditions including higher ocean temperatures, which limit 
kelp growth, and sea star wasting disease, which is removing a 
key predator of purple sea urchins.\2\ The resulting population 
explosion of urchins, voracious kelp eaters, has led to 
underwater wastelands.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\``Perfect Storm'' Decimates Northern California Kelp Forests, 
Cal. Dep't of Fish & Wildlife Marine Mgmt. News (Mar. 30, 2016), 
https://cdfwmarine.wordpress.com/2016/03/30/perfect-storm-decimates-
kelp/; see also Laura Rocchio with Mike Carlowicz, NASA Earth 
Observatory, Monitoring the Collapse of Kelp Forests, https://
earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/148391/monitoring-the-collapse-of-
kelp-forests (last visited Nov. 3, 2022).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The red abalone fishery, severely impacted by a lack of 
food, has been closed with significant impacts on local 
businesses and communities. Habitat loss has meant fewer fish 
and less food for birds, larger fish, and marine mammals. Kelp 
restoration and urchin removal efforts are underway, but local 
stakeholders and state partners need support.
    H.R. 4458 would direct federal resources to this growing 
challenge by establishing a new NOAA grant program to fund 
conservation, restoration, and management projects focused on 
kelp forest ecosystems. Grants would be open to tribes, 
academic researchers, the fishing industry, nonprofits, and 
state agencies. Projects should address the most significant 
relative regional declines, long-term ecological and socio-
economic resilience, and kelp restoration and urchin removal 
efforts to prevent large-scale kelp forest loss. Priority 
projects should focus on areas that have already been 
identified as focal recovery areas by federal and state 
management plans.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 4458 was introduced on July 16, 2021, by 
Representative Jared Huffman (D-CA). The bill was referred 
solely to the Committee on Natural Resources, and within the 
Committee to the Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife. 
On July 29, 2021, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. 
On February 16, 2022, the Natural Resources Committee met to 
consider the bill. The Subcommittee was discharged by unanimous 
consent. Chair Raul M. Grijalva (D-AZ) offered an amendment in 
the nature of a substitute. Rep. Cliff Bentz (R-OR) offered an 
amendment designated Bentz #1 to the amendment in the nature of 
a substitute. The amendment was not agreed to by a roll call 
vote of 18 yeas and 23 nays, as follows:

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Rep. Bentz offered an amendment designated Bentz #2 to the 
amendment in the nature of a substitute. The amendment was not 
agreed to by a roll call vote of 19 yeas and 23 nays, as 
follows:

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Ranking Member Bruce Westerman (R-AR) offered an amendment 
designated Westerman #1 to the amendment in the nature of a 
substitute. The amendment was agreed to by voice vote. The 
amendment in the nature of a substitute, as amended, was agreed 
to by voice vote. The bill, as amended, was adopted and ordered 
favorably reported to the House of Representatives by a roll 
call vote of 23 yeas and 19 nays, as follows:

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                                HEARINGS

    For the purposes of clause 3(c)(6) of House rule XIII, the 
following hearing was used to develop or consider this measure: 
hearing by the Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife held 
on July 29, 2021.

            COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

    Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee on Natural Resources' oversight findings and 
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.

                  COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII AND
                        CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET ACT

    1. Cost of Legislation and the Congressional Budget Act. 
With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) and (3) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 
sections 308(a) and 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974, as well as clause 3(d) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee has received the 
following estimate for the bill from the Director of the 
Congressional Budget Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                Washington, DC, September 14, 2022.
Hon. Raul M. Grijalva,
Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 4458, the KELP 
Act.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Robert Reese.
            Sincerely,
                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    H.R. 4458 would require the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration to award grants for projects that 
would conserve, restore, or manage kelp forest ecosystems 
(shallow, underwater ecosystems consisting of various algae 
species). Recipients could include commercial and recreational 
anglers; academic institutions; nonprofit organizations; and 
state, local, and tribal governments.
    Using information on similar programs and accounting for 
anticipated inflation, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 
4458 would cost $27 million over the 2022-2027 period, assuming 
appropriation of the estimated amounts. The costs of the 
legislation, detailed in Table 1, fall within budget function 
300 (natural resources and environment).

               TABLE 1.--ESTIMATED INCREASES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION UNDER H.R. 4458
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              By fiscal year, millions of dollars--
                                                ----------------------------------------------------------------
                                                   2022     2023     2024     2025     2026     2027   2022-2027
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Authorization........................        0        7        7        7        7        8         36
Estimated Outlays..............................        0        2        5        6        7        7         27
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Robert Reese. 
The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy 
Director of Budget Analysis.
    2. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goals and 
objectives of this bill are to establish a grant program within 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to award 
grants to eligible entities for the purpose of carrying out 
projects on the conservation, restoration, or management of 
kelp forest ecosystems.

                           EARMARK STATEMENT

    This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, 
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined 
under clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives.

                 UNFUNDED MANDATES REFORM ACT STATEMENT

    According to CBO, this bill contains no unfunded mandates 
as defined by the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.

                           EXISTING PROGRAMS

    This bill does not establish or reauthorize a program of 
the federal government known to be duplicative of another 
program. Such program was not included in any report from the 
Government Accountability Office to Congress pursuant to 
section 21 of Public Law 111-139 or identified in the most 
recent Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance published 
pursuant to 31 U.S.C. Sec. 6104 as relating to other programs.

                  APPLICABILITY TO LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to 
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public 
services or accommodations within the meaning of section 
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.

               PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL, OR TRIBAL LAW

    Any preemptive effect of this bill over state, local, or 
tribal law is intended to be consistent with the bill's 
purposes and text and the Supremacy Clause of Article VI of the 
U.S. Constitution.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    If enacted, this bill would make no changes to existing 
law.

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

    H.R. 4458 would create a new grant program under the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for the 
creation and management of kelp forest ecosystems located in 
federal and state waters. Unfortunately, the Committee on 
Natural Resources had limited time for discussion on H.R. 4458 
because this bill was squeezed into a Subcommittee on Water, 
Oceans, and Wildlife legislative hearing along with fourteen 
other bills.
    While the $250 million authorization of appropriations 
included in the introduced text of the bill was removed at full 
committee mark up, the bill still contains an unacceptable 85 
percent federal cost share and does not limit administrative 
overhead costs. While H.R. 4458 proposes that 85 cents out of 
every project dollar be paid by the federal government, there 
was no justification given for the decision to finance this 
program overwhelmingly by the American taxpayers. In addition, 
the non-federal 15 percent cost share can be waived at the 
discretion of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration.
    H.R. 4458 would prohibit sustainable commercial harvests of 
any kelp financed by the new authority created in the bill. 
Kelp, like trees, can sequester carbon and there is interest in 
exploring this natural climate solution further. Harvesting of 
kelp in certain circumstances can generate economic activity 
and provide innovative and sustainable ways to manage this 
offshore resource.
    For these reasons, I oppose H.R. 4458 as reported by the 
Committee on Natural Resources.

                                                   Bruce Westerman.

                                  [all]