[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4458 Reported in House (RH)]
<DOC>
Union Calendar No. 415
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4458
[Report No. 117-574]
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.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 16, 2021
Mr. Huffman (for himself, Ms. Barragan, Mr. Lieu, Ms. Lee of
California, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Panetta, Mr. Lowenthal, Mr. DeFazio, Ms.
Bonamici, and Ms. Norton) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
November 16, 2022
Additional sponsors: Mr. Peters, Ms. Jayapal, Ms. DelBene, and Mr.
Kilmer
November 16, 2022
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July
16, 2021]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
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.
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 ``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.
Union Calendar No. 415
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4458
[Report No. 117-574]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
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.
_______________________________________________________________________
November 16, 2022
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed