[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5487 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5487
To require the Secretary of Commerce to establish and carry out a grant
program to conserve, restore, and manage kelp forest ecosystems, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 14, 2023
Mr. Huffman (for himself, Ms. DelBene, Ms. Barragan, Mr. Peters, Mr.
Kilmer, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Larsen of Washington, and Mr. Mullin)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Commerce to establish and carry out a grant
program to conserve, restore, and manage kelp forest ecosystems, and
for other purposes.
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 ``Help Our Kelp Act''.
SEC. 2. GRANTS TO CONSERVE, RESTORE, AND MANAGE KELP FOREST ECOSYSTEMS.
(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the
purposes of this section and the grants authorized by this section are
to support native wild kelp forest ecosystems and restore native wild
kelp to enable long term recovery of naturally functioning kelp forest
ecosystems that do not involve commercial or mechanized harvesting.
(b) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this section, the Administrator shall establish and carry
out a grant program under which the Administrator shall award grants to
eligible entities described in subsection (c) to carry out projects
described in subsection (d) relating to the conservation, restoration,
or management of kelp forest ecosystems.
(c) Eligible Entity.--To be eligible for a grant under this
section, an eligible entity shall--
(1) be--
(A) a member of the fishing industry;
(B) an institution of higher education;
(C) a nonprofit organization;
(D) an Indian Tribe;
(E) a State agency; or
(F) a local government;
(2) consult or collaborate with any of the other entities
described in paragraph (1) throughout the development or
implementation of a project relating to the conservation,
restoration, or management of kelp forest ecosystems; 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 regarding 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.
(d) 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 of kelp forest
ecosystems;
(B) long term socioeconomic resilience related to
kelp forest ecosystems;
(C) kelp forest seeding and connectivity;
(D) re-establishing or recovering natural trophic
relationships and structure to support resilience of
kelp forest ecosystems through actions such as predator
control through targeted urchin removal and recovery of
sunflower sea stars;
(E) monitoring and assessment of kelp forest
ecosystems;
(F) integration of Indigenous knowledge and
cultural practices into restoration and monitoring of
kelp forest ecosystems through consultation with Indian
Tribes or promotion of Federal or State co-management
with Indian Tribes; or
(G) other efforts to restore kelp forest ecosystems
and prevent large scale losses of kelp forests; or
(3) are identified by Indian Tribes or Federal or State
restoration or management plans as focal areas for recovery of
kelp forests and associated species.
(e) 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 paragraph, 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--
(A) no reasonable means are available through which
an eligible entity applying for a grant under this
section can meet such requirement;
(B) the probable benefit of such project outweighs
the public interest in such requirement; and
(C) the project undertaken is established on lands
owned by or held in trust for an Indian Tribe.
(f) Guidelines and Criteria.--The Administrator shall--
(1) issue guidelines regarding the implementation of the
grant program established under subsection (b); and
(2) establish criteria based on best practices, the best
available science, and community engagement to rank eligible
projects under subsection (d).
(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--
(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated to
the Administrator to carry out this section $5,000,000 for each
of fiscal years 2024 through 2028.
(2) Availability to indian tribes.--
(A) In general.--Of the amount authorized to be
appropriated by paragraph (1) for a fiscal year,
subject to appropriations, not less than $750,000 shall
be made available to award grants under this section to
eligible entities that are Indian Tribes.
(B) Contingency; outreach.--If no Indian Tribe is
awarded a grant under this section in a fiscal year--
(i) for that fiscal year, the amount
described in subparagraph (A) shall be made
available to award grants under this section to
other eligible entities; and
(ii) the Administrator shall conduct
outreach to inform Indian Tribes and
organizations that work with Indian Tribes of
the grant program established under subsection
(b).
(h) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Administrator of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
(2) Fishing industry.--The term ``fishing industry''
means--
(A) processors;
(B) commercial fishermen; and
(C) recreational fishermen.
(3) Indian tribe.--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) Institution of higher education.--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) Kelp forest ecosystem.--The term ``kelp forest
ecosystem'' means a naturally occurring, biotic system
dominated by canopy-forming, stipitate, or prostrate benthic
macroalgae and associated taxa.
(6) Nonprofit organization.--The term ``nonprofit
organization'' means an organization--
(A) described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986; and
(B) exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such
Code.
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