Home > 106th Congressional Bills > S. 1482 (is) To amend the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, and for other purposes. [Introduced in Senate] ...S. 1482 (is) To amend the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, and for other purposes. [Introduced in Senate] ...
106th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 1482
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To amend the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, 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 ``National Marine Sanctuaries
Amendments Act of 2000''.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENT OF NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARIES ACT.
Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an
amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment or repeal to,
or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference shall be
considered to be made to a section or other provision of the National
Marine Sanctuaries Act (16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.).
SEC. 3. CHANGES IN FINDINGS, PURPOSES, AND POLICIES; ESTABLISHMENT OF
SYSTEM.
(a) Clerical Amendment.--The heading for section 301 (16 U.S.C.
1431) is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 301. FINDINGS, PURPOSES, AND POLICIES; ESTABLISHMENT OF
SYSTEM.''.
(b) Findings.--Section 301(a) (16 U.S.C. 1431(a)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (2) by striking ``research, educational,
or esthetic'' and inserting ``scientific, educational,
cultural, archeological, or esthetic'';
(2) in paragraph (3) by adding ``and'' after the semicolon;
and
(3) by striking paragraphs (4), (5), and (6) and inserting
the following:
``(4) a Federal program which establishes areas of the
marine environment which have special conservation,
recreational, ecological, historical, cultural, archeological,
scientific, educational, or esthetic qualities as national
marine sanctuaries managed as the National Marine Sanctuary
System will--
``(A) improve the conservation, understanding,
management, and wise and sustainable use of marine
resources;
``(B) enhance public awareness, understanding, and
appreciation of the marine environment; and
``(C) maintain for future generations the habitat,
and ecological services, of the natural assemblage of
living resources that inhabit these areas.''.
(c) Purposes and Policies.--Section 301(b) (16 U.S.C. 1431(b)) is
amended--
(1) by striking ``significance;'' in paragraph (1) and
inserting ``significance and to manage these areas as the
National Marine Sanctuary System;'';
(2) by striking paragraphs (3), (4), and (9);
(3) by redesignating paragraphs (5) through (8) as
paragraphs (6) through (9), respectively;
(4) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
``(3) to maintain the natural biological communities in the
national marine sanctuaries, and to protect, and, where
appropriate, restore and enhance natural habitats, populations,
and ecological processes;
``(4) to enhance public awareness, understanding,
appreciation, and wise and sustainable use of the marine
environment, and the natural, historical, cultural, and
archeological resources of the National Marine Sanctuary
System;
``(5) to support, promote, and coordinate scientific
research on, and long-term monitoring of, the resources of
these marine areas;'';
(5) in paragraph (8), as redesignated, by striking
``areas;'' and inserting ``areas, including the application of
innovative management techniques; and''; and
(6) in paragraph (9), as redesignated, by striking ``;
and'' and inserting a period.
(d) Establishment of System.--Section 301 is amended by adding at
the end the following:
``(c) Establishment of System.--There is established the National
Marine Sanctuary System, which shall consist of national marine
sanctuaries designated by the Secretary in accordance with this
title.''.
SEC. 4. CHANGES IN DEFINITIONS.
(a) Damages.--Paragraph (6) of section 302 (16 U.S.C. 1432) is
amended--
(1) by striking ``and'' after the semicolon at the end of
subparagraph (B); and
(2) by adding after subparagraph (C) the following:
``(D) the cost of curation and conservation of
archeological, historical, and cultural sanctuary
resources; and
``(E) the cost of enforcement actions undertaken by
the Secretary in response to the destruction or loss
of, or injury to, a sanctuary resource;''.
(b) Response Costs.--Paragraph (7) of such section is amended by
inserting ``, including costs related to seizure, forfeiture, storage,
or disposal arising from liability under section 312'' after ``injury''
the second place it appears.
(c) Sanctuary Resource.--Paragraph (8) of such section is amended
by striking ``research, educational,'' and inserting ``educational,
cultural, archeological, scientific,''.
(d) System.--Such section is further amended--
(1) by striking ``and'' after the semicolon at the end of
paragraph (8);
(2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (9) and
inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(10) `System' means the National Marine Sanctuary System
established by section 301.''.
SEC. 5. CHANGES RELATING TO SANCTUARY DESIGNATION STANDARDS.
(a) Standards.--Section 303(a)(1) (16 U.S.C. 1433(a)(1)) is amended
to read as follows:
``(1) determines that--
``(A) the designation will fulfill the purposes and
policies of this title;
``(B) the area is of special national significance
due to--
``(i) its conservation, recreational,
ecological, historical, scientific, cultural,
archeological, educational, or esthetic
qualities;
``(ii) the communities of living marine
resources it harbors; or
``(iii) its resource or human-use values;
``(C) existing State and Federal authorities are
inadequate or should be supplemented to ensure
coordinated and comprehensive conservation and
management of the area, including resource protection,
scientific research, and public education;
``(D) designation of the area as a national marine
sanctuary will facilitate the objectives in
subparagraph (C); and
``(E) the area is of a size and nature that will
permit comprehensive and coordinated conservation and
management; and''.
(b) Factors; Repeal of Report Requirement.--Section 303(b) (16
U.S.C. 1433(b)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of
subparagraph (H), by striking the period at the end of
subparagraph (I) and inserting a semicolon, and by adding at
the end the following:
``(J) the area's scientific value and value for
monitoring the resources and natural processes that
occur there;
``(K) the feasibility, where appropriate, of
employing innovative management approaches to protect
sanctuary resources or to manage compatible uses; and
``(L) the value of the area as an addition to the
System.''; and
(2) by striking paragraph (3).
SEC. 6. CHANGES IN PROCEDURES FOR SANCTUARY DESIGNATION AND
IMPLEMENTATION.
(a) Submission of Notice of Proposed Designation to Congress.--
Section 304(a)(1)(C) (16 U.S.C. 1434(a)(1)(C)) is amended to read as
follows:
``(C) no later than the day on which the notice
required under subparagraph (A) is submitted to Office
of the Federal Register, the Secretary shall submit a
copy of that notice and the draft sanctuary designation
documents prepared pursuant to section 304(a)(2),
including an executive summary, to the Committee on
Resources of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of
the Senate, and the Governor of each State in which any
part of the proposed sanctuary would be located.''.
(b) Sanctuary Designation.--Section 304(a)(2) (16 U.S.C.
1434(a)(2)) is amended to read as follows:
``(2) Sanctuary designation documents.--The Secretary shall
prepare and make available to the public sanctuary designation
documents on the proposal that include the following:
``(A) A draft environmental impact statement
pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
``(B) A resource assessment that documents--
``(i) present and potential uses of the
area, including commercial and recreational
fishing, research and education, minerals and
energy development, subsistence uses, and other
commercial, governmental, or recreational uses;
``(ii) after consultation with the
Secretary of the Interior, any commercial,
governmental, or recreational resource uses in
the areas that are subject to the primary
jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior;
and
``(iii) information prepared in
consultation with the Secretary of Defense, the
Secretary of Energy, and the Administrator of
the Environmental Protection Agency, on any
past, present, or proposed future disposal or
discharge of materials in the vicinity of the
proposed sanctuary.
Public disclosure by the Secretary of such information
shall be consistent with national security regulations.
``(C) A draft management plan for the proposed
national marine sanctuary that includes the following:
``(i) The terms of the proposed
designation.
``(ii) Proposed mechanisms to coordinate
existing regulatory and management authorities
within the area.
``(iii) The proposed goals and objectives,
management responsibilities, resource studies,
and appropriate strategies for managing
sanctuary resources of the proposed sanctuary,
including interpretation and education,
innovative management strategies, research,
monitoring and assessment, resource protection,
restoration, enforcement, and surveillance
activities.
``(iv) An evaluation of the advantages of
cooperative State and Federal management if all
or part of the proposed sanctuary is within the
territorial limits of any State or is
superjacent to the subsoil and seabed within
the seaward boundary of a State, as that
boundary is established under the Submerged
Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.).
``(v) An estimate of the annual cost to the
Federal Government of the proposed designation,
including costs of personnel, equipment and
facilities, enforcement, research, and public
education.
``(vi) The proposed regulations referred to
in paragraph (1)(A).
``(D) Maps depicting the boundaries of the proposed
sanctuary.
``(E) The basis for the findings made under section
303(a) with respect to the area.
``(F) An assessment of the considerations under
section 303(b)(1).''.
(c) Withdrawal of Designation.--Section 304(b)(2) (16 U.S.C.
1434(b)(2)) is amended by inserting ``or System'' after ``sanctuary''
the second place it appears.
(d) Federal Agency Actions Affecting Sanctuary Resources.--Section
304(d) (16 U.S.C.1434(d)) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(4) Failure to follow alternative.--If the head of a
Federal agency takes an action other than an alternative
recommended by the Secretary and such action results in the
destruction of, loss of, or injury to a sanctuary resource, the
head of the agency shall promptly prevent and mitigate further
damage and restore or replace the sanctuary resource in a
manner approved by the Secretary.''.
(e) Evaluation of Progress in Implementing Management Strategies.--
Section 304(e) (16 U.S.C. 1434(e)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``management techniques,'' and inserting
``management techniques and strategies,''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following: ``This review shall
include a prioritization of management objectives.''.
(f) Limitation on Designation of New Sanctuaries.--Section 304 (16
U.S.C. 1434) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(f) Limitation on Designation of New Sanctuaries.--
``(1) Finding required.--The Secretary may not publish in
the Federal Register any sanctuary designation notice or
regulations proposing to designate a new sanctuary, unless the
Secretary has published a finding that--
``(A) the addition of a new sanctuary will not have
a negative impact on the System; and
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