Transition to sustainable fisheries

In this subsection: The term “allowable cause” means a natural cause, discrete anthropogenic cause, or undetermined cause, including a cause that occurred not more than 5 years prior to the date of a request for a fishery resource disaster determination that affected such applicable fishery. The term “anthropogenic cause” means an anthropogenic event, such as an oil spill or spillway opening— The term “fishery resource disaster” means a disaster that is determined by the Secretary in accordance with this subsection and— does not include— The term “Indian Tribe” has the meaning given such term in section 5130 of title 25, and the term “Tribal” means of or pertaining to such an Indian tribe. The term “natural cause”— means a weather, climatic, hazard, or biology-related event, such as— The term “12-month revenue loss” means the percentage reduction, as applicable, in commercial, charter, headboat, or processor revenue for the affected fishery for the 12 months during which the fishery resource disaster occurred, when compared to average annual revenue in the most recent 5 years when no fishery resource disaster occurred or equivalent for stocks with cyclical life histories. The term “undetermined cause” means a cause in which the current state of knowledge does not allow the Secretary to identify the exact cause, and there is no current conclusive evidence supporting a possible cause of the fishery resource disaster. The Secretary shall have the authority to determine the existence, extent, and beginning and end dates of a fishery resource disaster under this subsection in accordance with this subsection. After the Secretary determines that a fishery resource disaster has occurred, the Secretary is authorized to make sums available, from funds appropriated for such purposes, to be used by the affected State, Indian Tribe, or interstate marine fisheries commission, or by the Secretary in cooperation with the affected State, Indian Tribe, or interstate marine fisheries commission. The requirements under this paragraph and paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) shall take effect only with respect to fishery resource disaster determination requests submitted after December 29, 2022. If the Secretary has not independently determined that a fishery resource disaster has occurred, a request for a fishery resource disaster determination may be submitted to the Secretary at any time, but not later than the applicable date determined under clause (ii), by— The applicable date under this clause shall be— A complete request for a fishery resource disaster determination under subparagraph (A) shall include— information needed to support a finding of a fishery resource disaster, including— significant— The Secretary may provide data and analysis assistance to an eligible requester described in paragraph (1), if— The Secretary shall have the discretion to initiate a fishery resource disaster review without a request. Not later than 20 days after receipt of a request under paragraph (3), the Secretary shall provide an interim response to the individual that— The Secretary shall complete a review, within the time frame described in clause (ii), using the best scientific information available, in consultation with the affected fishing communities, States, or Indian Tribes, of— the information provided by the requester and any additional information relevant to the fishery, which may include— the available economic information, which may include an analysis of— the number and type of jobs and persons impacted, which may include— The Secretary shall complete the review described in clause (i), if the fishing season, applicable to the fishery— The Secretary shall make the determination of a fishery resource disaster based on the criteria for determinations listed in paragraph (5). Not later than 14 days after the conclusion of the review under this paragraph, the Secretary shall notify the requester and the Governor of the affected State or Indian Tribe representative of the determination of the Secretary. The Secretary shall make a determination about whether a fishery resource disaster has occurred, based on the revenue loss thresholds under subparagraph (B), and, if a fishery resource disaster has occurred, whether the fishery resource disaster was due to— Based on the information provided or analyzed under paragraph (4)(B), the Secretary shall apply the following 12-month revenue loss thresholds in determining whether a fishery resource disaster has occurred: In making a determination of whether a fishery resource disaster has occurred, the Secretary shall consider the economic impacts to the charter fishing industry to ensure financial coverage for charter fishing businesses. In considering negative subsistence impacts, the Secretary shall evaluate the severity of negative impacts to the fishing community instead of applying the revenue loss thresholds described in clause (i). A fishery subject to overfishing in any of the 3 years preceding the date of a determination under this subsection is not eligible for a determination of whether a fishery resource disaster has occurred unless the Secretary determines that overfishing was not a contributing factor to the fishery resource disaster. In an exceptional circumstance where substantial economic impacts to the affected fishery and fishing community have been subject to a disaster declaration under another statutory authority, such as in the case of a natural disaster or from the direct consequences of a Federal action taken to prevent, or in response to, a natural disaster for purposes of protecting life and safety, the Secretary may determine a fishery resource disaster has occurred without a request, notwithstanding the requirements under subparagraph (B) and paragraph (3). The Secretary shall allocate funds available under paragraph (9) for fishery resource disasters. When there are appropriated funds for 1 or more fishery resource disasters, the Secretary shall notify— The Secretary may extend the deadline under clause (i) by 90 days to evaluate and make determinations on eligible requests. In determining the allocation of appropriations for a fishery resource disaster, the Secretary shall consider commercial, charter, headboat, or seafood processing revenue losses and negative impacts to subsistence or Indian Tribe ceremonial fishing opportunity, for the affected fishery, and may consider the following factors: To receive an allocation from funds available under paragraph (9), a requester with an affirmative fishery resource disaster determination shall submit a spend plan to the Secretary, not more than 120 days after receiving notification that funds are available, that shall include the following information, if applicable: The Secretary shall review a spend plan submitted under clause (i) to determine if it is complete and provide notice within 10 days. If the Secretary determines that a spend plan submitted under clause (i) is not complete, when providing the notice required by subclause (I), the Secretary shall provide a detailed description of the information that is necessary for the spend plan to be determined complete. If so requested, the Secretary shall provide a regional contact within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to facilitate review of spend plans and disbursal of funds. Funds shall be made available to grantees not later than 90 days after the date the Secretary receives a complete spend plan. If so requested, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget may review a completed spend plan concurrently with the Secretary. The Director of the Office of Management and Budget may not delay the timeline described in subclause (I). The Secretary may provide an allocation of funds under this subsection in the form of a grant, direct payment, cooperative agreement, loan, or contract. Funds allocated for fishery resources disasters under this subsection shall restore the fishery affected by such a disaster, prevent a similar disaster in the future, or assist the affected fishing community, and shall prioritize the following uses, which are not in order of priority: Where appropriate, individuals carrying out the activities described in items (aa) through (dd) of subclause (I) shall be individuals who are, or were, employed in a commercial, charter, or Indian Tribe fishery for which the Secretary has determined that a fishery resource disaster has occurred. Except as provided in clauses (ii) and (iii), the Federal share of the cost of any activity carried out under the authority of this subsection shall not exceed 75 percent of the cost of that activity. The Secretary may waive the non-Federal share requirements of this subsection, if the Secretary determines that— The Federal share shall be equal to 100 percent in the case of— Not more than 3 percent of the funds available under this subsection may be used for administrative expenses by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. Of the funds remaining after the use described in clause (i), not more than 5 percent may be used by States, Indian Tribes, or interstate marine fisheries commissions for administrative expenses. No funds available under this subsection may be used as part of a fishing capacity reduction program in a fishery unless the Secretary determines that adequate conservation and management measures are in place in such fishery. As a condition of providing assistance under this subsection with respect to a vessel under a fishing capacity reduction program, the Secretary shall— require that the vessel be— A vessel that is prohibited from fishing under subparagraph (C)(ii)(I) shall not be eligible for a fishery endorsement under section 12113(a) of title 46. A fishery endorsement for a vessel described in clause (i) shall not be effective. A vessel described in clause (i) shall not be sold to a foreign owner or reflagged. The Secretary shall make available and update as appropriate, information on data collection and submittal best practices for the information described in paragraph (4)(B). There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this subsection $377,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2023 through 2027. The Secretary, at the request of the appropriate Council for fisheries under the authority of such Council, the Governor of a State for fisheries under State authority, or a majority of permit holders in the fishery, may conduct a voluntary fishing capacity reduction program (referred to in this section as the “program”) in a fishery if the Secretary determines that the program— is consistent with the Federal or State fishery management plan or program in effect for such fishery, as appropriate, and that the fishery management plan— The objective of the program shall be to obtain the maximum sustained reduction in fishing capacity at the least cost and in a minimum period of time. To achieve that objective, the Secretary is authorized to pay— Subject to the availability of funds, the Secretary shall, within 12 months after January 12, 2007, submit to the Congress a report— The Secretary shall base the recommendations made with respect to a fishery on— The program may be funded by any combination of amounts— If an industry fee system is necessary to fund the program, the Secretary may conduct a referendum on such system. Prior to the referendum, the Secretary shall— Notwithstanding section 1854(d) of this title and consistent with an approved industry fee system, the Secretary is authorized to establish such a system to fund the program and repay debt obligations incurred pursuant to section 53735 of title 46. The fees for a program established under this section shall— The Secretary shall propose and adopt framework regulations applicable to the implementation of all programs under this section. The Secretary shall implement each program under this section by promulgating regulations that, together with the framework regulations, establish each program and control its implementation. The Secretary may not propose implementation regulations for a program to be paid for by an industry fee system until the harvester proponents of the program provide to the Secretary a proposed implementation plan that, among other matters— proposes the types and numbers of vessels or permits that are eligible to participate in the program and the manner in which the program shall proceed, taking into account— The Secretary shall contract with each person participating in a program, and each such contract shall, in addition to including such other matters as the Secretary deems necessary and appropriate to effectively implement each program (including penalties for contract non-performance) be consistent with the framework and implementing regulations and all other applicable law. Each program not involving fair market assessment shall involve a reduction auction that scores the reduction price of each bid offer by the data relevant to each bidder under an appropriate fisheries productivity factor. If the Secretary accepts bids, the Secretary shall accept responsive bids in the rank order of their bid scores, starting with the bid whose reduction price is the lowest percentage of the productivity factor, and successively accepting each additional responsive bid in rank order until either there are no more responsive bids or acceptance of the next bid would cause the total value of bids accepted to exceed the amount of funds available for the program. Each program shall proceed by the Secretary issuing invitations to bid setting out the terms and conditions for participation consistent with the framework and implementing regulations. Each bid that the Secretary receives in response to the invitation to bid shall constitute an irrevocable offer from the bidder.