[House Report 113-399]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
113th Congress Rept. 113-399
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session Part 1
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AUTHORIZING THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC
ADMINISTRATION TO PROVIDE CERTAIN FUNDS TO ELIGIBLE ENTITIES FOR
ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN TO ADDRESS THE MARINE DEBRIS IMPACTS OF THE MARCH
2011 TOHOKU EARTHQUAKE AND SUBSEQUENT TSUNAMI, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
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April 2, 2014.--Ordered to be printed
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Mr. Hastings of Washington, from the Committee on Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 1491]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 1491) to authorize the Administrator of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to provide
certain funds to eligible entities for activities undertaken to
address the marine debris impacts of the March 2011 Tohoku
earthquake and subsequent tsunami, and for other purposes,
having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an
amendment and recommend that the bill as amended do pass.
The amendment is as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE FUNDS.
(a) In General.--The Administrator of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration may provide funds to an eligible entity
impacted by the covered severe marine debris event to assist such
entity with the costs of any activity carried out to address the
effects of such event.
(b) Funding.--The Administrator may provide funds under subsection
(a) using any funds provided by the Government of Japan for activities
to address the effects of the covered severe marine debris event.
(c) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Covered severe marine debris event.--The term ``covered
severe marine debris event'' means the events, including marine
debris, resulting from the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and
subsequent tsunami.
(2) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means any
State (as that term is defined in section 7 of the Marine
Debris Act (33 U.S.C. 1956)), local, or tribal government.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 1491 is to authorize the Administrator
of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to
provide certain funds to eligible entities for activities
undertaken to address the marine debris impacts of the March
2011 Tohoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
In fiscal year 2012, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) allocated $875,000 from its marine debris
base funding for the Community-based Marine Debris Prevention
and Removal Grants Program. According to NOAA, the grants
supported locally driven, community-based marine debris
prevention and removal projects that benefit coastal habitat,
waterways, and wildlife. The competitive grants were awarded to
groups throughout the country, including state agencies and
municipalities. NOAA stated the projects were not specifically
focused on tsunami debris, but noted about 42 percent of the
funds went to states impacted by the debris confirmed to be
from the March 2011 tsunami that struck Japan.
NOAA also provided additional funds to address the tsunami-
related debris, making available $250,000 through cooperative
agreements to Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, and
Hawaii. Each state received $50,000 for marine debris removal
efforts.
In December 2012, the Government of Japan gifted $5 million
to the U.S. to remove marine debris determined to be from Japan
due to the 2011 tsunami. Using existing cooperative agreements
with the states and existing legal authorities, NOAA was able
to funnel $250,000 each to Alaska, Washington, Oregon,
California and Hawaii, and $50,000 each to Guam and the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). In
addition, NOAA contributed $478,000 of the $5 million to remove
a dock in the remote wilderness coast in the Olympic Coast
National Marine Sanctuary and the Olympic National Park. A
September 2013 NOAA update on the funds noted $2.478 million of
the $5 million was obligated and approximately $2,422,000
remains.
On December 20, 2012, amendments to the Marine Debris Act
were signed into law (Public Law 112-213). The law required
NOAA to make a determination whether the March 2011 Japan
earthquake and subsequent tsunami were the cause of a ``severe
marine debris event''. The law defines a ``severe marine debris
event'' as ``atypically large amounts of marine debris caused
by a natural disaster, including a tsunami, flood, landslide,
or hurricane, or other source.'' On February 14, 2013, NOAA
made this determination. The law requires NOAA to notify
certain committees in Congress, but requires no other action
after the determination.
H.R. 1491 would authorize the Administrator of NOAA to use
funds, provided to the U.S. from the Government of Japan, as
grants to any State, locality or tribal government that was
effected by a covered marine debris event resulting from the
March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami. NOAA has
the ability under existing law to pay for current and future
debris removal efforts; however, H.R. 1491 would give NOAA the
authority to also reimburse States for past costs of debris
removal efforts.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 1491 was introduced on April 11, 2013, by
Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR). The bill was referred to
the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and in
addition to the Committee on Natural Resources. Within the
Committee on Natural Resources, the bill was referred to the
Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular
Affairs. On June 13, 2013, the Subcommittee held a hearing on
the bill. On December 4, 2013, the Natural Resources Committee
met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee on Fisheries,
Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs was discharged by
unanimous consent. Congressman Don Young (R-AK) offered an
amendment designated .002 to the bill; the amendment was
adopted by unanimous consent. No further amendments were
offered and the bill, as amended, was then ordered favorably
reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous consent.
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
1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the
rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(2)(B)
of that Rule provides that this requirement does not apply when
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974. Under clause 3(c)(3) of rule
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section
403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has
received the following cost estimate for this bill from the
Director of the Congressional Budget Office:
H.R. 1491--A bill to authorize the Administrator of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to provide certain funds
to eligible entities for activities undertaken to address the
marine debris impacts of the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and
subsequent tsunami, and for other purposes
H.R. 1491 would authorize the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to use funds provided by the
government of Japan to reimburse states for costs incurred to
clean up marine debris stemming from a tsunami. Based on
information provided by NOAA, CBO estimates that implementing
the bill would have no significant cost. Because CBO expects
that enacting the bill would allow NOAA to spend certain funds
faster than it would under current law, CBO estimates that
enacting H.R. 1491 would affect direct spending; however, we
estimate that any net effects on spending would be minimal.
Enacting the legislation would not affect revenues.
In December 2012, Japan provided a $5 million gift to the
United States to fund efforts to clean up marine debris from a
tsunami that affected Japan in 2011. Under current law, NOAA
may use those funds to cover costs incurred after the gift was
received. Under the bill, the agency would be able to use those
funds to reimburse states for costs incurred prior to December
2012. CBO estimates that allowing NOAA to use funds for that
purpose would increase direct spending in 2014 and reduce
direct spending in later years; however, we estimate that the
net effect on spending would be minimal.
H.R. 1491 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeff LaFave. The
estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
2. Section 308(a) of Congressional Budget Act. As required
by clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives and section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget
Act of 1974, this bill does not contain any new budget
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in
revenues or tax expenditures. CBO estimates that implementing
the bill would affect direct spending but the net effects would
be minimal.
3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or
objective of this bill is to authorize the Administrator of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to provide
certain funds to eligible entities for activities undertaken to
address the marine debris impacts of the March 2011 Tohoku
earthquake and subsequent tsunami.
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.
COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
COMPLIANCE WITH H. RES. 5
Directed Rule Making. The Chairman does not believe that
this bill directs any executive branch official to conduct any
specific rule-making proceedings.
Duplication of Existing Programs. The bill does establish a
program of the federal government known to be duplicative of
another federal program, although it does not reauthorize such
a program. Such program was identified in the most recent
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance published pursuant to
the Federal Program Information Act (Public Law 95-220), as
amended by Public Law 98-169) as relating to other programs,
coastal zone management administrative awards and habitat
conservation. These related programs specifically include
Coastal Zone Management Administration Awards, Financial
Assistance for National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science,
Regional Fishery Management Councils, Chesapeake Bay Studies,
and Congressionally Identified Awards and Projects. However,
the purpose of H.R. 1491 is to allow a one-time event--the
expenditure of certain funds donated by the Government of Japan
to address marine debris associated with the March 2011 Tohoku
earthquake and subsequent tsunami, which affected Pacific coast
states and territories. While NOAA has the legal authority to
grant funds to coastal states and the territories for marine
debris removal, H.R. 1491 will allow the states to be
reimbursed for the expenditure of their own funds from the
donated Japanese funds. This is not a situation expected to be
repeated.
PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW
This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or
tribal law.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing
law.