[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[H.R. 2772 Introduced in House (IH)]
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2772
To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act
to permit eligible fishermen to approve certain limited access
privilege programs, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 1, 2011
Mr. Runyan (for himself, Mr. Jones, and Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural
Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act
to permit eligible fishermen to approve certain limited access
privilege programs, 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 ``Saving Fishing Jobs Act of 2011''.
SEC. 2. APPROVAL OF CERTAIN LIMITED ACCESS PRIVILEGE PROGRAMS.
(a) Eligibility To Sign Petition.--Section 303A(c)(6)(B) of the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C.
1853a(c)(6)(B)) is amended by striking ``For multispecies permits'' and
all that follows through ``this subparagraph''.
(b) Initiation by Eligible Fishermen Under Certain Councils.--
Section 303A(c)(6)(D) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1853a(c)(6)(D)) is amended to read as
follows:
``(D) New england, mid-atlantic, south atlantic,
and gulf initiation.--
``(i) In general.--In the case of a fishery
under the authority of the New England, Mid-
Atlantic, South Atlantic, or Gulf of Mexico
Fishery Management Council, a fishery
management plan or an amendment to a fishery
management plan that would establish a limited
access privilege program to harvest fish may
not take effect unless--
``(I) a petition requesting
development of such program is
submitted in accordance with clause
(ii) and certified under clause (iii);
``(II) the Council makes available
to eligible fishermen an estimate of
the amount of the fee that would be
collected under section 304(d)(2) if
such program were established; and
``(III) not earlier than 90 days
after the estimate required under
subclause (II) has been made available,
the proposed plan or amendment is
approved by a vote of two-thirds of
eligible fishermen in the fishery for
which the program would be established.
``(ii) Petition.--A group of fishermen
constituting more than 50 percent of eligible
fishermen in a fishery may submit a petition to
the Secretary requesting the development of a
limited access privilege program for the
fishery. Any such petition shall clearly state
the fishery to which the limited access
privilege program would apply.
``(iii) Certification by secretary.--Upon
the receipt of any such petition, the Secretary
shall review all of the signatures on the
petition and, if the Secretary determines that
the signatures on the petition are those of
more than 50 percent of eligible fishermen in
the fishery for which the program would be
established, the Secretary shall certify the
petition.
``(iv) Definition of eligible fishermen.--
For purposes of this subparagraph, the term
`eligible fishermen' means holders of permits
issued under a fishery management plan.''.
SEC. 3. TERMINATION OF CERTAIN LIMITED ACCESS PRIVILEGE PROGRAMS.
Section 303A of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1853a) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(j) Termination.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall terminate a limited
access privilege program established after the date of the
enactment of the Saving Fishing Jobs Act of 2011 for a fishery
under the authority of the New England, Mid-Atlantic, South
Atlantic, or Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, on the
first date on which the Secretary determines that the number of
eligible fishermen in the fishery in a year is at least 15
percent less than the number of eligible fishermen in the
fishery in the year preceding the year in which the program was
established.
``(2) Definition of eligible fishermen.--In this
subsection, the term `eligible fishermen' has the meaning given
the term in subsection (c)(6)(D)(iv).''.
SEC. 4. FEES RECOVERED FOR CERTAIN LIMITED ACCESS PRIVILEGE PROGRAMS.
Section 304(d)(2) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1854(d)(2)) is amended by adding at the end
the following:
``(D) In the case of a fee collected under subparagraph (A)
for a limited access privilege program established under
section 303A(c)(6)(D) after the date of the enactment of the
Saving Fishing Jobs Act of 2011--
``(i) the fee shall be in an amount sufficient to
recover all costs of such program, including observer
costs; and
``(ii) the 3-percent limitation in subparagraph (B)
shall not apply with respect to such fee.''.
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