A list of legislation the Council is tracking is provided below. This list is updated monthly. Use the search field to find sponsors, topics, specific bill numbers, etc. For more information, search Govtrack.us or Congress.gov.
| Bill number | Bill name | Introduced by | Status | Notes | Topic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HR 0059 | Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act | Don Young (R-AK) | Introduced | Same as HR 200, introduced in previous Congress. | MSA reauthorization |
| HR 0270 | Genetically Engineered Salmon Labeling Act | Don Young (R-AK) | Introduced | Reintroduction | GMO salmon |
| HR 0271 | To amend the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to require labeling of genetically engineered fish | Don Young (R-AK) | Introduced | Reintroduction | GMO salmon |
| HR 0273 | Prevention of Escapement of Genetically Altered Salmon in the United States Act | Don Young (R-AK) | Introduced | Reintroduction | GMO salmon |
| HR 0274 | Keep Fin Fish Free Act | Don Young (R-AK) | Introduced | Prohibits finfish aquaculture in the EEZ | Aquaculture |
| HR 0406 | Shark Sales Elimination Act | Ted Lieu (D-CA) | Introduced | Reintroduction | Shark finning |
| HR 0455 | California Clean Coast Act | Salud Carbajal (D-CA) | Introduced | Reintroduction. To permanently prohibit oil and gas leasing off the coast of the State of California | OIl and gas |
| HR 0632 | Maritime Lien Reform Act | Don Young (R-AK) | Introduced | Reintroduction. To provide limitations on maritime liens on fishing | Fishing business |
| HR 0749 | Remote Seafood Employee Meals Tax Parity Act | Suzan DelBene (D-WA) | Introduced | Reintroduction. Amends the IRS Code so that the 50% limitation on the deduction for meal expenses does not apply to meals provided on certain fishing boats or fish processing facilities | Fishing business |
| HR 0866 | FISH Act. | Ken Calvert (R-CA) | Introduced | Reintroduction of FISH Act. Amends the Endangered Species Act to make Dept. of Interior responsible for anadromous and catadromous species, including salmon. The Council has commented on this bill. | Management/ESA |
| S 0497/HR 3128 | American Fisheries Advisory Committee Act | Dan Sullivan/Don Young (R-AK) | Reported by Senate committee 5/12/21 | Reintroduction. Establishes the American Fisheries Advisory Committee to assist in the awarding of fisheries research and development grants. | Grants/research |
| S 0276 | SAVES Act | Ted Cruz (R-TX) | Introduced | Reintroduction. Amends the ESA to prohibit the listing of a living nonnative species as a threatened species or endangered species. | Management/ESA |
| S 0381 | National Ocean Exploration Act | Roger Wicker (R-MS) | Reported by committee 4/28/21 | Establishes the National Ocean Mapping, Exploration, and Characterization Council | Research |
| HR 0479 | California Central Coast Conservation Act | Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) | Introduced | Reintroduction. To establish a moratorium on oil and gas leasing on public land on the Central Coast of California | Oil and gas |
| HR 0610 | San Francisco Bay Restoration Act | Jackie Speier (D-CA) | Passed House 6/15/21 | Reintroduction. To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to establish a grant program to support the restoration of San Francisco Bay | Habitat restoration/San Francisco |
| HR 0644 | REBUILD Act | Ken Calvert (R-CA) | Introduced | Reintroduction. Amends NEPA to assign states, instead of Feds, environmental review responsibilities | Management/NEPA |
| HR 0660 | Shovel-Ready Restoration Grants for Coastlines and Fisheries Act | Stacey Plaskett (D-USVI) | Introduced | Requires Commerce to establish a grant program to benefit coastal habitats, resiliency, and the economy | Grants/fisheries and habitat |
| HR 0692 | Recognition of Local Interests in NEPA Decision Making Act | Liz Cheney (R-WY) | Introduced | Amends NEPA to provide a rule to determine venue for a proceeding for judicial review of certain agency actions. | Management/NEPA |
| HR 0794 | Climate Emergency Act. | Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) | Introduced | Requires the President to declare a national climate emergency under the National Emergencies Act | Climate change |
| HR 0849 | Scientific Integrity Act. | Paul Tonko (D-NY) | Introduced | Reintroduction. Amends the America COMPETES Act to establish certain scientific integrity policies for Federal agencies that fund, conduct, or oversee scientific research | Research |
| HR 0930 | SAVES Act. | Louie Gohmert Jr. (R-TX) | Introduced | Reintroduction. Amends the ESA to exempt nonnative species from being treated as threatened or endangered. | Management/ESA |
| HR 0998 | Offshore Wind Jobs and Opportunity Act | William Keating (D-MA) | Introduced | Establishes an offshore wind career training grant program | Offshore wind |
| HR 1354 | Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Boundary Adjustment Study Act | Ted Lieu (D-CA) | Introduced | Directs the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study of portions of the Los Angeles coastal area in the State of California to evaluate alternatives for protecting the resources of the coastal area | Habitat |
| HR 0074 | Protecting Local Communities from Harmful Algal Blooms Act | Vern Buchanan (R-FL) | Introduced | Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to include algal blooms in the definition of a major disaster | Climate change/Algal blooms |
| HR 0629 | MAST Act | Don Young (R-AK) | Introduced | Reintroduction. Requires Congressional approval of national monument designations | National monuments |
| S 0058 | West Coast Ocean Protection Act. | Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) | Introduced | Amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to permanently prohibit the conduct of offshore drilling on the outer Continental Shelf off the coast of California, Oregon, and Washington. | Oil and gas |
| S 0140/HR 3748 | BLUE GLOBE Act | Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)/Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) | Senate version reported by committee | Reintroduction. A bill to improve data collection and monitoring of the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts | Data collection |
| S 0273/HR 404 | Driftnet Modernization and Bycatch Reduction Act | Dianne Feinstein/Ted Lieu (D-CA) | Introduced | Reintroduction | Drift gillnets |
| HR 1415 | Tribal Coastal Resiliency Act | Derek Kilmer (D-WA) | Introduced | Amends the Coastal Zone Management Act to authorize grants to Indian Tribes to further achievement of Tribal coastal zone objectives | Grants/tribes |
| HR 2515 | BUILDER Act | Garrett Graves (R-LA) | Introduced | To amend the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to clarify ambiguous provisions, align the Act with relevant case law, reflect modern technologies, optimize interagency coordination, and facilitate a more efficient, effective, and timely environmental review process | Management/NEPA |
| HR 2519 | Keep It in the Ground Act of 2021 | Jared Huffman (D-CA) | Introduced | To prohibit drilling in the outer Continental Shelf, to prohibit coal leases on Federal land, and for other purposes | Oil and gas |
| HR 2533 | To provide for a study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine examining the impact of ocean acidification and other stressors in estuarine environments. | Bill Posey (R-FL) | Introduced | To provide for a study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine examining the impact of ocean acidification and other stressors in estuarine environments. | Climate change/ocean acidification |
| HR 2534 | Climate Stewardship Act | Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) | Introduced | To provide incentives for agricultural producers to carry out climate stewardship practices, to provide for increased reforestation across the United States, to establish the Coastal and Estuary Resilience Grant Program | Climate change/grants |
| HR 2750 | Blue Carbon for Our Planet Act | Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) | Introduced | To establish an Interagency Working Group on Coastal Blue Carbon | Climate change/blue carbon |
| HR 2773 | Recovering America's Wildlife Act of 2021 | Debbie Dingell (D-MI) | Introduced | To amend the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act to make supplemental funds available for management of fish and wildlife species of greatest conservation need as determined by State fish and wildlife agencies | Funding/fish and wildlife |
| HR 2865 | To amend the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 to address sexual harassment involving National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration personnel | Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) | Introduced | Sexual harrassment | |
| HR 2872 | SAFE Act | Matt Cartwright (D-PA) | Introduced | To establish an integrated national approach to respond to ongoing and expected effects of extreme weather and climate change by protecting, managing, and conserving the fish, wildlife, and plants of the United States, and to maximize Government efficiency and reduce costs, in cooperation with State, local, and Tribal Governments and other entities | Climate change |
| S 1106/HR 2811 | Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act | Corey Booker (D-NJ)/Gregorio Sablan (D-CNMI) | Introduced | A bill to prohibit the sale of shark fins | Shark finning |
| S 1150 | Expanding the Maritime Environmental and Technical Assistance Program | Ed Markey (D-MA) | Introduced | A bill to authorize appropriations for the maritime environmental and technical assistance program, and for other purposes. | Fishing business |
| S 1372 | Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act | Marco Rubio (R-FL) | Introduced | A bill to amend and enhance the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act to improve the conservation of sharks | Sharks |
| S 1420 | SAFE Act | Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) | Introduced | A bill to establish an integrated national approach to respond to ongoing and expected effects of extreme weather and climate change by protecting, managing, and conserving the fish, wildlife, and plants of the United States, and to maximize Government efficiency and reduce costs, in cooperation with State, local, and Tribal governments and other entities | Shark finning |
| S 1484 | Forage Fish Conservation Act | Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) | Introduced | A bill to improve the management of forage fish | Forage fish |
| HR 3075 | To address seafood slavery and combat illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing, and for other purposes | Jared Huffman (D-CA) | Introduced | To address seafood slavery and combat illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing, and for other purposes | IUU fisheries, labeling |
| HR 1144 | PUGET SOS Act | Derek Kilmer (D-WA) | Passed House 6/15/21 | To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to provide assistance for programs and activities to protect the water quality of Puget Sound | Habitat restoration/Puget Sound |
| HR 1447 | COAST Research Act Act | Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) | Passed House 5/18/21 | To amend the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009 to establish an Ocean Acidification Advisory Board, to expand and improve the research on Ocean Acidification and Coastal Acidification, to establish and maintain a data archive system for Ocean Acidification data and Coastal Acidification data, and for other purposes. | Climate change/ocean acidification |
| HR 2533 | NEAR Act | Bill Posey (R-FL) | Passed House 5/18/21 | To provide for a study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine examining the impact of ocean acidification and other stressors in estuarine environments. | Climate change/ocean acidification |
| S 1894 | Regional Ocean Partnerships Act | Roger Wicker (R-MS) | Reported by Committee 6/16/21 | A bill to designate Regional Ocean Partnerships of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | Management |
| HR 3048 | North Pacific Ocean Preservation Act | Jared Huffman (D-CA) | Introduced | To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to prohibit oil and gas leasing in certain areas of the Outer Continental Shelf | Oil and gas |
| HR 3053 | American Coasts and Oceans Preservation Act | Mike Levin (D-CA) | Introduced | To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to prohibit oil and gas leasing in the Southern California planning area | Oil and gas |
| HR 3160 | Keep America’s Waterfronts Working Act | Chellie Pingree (D-ME) | Introduced | To amend the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 to establish a Working Waterfront Task Force and a working waterfronts grant program | Working waterfronts |
| HR 3228 | National Coastal Resilience Data and Services Act | Nydia Velazquez (D-NY) | Introduced | To direct the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to improve science, data, and services that enable sound decision-making in response to coastal flood risk, including impacts of sea level rise, storm events, changing Great Lakes water levels, and land subsidence | Climate change/sea level rise |
| HR 3431 | Increasing Community Access to Resiliency Grants Act of 2021 | Chris Pappas (D-NH) | Introduced | To require the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to establish a website providing information about grants available to assist State, Tribal, and local governments with climate resiliency, adaptation and mitigation, and for other purposes. | Climate change/data |
| HR 3764 | Occean-Based Climate Solutions Act | Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) | Reported by House committee 7/14/21 | To direct the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to provide for ocean-based climate solutions to reduce carbon emissions and global warming; to make coastal communities more resilient; and to provide for the conservation and restoration of ocean and coastal habitats, biodiversity, and marine mammal and fish populations; and for other purposes. | Climate change, other topics |
| S 1995/HR 3702 | A bill to amend the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act with respect to sport fish restoration and recreational boating safety | Maria Cantwell (D-WA)/Debbie Dingell (D-MI) | Reported by Senate committee 6/16/21 | A bill to amend the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act with respect to sport fish restoration and recreational boating safety | Sport fishing |
| HR 2238 | Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act | Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) | Introduced | Ocean plastics | |
| HR 3360 | To amend and enhance the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act to improve the conservation of sharks. | Daniel Webster (R-FL) | Introduced | To amend and enhance the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act to improve the conservation of sharks. | Sharks |
| HR 3892 | National Ocean and Coastal Security Improvements Act of 2021 | Donald Beyer Jr. (D-VA) | Introduced | To direct the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Administrator of NOAA, to provide for ocean-based climate solutions to reduce carbon emissions and global warming; to make coastal communities more resilient; and to provide for the conservation and restoration of ocean and coastal habitats, biodiversity, and marine mammal and fish populations; and for other purposes. (Very similar to Ocean Based Climate Solutions Act). | Climate change |
| S 1728/HR 3396 | Extinction Prevention Act | Richard Blumenthal (D-MA)/Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) | Introduced | A bill to create dedicated funds to conserve butterflies in North America, plants in the Pacific Islands, freshwater mussels in the United States, and desert fish in the Southwest United States, and for other purposes. | Habitat/funding |
| S 192 | River Democracy Act | Ron Wyden (D-OR) | Introduced | Amends the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate certain river segments in the State of Oregon as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System | Habitat/Wild and Scenic River |
| S 2194/HR 4092 | Coastal Habitat Conservation Act | Benjamin Cardin (D-MD)/Jared Huffman (D-CA) | Introduced | A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior, through the Coastal Program of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, to work with willing partners and provide support to efforts to assess, protect, restore, and enhance important coastal areas that provide fish and wildlife habitat on which Federal trust species depend | Habitat/funding |
| HR 3692 | Marine Mammal Climate Change Protection Act | Julia Brownley (D-CA) | Introduced | To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish a climate impact management plan for the conservation of certain marine mammal species, and for other purposes. | Climate/marine mammals |
| HR 3813 | NEPA Legal Reform Act | Liz Cheney (R-WY) | Introduced | To amend the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to provide for legal reform | NEPA |
| HR 3814 | UNSHACKLE Act | Liz Cheney (R-WY) | Introduced | To amend the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to impose time limits on the completion of certain required actions under the Act | NEPA |
| HR 3817 | Regional Ocean Partnership Act of 2021 | Charlie Crist (D-FL) | Introduced | To allow coastal States to participate in regional ocean partnerships with one or more other coastal States that share a common ocean or coastal area with the coastal State to conserve living resources, expand and protect valuable habitats, enhance coastal resilience, and address such other issues related to the shared ocean or coastal area as are determined to be a shared, regional priority by those States. | Management |
| HR 3906 | Blue Carbon Protection Act | Jared Huffman (D-CA) | Introduced | To establish a Blue Carbon program to conserve and restore marine and coastal blue carbon ecosystems | Climate/blue carbon |
| HR 3952 | NOAA Chief Scientist Act | Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) | Introduced | To strengthen the role of the Chief Scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in order to promote scientific integrity and advance the Administration’s world-class research and development portfolio. | Science |
| HR 3973 | LIST Act of 2021 | Andy Biggs (R-AZ) | Introduced | To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to provide for improved precision in the listing, delisting, and downlisting of endangered species and potentially endangered species. | ESA |
| HR 4057 | Albatross and Petrel Conservation Act | Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) | Introduced | To implement the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels | Seabirds |
| HR 4235 | Living Shorelines Act | Frank Pallone, Jr (D-NJ) | Introduced | To require the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to award grants to certain entities for purposes of carrying out climate-resilient living shoreline projects that protect coastal communities | Climate/grants |
| HR 4833 | Untitled | Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) | Introduced | To amend the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to affirm that the Migratory Bird Treaty Act’s prohibition on the unauthorized take or killing of migratory birds includes incidental take by commercial activities, and to direct the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to regulate such incidental take, and for other purposes. | Seabirds |
| HR 4690 | Sustaining America’s Fisheries for the Future Act of 2021 | Jared Huffman (D-CA) | Introduced | Reauthorizes the Magnuson-Stevens Act | MSA |
| HR 4335 | NEPA Accountability and Enforcement Act | David Schweikert (R-AZ) | Introduced | NEPA | |
| HR 4336 | NEPA State Assignment Expansion Act | David Schweikert (R-AZ) | Introduced | NEPA | |
| HR 4370 | Listing Reform Act | August Pfluger II (R-TX) | Introduced | ESA | |
| HR 4375 | Twenty-First Century Dams Act | Ann Kuster (D-NH) | Introduced | To provide funding to rehabilitate, retrofit, and remove the Nation's dams to improve the health of the Nation's rivers, improve public safety, and increase clean energy production, and for other purposes. | Dams |
| HR 4458 | KELP Act | Jared Huffman (D-CA) | Introduced | To establish a grant program within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to award grants to eligible entities for the purpose of carrying out projects on the conservation, restoration, or management of kelp forest ecosystems. | Kelp habitats |
| HR 4671 | EMPOWERS Act | Jason Smith (R-MO) | Introduced | To provide for greater county and State consultation with regard to petitions under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and for other purposes. | ESA |
| HR 4712 | Desalination Development Act | Mike Levin (D-CA) | Introduced | Promotes desalination project development and drought resilience. | Desalination |
| HR 4739 | Untitled | Paul Gosar (R-AZ) | Introduced | To amend the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to require the submission of certain reports, and for other purposes. | NEPA |
| HR 4740 | Untitled | Paul Gosar (R-AZ) | Introduced | To amend the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to reform agency process requirements, and for other purposes. | NEPA |
| HR 3813 | Reef Safe Act | Jeff Merkley (D-OR) | Introduced | Requires standards for “reef safe” and “ocean safe” labels for sunscreen | Reefs |