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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Greetings listserve members, friends, colleagues, and others who have responded to my inquiry about coral reef regulations. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>I have received many responses and inquiries about the Coral Reef Wildlife International Trade Act Amendment of 2012 </span><a href="http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr738/text">http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr738/text</a>. <span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Below is a summary of the responses I received:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2'><![if !supportLists]><span style='color:#1F497D'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>-<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='color:#1F497D'>Bill was introduced by Congresswoman Bordallo and an inquiry to her office was made (</span>Rebecca Jablonski : <a href="mailto:rjablon@mail.house.gov">rjablon@mail.house.gov</a>)<span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2'><![if !supportLists]><span style='color:#1F497D'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>-<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]>Some initial interpretation: (3)(D)(i) and (ii) were interpreted by one commenter as vessels conducting permitted scientific research must take care to not damage reefs too, but could be allowed to damage them under certain permitted activities and explicit permissions to cause damage by those means (sampling or collecting; and destruction, loss, or injury that is the result of a vessel grounding, scraping, anchor damage, excavation, etc.)<span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>-<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]>It “appears” that the intent of the bill is not to target scientific research and collecting, although the Senate version is slightly different<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>-<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]>The bill is not likely to proceed as both House and Senate are tied up with other matters <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>-<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]>We are working together with the author of the bill to clean up the language<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>-<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>-<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>AND FINALLY: Response from from Shannon Simpson, the Coral Program's Congressional Affairs and Legislative Coordinator<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>John Christensen has asked me as the Coral Program's Congressional Affairs and Legislative Coordinator and the lead for the CRCA reauthorization to address these concerns. A few things:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>1) The bill mentioned/referenced in the email at the beginning of this chain is House bill H.R.738 and is called "Coral Reef Conservation Act Reauthorization and Enhancement Amendments of 2011". It was introduced in February of 2011 to reauthorize the CRCA of 2000 by Rep. Bordallo and is not designed to address coral reef wildlife trade, domestic or international. The House Natural Resources Committee has taken no action on this bill since it was introduced. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>2) The only coral trade bill I am aware of is one that Senator Inouye is working on, but that may not get introduced until next congress. The current congress ends at the end of calendar year 2012. As always I will continue to provide updates on this in our NOAA Coral Collaboration meetings.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>3) The H.R.738 exemption language for "bona fide marine scientific research" referenced in the email chain forwarded to John and causing some concern to those on this email was lifted from the Senate version to reauthorize the CRCA of 2000 (S.46) introduced by Sen. Inouye in January 2011. However, it appears that the word "excessive" which occurs in S.46 in conjunction with "sampling or collecting" was left out of H.R.738 and should read as follows:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> ‘(C) the necessary result of bona fide marine scientific research (including marine scientific research activities approved by Federal, State, or local permits), other than--<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> ‘(i) <b><span style='color:red'>excessive</span></b><span style='color:red'> </span>sampling or collecting; and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> ‘(ii) destruction, loss, or injury that is a result of a vessel grounding, a vessel scraping, anchor damage, or excavation that is not authorized by a Federal or State permit; or'<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>NOTE: The Senate language referenced above was actually written by NOAA several years ago in an Administration bill coordinated by the Coral Program and vetted through the matrix. The intent of exemption (C) to the prohibited activities is to avoid the need for an additional permitting program and to insure a minimal affect on current marine scientific research activities.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>FYI, S.46 was passed by the Senate Commerce Committee in May of 2011 and no further action has been taken. Since the end of calendar year 2012 and therefore the end of the current 2 year congress (112th Congress) is fast approaching and given it's an election year, it is highly unlikely that either of these bills, S.46 or H.R.738, will be signed into law before we transition into a new congress at the beginning of 2013. At the end of the 2 year life of a particular Congress, the slate gets cleared and all bills that have not been signed into law go the the graveyard. At that point the process starts all over again. In order to live on they must be reintroduced in the new congress and run the gauntlet of steps again including introduction, passage through subcommittee and full committee, passage by the full house the bill originated in, conference with the other house (can sometimes occur before the previous step thereby rendering the previous step unnecessary), passage by both Senate and House, then the ultimate goal of being signed by the president. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Back to the issue at hand, I will bring the omission of "excessive" in H.R.738 to the attention of NOAA Legislative Affairs with the intent to raise this issue with the House Natural Resources Committee and Rep. Bordallo to determine if this was intentional or just a mistake. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>For more information on either the Senate (S.46) or House (H.R.738) bills to reauthorize the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 please visit the NOAA Coral Program webpage at the link below (from main page at <a href="http://www.coralreef.noaa.gov/" target="_blank">www.coralreef.noaa.gov</a> go to "About CRCP" under "Future Strategy")<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://coralreef.noaa.gov/aboutcrcp/strategy/reauthorization/welcome.html" target="_blank">http://coralreef.noaa.gov/aboutcrcp/strategy/reauthorization/welcome.html</a> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>or by looking up each of the bill numbers (ex. H.R.738) at the Library of Congress website below. Just choose "bill number" and plug in the appropriate combination of letters and numbers as indicated above.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/" target="_blank">http://thomas.loc.gov</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Always happy to answer any questions regarding this<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>I will keep you all informed as this issue progresses.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Jay<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Jay Cordeiro<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>University of Massachusetts Boston<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>And <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>Northeast Natural History & Supply<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'><a href="mailto:jay.cordeiro@umb.edu">jay.cordeiro@umb.edu</a></span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> Jay R. Cordeiro <br><b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, June 20, 2012 9:16 AM<br><b>To:</b> nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu; 'esb@fws.gov'; 'FISH-SCI@SEGATE.SUNET.SE'; crust-l@vims.edu; 'IUCN World Conservation Congress'<br><b>Subject:</b> Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2012 impacts on scientific research<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Hello list members, colleagues, and friends<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Has anyone heard of the Coral Reef Wildlife International Trade and Conservation Act of 2012? Apparently it is a proposal by legislator Bordallo to re-authorize and amend the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000. I have read through the act and am concerned about a line item that will likely affect scientific collecting on coral reefs in U.S. waters. A complete description of the act, as proposed, can be found here: <a href="http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr738/text">http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr738/text</a>. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The line item in reference is Sec. 206 (Emergency Response Actions), (e) Liability for Costs and Damages to Coral Reefs, (3) Examptions, (C) <span style='color:black'>the necessary result of bona fide marine scientific research (including marine scientific research activities approved by Federal, State, or local permits), other than--‘(i) <u>sampling or collecting</u><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>Am I reading too much into this or does this specifically prohibit any collecting of scientific specimens on U.S. coral reefs? Note the amendment also lumps any coral reef within the jurisdiction of the U.S. or any state as a National Marine Sanctuary regardless of whether it has formally designated as such.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>Looking forward to responses. If possible, could you all cc me directly with your responses? Sometimes listserve messages do not always reach me. Also, please pass this around.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>Jay Cordeiro<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>University of Massachusetts<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>And <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>Northeast Natural History & Supply<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'><a href="mailto:jay.cordeiro@umb.edu">jay.cordeiro@umb.edu</a></span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>