REGIONAL FISHERY MANAGEMENT COUNCILS.

SEC. 107. REGIONAL FISHERY MANAGEMENT COUNCILS. (a) Section 302(a) (16 U.S.C. 1852(a)) is amended— (1) by inserting “(1)” after the subsection heading; (2) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (8) as subparagraphs (A) through (H), respectively; (3) by striking “section 304(f)(3)” wherever it appears and inserting “paragraph (3)”; (4) in paragraph (1)(B), as amended— (A) by striking “and Virginia” and inserting “Virginia, and North Carolina”; (B) by inserting “North Carolina, and” after “except”; (C) by striking “19” and inserting “21”; and (D) by striking “12” and inserting “13”; (5) by striking paragraph (1)(F), as redesignated, and inserting the following: “(F) Pacific council.—The Pacific Fishery Management Council shall consist of the States of California, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho and shall have authority over the fisheries in the Pacific Ocean seaward of such States. The Pacific Council shall have 14 voting members, including 8 appointed by the Secretary in accordance with subsection (b)(2) (at least one of whom shall be appointed from each such State), and including one appointed from an Indian tribe with Federally recognized fishing rights from California, Oregon, Washington, or Idaho in accordance with subsection (b)(5).”; (6) by indenting the sentence at the end thereof and inserting “(2)” before “Each Council”; and (7) by adding at the end the following: “(3) The Secretary shall have authority over any highly migratory species fishery that is within the geographical area of authority of more than one of the following Councils: New England Council, Mid-Atlantic Council, South Atlantic Council, Gulf Council, and Caribbean Council.”. (b) Section 302(b) (16 U.S.C. 1852(b)) is amended— 110 STAT. 3571 (1) by striking “subsection (b)(2)” in paragraphs (1)(C) and (3), and inserting in both places “paragraphs (2) and (5)”; (2) by striking the last sentence in paragraph (3) and inserting the following: “Any term in which an individual was appointed to replace a member who left office during the term shall not be counted in determining the number of consecutive terms served by that Council member.”; and (3) by striking paragraph (5) and inserting after paragraph (4) the following: “(5)(A) The Secretary shall appoint to the Pacific Council one representative of an Indian tribe with Federally recognized fishing rights from California, Oregon, Washington, or Idaho from a list of not less than 3 individuals submitted by the tribal governments. The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior and tribal governments, shall establish by regulation the procedure for submitting a list under this subparagraph. “(B) Representation shall be rotated among the tribes taking into consideration— “(i) the qualifications of the individuals on the list referred to in subparagraph (A), “(ii) the various rights of the Indian tribes involved and judicial cases that set forth how those rights are to be exercised, and “(iii) the geographic area in which the tribe of the representative is located. “(C) A vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of any term shall be filled in the same manner as set out in subparagraphs (A) and (B), except that the Secretary may use the list from which the vacating representative was chosen. “(6) The Secretary may remove for cause any member of a Council required to be appointed by the Secretary in accordance with paragraphs (2) or (5) if— “(A) the Council concerned first recommends removal by not less than two-thirds of the members who are voting members and submits such removal recommendation to the Secretary in writing together with a statement of the basis for the recommendation; or “(B) the member is found by the Secretary, after notice and an opportunity for a hearing in accordance with section 554 of title 5, United States Code, to have committed an act prohibited by section 307(1)(O).”. (c) Section 302(d) (16 U.S.C. 1852(d)) is amended in the first sentence— (1) by striking “each Council,” and inserting “each Council who are required to be appointed by the Secretary and”; and (2) by striking “shall, until January 1, 1992,” and all that follows through “GS–16” and inserting “shall receive compensation at the daily rate for GS–15, step 7”. (d) Section 302(e) (16 U.S.C. 1852(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following: “(5) At the request of any voting member of a Council, the Council shall hold a roll call vote on any matter before the Council. The official minutes and other appropriate records of any Council meeting shall identify all roll call votes held, the name of each voting member present during each roll call vote, and how each member voted on each roll call vote.”. 110 STAT. 3572 (e) Section 302(g) (16 U.S.C. 1852(g)) is amended by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (5), and by inserting after paragraph (3) the following: “(4) The Secretary shall establish advisory panels to assist in the collection and evaluation of information relevant to the development of any fishery management plan or plan amendment for a fishery to which subsection (a)(3) applies. Each advisory panel shall participate in all aspects of the development of the plan or amendment; be balanced in its representation of commercial, recreational, and other interests; and consist of not less than 7 individuals who are knowledgeable about the fishery for which the plan or amendment is developed, selected from among— “(A) members of advisory committees and species working groups appointed under Acts implementing relevant international fishery agreements pertaining to highly migratory species; and “(B) other interested persons.”. (f) Section 302(h) (16 U.S.C. 1852(h)) is amended— (1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following: “(1) for each fishery under its authority that requires conservation and management, prepare and submit to the Secretary (A) a fishery management plan, and (B) amendments to each such plan that are necessary from time to time (and promptly whenever changes in conservation and management measures in another fishery substantially affect the fishery for which such plan was developed);”; (2) in paragraph (2)— (A) by striking “section 204(b)(4)(C),” in paragraph (2) and inserting “section 204(b)(4)(C) or section 204(d),”; (B) by striking “304(c)(2)” and inserting “304(c)(4)”; and (3) by striking “304(f)(3)” in paragraph (5) and inserting “subsection (a)(3)”. (g) Section 302 is amended further by striking subsection (i), and by redesignating subsections (j) and (k) as subsections (i) and (j), respectively. (h) Section 302(i), as redesignated, is amended— (1) by striking “of the Councils” in paragraph (1) and inserting “established under subsection (g)”; (2) by striking “of a Council:” in paragraph (2) and inserting “established under subsection (g):”; (3) by striking “Council’s” in paragraph (2)(C); (4) by adding the following at the end of paragraph (2)(C): “The published agenda of the meeting may not be modified to include additional matters for Council action without public notice or within 14 days prior to the meeting date, unless such modification is to address an emergency action under section 305(c), in which case public notice shall be given immediately”; (5) by adding the following at the end of paragraph (2)(D): “All written information submitted to a Council by an interested person shall include a statement of the source and date of such information. Any oral or written statement shall include a brief description of the background and interests of the person in the subject of the oral or written statement.”; (6) by striking paragraph (2)(E) and inserting: 110 STAT. 3573 “(E) Detailed minutes of each meeting of the Council, except for any closed session, shall be kept and shall contain a record of the persons present, a complete and accurate description of matters discussed and conclusions reached, and copies of all statements filed. The Chairman shall certify the accuracy of the minutes of each such meeting and submit a copy thereof to the Secretary. The minutes shall be made available to any court of competent jurisdiction.”; (7) by striking “by the Council” the first place it appears in paragraph (2)(F); (8) by inserting “or the Secretary, as appropriate” in paragraph (2)(F) after “of the Council”; (9) by striking “303(d)” each place it appears in paragraph (2)(F) and inserting “402(b)”; and (10) by striking “303(d)” in paragraph (4) and inserting “402(b)”. (i) Section 302(j), as redesignated, is amended— (1) by inserting “and Recusal” after “Interest” in the subsection heading; (2) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following: “(1) For the purposes of this subsection— “(A) the term ‘affected individual’ means an individual who— “(i) is nominated by the Governor of a State for appointment as a voting member of a Council in accordance with subsection (b)(2); or “(ii) is a voting member of a Council appointed— “(I) under subsection (b)(2); or “(II) under subsection (b)(5) who is not subject to disclosure and recusal requirements under the laws of an Indian tribal government; and “(B) the term ‘designated official’ means a person with expertise in Federal conflict-of-interest requirements who is designated by the Secretary, in consultation with the Council, to attend Council meetings and make determinations under paragraph (7)(B).”; (3) by striking “(1)(A)” in paragraph (3)(A) and inserting “(1)(A)(i)”; (4) by striking “(1)(B) or (C)” in paragraph (3)(B) and inserting “(1)(A)(ii)”; (5) by striking “(1)(B) or (C)” in paragraph (4) and inserting “(1)(A)(ii)”; (6)(A) by striking “and” at the end of paragraph (5)(A); (B) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (5)(B) and inserting a semicolon and the word “and”; and (C) by adding at the end of paragraph (5) the following: “(C) be kept on file by the Secretary for use in reviewing determinations under paragraph (7)(B) and made available for public inspection at reasonable hours.”; (7) by striking “(1)(B) or (C)” in paragraph (6) and inserting “(1)(A)(ii)”; (8) by redesignating paragraph (7) as paragraph (8) and inserting after paragraph (6) the following: “(7) (A) After the effective date of regulations promulgated under subparagraph (F) of this paragraph, an affected individual required to disclose a financial interest under paragraph 110 STAT. 3574(2) shall not vote on a Council decision which would have a significant and predictable effect on such financial interest. A Council decision shall be considered to have a significant and predictable effect on a financial interest if there is a close causal link between the Council decision and an expected and substantially disproportionate benefit to the financial interest of the affected individual relative to the financial interests of other participants in the same gear type or sector of the fishery. An affected individual who may not vote may participate in Council deliberations relating to the decision after notifying the Council of the voting recusal and identifying the financial interest that would be affected. “(B) At the request of an affected individual, or upon the initiative of the appropriate designated official, the designated official shall make a determination for the record whether a Council decision would have a significant and predictable effect on a financial interest. “(C) Any Council member may submit a written request to the Secretary to review any determination by the designated official under subparagraph (B) within 10 days of such determination. Such review shall be completed within 30 days of receipt of the request. “(D) Any affected individual who does not vote in a Council decision in accordance with this subsection may state for the record how he or she would have voted on such decision if he or she had voted. “(E) If the Council makes a decision before the Secretary has reviewed a determination under subparagraph (C), the eventual ruling may not be treated as cause for the invalidation or reconsideration by the Secretary of such decision. “(F) The Secretary, in consultation with the Councils and by not later than one year from the date of enactment of the Sustainable Fisheries Act, shall promulgate regulations which prohibit an affected individual from voting in accordance with subparagraph (A), and which allow for the making of determinations under subparagraphs (B) and (C).”; and (9) by striking “(1)(B) or (C)” in paragraph (8), as redesignated, and inserting “(1)(A)(ii)”.