| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 261 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To amend the National Marine Sanctuaries Act to prohibit requiring an |
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| 6 | 6 | | authorization for the installation, continued presence, operation, mainte- |
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| 7 | 7 | | nance, repair, or recovery of undersea fiber optic cables in a national |
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| 8 | 8 | | marine sanctuary if such activities have previously been authorized by |
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| 9 | 9 | | a Federal or State agency. |
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| 10 | 10 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 11 | 11 | | JANUARY9, 2025 |
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| 12 | 12 | | Mr. C |
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| 13 | 13 | | ARTERof Georgia (for himself, Mr. DUNNof Florida, Mrs. CAMMACK, |
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| 14 | 14 | | Mrs. K |
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| 15 | 15 | | IGGANSof Virginia, Mr. FRY, and Mr. PFLUGER) introduced the |
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| 16 | 16 | | following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources |
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| 17 | 17 | | A BILL |
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| 18 | 18 | | To amend the National Marine Sanctuaries Act to prohibit |
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| 19 | 19 | | requiring an authorization for the installation, continued |
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| 20 | 20 | | presence, operation, maintenance, repair, or recovery of |
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| 21 | 21 | | undersea fiber optic cables in a national marine sanc- |
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| 22 | 22 | | tuary if such activities have previously been authorized |
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| 23 | 23 | | by a Federal or State agency. |
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| 24 | 24 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 25 | 25 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 26 | 26 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 27 | 27 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Undersea Cable Pro-4 |
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| 28 | 28 | | tection Act of 2025’’. 5 |
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| 29 | 29 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:28 Jan 31, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H261.IH H261 |
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| 30 | 30 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 |
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| 31 | 31 | | •HR 261 IH |
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| 32 | 32 | | SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON REQUIRING AUTHORIZATIONS 1 |
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| 33 | 33 | | FOR UNDERSEA FIBER OPTIC CABLES PRE-2 |
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| 34 | 34 | | VIOUSLY AUTHORIZED BY FEDERAL OR 3 |
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| 35 | 35 | | STATE AGENCIES. 4 |
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| 36 | 36 | | The National Marine Sanctuaries Act (16 U.S.C. 5 |
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| 37 | 37 | | 1431 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 310 6 |
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| 38 | 38 | | the following: 7 |
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| 39 | 39 | | ‘‘SEC. 310A. PROHIBITION ON REQUIRING AUTHORIZA-8 |
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| 40 | 40 | | TIONS FOR UNDERSEA FIBER OPTIC CABLES 9 |
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| 41 | 41 | | PREVIOUSLY AUTHORIZED BY FEDERAL OR 10 |
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| 42 | 42 | | STATE AGENCIES. 11 |
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| 43 | 43 | | ‘‘(a) I |
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| 44 | 44 | | NGENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro-12 |
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| 45 | 45 | | vision of this Act, the Secretary may not prohibit or re-13 |
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| 46 | 46 | | quire any authorization for the installation, continued 14 |
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| 47 | 47 | | presence, operation, maintenance, repair, or recovery of 15 |
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| 48 | 48 | | undersea fiber optic cables in a national marine sanctuary 16 |
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| 49 | 49 | | if a license, lease, or permit has been issued by a Federal 17 |
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| 50 | 50 | | or State agency authorizing such installation, continued 18 |
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| 51 | 51 | | presence, operation, maintenance, repair, or recovery. 19 |
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| 52 | 52 | | ‘‘(b) I |
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| 53 | 53 | | NTERAGENCY COOPERATION.—The Secretary 20 |
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| 54 | 54 | | may direct the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin-21 |
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| 55 | 55 | | istration to engage in interagency cooperation under sec-22 |
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| 56 | 56 | | tion 304(d) in any Federal agency action described in that 23 |
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| 57 | 57 | | section and involving the installation, continued presence, 24 |
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| 58 | 58 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:28 Jan 31, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H261.IH H261 |
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| 59 | 59 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 |
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| 60 | 60 | | •HR 261 IH |
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| 61 | 61 | | operation, maintenance, repair, or recovery of undersea 1 |
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| 62 | 62 | | fiber optic cables in a national marine sanctuary.’’. 2 |
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| 63 | 63 | | Æ |
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| 64 | 64 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:28 Jan 31, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H261.IH H261 |
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| 65 | 65 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS |
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