§2904 Establishment of Estuary Habitat Restoration Council

Summary

Creates the Estuary Habitat Restoration Council to guide and coordinate estuary restoration work. The Council must do eight main jobs, including collecting and reviewing project proposals, recommending which projects to do and their priority and who should carry them out, writing and sending a national restoration strategy to Congress, reviewing and updating that strategy, advising on a project database and monitoring standards and helping put the strategy into action. The Council includes the Secretary (or a designee), the Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere (or a designee), the EPA Administrator (or a designee), the Secretary of the Interior through the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (or a designee), the Secretary of Agriculture (or a designee), and any other federal agency head the President names. Members cannot be paid for serving. The Council elects a chair for a 3-year term (the first chair may serve less). The Secretary must hold the first meeting no later than 60 days after November 7, 2000, to elect the chair. The chair must call more meetings as needed but at least once a year. Meetings are open to the public and must be announced. The Council sets its own meeting and voting rules and must get advice from scientists, state and local agencies, tribes, NGOs, farmers, fishers, and other estuary users.