National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Sexual Harassment and Assault Prevention Improvements Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2990 To amend the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 to address sexual harassment involving National Oceanic and Atmos- pheric Administration personnel, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 28, 2023 Ms. BONAMICI (for herself, Mrs. GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N, Mr. HUFFMAN, and Ms. SALAZAR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Trans- portation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 to address sexual harassment involving Na- tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration per- sonnel, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Oceanic and 4 Atmospheric Administration Sexual Harassment and As- 5 sault Prevention Improvements Act of 2023’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2990.IH H2990 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 2990 IH SEC. 2. REFERENCES. 1 Except as otherwise specifically provided, whenever in 2 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 3 of an amendment to, or repeal of, a provision, the ref- 4 erence shall be considered to be made to a provision of 5 subtitle C of title XXXV of Public Law 114–328 (33 6 U.S.C. 894 et seq.). 7 SEC. 3. POLICY ON THE PREVENTION OF AND RESPONSE 8 TO SEXUAL HARASSMENT INVOLVING NA- 9 TIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMIN- 10 ISTRATION PERSONNEL. 11 Section 3541(f) (33 U.S.C. 894(f)) is amended— 12 (1) by inserting ‘‘and equal employment’’ after 13 ‘‘sexual harassment’’ each place it appears; and 14 (2) in paragraph (2)— 15 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) 16 and (D) as subparagraphs (D) and (E), respec- 17 tively; and 18 (B) by inserting after subparagraph (B) 19 the following: 20 ‘‘(C) A synopsis of each case and the dis- 21 ciplinary action taken, if any, in each case.’’. 22 SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORT ON SEXUAL ASSAULTS, SEXUAL 23 HARASSMENT, AND EQUAL EMPLOYMENT. 24 Section 3548 (33 U.S.C. 894e) is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2990.IH H2990 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 2990 IH (1) by striking the section heading and insert- 1 ing the following: ‘‘ANNUAL REPORT ON SEXUAL 2 ASSAULTS, SEXUAL HARASSMENT, AND EQUAL 3 EMPLOYMENT IN THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND 4 ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION.’’; 5 (2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘the sexual as- 6 saults involving’’ and inserting ‘‘sexual assault and 7 sexual harassment involving and the equal employ- 8 ment of’’; and 9 (3) in subsection (b)— 10 (A) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘, in- 11 cluding a synopsis of each case and the discipli- 12 nary action taken, if any, in each case’’ before 13 the period at the end; and 14 (B) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(5) A summary of the number of change of 16 station, unit transfer, and change of work location 17 requests submitted to the Under Secretary under 18 section 3544(a), including the number of such re- 19 quests that were denied. 20 ‘‘(6) A summary of the number of cases re- 21 ferred to the Coast Guard under this section. 22 ‘‘(7) The number of alleged sexual assaults and 23 sexual harassment cases involving fisheries observ- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2990.IH H2990 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 2990 IH ers, protected species observers, and endangered spe- 1 cies observers, including— 2 ‘‘(A) a synopsis of each case and the sta- 3 tus of such case; 4 ‘‘(B) the disposition of any investigation; 5 and 6 ‘‘(C) a description of the fishery manage- 7 ment region and fishery or the geographic re- 8 gion and type of permitted operation in which 9 the sexual assault or sexual harassment is al- 10 leged to have occurred, as appropriate.’’. 11 SEC. 5. INVESTIGATION AND CRIMINAL REFERRAL RE- 12 QUIREMENTS. 13 (a) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Sections 3548 and 14 3549 (33 U.S.C. 894e and 894f) are redesignated as sec- 15 tions 3551 and 3552, respectively. 16 (b) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title XXXV (33 17 U.S.C. 894 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 18 3547 (33 U.S.C. 894d–2) the following: 19 ‘‘SEC. 3548. EXCEPTIONS REGARDING ANONYMITY OF SUR- 20 VIVORS IN CERTAIN CASES. 21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In any case in which an em- 22 ployee, member of the commissioned officer corps of the 23 Administration, or covered personnel elects restricted or 24 unrestricted reporting under section 3541(b)(3)(B) or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2990.IH H2990 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 2990 IH 3542(b)(5)(B), disclosure of the personally identifying in- 1 formation of such individual is authorized to the following 2 persons or organizations when disclosure would be for the 3 following reasons: 4 ‘‘(1) To Administration staff or law enforce- 5 ment personnel, if authorized by the survivor in 6 writing. 7 ‘‘(2) To Administration staff or law enforce- 8 ment personnel to prevent or lessen a serious or im- 9 minent threat to the health or safety of the survivor 10 or another person. 11 ‘‘(3) To a survivor advocate or healthcare pro- 12 vider, if required for the provision of survivor serv- 13 ices. 14 ‘‘(4) To a State or Federal court, if pursuant 15 to a court order or if disclosure is required by Fed- 16 eral or State statute. 17 ‘‘(b) NOTICE OF DISCLOSURE AND PRIVACY PROTEC- 18 TION.—In any case in which information is disclosed 19 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 20 ‘‘(1) make reasonable attempts to provide no- 21 tice to the individual whose personally identifying in- 22 formation is disclosed; and 23 ‘‘(2) take such action as is necessary to protect 24 the privacy and safety of the individual. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2990.IH H2990 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 2990 IH ‘‘SEC. 3549. RESTRICTED REPORTING. 1 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after the 2 date of the enactment of the National Oceanic and Atmos- 3 pheric Administration Sexual Harassment and Assault 4 Prevention Improvements Act of 2023, the Secretary of 5 Commerce, acting through the Under Secretary for 6 Oceans and Atmosphere, shall develop a mechanism to 7 provide a system of restricted reporting. 8 ‘‘(b) RESTRICTED REPORTING DEFINED.—In this 9 section the term ‘restricted reporting’ means a system of 10 reporting that allows employees of the Administration, 11 members of the commissioned officer corps of the Admin- 12 istration, and covered personnel who allege that they have 13 been sexually harassed or sexually assaulted to confiden- 14 tially disclose the details of such sexual harassment or sex- 15 ual assault to specified individuals and receive the services 16 outlined in this subtitle— 17 ‘‘(1) without the dissemination of the personally 18 identifying information of such individual except as 19 necessary for the provision of such services and as 20 provided by section 3548(a); and 21 ‘‘(2) without automatically triggering an inves- 22 tigative process. 23 ‘‘SEC. 3550. MARINER REFERRAL. 24 ‘‘The Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and 25 Atmosphere, acting through the Director of the Office of 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2990.IH H2990 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 2990 IH Marine and Aviation Operations and in consultation with 1 the Commandant of the Coast Guard, shall, not later than 2 180 days after the date of the enactment of the National 3 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Sexual Harass- 4 ment and Assault Prevention Improvements Act of 2023, 5 develop and implement a policy to report to the Com- 6 mandant of the Coast Guard, in accordance with section 7 10104 of title 46, United States Code, the names of per- 8 sonnel of the Administration who— 9 ‘‘(1) are the subject of a claim of an act or of- 10 fense detrimental to good discipline and safety at 11 sea, such as sexual harassment or sexual assault 12 that is substantiated by an investigation under sec- 13 tion 3546, or any other substantiated claim of an 14 act or offense for which suspension or revocation of 15 a credential is either mandatory or sought pursuant 16 to part 5 of title 46, Code of Federal Regulations; 17 and 18 ‘‘(2) are— 19 ‘‘(A) employees or contractors of the Ad- 20 ministration required to hold a valid merchant 21 mariner credential as a condition of employ- 22 ment; or 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2990.IH H2990 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 2990 IH ‘‘(B) crew of a vessel that, at the time of 1 such act or offense, was operating under a con- 2 tract with the Administration.’’. 3 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 4 Section 3552 is amended to read as follows: 5 ‘‘SEC. 3552. DEFINITIONS. 6 ‘‘In this subtitle: 7 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘Administra- 8 tion’ means the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 9 Administration. 10 ‘‘(2) COVERED PERSONNEL.—The term ‘cov- 11 ered personnel’ means an individual who works with 12 or conducts business on behalf of the Administration 13 and includes— 14 ‘‘(A) observers, at-sea monitors, and catch 15 monitors required by the National Marine Fish- 16 eries Service to operate on or in commercial 17 fishing vessels, other privately owned vessels, 18 barges, or platforms, and shoreside processing 19 facilities for— 20 ‘‘(i) commercial fisheries observation 21 required by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 22 Conservation and Management Act (16 23 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2990.IH H2990 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 2990 IH ‘‘(ii) protected species or endangered 1 species observation required by the Marine 2 Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (16 3 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) or the Endangered 4 Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1351 et 5 seq.); or 6 ‘‘(iii) platform removal observation; 7 and 8 ‘‘(B) voting members and executive and 9 administrative staff of regional fishery manage- 10 ment councils established by section 302 of the 11 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 12 Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1852). 13 ‘‘(3) SEXUAL ASSAULT.—The term ‘sexual as- 14 sault’ has the meaning given the term in section 15 40002(a) of the Violence Against Women Act of 16 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13925(a)).’’. 17 SEC. 7. CONFORMING AND CLERICAL AMENDMENTS. 18 (a) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Subtitle C of title 19 XXXV (33 U.S.C. 894 et seq.) is amended— 20 (1) by striking ‘‘individuals who work with or 21 conduct business on behalf of the Administration’’ 22 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘covered per- 23 sonnel’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2990.IH H2990 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 2990 IH (2) by striking ‘‘National Oceanic and Atmos- 1 pheric’’ each place it appears, except— 2 (A) when it appears as ‘‘National Oceanic 3 and Atmospheric Administration Sexual Har- 4 assment and Assault Prevention Improvements 5 Act of 2023’’; 6 (B) in section 3551, in the section head- 7 ing; and 8 (C) in section 3552(1); 9 (3) by striking the term ‘‘victims’’ each place it 10 appears and inserting ‘‘survivors’’; 11 (4) in section 3541(b)(2)(B), by striking ‘‘vic- 12 tim’’ and inserting ‘‘target of sexual harassment’’; 13 (5) in section 3542— 14 (A) in subsection (b)(9)— 15 (i) by striking ‘‘Victim’’ and inserting 16 ‘‘Survivor’’; and 17 (ii) by striking ‘‘victim’’ and inserting 18 ‘‘survivor’’; and 19 (B) in subsection (c)— 20 (i) in the heading, by striking ‘‘VIC- 21 TIM’’ and inserting ‘‘SURVIVOR’’; 22 (ii) in paragraph (2), in the heading, 23 by striking ‘‘VICTIM’’ and inserting ‘‘SUR- 24 VIVOR’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2990.IH H2990 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 2990 IH (iii) by striking the term ‘‘victim’’ 1 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘sur- 2 vivor’’; 3 (6) in section 3543— 4 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘VICTIM’’ 5 and inserting ‘‘SURVIVOR’’; and 6 (B) by striking ‘‘victim’’ and inserting 7 ‘‘survivor’’; and 8 (7) in section 3544— 9 (A) in subsection (a)— 10 (i) by striking ‘‘VICTIMS’’ and insert- 11 ing ‘‘SURVIVORS’’; and 12 (ii) in paragraph (1), by striking 13 ‘‘was’’ each place it appears and inserting 14 ‘‘is’’; and 15 (B) by striking ‘‘victim’’ each place it ap- 16 pears and inserting ‘‘survivor’’. 17 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—Each of the tables of 18 contents in section 2(b) and at the beginning of title 19 XXXV of Public Law 114–328 are amended— 20 (1) by striking the item relating to section 3543 21 and inserting the following: 22 ‘‘Sec. 3543. Rights of the survivor of a sexual assault.’’; and (2) by striking the items relating to sections 23 3548 and 3549 and inserting the following: 24 ‘‘Sec. 3548. Exceptions regarding anonymity of survivors in certain cases. VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 May 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H2990.IH H2990 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 2990 IH ‘‘Sec. 3549. Restricted reporting. ‘‘Sec. 3550. Mariner referral. ‘‘Sec. 3551. Annual report on sexual assaults, sexual harassment, and equal employment in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis- tration. ‘‘Sec. 3552. Definitions.’’. SEC. 8. PROHIBITED ACTS. 1 Section 307(1)(L) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 2 Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 3 1857(1)(L)) is amended— 4 (1) by striking ‘‘forcibly’’; and 5 (2) by striking ‘‘on a vessel’’. 6 SEC. 9. PROHIBITION ON SERVICE IN THE COMMISSIONED 7 OFFICER CORPS OF THE NATIONAL OCEANIC 8 AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION BY IN- 9 DIVIDUALS CONVICTED OF CERTAIN SEXUAL 10 OFFENSES. 11 Section 261(a) of the National Oceanic and Atmos- 12 pheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps Act of 13 2002 (33 U.S.C. 3071(a)) is amended— 14 (1) by redesignating paragraph (26) as para- 15 graph (27); and 16 (2) by inserting after paragraph (25) the fol- 17 lowing: 18 ‘‘(26) Section 657, relating to prohibition on 19 service by individuals convicted of certain sexual of- 20 fenses.’’. 21 VerDate [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]