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B-127124 1 (1977-10-26)

handle is hein.gao/gaobadrvw0001 and id is 1 raw text is: PSfATES ) B- 14 1CT 77 CED7-9d The Honorable John M. Murphy, Chairman committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries House of Representatives Dear Mr. Chairman: Pursuant to your request of August 16, 1977, we offer the following comments on H.R. 8903, 95th Congress. HR. 8903 would authorize the establishment of a fishermen's gear compensation fund to provide compensation for damages to fishing gear and resulting economic loss to commercial fishermen due to Outer Conti- rital Shelf (OCS) oil and gas exploration, development, and production. Provisions in H.R. 1614 and S. 9, legislation to amend the Outer Conti- nental Shelf Lands Act, would also establish a fishermen contingency fund to compensate for damages to commercial fishing vessels and gear and resulting losses due to OCS oil and gas exploration, development, and production. S. 9 passed the Senate and H.R. 1614 has been voted out by committee and is awaiting House action. If this legislation con- tinues to proceed and is enacted, the purpose of H.R. 8903 would be eliminated. S. 9 would establish the fund within the Department of Commerce while H.R. 8903 and H.R. 1614 would place the fund within the Department of the Interior. The Department of the Interior has responsibility for managing the oil and gas exploration and development on the OCS while Commerce has responsibility for fishing. Since fishing falls within the realm of Commerce and the fund is designed to aid fishermen incurring damages, we feel that Commerce would be the most appropriate location for managing the fund. Section 3(a) would establish the fund for any leasing area. The term leasing area could be interpreted differently, such as a leasing structure or the area covered by a lease sale, This term needs to be defined, Section 3(d) would limit the fund for each leasing area at a level not to exceed $100,000. We believe that consideration should be given to requiring that fees be levied without regard to a fixed maximum balance in the fund, thus permitting the accumulation of a reserve for

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