The FISHES Act establishes strict timelines for federal approval of spending plans related to fishery disaster relief. When the Secretary of Commerce submits a spend plan to the Office of Management and Budget Director for approval, the Director must make a decision within 30 days; if denied, the Director has 15 days to explain what changes are needed, and the Secretary then has 15 days to resubmit a revised plan for a final 15-day decision. The bill also accelerates the Secretary of Commerce's review process for determining whether a fishery resource disaster has occurred, reducing the review period from 90 days to 30 days. This legislation affects fishing communities and the fishing industry by speeding up the process for receiving federal assistance following declared fishery disasters. The bill includes no specific funding allocations but requires greater transparency by mandating that approvals be publicly posted online with detailed timelines of the review process.
Take Action
Your position
Add a comment
to comment on this bill.
Annotate the text
Highlight any passage on the Summary or Full Text tab to attach a note. Annotations appear on the Annotations tab.