Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Sexual Harassment and Assault Prevention Improvements Act of 2023”.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Sexual Harassment and Assault Prevention Improvements Act of 2023
A BILL
To amend the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 to address sexual harassment involving National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration personnel, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 References
Except as otherwise specifically provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to a provision of subtitle C of title XXXV of Public Law 114–328 (33 U.S.C. 894 et seq.).
Sec. 3 Policy on the prevention of and response to sexual harassment involving National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration personnel
Section 3541(f) (33 U.S.C. 894(f)) is amended—
by inserting “and equal employment” after “sexual harassment” each place it appears; and
in paragraph (2)—
by redesignating subparagraphs (C) and (D) as subparagraphs (D) and (E), respectively; and
by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following:
“(C) A synopsis of each case and the disciplinary action taken, if any, in each case.”
Sec. 4 Annual report on sexual assaults, sexual harassment, and equal employment
Section 3548 (33 U.S.C. 894e) is amended—
by striking the section heading and inserting the following: “Annual report on sexual assaults, sexual harassment, and equal employment in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.”;
in subsection (a), by striking “the sexual assaults involving” and inserting “sexual assault and sexual harassment involving and the equal employment of”; and
in subsection (b)—
in paragraph (4), by inserting “, including a synopsis of each case and the disciplinary action taken, if any, in each case” before the period at the end; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(5) A summary of the number of change of station, unit transfer, and change of work location requests submitted to the Under Secretary under section 3544(a), including the number of such requests that were denied.
“(6) A summary of the number of cases referred to the Coast Guard under this section.
“(7) The number of alleged sexual assaults and sexual harassment cases involving fisheries observers, protected species observers, and endangered species observers, including—
“(A) a synopsis of each case and the status of such case;
“(B) the disposition of any investigation; and
“(C) a description of the fishery management region and fishery or the geographic region and type of permitted operation in which the sexual assault or sexual harassment is alleged to have occurred, as appropriate.”
Sec. 5 Investigation and criminal referral requirements
Technical amendment— Sections 3548 and 3549 (33 U.S.C. 894e and 894f) are redesignated as sections 3551 and 3552, respectively.
In general— Subtitle C of title XXXV (33 U.S.C. 894 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 3547 (33 U.S.C. 894d–2) the following:
“3548. Exceptions regarding anonymity of survivors in certain cases
“(a) In general—In any case in which an employee, member of the commissioned officer corps of the Administration, or covered personnel elects restricted or unrestricted reporting under section 3541(b)(3)(B) or 3542(b)(5)(B), disclosure of the personally identifying information of such individual is authorized to the following persons or organizations when disclosure would be for the following reasons:
“(1) To Administration staff or law enforcement personnel, if authorized by the survivor in writing.
“(2) To Administration staff or law enforcement personnel to prevent or lessen a serious or imminent threat to the health or safety of the survivor or another person.
“(3) To a survivor advocate or healthcare provider, if required for the provision of survivor services.
“(4) To a State or Federal court, if pursuant to a court order or if disclosure is required by Federal or State statute.
“(b) Notice of disclosure and privacy protection—In any case in which information is disclosed under subsection (a), the Secretary shall—
“(1) make reasonable attempts to provide notice to the individual whose personally identifying information is disclosed; and
“(2) take such action as is necessary to protect the privacy and safety of the individual.
“3549. Restricted reporting
“(a) In general—Not later than 3 years after the date of the enactment of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Sexual Harassment and Assault Prevention Improvements Act of 2023, the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere, shall develop a mechanism to provide a system of restricted reporting.
“(b) Restricted reporting defined—In this section the term restricted reporting means a system of reporting that allows employees of the Administration, members of the commissioned officer corps of the Administration, and covered personnel who allege that they have been sexually harassed or sexually assaulted to confidentially disclose the details of such sexual harassment or sexual assault to specified individuals and receive the services outlined in this subtitle—
“(1) without the dissemination of the personally identifying information of such individual except as necessary for the provision of such services and as provided by section 3548(a); and
“(2) without automatically triggering an investigative process.
“3550. Mariner referral
“The Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, acting through the Director of the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations and in consultation with the Commandant of the Coast Guard, shall, not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Sexual Harassment and Assault Prevention Improvements Act of 2023, develop and implement a policy to report to the Commandant of the Coast Guard, in accordance with section 10104 of title 46, United States Code, the names of personnel of the Administration who—
“(1) are the subject of a claim of an act or offense detrimental to good discipline and safety at sea, such as sexual harassment or sexual assault that is substantiated by an investigation under section 3546, or any other substantiated claim of an act or offense for which suspension or revocation of a credential is either mandatory or sought pursuant to part 5 of title 46, Code of Federal Regulations; and
“(2) are—
“(A) employees or contractors of the Administration required to hold a valid merchant mariner credential as a condition of employment; or
“(B) crew of a vessel that, at the time of such act or offense, was operating under a contract with the Administration.”
Sec. 6 Definitions
Section 3552 is amended to read as follows:
“3552. Definitions
“In this subtitle:
“(1) Administration—The term Administration means the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“(2) Covered personnel—The term covered personnel means an individual who works with or conducts business on behalf of the Administration and includes—
“(A) observers, at-sea monitors, and catch monitors required by the National Marine Fisheries Service to operate on or in commercial fishing vessels, other privately owned vessels, barges, or platforms, and shoreside processing facilities for—
“(i) commercial fisheries observation required by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.);
“(ii) protected species or endangered species observation required by the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) or the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1351 et seq.); or
“(iii) platform removal observation; and
“(B) voting members and executive and administrative staff of regional fishery management councils established by section 302 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1852).
“(3) Sexual assault—The term sexual assault has the meaning given the term in section 40002(a) of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13925(a)).”
Sec. 7 Conforming and clerical amendments
by striking “individuals who work with or conduct business on behalf of the Administration” each place it appears and inserting “covered personnel”;
by striking “National Oceanic and Atmospheric” each place it appears, except—
when it appears as “National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Sexual Harassment and Assault Prevention Improvements Act of 2023”;
in section 3551, in the section heading; and
in section 3552(1);
by striking the term victims each place it appears and inserting “survivors”;
in section 3541(b)(2)(B), by striking “victim” and inserting “target of sexual harassment”;
in section 3542—
in subsection (b)(9)—
by striking “Victim” and inserting “Survivor”; and
by striking “victim” and inserting “survivor”; and
in subsection (c)—
in the heading, by striking “Victim” and inserting “Survivor”;
in paragraph (2), in the heading, by striking “Victim” and inserting “Survivor”; and
by striking the term victim each place it appears and inserting “survivor”;
in section 3543—
in the heading, by striking “victim” and inserting “survivor”; and
by striking “victim” and inserting “survivor”; and
in section 3544—
in subsection (a)—
by striking “victims” and inserting “survivors”; and
in paragraph (1), by striking “was” each place it appears and inserting “is”; and
by striking “victim” each place it appears and inserting “survivor”.
Clerical amendment— Each of the tables of contents in section 2(b) and at the beginning of title XXXV of Public Law 114–328 are amended—
by striking the item relating to section 3543 and inserting the following:
by striking the items relating to sections 3548 and 3549 and inserting the following:
Sec. 8 Prohibited acts
Section 307(1)(L) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1857(1)(L)) is amended—
by striking “forcibly”; and
by striking “on a vessel”.
Sec. 9 Prohibition on service in the commissioned officer corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration by individuals convicted of certain sexual offenses
Section 261(a) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps Act of 2002 (33 U.S.C. 3071(a)) is amended—
by redesignating paragraph (26) as paragraph (27); and
by inserting after paragraph (25) the following:
“(26) Section 657, relating to prohibition on service by individuals convicted of certain sexual offenses.”
Sec. 10 Definition of responsible entity of a vessel
Section 10104(g) of title 46, United States Code, is amended—
in paragraph (1), by striking “or” at the end;
in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; or”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(3) the Director of the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, with respect to each vessel owned or operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.”