948 



62 



determine the wholesomeness of shellfish; and an evaluation of the 

 effectiveness of the National Shellfish Sanitation Program. The Secre- 

 tary would be required to submit a report to the Congress on the 

 various evaluations undertaken by him by June 30, 1977. The report 

 should also include such recommendations and comments as the Secre- 

 tary considers necessary and pertinent. The amendment further 

 stipulates that no Federal agency could promulgate any additional 

 regulations affecting the harvesting, processing, or transportation of 

 shellfish in interstate commerce during the period in which such report 

 is being prepared. The term "promulgate" as used in this section refers 

 to the act of publishing and making effective final regulations only. 

 It should not be interpreted to preclude any Federal agency from 

 proposing additional regulations during the moratorium period. 



This particular amendment was proposed by Mr. Bauman and Mr. 

 Downing, and it was adopted by the Subcommittee on Oceanography 

 and the full Committee. It is the Committee's intent that this amend- 

 ment would permit the Commerce Department (through NOAA) to 

 conduct a thorough and independent review of the shellfish industry in 

 an attempt to determine if additional regulations should be imposed 

 upon such industry by the Food and Drug Administration. 



The FDA proposed a number of new regulations in June of 1975 

 which, if promulgated, could have a serious impact upon the shell- 

 fish industry. Hearings which were conducted by the Subcommittee 

 on Oceanography indicated that the implementation of the proposed 

 regulations was not critical to the interests of public health since there 

 is sufficient statutory authority within the Food and Drug Adminis- 

 tration as well as within state agencies to adequately regulate the 

 shellfish industry and to adequately protect consumers. In order to 

 give absolute protection to the public, the amendment would allow the 

 moratorium to be waived before the June 1977 submittal date if the 

 Secretary determined that an emergency existed which could be dealt 

 with most effectively by the promulgation of additional regulations. 

 The Secretary of Commerce should consult with the Secretary of 

 Health, Education, and Welfare to determine if such an emergency 

 exists. 



It should be noted that the language restricting the promulgation 

 of new regulations shall not be construed to restrict the force and 

 effect of any final regulations which are promulgated and published 

 in the Federal Register prior to the date of enactment of this section, 

 nor is the language intended to affect any statutory authority which 

 a Federal agency was given (other than the promulgation of regula- 

 tions specifically mentioned in the provision) by any previously en- 

 acted law. 



Amendment to '"'' Records''' section 



(18) The amendment in this subparagraph pertains to the Rec- 

 ords section of the original Act. That section requires that any 

 recipient of a grant under the Coastal Zone Management Act would 

 be required to keep records relating to the amount and disposition of 

 funds received, the total cost of the project or undertaking supplied 

 by other sources, and other records which could be used to facilitate 

 an effective audit by the Secretary of his designee. The new language 

 included in this bill would add the term "or payments" after the term 



