FISHES Act

This act establishes procedures for the review of spend plans submitted to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) by requesters seeking fishery resource disaster assistance funding. The act requires NOAA to review a spend plan within 10 days of its submission and determine whether it is complete. If such spend plan is not complete, NOAA must provide the requester (i.e., prospective grantee) with a detailed description of the information that is necessary for the spend plan to be determined complete. Further, NOAA must notify a requester when the spend plan has been determined to be complete. Under current law, fishery resource disaster assistance funds must be disbursed to approved grantees within 90 days after NOAA has received a completed spend plan. The act provides that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) may review a completed spend plan concurrently with NOAA, provided OMB's review does not delay the 90-day timeline for providing funds to the grantee.