Sponsors (4)
The bill increases transparency, victim support options, and accountability across NOAA and fisheries operations—improving oversight and safety—but does so at the cost of privacy risks for individuals, higher administrative and compliance burdens, and new legal/jurisdictional uncertainties.
Federal employees (NOAA staff) and fisheries observers will gain significantly more transparency and standardized reporting about harassment and equal-employment cases, giving NOAA leadership and Congress better data to identify patterns and respond.
NOAA employees, contractors, and observers can access victim services with stronger restricted-reporting protections and maintain more control over when personally identifying information (PII) is shared, which can reduce secondary harm and support survivor safety.
The bill clarifies who is covered (observers, at-sea/catch/monitoring staff, Regional Council staff) and assigns clear vessel responsibility to NOAA leadership, and aligns statutory definitions (using VAWA) — improving accountability, enforcement clarity, and consistent application of protections.
NOAA employees, observers, and individuals named in reports risk reputational harm and reduced willingness to report because public synopses and expanded reporting could reveal identities or allegations before resolution.
Preparing, redacting, compiling, and publishing the expanded data (case synopses, regional details, relocation counts, vessel reports) will increase administrative workload and compliance costs for NOAA, the Department of Commerce, the Coast Guard, and potentially small businesses and taxpayers.
Limited statutory exceptions and required notifications (including vessel operator reports with identifying details) could lead to compelled disclosure of PII or re-identification in small crews, undermining restricted-reporting protections and deterring survivors from seeking help.
Based on analysis of 9 sections of legislative text.
Introduced March 27, 2025 by Suzanne Bonamici · Last progress March 27, 2025
Requires NOAA to expand how it tracks, reports, and responds to sexual harassment and sexual assault involving its personnel and people working on NOAA-related missions. It adds new data collection and public reporting requirements (including synopses and disciplinary actions), creates limited exceptions for disclosing personally identifying information (PII) of victims, requires NOAA to update restricted-reporting policies to preserve confidentiality, and mandates that vessel responsible entities report incidents involving covered personnel to the Coast Guard. Also defines who counts as “covered personnel” (explicitly including fisheries and protected‑species observers and Regional Fishery Management Council members), makes a few technical amendments to fisheries law language, and adds a cross‑reference to bar certain convicted sex offenders from NOAA commissioned service. The bill creates reporting and policy duties but does not appropriate funds or specify broad new programs beyond NOAA and the Coast Guard interactions; one explicit deadline is a 3‑year requirement to update policies for restricted reporting confidentiality.