AQUAA Act
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture Act or the AQUAA Act
This bill establishes standards for sustainable aquaculture in federal offshore waters in the exclusive economic zone and establishes related requirements.
For example, it requires the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to establish a national plan to identify and designate aquaculture opportunity areas.
In addition, NOAA must establish a unified permitting and review process for aquaculture operations.
NOAA must also establish a grant program for research and development to support the development of a sustainable marine aquaculture industry, such as research and services to create innovative design and engineering solutions to common obstacles within the aquaculture industry.
Finally, the bill directs the Department of Commerce to create and provide resources for an Office of Aquaculture within NOAA to coordinate regulatory, scientific, outreach, and international issues related to aquaculture.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on October 28, 2021. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on October 28, 2021: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 117th Congress (2021-22), 362 of the 15,242 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Roger Wicker (R-MS) introduced it on October 28, 2021, and 3 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 1 Democrat, 2 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on October 28, 2021, 1778 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 1778 days ago, on October 28, 2021.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 117th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2023 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers