H.R. 6258 · 117th Congress

AQUAA Act

Introduced on Dec 14, 2021 by Steven M. Palazzo (R-MS-4). 4 cosponsors, 3 of them from another party. Latest action (Dec 23, 2021): Referred to the Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife.

Stage
Introduced
Introduced
Dec 14, 2021
Cosponsors
4
3 from the other party
Policy area
Public Lands and Natural Resources
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Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. 2Reported by committee
  3. 3Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To establish a regulatory system for sustainable offshore aquaculture in the United States exclusive economic zone, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Administrative law and regulatory procedures
  • Advisory bodies
  • Agricultural education
  • Agricultural marketing and promotion
  • Agricultural research
  • Alaska Natives and Hawaiians
  • Animal and plant health
  • Aquaculture
  • Aquatic ecology
  • Assault and harassment offenses
  • Business investment and capital
  • Business records
  • Civil actions and liability
  • Congressional oversight
  • Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
  • Department of Commerce
  • Economic performance and conditions
  • Education programs funding
  • Emergency planning and evacuation
  • Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
  • Executive agency funding and structure
  • Federal-Indian relations
  • Fishes
  • Food industry and services
  • Food supply, safety, and labeling
  • Fraud offenses and financial crimes
  • Genetics
  • Government information and archives
  • Government studies and investigations
  • Indian lands and resources rights
  • Intergovernmental relations
  • Judicial review and appeals
  • Labor standards
  • Law enforcement officers
  • Licensing and registrations
  • Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
  • Migrant, seasonal, agricultural labor
  • Natural disasters
  • Public participation and lobbying
  • Research administration and funding
  • Research and development
  • Seafood
  • State and local government operations
  • Veterinary medicine and animal diseases
  • Water quality
  • Watersheds

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in House, Dec 14, 2021). Public domain.

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.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Steven M. PalazzoR-MS-4Sponsor

Democrats · 3

Republicans · 1

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Dec 14, 2021Introduced in House
  2. Dec 14, 2021Introduced in House
  3. Dec 14, 2021 · HouseReferred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  4. Dec 14, 2021 · HouseReferred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  5. Dec 14, 2021 · HouseReferred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  6. Dec 15, 2021 · HouseReferred to the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation.
  7. Dec 23, 2021 · HouseReferred to the Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.