1. Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that the Chesapeake Bay Office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall be the primary representative of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the Chesapeake Bay. 2. Grants for recovering oysters (a) Establishment The Administrator shall establish a grant program (in this section referred to as the Program ) under which the Administrator shall award grants to eligible entities for the purpose of conducting research on the conservation, restoration, or management of oysters in estuarine ecosystems. (b) Application To be eligible to receive a grant under this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the Administrator an application at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Administrator may require. (c) Allocation of grant funds (1) In general The Administrator shall award a grant under the Program to eligible entities that submit an application under subsection (b). (2) Matching requirement (A) In general Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the total amount of Federal funding received under the Program by an eligible entity may not exceed 85 percent of the total cost of the research project for which the funding was awarded. For the purposes of this subparagraph, the non-Federal share of project costs may be provided by in-kind contributions and other noncash support. (B) Waiver The Administrator may waive all or part of the requirement in subparagraph (A) if the Administrator determines that no reasonable means are available through which an eligible entity applying for a grant under this section can meet such requirement and the probable benefit of such research project outweighs the public interest in such requirement. (3) Equitable distribution The Administrator shall ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that grant funding under this section is apportioned according to the historic baseline oyster population of each estuary of the United States. (d) Definitions In this section, the