1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Chesapeake Bay Oyster Research Act . 2. 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 Administration in the Chesapeake Bay. 3. Grants for researching oysters in the Chesapeake Bay (a) Establishment The Secretary of the Commerce, acting through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shall establish a grant program (in this section referred to as the Program ) under which the Secretary shall award grants to eligible entities for the purpose of conducting research on the conservation, restoration, or management of oysters in the Chesapeake Bay. (b) Application To be eligible to receive a grant under this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require. (c) Allocation of grant funds (1) In general The Secretary 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 Secretary may waive all or part of the requirement in subparagraph (A) if the Secretary 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. (d) Definitions In this Act, the following definitions apply: (1) Academic community The term academic community means faculty,