BLUE GLOBE Act

II Calendar No. 206 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 140 To improve data collection and monitoring of the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 28, 2021 Mr. WHITEHOUSE (for himself, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. PORTMAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation DECEMBER 17, 2021 Reported by Ms. CANTWELL, with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To improve data collection and monitoring of the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bolstering Long-term 4 Understanding and Exploration of the Great Lakes, 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:27 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S140.RS S140 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 140 RS Oceans, Bays, and Estuaries Act’’ or the ‘‘BLUE GLOBE 1 Act’’. 2 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 3 The purpose of this Act is to promote and support— 4 (1) the monitoring, understanding, and explo- 5 ration of the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, 6 and coasts; and 7 (2) the collection, analysis, synthesis, and shar- 8 ing of data related to the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, 9 estuaries, and coasts to facilitate science and oper- 10 ational decision making. 11 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 12 It is the sense of Congress that— 13 (1) agencies should optimize data collection, 14 management, and dissemination, to the extent prac- 15 ticable, to maximize their impact for research, com- 16 mercial, regulatory, and educational benefits and to 17 foster innovation, scientific discoveries, the develop- 18 ment of commercial products, and the development 19 of sound policy with respect to the Great Lakes, 20 oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts; 21 (2) agencies should consider current and future 22 needs relating to supercomputing capacity, data 23 storage capacity, and public access, address gaps in 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:27 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S140.RS S140 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 140 RS those areas, and coordinate across agencies as need- 1 ed; 2 (3) the United States is a leading member of 3 the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of 4 the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cul- 5 tural Organization, a founding member of the Atlan- 6 tic Ocean Research Alliance, and a key partner in 7 developing the United Nations Decade of Ocean 8 Science for Sustainable Development; 9 (4) the Integrated Ocean Observing System and 10 the Global Ocean Observing System are key assets 11 and networks that bolster understanding of the ma- 12 rine environment; 13 (5) the National Oceanographic Partnership 14 Program is a meaningful venue for collaboration and 15 coordination among Federal agencies, scientists, and 16 ocean users; 17 (6) the National Centers for Environmental In- 18 formation of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 19 Administration should be looked to by other Federal 20 agencies as a primary, centralized repository for 21 Federal ocean data; 22 (7) the Marine Cadastre, a joint effort of the 23 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 24 and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, pro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:27 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S140.RS S140 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 140 RS vides access to data and information for specific 1 issues and activities in ocean resources management 2 to meet the needs of offshore energy and planning 3 efforts; 4 (8) the regional associations of the Integrated 5 Ocean Observing System, certified by the National 6 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for the 7 quality and reliability of their data, are important 8 sources of observation information for the Great 9 Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts; and 10 (9) the Regional Ocean Partnerships and re- 11 gional data portals, which provide publicly available 12 tools such as maps, data, and other information to 13 inform decisions and enhance marine development, 14 should be supported by and viewed as collaborators 15 with Federal agencies and ocean users. 16 SEC. 4. DEFINITION OF ADMINISTRATOR. 17 In this Act, the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the 18 Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere 19 in the Under Secretary’s capacity as Administrator of the 20 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 21 SEC. 5. INCREASED COORDINATION AMONG AGENCIES 22 WITH RESPECT TO DATA AND MONITORING. 23 (a) INTERAGENCY OCEAN OBSERVATION COM- 24 MITTEE.—In addition to its responsibilities as of the date 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:27 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S140.RS S140 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 140 RS of the enactment of this Act, and in consultation with the 1 associated advisory committee authorized by section 2 12304(d) of the Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observa- 3 tion System Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3603(d)), the Inter- 4 agency Ocean Observation Committee shall— 5 (1) work with international coordinating bodies, 6 as necessary, to ensure robust, direct measurements 7 of the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, and 8 coasts, including oceanographic data; and 9 (2) support cross-agency and multi-platform 10 synergy, by coordinating overlapping data collection 11 by satellites, buoys, submarines, gliders, vessels, and 12 other data collection vehicles and technologies. 13 (b) FEDERAL GEOGRAPHIC DATA COMMITTEE.—In 14 addition to its responsibilities as of the date of the enact- 15 ment of this Act, and in consultation with the National 16 Geospatial Advisory Committee, the Federal Geographic 17 Data Committee shall— 18 (1) work with international coordinating bodies, 19 as necessary, to ensure robust, continuous measure- 20 ments of the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, 21 and coasts, including satellite and geospatial data; 22 and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:27 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S140.RS S140 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 140 RS (2) support new and old data and metadata cer- 1 tification, quality assurance, quality control, integra- 2 tion, and archiving. 3 (c) INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE ON OCEAN AND 4 COASTAL MAPPING.—In addition to its responsibilities as 5 of the date of the enactment of this Act, and in consulta- 6 tion with its associated advisory panel authorized by sec- 7 tion 12203(g) of the Ocean and Coastal Mapping Integra- 8 tion Act (33 U.S.C. 3502(g)), the Interagency Committee 9 on Ocean and Coastal Mapping shall— 10 (1) work with international coordinating bodies, 11 as necessary, to ensure robust, continuous satellite 12 and direct measurements of the Great Lakes, 13 oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts, including bathy- 14 metric data; and 15 (2) make recommendations on how to make 16 data, metadata, and model output accessible to a 17 broader public audience, including through geo- 18 graphic information system layers, graphics, and 19 other visuals. 20 SEC. 6. TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION TO COMBAT ILLEGAL, 21 UNREPORTED, AND UNREGULATED FISHING. 22 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3532 of the Maritime Se- 23 curity and Fisheries Enforcement Act (16 U.S.C. 8001) 24 is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:27 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S140.RS S140 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 140 RS (1) by redesignating paragraphs (6) through 1 (13) as paragraphs (7) through (14), respectively; 2 and 3 (2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘(6) INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES.—The term 6 ‘innovative technologies’ includes the following: 7 ‘‘(A) Improved satellite imagery and track- 8 ing. 9 ‘‘(B) Advanced electronic monitoring 10 equipment. 11 ‘‘(C) Vessel location data. 12 ‘‘(D) Improved genetic, molecular, or other 13 biological methods of tracking sources of sea- 14 food. 15 ‘‘(E) Electronic catch documentation and 16 traceability. 17 ‘‘(F) Such other technologies as the Ad- 18 ministrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos- 19 pheric Administration considers appropriate.’’. 20 (b) TECHNOLOGY PROGRAMS.—Section 3546 of the 21 Maritime Security and Fisheries Enforcement Act (16 22 U.S.C. 8016) is amended— 23 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 24 the semicolon; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:27 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S140.RS S140 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 140 RS (2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at 1 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 2 (3) by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(5) coordinating the application of existing in- 4 novative technologies and the development of emerg- 5 ing innovative technologies.’’. 6 SEC. 7. WORKFORCE STUDY. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 303(a) of the America 8 COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (33 U.S.C. 9 893c(a)) is amended— 10 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 11 striking ‘‘Secretary of Commerce’’ and inserting 12 ‘‘Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and At- 13 mosphere’’; 14 (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, skillsets, 15 or credentials’’ after ‘‘degrees’’; 16 (3) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘or highly 17 qualified technical professionals and tradespeople’’ 18 after ‘‘atmospheric scientists’’; 19 (4) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘, skillsets, 20 or credentials’’ after ‘‘degrees’’; 21 (5) in paragraph (5)— 22 (A) by striking ‘‘scientist’’; and 23 (B) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting ‘‘, 24 observations, and monitoring;’’ 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:27 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S140.RS S140 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 140 RS (6) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘into Federal’’ 1 and all that follows and inserting ‘‘, technical profes- 2 sionals, and tradespeople into Federal career posi- 3 tions;’’ 4 (7) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through 5 (6) as paragraphs (3) through (7), respectively; 6 (8) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol- 7 lowing: 8 ‘‘(2) whether there is a shortage in the number 9 of individuals with technical or trade-based skillsets 10 or credentials suited to a career in oceanic and at- 11 mospheric data collection, processing, satellite pro- 12 duction, or satellite operations;’’; and 13 (9) by adding at the end the following: 14 ‘‘(8) workforce diversity and actions the Fed- 15 eral Government can take to increase diversity in the 16 scientific workforce; and 17 ‘‘(9) actions the Federal Government can take 18 to shorten the hiring backlog for such workforce.’’. 19 (b) COORDINATION.—Section 303(b) of such Act (33 20 U.S.C. 893c(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘Secretary of 21 Commerce’’ and inserting ‘‘Under Secretary of Commerce 22 for Oceans and Atmosphere’’. 23 (c) REPORT.—Section 303(c) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 24 893c(c)) is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:27 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S140.RS S140 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 140 RS (1) by striking ‘‘the date of enactment of this 1 Act’’ and inserting ‘‘the date of the enactment of the 2 Bolstering Long-term Understanding and Explo- 3 ration of the Great Lakes, Oceans, Bays, and Estu- 4 aries Act’’; 5 (2) by striking ‘‘Secretary of Commerce’’ and 6 inserting ‘‘Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans 7 and Atmosphere’’; and 8 (3) by striking ‘‘to each committee’’ and all 9 that follows through ‘‘section 302 of this Act’’ and 10 inserting ‘‘to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 11 and Transportation of the Senate and the Com- 12 mittee on Natural Resources and the Committee on 13 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 14 Representatives’’. 15 (d) PROGRAM AND PLAN.—Section 303(d) of such 16 Act (33 U.S.C. 893c(d)) is amended— 17 (1) by striking ‘‘Administrator of the National 18 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’’ and in- 19 serting ‘‘Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans 20 and Atmosphere’’; and 21 (2) by striking ‘‘academic partners’’ and all 22 that follows and inserting ‘‘academic partners.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:27 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S140.RS S140 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 140 RS SEC. 8. ACCELERATING INNOVATION AT COOPERATIVE IN- 1 STITUTES. 2 (a) FOCUS ON EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES.—The Ad- 3 ministrator shall ensure that the goals of the Cooperative 4 Institutes of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad- 5 ministration include focusing on advancing or applying 6 emerging technologies, which may include— 7 (1) applied uses and development of real-time 8 and other advanced genetic technologies and applica- 9 tions, including such technologies and applications 10 that derive genetic material directly from environ- 11 mental samples without any obvious signs of biologi- 12 cal source material; 13 (2) deployment of, and improvements to, the 14 durability, maintenance, and other lifecycle concerns 15 of advanced unmanned vehicles, regional small re- 16 search vessels, and other research vessels that sup- 17 port and launch unmanned vehicles and sensors; and 18 (3) supercomputing and big data management, 19 including data collected through electronic moni- 20 toring and remote sensing. 21 (b) DATA SHARING.—Each Cooperative Institute 22 shall ensure that data collected from the work of the insti- 23 tute, other than classified, confidential, or proprietary 24 data, are archived and made publicly accessible. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:27 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S140.RS S140 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 140 RS (c) COORDINATION WITH OTHER PROGRAMS.—The 1 Cooperative Institutes shall work with the Interagency 2 Ocean Observation Committee, the regional associations 3 of the Integrated Ocean Observing System, and other 4 ocean observing programs to coordinate technology needs 5 and the transition of new technologies from research to 6 operations. 7 SEC. 9. OCEAN INNOVATION PRIZE AND PRIORITIZATION. 8 (a) OCEAN INNOVATIVE PRIZES.—Not later than 4 9 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 10 under the authority provided by section 24 of the Steven- 11 son-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 12 3719), the Administrator, in consultation with the heads 13 of relevant Federal agencies, including the Secretary of 14 Defense, and in conjunction with nongovernmental part- 15 ners, as appropriate and at the d [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]