Coastal Communities Ocean Acidification Act of 2019

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1716 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 10, 2019 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation AN ACT To direct the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to conduct coastal community vulner- ability assessments related to ocean acidification, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:37 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1716.RFS H1716 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 1716 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Coastal Communities 2 Ocean Acidification Act of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. STATE AND UNITED STATES DEFINED. 4 Section 12403 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Re- 5 search And Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3702) is 6 amended— 7 (1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para- 8 graph (4); 9 (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol- 10 lowing: 11 ‘‘(3) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each 12 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 13 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American 14 Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern 15 Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands of the United 16 States, and any other territory or possession of the 17 United States.’’; and 18 (3) by adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘(5) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘United 20 States’ means the States, collectively.’’. 21 SEC. 3. COASTAL COMMUNITY VULNERABILITY ASSESS- 22 MENT. 23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 12406 of the Federal 24 Ocean Acidification Research And Monitoring Act of 2009 25 (33 U.S.C. 3705) is amended— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1716.RFS H1716 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 1716 RFS (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub- 1 section (d); and 2 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol- 3 lowing: 4 ‘‘(b) COMMUNITY VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT.— 5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, through the 6 program established under subsection (a), shall con- 7 duct an ocean acidification coastal community vul- 8 nerability assessment, and issue a corresponding 9 public report, which shall be updated at least once 10 every 7 years. 11 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The assessment con- 12 ducted under paragraph (1) shall— 13 ‘‘(A) identify the United States coastal 14 communities, including island communities, low- 15 population rural communities, and subsistence 16 communities, that are most dependent on coast- 17 al and ocean resources that may be impacted by 18 ocean acidification; 19 ‘‘(B) assess the nature of the social and 20 economic vulnerabilities of those communities, 21 including the economic impact on local or re- 22 gional commercial fisheries and recreational op- 23 portunities; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1716.RFS H1716 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 1716 RFS ‘‘(C) identify the ocean acidification im- 1 pacts that might harm those communities, in- 2 cluding impacts from changes in ocean and 3 coastal marine resources that are not managed 4 by the Federal Government; 5 ‘‘(D) identify key knowledge gaps where 6 research could be devoted to better understand 7 the possible impacts of ocean acidification on 8 those communities, the risks and threats facing 9 those communities, and possible adaptation 10 strategies for those communities; and 11 ‘‘(E) be conducted in collaboration with ex- 12 perts, indigenous knowledge groups, and stake- 13 holders who are familiar with the unique eco- 14 nomic, social, ecological, geographic, and re- 15 source concerns of coastal communities in the 16 United States, including representatives of— 17 ‘‘(i) the National Marine Fisheries 18 Service and the Office for Coastal Manage- 19 ment of the National Oceanic and Atmos- 20 pheric Administration; 21 ‘‘(ii) National Integrated Coastal and 22 Ocean Observation System regional infor- 23 mation coordination entities established 24 under section 12304(c)(4) of the Inte- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1716.RFS H1716 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 1716 RFS grated Coastal and Ocean Observation 1 System Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 2 3603(c)(4)); 3 ‘‘(iii) regional ocean acidification net- 4 works; and 5 ‘‘(iv) State sea grant programs (as de- 6 fined in section 203 of the National Sea 7 Grant College Program Act (33 U.S.C. 8 1122)). 9 ‘‘(c) SUPPORT FOR STATE AND LOCAL VULNER- 10 ABILITY ASSESSMENTS AND STRATEGIC RESEARCH 11 PLANNING.—In carrying out the program established 12 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall collaborate with 13 State, local, and tribal government entities that are con- 14 ducting or have completed vulnerability assessments, stra- 15 tegic research planning, or other similar activities related 16 to ocean acidification and its impacts on coastal commu- 17 nities, for the purpose of— 18 ‘‘(1) determining whether such activities can be 19 used as a model for other communities; and 20 ‘‘(2) identifying opportunities for the National 21 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other 22 relevant Federal agencies to support such activi- 23 ties.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1716.RFS H1716 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 1716 RFS (b) ONGOING INPUT MECHANISM.—Section 1 12404(b)(5) of the Federal Ocean Acidification Research 2 And Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3703(b)(5)) is 3 amended— 4 (1) by striking ‘‘including information’’ and in- 5 serting the following: ‘‘including— 6 ‘‘(A) information’’; 7 (2) by striking the period at the end and insert- 8 ing ‘‘; and’’; and 9 (3) by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(B) an ongoing mechanism that allows af- 11 fected industry members, coastal stakeholders, 12 non-Federal resource managers, community 13 acidification networks, indigenous knowledge 14 groups, and scientific experts not employed by 15 the Federal Government to provide input on re- 16 search, data, and monitoring that is necessary 17 to support on-the-ground management, deci- 18 sionmaking, and adaptation related to ocean 19 acidification and its impacts.’’. 20 (c) STRATEGIC RESEARCH PLAN.—Section 12405 of 21 the Federal Ocean Acidification Research And Monitoring 22 Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3704) is amended— 23 (1) in subsection (b)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1716.RFS H1716 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 7 HR 1716 RFS (A) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘and’’ 1 after the semicolon; 2 (B) in paragraph (9), by striking the pe- 3 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 4 (C) by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(10) make recommendations for research that 6 should be conducted, including in the social sciences 7 and economics, to address the key knowledge gaps 8 identified in the community vulnerability assessment 9 report conducted under section 12406(b).’’; and 10 (2) in subsection (e), by inserting ‘‘, tribal gov- 11 ernments, indigenous knowledge groups,’’ after ‘‘in- 12 dustry’’. 13 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 14 12409(a) of the Federal Ocean Acidification Research 15 And Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3708(a)) is 16 amended to read as follows: 17 ‘‘(a) NOAA.—There are authorized to be appro- 18 priated to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis- 19 tration to carry out the purposes of this subtitle $2.7 mil- 20 lion for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024.’’. 21 (e) REPORT ON SUPPORT FOR STATE AND LOCAL 22 VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENTS AND STRATEGIC RE- 23 SEARCH PLANNING.—Not later than 180 days after the 24 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1716.RFS H1716 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 8 HR 1716 RFS the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 1 shall submit to Congress a report on the efforts of the 2 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to sup- 3 port State, local, and tribal community vulnerability as- 4 sessments, strategic research and planning, and moni- 5 toring needs, pursuant to section 12406(c) of the Federal 6 Ocean Acidification Research And Monitoring Act of 2009 7 (as added by subsection (a) of this section). 8 Passed the House of Representatives June 5, 2019. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1716.RFS H1716 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS