BLUE GLOBE Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 933 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 MARCH 28, 2019 Mr. WHITEHOUSE (for himself and Ms. MURKOWSKI) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 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 Oceans, Bays, and Estuaries Act’’ or the ‘‘BLUE GLOBE 6 Act’’. 7 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 8 The purpose of this Act is to promote and support— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Apr 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S933.IS S933 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 933 IS (1) the monitoring, understanding, and explo- 1 ration of the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, 2 and coasts; and 3 (2) the collection, analysis, synthesis, and shar- 4 ing of data related to the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, 5 estuaries, and coasts to facilitate science and oper- 6 ational decision making. 7 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 8 Congress makes the following findings: 9 (1) The Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, 10 and coasts face significant challenges from, among 11 other things, marine debris, illegal, unreported, and 12 unregulated fishing, and changing conditions. 13 (2) Most of the ocean floor is mapped only at 14 a very coarse resolution of 5 kilometers per pixel, 15 whereas Mars, the Moon, and Venus are mapped at 16 a much finer resolution of 100 meters per pixel or 17 better. 18 (3) Many industries, including the fishing and 19 aquaculture, energy, shipping, insurance, telecommu- 20 nications, weather and climate forecasting, and tour- 21 ism industries, among others, use ocean data, wheth- 22 er or not the industries collect that data themselves. 23 (4) In 2017, the National Oceanic and Atmos- 24 pheric Administration estimated that United States 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Apr 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S933.IS S933 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 933 IS businesses that collect ocean data or provide en- 1 hanced ocean data products have overall revenues of 2 approximately $58,000,000,000. 3 (5) Although a large amount of data related to 4 the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts 5 is collected internationally, nationally, and region- 6 ally, by international bodies, national agencies, insti- 7 tutes, private companies, and other entities, that 8 data collection is often uncoordinated, and the re- 9 sulting data are not always shared in a timely and 10 useful manner between those entities. 11 (6) Improved collection, analysis, synthesis, and 12 sharing of such data will improve our understanding 13 of, and responses to, the challenges faced by the 14 Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts. 15 (7) Innovation, research, and a skilled work- 16 force are required to improve our understanding of 17 the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts 18 and the challenges they face. 19 (8) According to the National Oceanic and At- 20 mospheric Administration, in 2015, the ocean and 21 Great Lakes economy in the United States employed 22 approximately 3,200,000 people and accounted for 23 approximately $320,000,000,000 of the gross do- 24 mestic product of the United States. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Apr 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S933.IS S933 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 933 IS (9) The value and impact of the industries re- 1 lated to the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, 2 and coasts on the economy of the United States are 3 evidently immense; however, what is known as the 4 ‘‘Blue Economy’’ is neither consistently defined nor 5 regularly quantified. 6 (10) The Federal Government has a responsi- 7 bility to support the monitoring, understanding, and 8 exploration of the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estu- 9 aries, and coasts in pursuit of the national security 10 and economic and environmental well-being of the 11 United States, and as a world leader. 12 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 13 It is the sense of Congress that— 14 (1) agencies should optimize data collection, 15 management, and dissemination, to the extent prac- 16 ticable, to maximize their impact for research, com- 17 mercial, regulatory, and educational benefits and to 18 foster innovation, scientific discoveries, the develop- 19 ment of commercial products, and the development 20 of sound policy with respect to the Great Lakes, 21 oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts; 22 (2) the United States is a leading member of 23 the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of 24 the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cul- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Apr 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S933.IS S933 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 933 IS tural Organization, a founding member of the Atlan- 1 tic Ocean Research Alliance, and a key partner in 2 developing the United Nations Decade of Ocean 3 Science for Sustainable Development; 4 (3) the Integrated Ocean Observing System and 5 the Global Ocean Observing System are key assets 6 and networks that bolster our understanding of the 7 marine environment; 8 (4) the National Oceanographic Partnership 9 Program is a meaningful venue for collaboration and 10 coordination among Federal agencies, scientists, and 11 ocean users; 12 (5) the National Centers for Environmental In- 13 formation of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 14 Administration should be looked to by other Federal 15 agencies as a primary, centralized repository for 16 Federal ocean data; 17 (6) the Marine Cadastre, a joint effort of the 18 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 19 and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, pro- 20 vides access to data and information for specific 21 issues and activities in ocean resources management 22 to meet the needs of offshore energy and planning 23 efforts; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Apr 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S933.IS S933 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 933 IS (7) the regional associations of the Integrated 1 Ocean Observing System, certified by the National 2 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for the 3 quality and reliability of their data, are important 4 sources of observation information for the Great 5 Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts; and 6 (8) the Regional Ocean Partnerships and re- 7 gional data portals, which provide publicly available 8 tools such as maps, data, and other information to 9 inform decisions and enhance marine development, 10 should be supported by and viewed as collaborators 11 with Federal agencies and ocean users. 12 SEC. 5. DEFINITION. 13 In this Act, the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the 14 Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere 15 in the Under Secretary’s capacity as Administrator of the 16 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 17 SEC. 6. INCREASED COORDINATION AMONG AGENCIES 18 WITH RESPECT TO DATA AND MONITORING. 19 (a) INTERAGENCY OCEAN OBSERVATION COM- 20 MITTEE.—In addition to its responsibilities as of the date 21 of the enactment of this Act, and in consultation with the 22 associated advisory committee authorized by section 23 12304(d) of the Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observa- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Apr 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S933.IS S933 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 933 IS tion System Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3603(d)), the Inter- 1 agency Ocean Observation Committee shall— 2 (1) work with international coordinating bodies, 3 as necessary, to ensure robust, direct measurements 4 of the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, and 5 coasts, including oceanographic data; 6 (2) coordinate supercomputing capacity, data 7 storage capacity, and public access across agencies; 8 and 9 (3) 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 (2) coordinate supercomputing capacity, data 23 storage capacity, and public access across agencies; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Apr 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S933.IS S933 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 933 IS (3) develop and deploy cross-agency, real-time, 1 standardized, centralized, archived, open-source, and 2 publicly available databases (using declassified infor- 3 mation to the extent possible) for all federally fund- 4 ed observational and model data, using the example 5 of the World Ocean Database; and 6 (4) support new and old data and metadata cer- 7 tification, quality assurance, quality control, integra- 8 tion, and archiving. 9 (c) INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE ON OCEAN AND 10 COASTAL MAPPING.—In addition to its responsibilities as 11 of the date of the enactment of this Act, and in consulta- 12 tion with its associated advisory panel authorized by sec- 13 tion 12203(g) of the Ocean and Coastal Mapping Integra- 14 tion Act (33 U.S.C. 3502(g)), the Interagency Committee 15 on Ocean and Coastal Mapping shall— 16 (1) work with international coordinating bodies, 17 as necessary, to ensure robust, continuous satellite 18 and direct measurements of the Great Lakes, 19 oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts, including bathy- 20 metric data; 21 (2) coordinate supercomputing capacity, data 22 storage capacity, and public access across agencies; 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Apr 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S933.IS S933 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 933 IS (3) make recommendations on how to make 1 data, metadata, and model output accessible to a 2 broader public audience, including through geo- 3 graphic information system layers, graphics, and 4 other visuals. 5 SEC. 7. INTERAGENCY OCEAN EXPLORATION COMMITTEE. 6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall establish 7 a committee to promote the exploration and improved un- 8 derstanding of the oceans, to be known as the ‘‘Inter- 9 agency Ocean Exploration Committee’’. 10 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Interagency Ocean Explo- 11 ration Committee shall be composed of not fewer than one 12 senior-level representative from each of the following Fed- 13 eral agencies: 14 (1) The Department of the Navy. 15 (2) The Department of the Interior. 16 (3) The Department of Commerce. 17 (4) The department in which the Coast Guard 18 is operating. 19 (5) The Office of Management and Budget. 20 (6) The Council on Environmental Quality. 21 (7) The Office of Science and Technology Pol- 22 icy. 23 (8) The Department of State. 24 (9) The National Science Foundation. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Apr 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S933.IS S933 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 933 IS (10) The National Aeronautics and Space Ad- 1 ministration. 2 (11) The Subcommittee on Ocean Science and 3 Technology of the National Science and Technology 4 Council. 5 (12) The elements of the intelligence commu- 6 nity (as defined in section 3 of the National Security 7 Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003)), as the President 8 considers appropriate. 9 (c) DUTIES.—The Interagency Ocean Exploration 10 Committee shall— 11 (1) cultivate public-private partnerships, includ- 12 ing with Federal agencies, academic institutions, 13 nongovernmental organizations, technology compa- 14 nies, and international partners, to develop and de- 15 ploy advanced technologies to explore and charac- 16 terize the oceans; and 17 (2) coordinate the application of existing inno- 18 vative technologies and development of emerging 19 technologies to promote the understanding, mapping, 20 and collection of data describing the oceans and the 21 changes the oceans are experiencing and are antici- 22 pated to experience in the future, such as changes 23 in temperature, salinity, oxygenation, and acidity, 24 and the biological consequences of those changes. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Apr 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S933.IS S933 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 933 IS SEC. 8. COMMITTEE ON OCEAN POLICY. 1 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 2 Executive Office of the President a Committee on Ocean 3 Policy, which— 4 (1) succeeds the Ocean Policy Committee estab- 5 lished on June 19, 2018, by Executive Order 13840 6 (83 Fed. Reg. 29431; relating to ocean policy); 7 (2) shall continue the activities of that com- 8 mittee as it was in existence on the day before the 9 date of the enactment of this Act; and 10 (3) shall carry out the functions described in 11 subsection (b). 12 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The Committee on Ocean Policy 13 shall— 14 (1) facilitate coordination and integration of 15 Federal activities in ocean and coastal waters to in- 16 form ocean policy and identify priority ocean re- 17 search, technology, and data needs; and 18 (2) engage and collaborate with stakeholders, 19 including Regional Ocean Partnerships, to address 20 ocean-related matters that may require interagency 21 or intergovernmental solutions. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Apr 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S933.IS S933 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 933 IS SEC. 9. TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION TASK FORCE TO COM- 1 BAT ILLEGAL, UNREPORTED, AND UNREGU- 2 LATED FISHING. 3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall establish 4 a technology innovation task force (in this Act referred 5 to as the ‘‘IUU Tech Force’’) to combat IUU fishing. 6 (b) LEADERSHIP.—The IUU Tech Force shall be led 7 by the Director of the National Maritime Intelligence-Inte- 8 gration Office, who shall coordinate with the National 9 Ocean Counsel Committee on IUU Fishing and Seafood 10 Fraud. 11 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—The IUU Tech Force shall be 12 composed of not fewer than one senior-level representative 13 from each [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]