Ocean Acidification Research Partnerships Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2448 To provide for ocean acidification collaborative research grant opportunities. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 1, 2019 Mr. CARBAJAL (for himself and Mr. YOUNG) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology A BILL To provide for ocean acidification collaborative research grant opportunities. 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 ‘‘Ocean Acidification 4 Research Partnerships Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. OCEAN ACIDIFICATION COLLABORATIVE RE- 6 SEARCH GRANTS. 7 The Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Moni- 8 toring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.) is amended 9 by inserting after section 12406 the following: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:41 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2448.IH H2448 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 2448 IH ‘‘SEC. 12406A. OCEAN ACIDIFICATION COLLABORATIVE RE- 1 SEARCH GRANTS. 2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 3 ‘‘(1) ACADEMIC COMMUNITY.—The term ‘aca- 4 demic community’ includes faculty and other rep- 5 resentatives of institutions of higher education and 6 other schools, researchers, scientists, and natural re- 7 source managers. 8 ‘‘(2) SEAFOOD INDUSTRY.—The term ‘seafood 9 industry’ includes shellfish growers, shellfish har- 10 vesters, commercial fishermen, recreational fisher- 11 men, other members of the seafood harvesting or 12 supply chain, and organizations representing any of 13 such groups. 14 ‘‘(b) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall provide grants 15 for collaborative research projects on ocean acidification 16 developed and conducted through partnerships between 17 the seafood industry and the academic community. 18 ‘‘(c) CRITERIA FOR APPROVAL.—The Secretary may 19 not provide a grant for a project under this section unless 20 the project is— 21 ‘‘(1) consistent with the themes identified under 22 the strategic research plan developed by the Sub- 23 committee under section 12405; and 24 ‘‘(2) designed to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:41 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2448.IH H2448 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 2448 IH ‘‘(A) develop and support partnerships, 1 communications, and shared understanding be- 2 tween the seafood industry and the academic 3 community; 4 ‘‘(B) include the seafood industry in re- 5 search on ocean acidification; 6 ‘‘(C) deliver research, monitoring, or adap- 7 tation results which will benefit both the sea- 8 food industry and the academic community; 9 ‘‘(D) incorporate into the research agenda 10 the expertise of both the seafood industry, in- 11 cluding their unique understanding of the nat- 12 ural environment, and the academic community; 13 ‘‘(E) promote better understanding of sea- 14 food industry research questions and priorities 15 within the academic community; 16 ‘‘(F) promote wider understanding of 17 ocean acidification among the academic commu- 18 nity, the seafood industry, and other stake- 19 holders as appropriate; and 20 ‘‘(G) include appropriately balanced sup- 21 port from both the seafood industry and the 22 academic community. 23 ‘‘(d) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall prioritize fund- 24 ing under this section to projects which— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:41 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2448.IH H2448 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 2448 IH ‘‘(1) address ecosystems and communities vul- 1 nerable to the impacts of ocean acidification; 2 ‘‘(2) demonstrate support from local stake- 3 holders, such as representatives of States or other 4 governmental jurisdictions, community organiza- 5 tions, tribes, or educational institutions, as appro- 6 priate, located within the region in which the project 7 will be undertaken; or 8 ‘‘(3) utilize seafood industry assets as research 9 and monitoring platforms. 10 ‘‘(e) IMPLEMENTATION GUIDELINES.—Not later 11 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this section, 12 the Secretary, in collaboration with the Subcommittee, 13 shall issue implementation guidelines under this section, 14 including criteria and priorities for grants. Those guide- 15 lines shall be developed in consultation, as appropriate, 16 with— 17 ‘‘(1) State, regional, and local decisionmakers 18 with ocean acidification experience; 19 ‘‘(2) the seafood industry and other marine-de- 20 pendent industries; 21 ‘‘(3) formal and informal educators, including 22 both those within academia and those who are not; 23 ‘‘(4) tribes; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:41 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2448.IH H2448 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 2448 IH ‘‘(5) nongovernmental organizations involved in 1 ocean acidification research, prevention, or adapta- 2 tion; and 3 ‘‘(6) any other appropriate community stake- 4 holders. 5 ‘‘(f) CONTENTS OF PROPOSALS.—Each proposal for 6 a grant under this section shall include— 7 ‘‘(1) a description of the qualifications of the 8 individuals or entities who will conduct the project; 9 ‘‘(2) a plan for ensuring full participation and 10 engagement of both industry and academic commu- 11 nity participants, including a description of how each 12 partner will contribute expertise to the project in 13 terms of design, execution, and interpretation of re- 14 sults; 15 ‘‘(3) a plan for the dissemination of the results 16 of the research project, which may include— 17 ‘‘(A) educational programs; 18 ‘‘(B) presentations to members of the sea- 19 food industry, the academic community, and 20 community stakeholders; 21 ‘‘(C) scientific publication; and 22 ‘‘(D) delivery to appropriate representa- 23 tives of States or other government jurisdictions 24 who would use the information; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:41 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2448.IH H2448 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 2448 IH ‘‘(4) a description of how the project is con- 1 sistent with the program elements described in sec- 2 tion 12405(c); and 3 ‘‘(5) any other information the Secretary con- 4 siders necessary for evaluating the eligibility of the 5 project for funding under this section. 6 ‘‘(g) ALTERNATIVE PARTICIPANTS.—The Secretary 7 may make a grant under this section to a partnership in 8 which a marine-dependent industry is substituted for the 9 seafood industry if the proposed project serves the pur- 10 poses of this section. In such a case, the participation and 11 interests of that marine-dependent industry shall be sub- 12 stituted for those of the seafood industry in applying the 13 requirements of this section. 14 ‘‘(h) PROJECT REPORTING.—Each grantee under 15 this section shall provide periodic reports as required by 16 the Secretary. Each such report shall include all informa- 17 tion required by the Secretary for evaluating the progress 18 and success of the project. 19 ‘‘(i) MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.— 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 21 graph (2), the total amount of Federal funding for 22 a collaborative research project supported under this 23 section may not exceed 85 percent of the total cost 24 of such project. For purposes of this paragraph, the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:41 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2448.IH H2448 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 2448 IH non-Federal share of project costs may be provided 1 by in-kind contributions and other noncash support. 2 ‘‘(2) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive all or 3 part of the matching requirement under paragraph 4 (1) if the Secretary determines that no reasonable 5 means are available through which applicants can 6 meet the matching requirement and the probable 7 benefit of such project outweighs the public interest 8 in such matching requirement. 9 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 10 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for car- 11 rying out this section $5,000,000 for each of the fiscal 12 years 2020 through 2024.’’. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:41 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2448.IH H2448 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS