National Oceanographic Partnership Program Reauthorization Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3161 To amend title 10, United States Code, to reauthorize the National Oceanographic Partnership Program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 6, 2019 Mr. PANETTA (for himself, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. KELLY of Mississippi, and Mr. NORCROSS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, and Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee con- cerned A BILL To amend title 10, United States Code, to reauthorize the National Oceanographic Partnership Program, 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 ‘‘National Oceano- 4 graphic Partnership Program Reauthorization Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:01 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3161.IH H3161 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3161 IH SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF NATIONAL OCEANO- 1 GRAPHIC PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM. 2 (a) ADDITIONAL PURPOSE.—Section 8931(b)(2) of 3 title 10, United States Code, is amended— 4 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 5 the end; 6 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as sub- 7 paragraph (C); and 8 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol- 9 lowing new subparagraph (B): 10 ‘‘(B) soliciting, accepting, and executing 11 oceanographic research and education projects 12 funded by private grants or contracts that con- 13 tribute to assuring national security, advancing 14 economic development, protecting quality of life, 15 and strengthening science education and com- 16 munication though improved knowledge of the 17 ocean; and’’. 18 (b) NATIONAL OCEAN RESEARCH LEADERSHIP 19 COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP.—Subsection (b) of section 8932 20 of title 10, United States Code, is amended— 21 (1) by striking paragraph (10); 22 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (11) through 23 (14) as paragraphs (12) through (15), respectively; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:01 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3161.IH H3161 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3161 IH (3) by inserting after paragraph (9) the fol- 1 lowing new paragraphs (10) and (11): 2 ‘‘(10) The Director of the Bureau of Ocean En- 3 ergy Management of the Department of the Interior. 4 ‘‘(11) The Director of the Bureau of Safety and 5 Environmental Enforcement of the Department of 6 the Interior.’’. 7 (c) ANNUAL REPORT.—Subsection (e) of such section 8 is amended— 9 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 10 striking ‘‘Congress’’ and inserting ‘‘the appropriate 11 committees of Congress’’; 12 (2) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘description of 13 activities of the program carried out during the fis- 14 cal year before the fiscal year in which the report is 15 prepared, together with a’’; 16 (3) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 17 following: 18 ‘‘(2) A description of activities of the program 19 carried out during the fiscal year before the fiscal 20 year in which the report is prepared, including the 21 following— 22 ‘‘(A) an analysis of the extent to which 23 those activities advanced the purpose of the Na- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:01 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3161.IH H3161 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3161 IH tional Oceanographic Partnership Program as 1 described in section 8931(b) of this title; 2 ‘‘(B) a report on the total budget require- 3 ment of each project carried out as part of the 4 project; and 5 ‘‘(C) a report on the sources of funding of 6 each completed project.’’; and 7 (4) in paragraph (3)— 8 (A) by striking ‘‘expected’’ and inserting 9 ‘‘planned’’; 10 (B) by striking ‘‘year.’’ and inserting 11 ‘‘year, including—’’; and 12 (C) by adding at the end the following new 13 subparagraphs: 14 ‘‘(A) a statement of objectives for each 15 such project and a description of how such 16 projects will advance the purpose of the Na- 17 tional Oceanographic Partnership Program as 18 described in section 8931(b) of this title; 19 ‘‘(B) an estimated budget for planned 20 projects; and 21 ‘‘(C) a description of any funds committed 22 to support such projects, either by Federal 23 partners or through private grants or con- 24 tracts.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:04 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3161.IH H3161 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 3161 IH (d) PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM OFFICE.—Subsection 1 (f) of such section is amended— 2 (1) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end the 3 following new sentence: ‘‘To be considered qualified 4 to compete to be selected as an operator, an entity 5 shall demonstrate strong ties to relevant oceano- 6 graphic industries, academia and other research in- 7 stitutions, and Federal agencies, and have experi- 8 ence managing interagency programs and oceano- 9 graphic programs with participation from public and 10 private entities.’’; and 11 (2) in paragraph (2)— 12 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) 13 and (D) as subparagraphs (D) and (E), respec- 14 tively; and 15 (B) by inserting after subparagraph (B) 16 the following new subparagraph (C): 17 ‘‘(C) To solicit, accept, and execute ocean- 18 ographic research and education projects 19 aligned with the purpose of the program and 20 funded by private contracts, grants, and dona- 21 tions, on behalf of, and in consultation with the 22 Council in accordance with subsection (g).’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:01 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3161.IH H3161 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 3161 IH (e) GRANT AND CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—Such sec- 1 tion is further amended by striking subsection (g) and in- 2 serting the following new subsection (g): 3 ‘‘(g) GRANT AND CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—To carry 4 out the purpose of the National Oceanographic Partner- 5 ship Program, under section 8921(b) of this title, the 6 Council shall have, in addition to other powers otherwise 7 given it under this section, the following authorities: 8 ‘‘(1) The authority to authorize one or more of 9 the departments or agencies represented on the 10 Council to enter into contracts and make grants, 11 and establish and manage new collaborative pro- 12 grams as determined necessary to address emerging 13 science priorities using funds appropriated pursuant 14 to an authorization or appropriations for the Na- 15 tional Oceanographic Partnership Program, for the 16 purpose of implementing the program and carrying 17 out the responsibilities of the Council. 18 ‘‘(2) The authority to authorize the Program 19 Office, on behalf of the Council, to accept funds, in- 20 cluding fines and penalties, from other Federal de- 21 partments and agencies, and to enter into contracts 22 and award grants. 23 ‘‘(3) The authority to authorize the Program 24 Office, on behalf of the Council, to solicit, accept 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:01 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3161.IH H3161 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 3161 IH and execute oceanographic research projects funded 1 by private contracts, grants, and donations.’’. 2 (f) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS DE- 3 FINED.—Such section is further amended by adding at the 4 end the following new subsection: 5 ‘‘(i) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS.—In 6 this section, the term ‘appropriate committees of Con- 7 gress’ means— 8 ‘‘(1) the Committee on Armed Services, the 9 Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and 10 the Committee on Natural Resources of the House 11 of Representatives; and 12 ‘‘(2) the Committee on Armed Services, the 13 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor- 14 tation, and the Committee on Energy and Natural 15 Resources of the Senate.’’. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:01 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3161.IH H3161 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS