OCEAN Research Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2699 To reauthorize the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 24, 2019 Mr. MARKEY (for himself and Mr. SULLIVAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To reauthorize the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009, 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 ‘‘Ocean, Coastal, and 4 Estuarine Acidification Necessitates Research Act of 5 2019’’ or the ‘‘OCEAN Research Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 7 Section 12402 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Re- 8 search and Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3701) is 9 amended— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:35 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2699.IS S2699 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2699 IS (1) by striking ‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—’’; 1 (2) in paragraph (1)— 2 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 3 (A), by striking ‘‘development and coordina- 4 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘coordination and imple- 5 mentation’’; 6 (B) in subparagraph (A), by striking 7 ‘‘acidification on marine organisms’’ and insert- 8 ing ‘‘acidification and coastal acidification on 9 marine organisms’’; and 10 (C) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘es- 11 tablish’’ and all that follows and inserting 12 ‘‘maintain an interagency research, monitoring, 13 and public outreach program on ocean acidifica- 14 tion and coastal acidification;’’; 15 (3) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘establishment 16 of an ocean acidification program’’ and inserting 17 ‘‘maintenance of an ocean acidification and coastal 18 acidification program’’; 19 (4) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘and coastal 20 acidification’’ after ‘‘ocean acidification’’; and 21 (5) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘and coastal 22 acidification that take into account other environ- 23 mental and anthropogenic stressors’’ after ‘‘ocean 24 acidification’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:35 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2699.IS S2699 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2699 IS SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 1 Section 12403 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Re- 2 search and Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3702) is 3 amended— 4 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘of the 5 Earth’s oceans’’ and all that follows and inserting 6 ‘‘and changes in the water chemistry of the Earth’s 7 oceans, coastal estuaries, and waterways caused by 8 carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and the break- 9 down of organic matter.’’; 10 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘Joint Sub- 11 committee on Ocean Science and Technology’’ and 12 inserting ‘‘Subcommittee on Ocean Science and 13 Technology of the Committee on Environment’’; 14 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and 15 (3) as paragraphs (2), (4), and (5), respectively; 16 (4) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so re- 17 designated, the following: 18 ‘‘(1) COASTAL ACIDIFICATION.—The term 19 ‘coastal acidification’ means the combined decrease 20 in pH and changes in the water chemistry of coastal 21 oceans, estuaries, and other bodies of water from 22 chemical inputs (including carbon dioxide from the 23 atmosphere), freshwater inputs, and excess nutrient 24 run-off from land and coastal atmospheric pollution 25 that result in processes that release carbon dioxide, 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:35 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2699.IS S2699 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2699 IS acidic nitrogen, and sulfur compounds as byproducts 1 which end up in coastal waters.’’; 2 (5) by inserting after paragraph (2), as so re- 3 designated, the following: 4 ‘‘(3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 5 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 6 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 7 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).’’; and 8 (6) by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘(6) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each 10 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 11 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American 12 Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern 13 Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands of the United 14 States, and any other territory or possession of the 15 United States. 16 ‘‘(7) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘Tribal 17 organization’ has the meaning given the term ‘tribal 18 organization’ in section 4 of the Indian Self-Deter- 19 mination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 20 5304).’’. 21 SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP. 22 Section 12404 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Re- 23 search and Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3703) is 24 amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:35 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2699.IS S2699 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2699 IS (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘SUB- 1 COMMITTEE’’ and inserting ‘‘WORKING GROUP’’; 2 (2) in subsection (a)— 3 (A) by amending paragraph (1) to read as 4 follows: 5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Subcommittee shall es- 6 tablish an interagency working group on ocean acidi- 7 fication and coastal acidification.’’; 8 (B) by amending paragraph (2) to read as 9 follows: 10 ‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.—The interagency working 11 group on ocean acidification shall be comprised of 12 senior representatives from— 13 ‘‘(A) the National Oceanic and Atmos- 14 pheric Administration; 15 ‘‘(B) the National Science Foundation; 16 ‘‘(C) the National Aeronautics and Space 17 Administration; 18 ‘‘(D) the United States Geological Survey; 19 ‘‘(E) the United States Fish and Wildlife 20 Service; 21 ‘‘(F) the Bureau of Ocean Energy Man- 22 agement; 23 ‘‘(G) the Environmental Protection Agen- 24 cy; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:35 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2699.IS S2699 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2699 IS ‘‘(H) the Department of Agriculture; 1 ‘‘(I) the Department of State; 2 ‘‘(J) the Department of Energy; 3 ‘‘(K) the Department of the Navy; 4 ‘‘(L) the National Park Service; 5 ‘‘(M) the Bureau of Indian Affairs; 6 ‘‘(N) the National Institute of Standards 7 and Technology; 8 ‘‘(O) the Smithsonian Institution; and 9 ‘‘(P) such other Federal agencies as the 10 Subcommittee considers appropriate.’’; and 11 (C) in paragraph (3), in the paragraph 12 heading, by striking ‘‘CHAIRMAN’’ and inserting 13 ‘‘CHAIR’’; 14 (3) in subsection (b)— 15 (A) in paragraph (1)— 16 (i) by inserting ‘‘and coastal acidifica- 17 tion’’ after ‘‘acidification’’; and 18 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, including the ef- 19 forts of the National Oceanic and Atmos- 20 pheric Administration to facilitate such im- 21 plementation’’ after ‘‘of the plan’’; 22 (B) in paragraph (2)— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:35 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2699.IS S2699 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2699 IS (i) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 1 ‘‘and coastal acidification’’ after ‘‘ocean 2 acidification’’; and 3 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 4 ‘‘or coastal acidification’’ after ‘‘ocean 5 acidification’’; 6 (C) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 7 and inserting a semicolon; 8 (D) in paragraph (5)— 9 (i) by inserting ‘‘and Coastal’’ after 10 ‘‘Ocean’’; 11 (ii) by striking ‘‘developed’’ and in- 12 serting ‘‘and coastal acidification devel- 13 oped’’; and 14 (iii) by striking the period at the end 15 and inserting ‘‘and coastal acidification; 16 and’’; and 17 (E) by adding at the end the following: 18 ‘‘(6) ensure that each of the Federal agencies 19 represented on the interagency working group— 20 ‘‘(A) participates in the Ocean and Coastal 21 Acidification Information Exchange established 22 under paragraph (5); and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:35 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2699.IS S2699 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2699 IS ‘‘(B) delivers data and information to sup- 1 port the data archive system established under 2 section 12406(d).’’; and 3 (4) in subsection (c), in paragraph (2)— 4 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 5 (A), by inserting ‘‘, and to the Director of the 6 Office of Management and Budget,’’ after 7 ‘‘House of Representatives’’; and 8 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘the 9 interagency research’’ and inserting ‘‘inter- 10 agency strategic research’’. 11 SEC. 5. OCEAN AND COASTAL ACIDIFICATION ADVISORY 12 BOARD. 13 The Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Moni- 14 toring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.) is amended 15 by inserting after section 12404 the following: 16 ‘‘SEC. 12404A. OCEAN AND COASTAL ACIDIFICATION ADVI- 17 SORY BOARD. 18 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Chair of the Sub- 19 committee shall establish an Ocean and Coastal Acidifica- 20 tion Advisory Board (in this section referred to as the ‘Ad- 21 visory Board’). 22 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The Advisory Board shall— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:35 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2699.IS S2699 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2699 IS ‘‘(1) not later than 180 days before the Sub- 1 committee submits a report under section 2 12404(c)(2)— 3 ‘‘(A) review a draft of the report; 4 ‘‘(B) submit to the Subcommittee an anal- 5 ysis of the draft for consideration before sub- 6 mitting the report under section 12404(c)(2); 7 and 8 ‘‘(C) concurrently with the submission by 9 the Subcommittee of the report under that sec- 10 tion, submit a copy of the analysis provided to 11 the Subcommittee under subparagraph (B) to— 12 ‘‘(i) the Committee on Commerce, 13 Science, and Transportation of the Senate; 14 and 15 ‘‘(ii) the Committee on Science, 16 Space, and Technology and the Committee 17 on Natural Resources of the House of Rep- 18 resentatives; 19 ‘‘(2) not later than 180 days before the Sub- 20 committee submits a strategic research plan under 21 section 12404(c)(3)— 22 ‘‘(A) review a draft of the plan; 23 ‘‘(B) submit to the Subcommittee an anal- 24 ysis of the plan, and recommendations for the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:35 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2699.IS S2699 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2699 IS implementation of the plan, for consideration 1 before submitting the plan under section 2 12404(c)(3); and 3 ‘‘(C) concurrently with the submission of 4 the Subcommittee of the plan under that sec- 5 tion, submit a copy of the analysis provided to 6 the Subcommittee under subparagraph (B) to 7 the committees specified in clauses (i) and (ii) 8 of paragraph (1)(C); 9 ‘‘(3) provide ongoing advice to the Sub- 10 committee and the interagency working group estab- 11 lished under section 12404 on matters related to 12 Federal activities on ocean acidification and coastal 13 acidification; 14 ‘‘(4) advise the Subcommittee and the inter- 15 agency working group on— 16 ‘‘(A) efforts to coordinate research and 17 monitoring activities related to ocean acidifica- 18 tion and coastal acidification; and 19 ‘‘(B) the best practices for the standards 20 developed for data archiving under section 21 12406(e); 22 ‘‘(5) publish in the Federal Register a charter; 23 ‘‘(6) provide to the Library of Congress— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:35 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2699.IS S2699 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 2699 IS ‘‘(A) the charter required by paragraph 1 (5); 2 ‘‘(B) any schedules and minutes for meet- 3 ings of the Advisory Board; 4 ‘‘(C) any documents that are approved by 5 the Advisory Board; and 6 ‘‘(D) any reports and analysis prepared by 7 the Advisory Board; and 8 ‘‘(7) establish a publicly accessible page on the 9 website of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 10 Administration that contains the information de- 11 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (D) of para- 12 graph (6). 13 ‘‘(c) MEMBERSHIP.—The Advisory Board shall con- 14 sist of 24 members as follows: 15 ‘‘(1) Two representatives of the shellfish and 16 crab industry. 17 ‘‘(2) One representative of the finfish industry. 18 ‘‘(3) One representative of seafood processors. 19 ‘‘(4) Three representatives from institutions of 20 higher education, including both natural and social 21 sciences. 22 ‘‘(5) One representative of recreational fishing. 23 ‘‘(6) One representative of relevant nongovern- 24 mental organizations. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:35 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2699.IS S2699 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 2699 IS ‘‘(7) Six representatives from relevant State 1 and local governments and Tribal organizations. 2 ‘‘(8) One representative from the Alaska Ocean 3 Acidification Network. 4 ‘‘(9) One representative from the California 5 Current Acidification Network. 6 ‘‘(10) One representative from the Northeast 7 Coastal Acidification Network. 8 ‘‘(11) One representative from the Southeast 9 Ocean and Coastal Acidification Network. 10 ‘‘(12) One representative from the Gulf of Mex- 11 ico Ocean Acidification Network. 12 ‘‘(13) One representative from the Mid-Atlantic 13 Coastal Acidification Network. 14 ‘‘(14) One representative from the Pacific Is- 15 lands Ocean Observing System or a similar entity 16 representing— 17 ‘‘(A) the island territories and possessions 18 of the United States in the Pacific Ocean; and 19 ‘‘(B) the State of Hawaii. 20 ‘‘(15) One representative from the Caribbean 21 Regional Association for Coastal Ocean Observing or 22 a similar entity representing Puerto Rico and the 23 United States Virgin Islands. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:35 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2699.IS S2699 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 2699 IS ‘‘(16) One representative from the National 1 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who shall 2 serve as an ex officio member of the Advisory Board 3 without a vote. 4 ‘‘(d) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.—The Chair of the 5 Subcommittee shall— 6 ‘‘(1) appoint members to the Advisory Board 7 (taking into account the geographical interests of 8 each individual to be appointed as a member to en- 9 sure that an appropriate balance of geographical in- 10 terests are represented by the members of the Advi- 11 sory Board) who— 12 ‘‘(A) represent the interest group for which 13 each seat is designated; 14 ‘‘(B) demonstrate expertise on ocean acidi- 15 fication or coastal acidification and its sci- 16 entific, economic, industry, cultural, and com- 17 munity impacts; and 18 ‘‘(C) have a record of distinguished servic [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]