Ocean Acidification Research Partnerships Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2734 To provide for ocean acidification collaborative research grant opportunities. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 20, 2023 Mr. CARBAJAL (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mrs. GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N, and Ms. BONAMICI) 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 (enacted as subtitle D of part II of 9 title XII of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2734.IH H2734 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 2734 IH of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.; Public Law 111–11)) 1 is amended by inserting after section 12406 (33 U.S.C. 2 3705) the following new section: 3 ‘‘SEC. 12406A. OCEAN ACIDIFICATION COLLABORATIVE RE- 4 SEARCH GRANTS. 5 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 6 ‘‘(1) ACADEMIC COMMUNITY.—The term ‘aca- 7 demic community’ includes faculty and other rep- 8 resentatives of institutions of higher education and 9 other schools, researchers, scientists, and natural re- 10 source managers. 11 ‘‘(2) SEAFOOD INDUSTRY.—The term ‘seafood 12 industry’ includes shellfish growers, shellfish har- 13 vesters, commercial fishermen, recreational fisher- 14 men, other members of the seafood harvesting or 15 supply chain, and organizations representing any of 16 such groups. 17 ‘‘(b) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall provide grants 18 for collaborative research projects on ocean acidification 19 developed and conducted through partnerships between 20 the seafood industry and the academic community. 21 ‘‘(c) CRITERIA FOR APPROVAL.—The Secretary may 22 not provide a grant for a project under this section unless 23 the project is— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2734.IH H2734 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 2734 IH ‘‘(1) consistent with the themes identified under 1 the strategic research plan developed by the Sub- 2 committee under section 12405; and 3 ‘‘(2) designed to— 4 ‘‘(A) develop and support partnerships, 5 communications, and shared understanding be- 6 tween the seafood industry and the academic 7 community; 8 ‘‘(B) include the seafood industry in re- 9 search on ocean acidification; 10 ‘‘(C) deliver research, monitoring, or adap- 11 tation results which will benefit both the sea- 12 food industry and the academic community; 13 ‘‘(D) incorporate into the research agenda 14 the expertise of both the seafood industry, in- 15 cluding their unique understanding of the nat- 16 ural environment, and the academic community; 17 ‘‘(E) promote better understanding of sea- 18 food industry research questions and priorities 19 within the academic community; 20 ‘‘(F) promote wider understanding of 21 ocean acidification among the academic commu- 22 nity, the seafood industry, and other stake- 23 holders as appropriate; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2734.IH H2734 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 2734 IH ‘‘(G) include appropriately balanced sup- 1 port from both the seafood industry and the 2 academic community. 3 ‘‘(d) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall prioritize fund- 4 ing under this section to projects which— 5 ‘‘(1) address ecosystems and communities vul- 6 nerable to the impacts of ocean acidification; 7 ‘‘(2) demonstrate support from local stake- 8 holders, such as representatives of States or other 9 governmental jurisdictions, community organiza- 10 tions, tribes, or educational institutions, as appro- 11 priate, located within the region in which the project 12 will be undertaken; or 13 ‘‘(3) utilize seafood industry assets as research 14 and monitoring platforms. 15 ‘‘(e) IMPLEMENTATION GUIDELINES.—Not later 16 than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this sec- 17 tion, the Secretary, in collaboration with the Sub- 18 committee, shall issue implementation guidelines under 19 this section, including criteria and priorities for grants. 20 Those guidelines shall be developed in consultation, as ap- 21 propriate, with the following: 22 ‘‘(1) State, regional, and local decisionmakers 23 with ocean acidification experience. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2734.IH H2734 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 2734 IH ‘‘(2) The seafood industry and other marine-de- 1 pendent industries. 2 ‘‘(3) Formal and informal educators, including 3 both those within academia and those who are not. 4 ‘‘(4) Tribes. 5 ‘‘(5) Nongovernmental organizations involved in 6 ocean acidification research, prevention, or adapta- 7 tion. 8 ‘‘(6) Any other appropriate community stake- 9 holders. 10 ‘‘(f) CONTENTS OF PROPOSALS.—Each proposal for 11 a grant under this section shall include the following: 12 ‘‘(1) A description of the qualifications of the 13 individuals or entities who will conduct the project. 14 ‘‘(2) A plan for ensuring full participation and 15 engagement of both industry and academic commu- 16 nity participants, including a description of how each 17 partner will contribute expertise to the project in 18 terms of design, execution, and interpretation of re- 19 sults. 20 ‘‘(3) A plan for the dissemination of the results 21 of the research project, which may include the fol- 22 lowing: 23 ‘‘(A) Educational programs. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2734.IH H2734 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 2734 IH ‘‘(B) Presentations to members of the sea- 1 food industry, the academic community, and 2 community stakeholders. 3 ‘‘(C) Scientific publication. 4 ‘‘(D) Delivery to appropriate representa- 5 tives of States or other government jurisdictions 6 who would use the information. 7 ‘‘(4) A description of how the project is con- 8 sistent with the program elements described in sec- 9 tion 12405(c). 10 ‘‘(5) Any other information the Secretary con- 11 siders necessary for evaluating the eligibility of the 12 project for funding under this section. 13 ‘‘(g) ALTERNATIVE PARTICIPANTS.—The Secretary 14 may make a grant under this section to a partnership in 15 which a marine-dependent industry is substituted for the 16 seafood industry if the proposed project serves the pur- 17 poses of this section. In such a case, the participation and 18 interests of that marine-dependent industry shall be sub- 19 stituted for those of the seafood industry in applying the 20 requirements of this section. 21 ‘‘(h) PROJECT REPORTING.—Each grantee under 22 this section shall provide periodic reports as required by 23 the Secretary. Each such report shall include all informa- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2734.IH H2734 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 2734 IH tion required by the Secretary for evaluating the progress 1 and success of the project. 2 ‘‘(i) MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 4 graph (2), the total amount of Federal funding for 5 a collaborative research project supported under this 6 section may not exceed 85 percent of the total cost 7 of such project. For purposes of this paragraph, the 8 non-Federal share of project costs may be provided 9 by in-kind contributions and other noncash support. 10 ‘‘(2) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive all or 11 part of the matching requirement under paragraph 12 (1) if the Secretary determines that no reasonable 13 means are available through which applicants can 14 meet the matching requirement and the probable 15 benefit of such project outweighs the public interest 16 in such matching requirement. 17 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 18 is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for car- 19 rying out this section $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 20 2024 through 2028.’’. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2734.IH H2734 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB