Union Calendar No. 61
116th CONGRESS 1st Session |
[Report No. 116–86]
To amend the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009 to establish an Ocean Acidification Advisory Board, to expand and improve the research on Ocean Acidification and Coastal Acidification, to establish and maintain a data archive system for Ocean Acidification data and Coastal Acidification data, and for other purposes.
February 14, 2019
Ms. Bonamici (for herself, Mr. Young, Ms. Pingree, and Mr. Posey) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
May 28, 2019
Additional sponsors: Mr. McNerney, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Miss González-Colón of Puerto Rico, Mr. Rooney of Florida, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Peters, Mr. Kilmer, Mr. Crist, Mr. Casten of Illinois, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Malinowski, Ms. Lofgren, Ms. Mucarsel-Powell, Mr. Cartwright, Ms. Gabbard, Mr. Lowenthal, Mrs. Luria, Mr. Case, Mr. Van Drew, Ms. Velázquez, Mr. Moulton, Mr. Beyer, Mr. Hastings, Mr. Pappas, Mr. DeFazio, Ms. Speier, Mr. Sires, Ms. Brownley of California, Mr. Panetta, Mr. Thompson of California, Mr. Ryan, Mr. Cox of California, Mr. Huffman, Mr. Waltz, Mr. Mast, Mr. Rouda, Mr. Soto, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Heck, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Lipinski, Mrs. Fletcher, and Ms. Johnson of Texas
May 28, 2019
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 14, 2019]
To amend the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009 to establish an Ocean Acidification Advisory Board, to expand and improve the research on Ocean Acidification and Coastal Acidification, to establish and maintain a data archive system for Ocean Acidification data and Coastal Acidification data, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
This Act may be cited as the “Coastal and Ocean Acidification Stressors and Threats Research Act of 2019” or the “COAST Research Act of 2019”.
(a) In general.—Section 12402(a) of the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3701(a)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1)—
(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking “development and coordination” and inserting “coordination and implementation”;
(b) Technical and conforming amendment.—Section 12402 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3701(a)) is amended by striking “(a) Purposes.—”.
Section 12403 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3702) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking “of the Earth’s oceans” and all that follows before the period at the end and inserting “and changes in the water chemistry of the Earth’s oceans, coastal estuaries, and waterways caused by carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and the breakdown of organic matter”;
(2) in paragraph (3), by striking “Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology of the National Science and Technology Council” and inserting “National Science and Technology Council Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology”;
(4) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so redesignated, the following new paragraph:
“(1) COASTAL ACIDIFICATION.—The term ‘coastal acidification’ means the combined decrease in pH and changes in the water chemistry of coastal oceans, estuaries, and other bodies of water from chemical inputs (including carbon dioxide from the atmosphere), freshwater inputs, and excess nutrient run-off from land and coastal atmospheric pollution that result in processes that release carbon dioxide, acidic nitrogen, and sulfur compounds as byproducts which end up in coastal waters.”; and
(5) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
“(5) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands of the United States, and any other territory or possession of the United States.”.
SEC. 4. Interagency working group.
Section 12404 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3703) is amended—
(2) in subsection (a)—
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking “Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology of the National Science and Technology Council shall coordinate Federal activities on ocean acidification and” and insert “Subcommittee shall”;
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking “Wildlife Service,” and inserting “Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of State, the Department of Energy, the Department of the Navy, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Smithsonian Institution,”; and
(3) in subsection (b)—
(A) in paragraph (1), by inserting “, including the efforts of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to facilitate such implementation” after “of the plan”;
(4) in subsection (c), in paragraph (2)—
(6) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
“(c) Advisory Board.—
“(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Chair of the Subcommittee shall establish an Ocean Acidification Advisory Board.
“(2) DUTIES.—The Advisory Board shall—
“(A) not later than 180 days before the Subcommittee submits the most recent report under subsection (d)(2)—
“(ii) submit an analysis of such report to the Subcommittee for consideration in the final report submitted under subsection (d)(2); and
“(iii) concurrently with the Subcommittee’s final submission of the report under subsection (d)(2), the Advisory Board shall submit a copy of the analysis provided to the Subcommittee to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives;
“(B) not later than 180 days before the Subcommittee submits the most recent strategic research plan under subsection (d)(3) to Congress—
“(ii) submit an analysis of such plan and the implementation thereof to the Subcommittee for consideration in the final strategic research plan submitted under subsection (d)(3); and
“(iii) concurrently with the Subcommittee’s final submission of the strategic research plan under subsection (d)(3), the Advisory Board shall submit a copy of the analysis provided to the Subcommittee to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives;
“(C) provide ongoing advice to the Subcommittee and the interagency working group on matters related to Federal activities on ocean acidification and coastal acidification;
“(D) advise the Subcommittee and the interagency working group on—
“(3) MEMBERSHIP.—The Advisory Board shall consist of 24 members as follows:
“(N) 1 representative from the Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System or similar entity representing the island territories and possessions of the United States in the Pacific Ocean, and the State of Hawaii.
“(4) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.—The Chair of the Subcommittee shall—
“(A) appoint members to the Advisory Board (taking into account the geographical interests of each individual to be appointed as a member of the Advisory Board to ensure that an appropriate balance of geographical interests are represented by the members of the Advisory Board) who—
“(6) CHAIR.—The Chair of the Subcommittee shall appoint one member of the Advisory Board to serve as the Chair of the Advisory Board.
“(7) MEETINGS.—Not less than once each calendar year, the Advisory Board shall meet at such times and places as may be designated by the Chair of the Advisory Board, in consultation with the Chair of the Subcommittee and the Chair of the interagency working group.
SEC. 5. Strategic research plan.
Section 12405 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3704) is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)—
(A) by striking “acidification” each place it appears and inserting “acidification and coastal acidification”;
(2) in subsection (b)—
(B) in paragraph (2)—
(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking “impacts” and inserting “impacts, including trends of changes in ocean chemistry,”;
(ii) in subparagraph (B)—
(iii) by amending subparagraph (C) to read as follows:
(iv) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
(D) in paragraph (4), by striking “set forth” and inserting “ensure an appropriate balance of contribution in establishing”;
(E) in paragraph (5), by striking “reports” and inserting “the best available peer-reviewed scientific reports”;
(G) in paragraph (7), by striking “outline budget requirements” and inserting “estimate costs associated for full implementation of each element of the plan by fiscal year”;
(J) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
“(10) describe monitoring needs necessary to support potentially affected industry members, coastal stakeholders, fishery management councils and commissions, non-Federal resource managers, and scientific experts on decision-making and adaptation related to ocean acidification and coastal acidification.”;
(3) in subsection (c)—
(B) in paragraph (2), by inserting “and coastal acidification” after “ocean acidification” each place it appears;
(4) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the following:
“(e) Advisory Board evaluation.—Not later than 180 days before a plan is submitted to Congress, the Subcommittee shall provide the Advisory Board established under section 12404(c) a copy of the plan for purposes of review under paragraph (2)(B)(i) of such section.
“(f) Publication and public comment.—Not later than 90 days before the strategic research plan, or any revision thereof, is submitted to Congress, the Subcommittee shall publish the plan in the Federal Register and provide an opportunity for submission of public comments for a period of not less than 60 days.”.
SEC. 6. NOAA ocean acidification activities.
Section 12406 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3705) is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)—
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by inserting “coordination,” after “research, monitoring,”;
(B) in paragraph (1)—
(i) in subparagraph (B)—
(iv) in subparagraph (F), by striking “monitoring and impacts research” and inserting “research, monitoring, and adaptation and mitigation strategies”; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subsections:
“(c) Relationship to interagency working group.—The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall serve as the lead Federal agency responsible for coordinating the Federal response to ocean acidification and coastal acidification, by—
“(1) leading the interagency working group in implementing the strategic research plan under section 12405;
“(2) coordinating monitoring and research efforts among Federal agencies in cooperation with State, local, and Tribal government and international partners;
“(3) maintaining an Ocean Acidification Information Exchange described under section 12404(b)(5) to allow for information to be electronically accessible, including information—
“(d) Data archive system.—
“(1) MANAGEMENT.—The Secretary, in coordination with members of the interagency working group, shall provide for the long-term stewardship of, and access to, data relating to ocean acidification and coastal acidification by establishing and maintaining a data archive system that the National Center for Environmental Information uses to process, store, archive, provide access to, and incorporate to the extent possible, such data collected—
“(2) EXISTING GLOBAL OR NATIONAL DATA ASSETS.—In establishing and maintaining the data archive system under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall ensure that existing global or national data assets (including the data assets maintained by the National Centers for Environmental Information, the Integrated Ocean Observing System, and other existing data systems within Federal agencies) are incorporated to the greatest extent possible.
“(e) Standards, protocols, and procedures.—With respect to the data described in subsection (d), the Secretary, in coordination with members of the interagency working group, shall establish and revise as necessary the standards, protocols, or procedures for—
“(f) Dissemination of ocean acidification data and coastal acidification data.—The Secretary, in coordination with members of the interagency working group, shall disseminate the data described under subsection (d) to the greatest extent practicable by sharing such data on full and open access exchanges, including the Ocean Acidification Information Exchange described in section 12404(b)(5).
SEC. 7. NSF ocean acidification activities.
Section 12407 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3706) is amended—
(1) by striking “ocean acidification” each place it appears and inserting “ocean acidification and coastal acidification”;
(3) by adding at the end the following:
SEC. 8. NASA ocean acidification activities.
Section 12408 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3707) is amended—
(1) by striking “ocean acidification” each place it appears and inserting “ocean acidification and coastal acidification”;
(3) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
SEC. 9. Authorization of appropriations.
Section 12409 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3708) is amended—
Union Calendar No. 61 | |||||
| |||||
[Report No. 116–86] | |||||
A BILL | |||||
To amend the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009 to establish an Ocean Acidification Advisory Board, to expand and improve the research on Ocean Acidification and Coastal Acidification, to establish and maintain a data archive system for Ocean Acidification data and Coastal Acidification data, and for other purposes. | |||||
May 28, 2019 | |||||
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed |