Collapse to view only § 3607. Public-private use policy
- § 3601. Purposes
- § 3602. Definitions
- § 3603. Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observing System
- § 3604. Interagency financing and agreements
- § 3605. Application with other laws
- § 3606. Report to Congress
- § 3607. Public-private use policy
- § 3608. Repealed.
- § 3609. Intent of Congress
- § 3610. Authorization of appropriations
- § 3611. Assessing and modeling named storms over coastal States
- § 3612. Accelerating innovation at Cooperative Institutes
- § 3613. Blue Economy valuation
The term “Administrator” means the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere in the Under Secretary’s capacity as Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The term “Council” means the National Ocean Research Leadership Council established by section 8932 of title 10.1
The term “Federal assets” means all relevant non-classified civilian coastal and ocean observations, technologies, and related modeling, research, data management, basic and applied technology research and development, and public education and outreach programs, that are managed by member agencies of the Council.
The term “Interagency Ocean Observation Committee” means the committee established under section 3603(c)(2) of this title.
The term “non-Federal assets” means all relevant coastal and ocean observation technologies, related basic and applied technology research and development, and public education and outreach programs that are managed through States, regional organizations, universities, nongovernmental organizations, or the private sector and integrated into the System by a regional coastal observing system, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or the agencies participating in the Interagency Ocean Observation Committee.
The term “regional coastal observing system” means an organizational body that is certified or established by contract or memorandum by the lead Federal agency designated in section 3603(c)(3) of this title and coordinates State, Federal, local, tribal, and private interests at a regional level with the responsibility of engaging the private and public sectors in designing, operating, and improving regional coastal observing systems in order to ensure the provision of data and information that meet the needs of user groups from the respective regions.
The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Administrator.
The term “System” means the National Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System established under section 3603 of this title.
The term “System Plan” means the plan contained in the document entitled “Ocean. US Publication No. 9, The First Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) Development Plan”, as updated by the Council under this chapter.
The President, acting through the Council, shall establish a National Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System to fulfill the purposes set forth in section 3601 of this title and the System Plan and to fulfill the Nation’s international obligations to contribute to the Global Earth Observation System of Systems and the Global Ocean Observing System.
The head of each Federal agency that has administrative jurisdiction over a Federal asset shall support the purposes of this chapter and may take appropriate actions to enhance internal agency administration and management to better support, integrate, finance, and utilize observation data, products, and services developed under this section to further its own agency mission and responsibilities.
The head of each Federal agency that has administrative jurisdiction over a Federal asset shall make available data that are produced by that asset and that are not otherwise restricted for integration, management, and dissemination by the System for research and for use in the development of products to address societal needs.
Non-Federal assets shall be coordinated, as appropriate, by the Interagency Ocean Observing Committee or by regional coastal observing systems.
The Council shall establish or designate a committee, which shall be known as the “Interagency Ocean Observation Committee”.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall function as the lead Federal agency for the implementation and administration of the System.
In carrying out this paragraph, the Administrator shall consult with the Council, the Interagency Ocean Observation Committee, other Federal agencies that maintain portions of the System, and the regional coastal observing systems.
For the purposes of this chapter, employees of Federal agencies are permitted to be members of the governing body for the regional coastal observing systems and may participate in the functions of the regional coastal observing systems.
The Administrator shall establish or designate a System advisory committee, which shall provide advice as may be requested by the Administrator or the Council under this chapter 1
The System advisory committee shall be composed of members appointed by the Administrator. Members shall be qualified by education, training, and experience to evaluate scientific and technical information related to the design, operation, maintenance, or use of the System, or use of data products provided through the System.
The Administrator may stagger the terms of the System advisory committee members. Members shall be appointed for 3-year terms, renewable once. A vacancy appointment shall be for the remainder of the unexpired term of the vacancy, and an individual so appointed may subsequently be appointed for 2 full 3-year terms if the remainder of the unexpired term is less than 1 year.
The Administrator shall designate a chairperson from among the members of the System advisory committee.
Members of the System advisory committee shall be appointed as special Government employees for purposes of section 202(a) of title 18.
The System advisory committee shall report to the Administrator, as appropriate.
The Administrator shall provide administrative support to the System advisory committee.
The System advisory committee shall meet at least once each year, and at other times at the call of the Administrator, the Interagency Ocean Observation Committee, or the chairperson.
Members of the System advisory committee shall not be compensated for service on that Committee, but may be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5.
Section 1013 of title 5 shall not apply to the System advisory committee.
For purposes of determining liability arising from the dissemination and use of observation data gathered pursuant to this section, any non-Federal asset or regional coastal observing system incorporated into the System by a memorandum of agreement of certification under subsection (c)(3)(C)(iii) that is participating in the System shall be considered to be part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Any employee of such a non-Federal asset or regional coastal observing system, while operating within the scope of his or her employment in carrying out the purposes of this chapter, with respect to tort liability, is deemed to be an employee of the Federal Government.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to invalidate existing certifications, contracts, or agreements between regional coastal observing systems and other elements of the System.
The Secretary of Commerce may execute an agreement, on a reimbursable or nonreimbursable basis, with any State or subdivision thereof, any Federal agency, any public or private organization, or any individual to carry out activities under this chapter.
Member Departments and agencies of the Council shall have the authority to create, support, and maintain joint centers, and to enter into and perform such contracts, leases, grants, and cooperative agreements as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter and fulfillment of the System Plan.
Nothing in this chapter supersedes or limits the authority of any agency to carry out its responsibilities and missions under other laws.
Not later than March 30, 2022, and every 5 years thereafter, the Administrator shall prepare, and the President acting through the Council shall approve and transmit to Congress, a report on progress made in implementing this chapter.
The Council shall maintain a policy that defines processes for making decisions about the roles of the Federal Government, the States, regional coastal observing systems, the academic community, and the private sector in providing to end-user communities environmental information, products, technologies, and services related to the System. The Administrator shall ensure that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration adheres to the decision making process developed by the Council regarding the roles of the Federal Government, the States, the regional coastal observing systems, the academic community, and the private sector in providing end-user communities environmental information, data products, technologies, and services related to the System.
It is the intent of Congress that funding provided to agencies of the Council to implement this chapter shall supplement, and not replace, existing sources of funding for other programs. It is the further intent of Congress that agencies of the Council shall not enter into contracts or agreements for the development or procurement of new Federal assets for the System that are estimated to be in excess of $250,000,000 in life-cycle costs without first providing adequate notice to Congress and opportunity for review and comment.
The term “COASTAL Formula” has the meaning given the term in section 4057(a) of title 42.
The term “coastal State” has the meaning given the term “coastal state” in section 1453 of title 16, except that the term shall not apply with respect to a State or territory that has an operational wind and flood loss allocation system.
The term “coastal waters” has the meaning given the term in such section.
The term “indeterminate loss” has the meaning given the term in section 4057(a) of title 42.
The term “named storm” means any organized weather system with a defined surface circulation and maximum sustained winds of at least 39 miles per hour which the National Hurricane Center of the United States National Weather Service names as a tropical storm or a hurricane.
The term “Named Storm Event Model” means the official meteorological and oceanographic computerized model, developed by the Administrator under subsection (b)(1)(A), which utilizes covered data to replicate the magnitude, timing, and spatial variations of winds, rainfall, and storm surges associated with named storms for which post-storm assessments are conducted.
The term “participant” means a Federal, State, or private entity that chooses to cooperate with the Administrator in carrying out the provisions of this section by collecting, contributing, and maintaining covered data.
The term “post-storm assessment” means a scientific assessment produced and certified by the Administrator to determine the magnitude, timing, and spatial variations of winds, rainfall, and storm surges associated with a specific named storm to be used in the COASTAL Formula.
The term “State” means a State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any other territory or possession of the United States.
Not later than December 31, 2020, the Administrator shall develop the Named Storm Event Model.
The Named Storm Event Model shall be designed to generate post-storm assessments, as provided in paragraph (2), that have a degree of accuracy of not less than 90 percent for an indeterminate loss for which a post-storm assessment is utilized.
The Administrator shall seek input and suggestions from the public before the Named Storm Event Model, or any modification to the Named Storm Event Model, takes effect.
After the establishment of the COASTAL Formula, the Administrator shall, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, identify named storms that may reasonably constitute a threat to any portion of a coastal State.
Upon identification of a named storm under subparagraph (A), and pursuant to the protocol established under subsection (c), the Administrator may deploy sensors to enhance the collection of covered data in the areas in coastal States that the Administrator determines are at the highest risk of experiencing geophysical events that would cause indeterminate losses.
If the Administrator takes action under clause (i), that action may not be construed as indicating that a post-storm assessment will be developed for any coastal State in which that action is taken.
Not later than 30 days after the first date on which sustained winds of not less than 39 miles per hour are measured in a coastal State during a named storm identified under subparagraph (A), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall notify the Administrator with respect to the existence of any indeterminate losses in that coastal State resulting from that named storm.
Upon confirmation of indeterminate losses identified under subparagraph (C) with respect to a named storm, the Administrator shall develop a post-storm assessment for each coastal State that suffered such indeterminate losses as a result of the named storm using the Named Storm Event Model and covered data collected for such named storm pursuant to the protocol established under subsection (c)(1).
Not later than 90 days after any indeterminate losses are identified under subparagraph (C), the Administrator shall submit to the Secretary of Homeland Security the post-storm assessment developed under subparagraph (D) for any coastal State that suffered such indeterminate losses.
The Administrator may conduct a separate post-storm assessment for each coastal State in which indeterminate losses are identified under subparagraph (C).
If the Administrator conducts a separate post-storm assessment under clause (i), the Administrator shall complete the assessment based on the dates of actions that the Administrator takes under subparagraph (D).
The Administrator shall ensure, to the greatest extent practicable, that each post-storm assessment developed under paragraph (2) has a degree of accuracy of not less than 90 percent.
A certification of the degree of accuracy of a post-storm assessment under this subsection by the Administrator shall be final and shall not be subject to judicial review.
The Administrator shall make available to the public the Named Storm Event Model and any post-storm assessment developed under this subsection.
Not later than December 31, 2020, the Administrator shall establish a protocol, based on the plan submitted under subsection (d)(3), to collect and assemble all covered data required by the Administrator to produce post-storm assessments required by subsection (b), including assembling data collected by participants and stored in the database established under subsection (f) and from such other sources as the Administrator considers appropriate.
If the Administrator is unable to use a public or private asset to obtain covered data as part of the protocol established under paragraph (1), the Administrator may acquire such sensors and structures for the placement of sensors as may, in the discretion of the Administrator, be necessary to obtain such data.
If the protocol requires placement of a sensor to develop assessments pursuant to subsection (b), the Administrator shall, to the extent practicable, use Federal assets for the placement of such sensors.
The Administrator may receive and expend consideration for the placement of a sensor on a structure under subparagraph (A).
Consideration received under subparagraph (B) may be received in-kind.
To the extent practicable, consideration received under subparagraph (B) shall be used for the maintenance of sensors used to collect covered data.
The Administrator shall, in consultation with the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology, coordinate the deployment of sensors as part of the protocol established under paragraph (1) and related data collection carried out by Federal, State, academic, and private entities who choose to cooperate with the Administrator in carrying out this subsection.
The Administrator shall give priority in the acquisition for and deployment of sensors under the protocol required by paragraph (1) to areas of coastal States that have the highest risk of being harmed by named storms.
The Administrator shall, in consultation with the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology and individuals and entities consulted under subsection (e)(3), assess the systems identified under paragraph (1) and identify which systems meet the needs of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for the collection of covered data, including with respect to the accuracy requirement for post-storm assessment under subsection (b)(3).
Not later than 270 days after July 6, 2012, the Administrator shall, in consultation with the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology, submit to Congress a plan for the collection of covered data necessary to develop the Named Storm Event Model and post-storm assessment required by subsection (b) that addresses any gaps identified in paragraph (2).
The database established under paragraph (1) shall be known as the “Coastal Wind and Water Event Database”.
The Cooperative Institutes shall work with the Interagency Ocean Observation Committee, the regional associations of the Integrated Ocean Observing System, and other ocean observing programs to coordinate technology needs and the transition of new technologies from research to operations.
The Administrator, in consultation with the heads of other relevant Federal agencies and subject to the availability of appropriations, shall establish a program to improve the collection, aggregation, and analysis of data to measure the value and impact of industries related to the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts on the economy of the United States, including military uses, living resources, marine construction, marine transportation, offshore energy development and siting including for renewable energy, offshore mineral production, ship and boat building, tourism, recreation, subsistence, commercial, recreational, and charter fishing, seafood processing, and other fishery-related businesses, aquaculture such as kelp and shellfish, and other industries the Administrator determines appropriate.
Not later than 180 days after December 23, 2022, the Administrator, in coordination with the heads of other relevant Federal agencies, shall create and regularly update a public website to improve education, outreach, and public information regarding grants and other public funding opportunities of the Administration related to resiliency.
The Administrator shall conduct outreach activities to inform State, Tribal, and local governments of resiliency, adaptation, and mitigation grants that are available to such governments.
The term “Historically Black Colleges and Universities” has the meaning given the term “part B institution” in section 1061 of title 20.
The term “Tribal College or University” has the meaning given the term in section 1059c of title 20.