Collapse to view only § 3702. Definitions
- § 3701. Purposes
- § 3702. Definitions
- § 3703. Interagency working group
- § 3704. Strategic research plan
- § 3705. NOAA ocean acidification activities
- § 3706. NSF ocean acidification activities
- § 3707. NASA ocean acidification activities
- § 3708. Authorization of appropriations
The term “coastal acidification” means the decrease in pH and changes in the water chemistry of coastal oceans, estuaries, and Great Lakes from atmospheric pollution, freshwater inputs, and excess nutrient run-off from land.
The term “ocean acidification” means the decrease in pH and changes in the water chemistry of the Earth’s oceans, coastal estuaries, marine waterways, and Great Lakes caused by carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and the breakdown of organic matter.
The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The term “Subcommittee” means the National Science and Technology Council Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology.
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.
The Subcommittee shall coordinate Federal activities on ocean and coastal acidification and establish and maintain an interagency working group.
The interagency working group on ocean acidification shall be comprised of senior representatives from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the United States Geological Survey, the United States Fish and 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 such other Federal agencies as appropriate.
The interagency working group shall be chaired by the representative from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The Chair of the Subcommittee shall establish an Ocean Acidification Advisory Board.
The Chair of the Subcommittee shall appoint one member of the Advisory Board to serve as the Chair of the Advisory Board.
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.
The Chair of the Advisory Board shall brief the Subcommittee and the interagency working group on the progress of the Advisory Board as necessary or at the request of the Subcommittee.
Nothing in subparagraph (A) may be construed as affecting any requirement to consult with Indian Tribes under Executive Order 13175 (25 U.S.C. 5301 note; relating to consultation and coordination with Tribal governments) or any other applicable law or policy.
Section 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act shall not apply to the Advisory Board for 10 years from August 9, 2022.2
Any Federal agency with a representative serving on the interagency working group established under this section may, either individually or in cooperation with one or more agencies, carry out a program to award prizes competitively under section 3719 of title 15. An agency seeking to carry out such a program shall carry out such program in coordination with the chair of such interagency working group.
Any prize competition carried out under this subsection shall be for the purpose of stimulating innovation to advance our Nation’s ability to understand, research, or monitor ocean acidification or its impacts, or to develop management or adaptation options for responding to ocean and coastal acidification.
Priority shall be given to establishing programs under this section that address communities, environments, or industries that are in distress due to the impacts of ocean and coastal acidification.
Not later than 2 years after March 30, 2009, the Subcommittee shall transmit the strategic research plan developed under section 3704 of this title to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science and Technology and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives. A revised plan shall be submitted at least once every 5 years until 2031 thereafter.1
The initial report required under subparagraph (A) shall include the information described in clauses (i) through (viii) of that subparagraph on a national level.
If the Subcommittee opts to prepare a report required under subparagraph (A) as separate regional reports under clause (ii)(II), the Subcommittee shall submit a report for each region of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration not less frequently than once during each 6-year reporting period.
In this paragraph and in paragraph (5), the term “appropriate committees of Congress” means 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.
Not later than 2 years after March 30, 2009, and not later than every 5 years following the publication of each subsequent strategic research plan until 2035, the Subcommittee shall develop a strategic plan for Federal research and monitoring on ocean acidification and coastal acidification that will provide for an assessment of the impacts of ocean acidification and coastal acidification on marine organisms and ecosystems and the development of adaptation and mitigation strategies to address the socioeconomic impacts of ocean acidification and coastal acidification and to conserve marine organisms and ecosystems. In developing the plan, the Subcommittee shall consider and use information, reports, and studies of ocean acidification and coastal acidification that have identified research and monitoring needed to better understand ocean acidification and coastal acidification and its potential impacts, and recommendations made by the Advisory Board established in section 3703(c) of this title.
Concurrent with the submission of the plan to Congress, the Subcommittee shall publish the plan on a public website.
In conducting the Program, the Secretary may enter into and perform such contracts, leases, grants, or cooperative agreements as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter on such terms as the Secretary considers appropriate.
The Secretary to, the extent possible, shall ensure all such data adheres to data and metadata standards to support the public findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability of such data.
The research activities shall be consistent with the strategic research plan developed by the Subcommittee under section 3704 of this title.
The Director shall encourage coordination of the Foundation’s ocean acidification and coastal acidification activities with such activities of other nations and international organizations.
The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, in coordination with other relevant agencies, shall ensure that space-based monitoring assets are used in as productive a manner as possible for monitoring of ocean acidification and coastal acidification and their respective impacts.
The Administrator shall ensure that the Agency’s research and monitoring activities on ocean acidification and coastal acidification are carried out in a manner consistent with the strategic research plan developed by the Subcommittee under section 3704 of this title.
The Administrator shall encourage coordination of the Agency’s ocean acidification and coastal acidification activities with such activities of other nations and international organizations.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the National Science Foundation to carry out the purposes of this chapter, $20,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2023 through 2027.