A bill to provide for research, monitoring, and observation of the Arctic Ocean and for other purposes.

Summary: Arctic Ocean Research, Monitoring, and Observing Act of 2012 - Establishes the Arctic Ocean Research, Monitoring, and Observation Program to be administered by the North Pacific Research Board with input and assistance from the Arctic Research Commission.

Requires the Program to include marine, coastal, and estuarine: (1) research of fisheries, ecosystem food webs, and spatial distributions of fish and other wildlife; (2) monitoring and observation, including expansion of the Alaska Ocean Observing System in the Arctic; (3) research, monitoring, observation, and modeling to support planning, environmental review, decisionmaking, evaluation, impact and natural resources damage assessment, and adaptive management with respect to industrial and other human activities in the Arctic, environmental change, and the interactive and cumulative effects in the Arctic.

Directs: (1) the Board and Commission to jointly prepare an Arctic Ocean science plan, and (2) the Board to submit the plan to the National Research Council. Requires that the plan be reviewed and updated at least once every five years.

Establishes a grant program to award grants for research, monitoring, and observation under the science plan.

Directs the Commission to annually review and recommend to the Board ongoing and future strategies and priorities.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Arctic Ocean Research, Monitoring, 
and Observing Act of 2012''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The United States is an Arctic Nation with--
                    (A) an approximately 700-mile border with the 
                Arctic Ocean;
                    (B) more than 100,000,000 acres of land above the 
                Arctic Circle; and
                    (C) an even broader area defined as Arctic by 
                temperature, which includes the Bering Sea and Aleutian 
                Islands.
            (2) The Arctic region of the United States is home to an 
        indigenous population that has subsisted for millennia on the 
        abundance in marine mammals, fish, and wildlife, many of which 
        are unique to the region.
            (3) Temperatures in the United States Arctic region have 
        warmed by 3 to 4 degrees Celsius over the past half-century, a 
        rate of increase that is twice the global average.
            (4) The Arctic ice pack is rapidly diminishing and 
        thinning, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
        Administration estimates the Arctic Ocean may be ice free 
        during summer months in as few as 30 years.
            (5) Such changes to the Arctic region are having a 
        significant impact on the indigenous people of the Arctic, 
        their communities and ecosystems, as well as the marine 
        mammals, fish, and wildlife upon which they depend.
            (6) Such changes are opening new portions of the United 
        States Arctic continental shelf to possible development for 
        offshore oil and gas, commercial fishing, marine shipping, and 
        tourism.
            (7) Existing Federal research and science advisory programs 
        focused on the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of a 
        changing Arctic Ocean lack a cohesive, coordinated, and 
        integrated approach and are not adequately coordinated with 
        State, local, academic, and private-sector Arctic Ocean 
        research programs.
            (8) The lack of research integration and synthesis of 
        findings of Arctic Ocean research has impeded the progress of 
        the United States and international community in understanding 
        climate change impacts and feedback mechanisms in the Arctic 
        Ocean.
            (9) An improved scientific understanding of the changing 
        Arctic Ocean is critical to the development of appropriate and 
        effective regional, national, and global climate change 
        adaptation strategies.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to establish a permanent 
environmental sentinel program to conduct research, monitoring, and 
observation activities in the Arctic Ocean--
            (1) to promote and sustain a productive and resilient 
        marine, coastal, and estuarine ecosystem in the Arctic and the 
        human uses of its natural resources through greater 
        understanding of how the ecosystem works and monitoring and 
        observation of its vital signs; and
            (2) to track and evaluate the effectiveness of natural 
        resource management in the Arctic in order to facilitate 
        improved performance and adaptive management.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Board.--The term ``Board'' means the North Pacific 
        Research Board established under section 401(e) of the 
        Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations 
        Act, 1998 (Public Law 105-1608).
            (2) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Arctic 
        Research Commission established under the Arctic Research and 
        Policy Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-373; 15 U.S.C. 4102).
            (3) Program.--The term ``Program'' means the Arctic Ocean 
        Research, Monitoring, and Observation Program established by 
        section 4(a).

SEC. 4. ARCTIC OCEAN RESEARCH, MONITORING, AND OBSERVATION PROGRAM.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established an Arctic Ocean Research, 
Monitoring, and Observation Program to be administered by the Board 
with input and assistance from the Commission.
    (b) Research, Monitoring, and Observation Activities.--The Program 
shall be an integrated, long-term scientific research, monitoring, and 
observation program consisting of--
            (1) marine, coastal, and estuarine research, including--
                    (A) fisheries research;
                    (B) research on the structure and function of the 
                ecosystem and its food webs; and
                    (C) research on the spatial distributions and 
                status of fish, wildlife, and other populations in the 
                Arctic;
            (2) marine, coastal, and estuarine ecosystem monitoring and 
        observation, including expansion of the Alaska Ocean Observing 
        System in the Arctic; and
            (3) marine, coastal, and estuarine research, monitoring, 
        observation, and modeling that supports planning, environmental 
        review, decisionmaking, evaluation, impact and natural 
        resources damage assessment, and adaptive management with 
        respect to industrial and other human activities, such as 
        shipping, in the Arctic, environmental change, and their 
        interactive and cumulative effects in the Arctic.
    (c) Initial Projects.--In initiating the Program, the Board shall 
make grants under subsection (e)--
            (1) to support research and monitoring of Arctic fisheries, 
        including on the distributions and ecology of Arctic cod and 
        other forage fishes, for a period of not less than 3 years;
            (2) to support research and monitoring of Arctic marine 
        mammals, including their responses to loss of sea ice habitats 
        and reactions to disturbance, for a period of not less than 3 
        years; and
            (3) to establish the Alaska Ocean Observing System in the 
        Arctic Ocean such that it has sufficient capacity to provide 
        comprehensive data, nowcasts and forecasts, and information 
        products in real time and near real time on physical, chemical, 
        and biological conditions and environmental change.
    (d) Arctic Ocean Science Plan.--
            (1) Requirement.--The Board and the Commission shall 
        jointly prepare a comprehensive, integrated Arctic Ocean 
        science plan.
            (2) Recognition and coordination with other science.--The 
        content of the plan required by paragraph (1) shall be 
        developed with recognition of and in coordination with other 
        science plans and activities in the Arctic.
            (3) Informed by synthesis of existing knowledge.--
        Development of the plan required by paragraph (1) shall be 
        informed by a synthesis of existing knowledge about the Arctic 
        ecosystem, including information about how the ecosystem 
        functions, individual and cumulative sources of ecosystem 
        stress, how the ecosystem is changing, and other relevant 
        information.
            (4) Review.--
                    (A) Initial review by national research council.--
                The Board shall submit the initial plan required by 
                paragraph (1) to the National Research Council for 
                review.
                    (B) Periodic review and updates.--Not less 
                frequently than once every 5 years thereafter, the 
                Board and the Commission shall, in consultation with 
                the National Research Council, review the plan required 
                by paragraph (1) and update it as the Board and the 
                Commission consider necessary.
            (5) Use.--The Board shall use the plan required by 
        paragraph (1) as a basis for setting priorities and awarding 
        grants under subsection (e).
    (e) Grants.--
            (1) Authority.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 
        Board shall, under the Program, award grants to carry out 
        research, monitoring, and observation activities described in 
        subsections (b) and (c).
            (2) Limitation.--The North Pacific Research Board may not 
        award any grants under paragraph (1) until the Board has 
        prepared the plan required by subsection (d)(1).
            (3) Conditions, considerations, and priorities.--When 
        making grants to carry out the research, monitoring, and 
        observation activities described in subsections (b) and (c), 
        the Board shall--
                    (A) consider institutions located in the Arctic and 
                subarctic;
                    (B) place a priority on cooperative, integrated 
                long-term projects, designed to address current or 
                anticipated marine ecosystem or fishery or wildlife 
                management information needs;
                    (C) give priority to fully establishing and 
                operating the Alaska Ocean Observing System in the 
                Arctic Ocean, which may include future support for 
                cabled ocean observatories;
                    (D) recognize the value of local and traditional 
                ecological knowledge, and, where appropriate, place a 
                priority on research, monitoring, and observation 
                projects that incorporate local and traditional 
                ecological knowledge;
                    (E) ensure that research, monitoring, and 
                observation data collected by grantees of the Program 
                are made available to the public in a timely fashion, 
                pursuant to national and international protocols; and
                    (F) give due consideration to the annual 
                recommendations and review of the Commission carried 
                out under subsection (f).
    (f) Annual Recommendations and Review by Arctic Research 
Commission.--Each year, the Commission shall--
            (1) recommend ongoing and future research, monitoring, and 
        observation priorities and strategies to be carried out 
        pursuant to subsections (b) and (c);
            (2) undertake a written review of ongoing and recently 
        concluded research, monitoring, and observation activities 
        undertaken pursuant to such subsections; and
            (3) submit to the Board the recommendations required by 
        paragraph (1) and the review required by paragraph (2).