IB 

Union Calendar No. 162 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2400 

[Report No. 110–253, Part I] 

To direct the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to establish an integrated Federal ocean and coastal mapping 

plan for the Great Lakes and coastal state waters, the territorial sea, 

the exclusive economic zone, and the Continental Shelf of the United 

States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 21, 2007 

Ms. BORDALLO (for herself, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, Mr. SAXTON, and 

Mr. PALLONE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on 

Science and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by 

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

JULY 23, 2007 

Additional sponsors: Mr. GILCHREST and Ms. SHEA-PORTER

JULY 23, 2007 

Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

JULY 23, 2007 

Committee on Science and Technology discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be 

printed 


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[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 21, 2007] 

A BILL 

To direct the Administrator of the National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration to establish an integrated 

Federal ocean and coastal mapping plan for the Great 

Lakes and coastal state waters, the territorial sea, the 

exclusive economic zone, and the Continental Shelf of 

the United States, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ocean and Coastal Map5 ping Integration Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INTEGRATED OCEAN AND COASTAL MAPPING PRO7 GRAM. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the National 

9 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall establish a 

10 program to develop, in coordination with the Interagency 

11 Committee on Ocean and Coastal Mapping and affected 

12 coastal states, a coordinated and comprehensive Federal 

13 ocean and coastal mapping plan for the Great Lakes and 

14 coastal state waters, the territorial sea, the exclusive eco15 nomic zone, and the Continental Shelf of the United States 

16 that enhances ecosystem approaches in decisionmaking for 

17 conservation and management of marine resources and 


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1 habitats, establishes priorities for research and mapping, 

2 supports the siting of research and other platforms, en3 hances safety of navigation, and advances ocean and coastal 

4 science. 

5 (b) PROGRAM PARAMETERS.—In developing such a 

6 program, the Administrator shall work with the Committee 

7 to— 

8 (1) identify all Federal and federally funded pro9 grams conducting shoreline delineation and ocean or 

10 coastal mapping, noting geographic coverage, fre11 quency, spatial coverage, resolution, and subject mat12 ter focus of the data and location of data archives; 

13 (2) facilitate cost-effective, cooperative mapping 

14 efforts that incorporate policies for contracting with 

15 non-governmental entities among all Federal agencies 

16 conducting ocean and coastal mapping, by increasing 

17 data sharing, developing appropriate data acquisition 

18 and metadata standards, and facilitating the inter19 operability of in situ data collection systems, data 

20 processing, archiving, and distribution of data prod21 ucts; 

22 (3) facilitate the adaptation of existing tech23 nologies as well as foster expertise in new ocean and 

24 coastal mapping technologies, including through re25 search, development, and training conducted among 


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1 Federal agencies and in cooperation with non-govern2 mental entities; 

3 (4) develop standards and protocols for testing 

4 innovative experimental mapping technologies and 

5 transferring new technologies between the Federal 

6 Government, coastal state, and non-governmental en7 tities; 

8 (5) provide for the archiving, management, and 

9 distribution of data sets through a national registry 

10 as well as provide mapping products and services to 

11 the general public in service of statutory require12 ments; 

13 (6) develop data standards and protocols con14 sistent with standards developed by the Federal Geo15 graphic Data Committee for use by Federal, coastal 

16 state, and other entities in mapping and otherwise 

17 documenting locations of federally permitted activi18 ties, living and nonliving coastal and marine re19 sources, marine ecosystems, sensitive habitats, sub20 merged cultural resources, undersea cables, offshore 

21 aquaculture projects, offshore energy projects, and any 

22 areas designated for purposes of environmental pro23 tection or conservation and management of living and 

24 nonliving coastal and marine resources; 


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1 (7) identify the procedures to be used for coordi2 nating the collection and integration of Federal ocean 

3 and coastal mapping data with coastal state and 

4 local government programs; 

5 (8) facilitate, to the extent practicable, the collec6 tion of real-time tide data and the development of hy7 drodynamic models for coastal areas to allow for the 

8 application of V-datum tools that will facilitate the 

9 seamless integration of onshore and offshore maps and 

10 charts; 

11 (9) establish a plan for the acquisition and col12 lection of ocean and coastal mapping data; and 

13 (10) set forth a timetable for completion and im14 plementation of the plan referred to in subsection (a). 

15 SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE ON OCEAN AND COAST16 AL MAPPING. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, within 30 days 

18 after the date of enactment of this Act, shall convene or uti19 lize an existing interagency committee on ocean and coastal 

20 mapping to implement section 2. 

21 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The committee shall be comprised 

22 of senior representatives from Federal agencies with ocean 

23 and coastal mapping and surveying responsibilities. The 

24 representatives shall be high-ranking officials of their re25 spective agencies or departments and, whenever possible, the 


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1 head of the portion of the agency or department that is most 

2 relevant to the purposes of this Act. Membership shall in3 clude senior representatives from the National Oceanic and 

4 Atmospheric Administration, the Chief of Naval Oper5 ations, the United States Geological Survey, the Minerals 

6 Management Service, the National Science Foundation, the 

7 National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the United States 

8 Army Corps of Engineers, the Coast Guard, the Environ9 mental Protection Agency, the Federal Emergency Manage10 ment Agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Admin11 istration, and other appropriate Federal agencies involved 

12 in ocean and coastal mapping. 

13 (c) CHAIRMAN.—The committee shall have as its chair14 man the representative from the National Oceanic and At15 mospheric Administration. The chairman may create sub16 committees chaired by any member agency of the committee. 

17 The full committee may form working groups to address 

18 issues of short duration. 

19 (d) MEETINGS.—The committee shall meet on a quar20 terly basis, but each subcommittee and each working group 

21 shall meet on an as-needed basis. 

22 (e) COORDINATION.—The committee shall coordinate 

23 activities, when appropriate, with— 


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1 (1) other Federal efforts, including the Digital 

2 Coast, Geospatial One-Stop, and the Federal Geo3 graphic Data Committee; 

4 (2) international mapping activities; 

5 (3) coastal states; 

6 (4) user groups through workshops and other ap7 propriate mechanisms; and 

8 (5) representatives of non-governmental entities. 

9 (f) ADVISORY PANEL.—The Administrator may con10 vene an ocean and coastal mapping advisory panel con11 sisting of representatives from non-governmental entities to 

12 provide input regarding activities of the committee. 

13 SEC. 4. NOAA INTEGRATED MAPPING INITIATIVE. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 

15 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in con16 sultation with the Committee, shall develop and submit to 

17 the Congress a plan for an integrated ocean and coastal 

18 mapping initiative within the National Oceanic and At19 mospheric Administration. 

20 (b) PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—The plan shall— 

21 (1) identify and describe all ocean and coastal 

22 mapping programs within the agency, including those 

23 that conduct mapping or related activities in the 

24 course of existing missions, such as hydrographic sur25 veys, ocean exploration projects, living marine reVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:24 Jul 23, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2400.RH H2400

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1 source conservation and management programs, 

2 coastal zone management projects, and ocean and 

3 coastal observations and science projects; 

4 (2) establish priority mapping programs and es5 tablish and periodically update priorities for geo6 graphic areas in surveying and mapping across all 

7 missions of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

8 Administration, as well as minimum data acquisition 

9 and metadata standards for those programs; 

10 (3) encourage the development of innovative 

11 ocean and coastal mapping technologies and applica12 tions, such as Digital Coast, through research and de13 velopment through cooperative or other agreements 

14 with joint or cooperative research institutes or centers 

15 and with other non-governmental entities; 

16 (4) document available and developing tech17 nologies, best practices in data processing and dis18 tribution, and leveraging opportunities with other 

19 Federal agencies, coastal states, and non-govern20 mental entities; 

21 (5) identify training, technology, and other re22 source requirements for enabling the National Oceanic 

23 and Atmospheric Administration’s programs, vessels, 

24 and aircraft to support a coordinated ocean and 

25 coastal mapping program; 


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1 (6) identify a centralized mechanism or office for 

2 coordinating data collection, processing, archiving, 

3 and dissemination activities of all such mapping pro4 grams within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

5 Administration that meets Federal mandates for data 

6 accuracy and accessibility and designate a repository 

7 that is responsible for archiving and managing the 

8 distribution of all ocean and coastal mapping data to 

9 simplify the provision of services to benefit Federal 

10 and coastal state programs; and 

11 (7) set forth a timetable for implementation and 

12 completion of the plan, including a schedule for sub13 mission to the Congress of periodic progress reports 

14 and recommendations for integrating approaches de15 veloped under the initiative into the interagency pro16 gram. 

17 (c) NOAA JOINT OCEAN AND COASTAL MAPPING CEN18 TERS.—The Administrator may maintain and operate up 

19 to 3 joint ocean and coastal mapping centers, including a 

20 joint hydrographic center, which shall each be co-located 

21 with an institution of higher education. The centers shall 

22 serve as hydrographic centers of excellence and may conduct 

23 activities necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act, 

24 including— 


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1 (1) research and development of innovative ocean 

2 and coastal mapping technologies, equipment, and 

3 data products; 

4 (2) mapping of the United States Outer Conti5 nental Shelf and other regions; 

6 (3) data processing for nontraditional data and 

7 uses; 

8 (4) advancing the use of remote sensing tech9 nologies, for related issues, including mapping and 

10 assessment of essential fish habitat and of coral re11 sources, ocean observations, and ocean exploration; 

12 and 

13 (5) providing graduate education and training 

14 in ocean and coastal mapping sciences for members 

15 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra16 tion Commissioned Officer Corps, personnel of other 

17 agencies with ocean and coastal mapping programs, 

18 and civilian personnel. 

19 (d) ENHANCED OPPORTUNITIES FOR NON-GOVERN20 MENTAL CONTRACTING.—The Administrator shall continue 

21 developing a strategy for expanding contracting with non22 governmental entities to minimize duplication and take 

23 maximum advantage of non-governmental capabilities in 

24 fulfilling the Administration’s mapping and charting re25 sponsibilities. Within 120 days after the date of enactment 


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1 of this Act, the Administrator shall transmit a report de2 scribing the strategy developed under this subsection to the 

3 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

4 the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the 

5 House of Representatives. 

6 SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY PROGRAM REPORTING. 

7 No later than 18 months after the date of enactment 

8 of this Act, and biannually thereafter, the Chairman of the 

9 Committee shall transmit to the Committee on Commerce, 

10 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Com11 mittee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives 

12 a report detailing progress made in implementing this Act, 

13 including— 

14 (1) an inventory of ocean and coastal mapping 

15 data within the territorial sea and the exclusive eco16 nomic zone and throughout the Continental Shelf of 

17 the United States, noting the age and source of the 

18 survey and the spatial resolution (metadata) of the 

19 data; 

20 (2) an inventory and description of any new 

21 Federal or federally funded programs conducting 

22 shoreline delineation and ocean or coastal mapping 

23 since the previous reporting cycle; 

24 (3) identification of priority areas in need of 

25 survey coverage using present technologies; 


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1 (4) a resource plan that identifies when priority 

2 areas in need of modern ocean and coastal mapping 

3 surveys can be accomplished; 

4 (5) the status of efforts to produce integrated dig5 ital maps of ocean and coastal areas; 

6 (6) a description of any products resulting from 

7 coordinated mapping efforts under this Act that im8 prove public understanding of the coasts and oceans, 

9 or regulatory decisionmaking; 

10 (7) documentation of minimum and desired 

11 standards for data acquisition and integrated 

12 metadata; 

13 (8) a statement of the status of Federal efforts to 

14 leverage mapping technologies, coordinate mapping 

15 activities, share expertise, and exchange data; 

16 (9) a statement of resource requirements for or17 ganizations to meet the goals of the program, includ18 ing technology needs for data acquisition, processing, 

19 and distribution systems; 

20 (10) a statement of the status of efforts to declas21 sify data gathered by the Navy, the National 

22 Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and other agencies to 

23 the extent possible without jeopardizing national secu24 rity, and make it available to partner agencies and 

25 the public; 


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1 (11) the status of efforts to coordinate Federal 

2 programs with coastal state and local government 

3 programs and leverage those programs; and 

4 (12) a description of efforts of Federal agencies 

5 to increase contracting with non-governmental enti6 ties. 

7 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the amounts author9 ized by section 306 of the Hydrographic Services Improve10 ment Act of 1998 (33 U.S.C. 892d), there are authorized 

11 to be appropriated to the Administrator to carry out this 

12 Act— 

13 (1) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; 

14 (2) $26,000,000 for fiscal year 2009; 

15 (3) $32,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; 

16 (4) $38,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; and 

17 (5) $45,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 

18 through 2015. 

19 (b) JOINT OCEAN AND COASTAL MAPPING CENTERS.— 

20 Of the amounts appropriated under subsection (a), the fol21 lowing amounts shall be used to carry out section 4(c): 

22 (1) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2008. 

23 (2) $11,000,000 for fiscal year 2009. 

24 (3) $12,000,000 for fiscal year 2010. 

25 (4) $13,000,000 for fiscal year 2011. 


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1 (5) $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 

2 through 2015. 

3 (c) INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE.—Notwithstanding any 

4 other provision of law, from amounts authorized to be ap5 propriated for fiscal years 2008 through 2015 to the depart6 ments of the agencies, and the independent agencies, speci7 fied in section 3(b), the head of each such department or 

8 agency may make available not more than $10,000,000 per 

9 fiscal year to carry out interagency activities under section 

10 3. 

11 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

12 In this Act: 

13 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis14 trator’’ means the Administrator of the National Oce15 anic and Atmospheric Administration. 

16 (2) COASTAL STATE.—The term ‘‘coastal state’’ 

17 has the meaning given that term by section 304(4) of 

18 the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 

19 1453(4). 

20 (3) COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Committee’’ means 

21 the Interagency Committee on Ocean and Coastal 

22 Mapping established by section 3. 

23 (4) EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE.—The term ‘‘ex24 clusive economic zone’’ means the exclusive economic 


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1 zone of the United States established by Presidential 

2 Proclamation No. 5030, of March 10, 1983. 

3 (5) NON-GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES.—The term 

4 ‘‘non-governmental entities’’ includes non-govern5 mental organizations, members of the academic com6 munity, and private sector organizations that provide 

7 products and services associated with measuring, lo8 cating, and preparing maps, charts, surveys, aerial 

9 photographs, satellite imagines, or other graphical or 

10 digital presentations depicting natural or manmade 

11 physical features, phenomena, and legal boundaries of 

12 the Earth. 

13 (6) OCEAN AND COASTAL MAPPING.—The term 

14 ‘‘ocean and coastal mapping’’ means the acquisition, 

15 processing, and management of physical, biological, 

16 geological, chemical, and archaeological characteris17 tics and boundaries of ocean and coastal areas, re18 sources, and sea beds through the use of acoustics, sat19 ellites, aerial photogrammetry, light and imaging, di20 rect sampling, and other mapping technologies. 

21 (7) OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF.—The term 

22 ‘‘Outer Continental Shelf’’ means all submerged lands 

23 lying seaward and outside of lands beneath navigable 

24 waters (as that term is defined in section 2 of the 

25 Submerged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1301)), and of 


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1 which the subsoil and seabed appertain to the United 

2 States and are subject to its jurisdiction and control. 

3 (8) TERRITORIAL SEA.—The term ‘‘territorial 

4 sea’’ means the belt of sea measured from the baseline 

5 of the United States determined in accordance with 

6 international law, as set forth in Presidential Procla7 mation Number 5928, dated December 27, 1988. 


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Union Calendar No. 162 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2400 

[Report No. 110

–253, Part I] 

A BILL 

To direct the Administrator of the National OceStates, and for other purposes. zone, and the Continental Shelf of the United ters, the territorial sea, the exclusive economic plan for the Great Lakes and coastal state wa- an integrated Federal ocean and coastal mapping anic and Atmospheric Administration to establish 

JULY 23, 2007 

Committee on Science and Technology discharged; comState of the Union and ordered to be printed mitted to the Committee of the Whole House on the 


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