IIB 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2400 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 24, 2007 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

and Transportation 

AN ACT 

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. 


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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 

5 Mapping Integration Act’’. 

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

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Na9 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall es10 tablish a program to develop, in coordination with the 

11 Interagency Committee on Ocean and Coastal Mapping 

12 and affected coastal states, a coordinated and comprehen13 sive Federal ocean and coastal mapping plan for the Great 

14 Lakes and coastal state waters, the territorial sea, the ex15 clusive economic zone, and the Continental Shelf of the 

16 United States that enhances ecosystem approaches in de17 cisionmaking for conservation and management of marine 

18 resources and habitats, establishes priorities for research 

19 and mapping, supports the siting of research and other 

20 platforms, enhances safety of navigation, and advances 

21 ocean and coastal science. 

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

23 program, the Administrator shall work with the Com24 mittee to— 


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1 (1) identify all Federal and federally funded 

2 programs conducting shoreline delineation and ocean 

3 or coastal mapping, noting geographic coverage, fre4 quency, spatial coverage, resolution, and subject 

5 matter focus of the data and location of data ar6 chives; 

7 (2) facilitate cost-effective, cooperative mapping 

8 efforts that incorporate policies for contracting with 

9 non-governmental entities among all Federal agen10 cies conducting ocean and coastal mapping, by in11 creasing data sharing, developing appropriate data 

12 acquisition and metadata standards, and facilitating 

13 the interoperability of in situ data collection systems, 

14 data processing, archiving, and distribution of data 

15 products; 

16 (3) facilitate the adaptation of existing tech17 nologies as well as foster expertise in new ocean and 

18 coastal mapping technologies, including through re19 search, development, and training conducted among 

20 Federal agencies and in cooperation with non-gov21 ernmental entities; 

22 (4) develop standards and protocols for testing 

23 innovative experimental mapping technologies and 

24 transferring new technologies between the Federal 


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1 Government, coastal state, and non-governmental 

2 entities; 

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

4 distribution of data sets through a national registry 

5 as well as provide mapping products and services to 

6 the general public in service of statutory require7 ments; 

8 (6) develop data standards and protocols con9 sistent with standards developed by the Federal Geo10 graphic Data Committee for use by Federal, coastal 

11 state, and other entities in mapping and otherwise 

12 documenting locations of federally permitted activi13 ties, living and nonliving coastal and marine re14 sources, marine ecosystems, sensitive habitats, sub15 merged cultural resources, undersea cables, offshore 

16 aquaculture projects, offshore energy projects, and 

17 any areas designated for purposes of environmental 

18 protection or conservation and management of living 

19 and nonliving coastal and marine resources; 

20 (7) identify the procedures to be used for co21 ordinating the collection and integration of Federal 

22 ocean and coastal mapping data with coastal state 

23 and local government programs; 

24 (8) facilitate, to the extent practicable, the col25 lection of real-time tide data and the development of 


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1 hydrodynamic models for coastal areas to allow for 

2 the application of V-datum tools that will facilitate 

3 the seamless integration of onshore and offshore 

4 maps and charts; 

5 (9) establish a plan for the acquisition and col6 lection of ocean and coastal mapping data; and 

7 (10) set forth a timetable for completion and 

8 implementation of the plan referred to in subsection 

9 (a). 

10 SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE ON OCEAN AND COAST11 AL MAPPING. 

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

13 days after the date of enactment of this Act, shall convene 

14 or utilize an existing interagency committee on ocean and 

15 coastal mapping to implement section 2. 

16 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The committee shall be com17 prised of senior representatives from Federal agencies 

18 with ocean and coastal mapping and surveying responsibil19 ities. The representatives shall be high-ranking officials of 

20 their respective agencies or departments and, whenever 

21 possible, the head of the portion of the agency or depart22 ment that is most relevant to the purposes of this Act. 

23 Membership shall include senior representatives from the 

24 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the 

25 Chief of Naval Operations, the United States Geological 


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1 Survey, the Minerals Management Service, the National 

2 Science Foundation, the National Geospatial-Intelligence 

3 Agency, the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the 

4 Coast Guard, the Environmental Protection Agency, the 

5 Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National 

6 Aeronautics and Space Administration, and other appro7 priate Federal agencies involved in ocean and coastal map8 ping. 

9 (c) CHAIRMAN.—The committee shall have as its 

10 chairman the representative from the National Oceanic 

11 and Atmospheric Administration. The chairman may cre12 ate subcommittees chaired by any member agency of the 

13 committee. The full committee may form working groups 

14 to address issues of short duration. 

15 (d) MEETINGS.—The committee shall meet on a 

16 quarterly basis, but each subcommittee and each working 

17 group shall meet on an as-needed basis. 

18 (e) COORDINATION.—The committee shall coordinate 

19 activities, when appropriate, with— 

20 (1) other Federal efforts, including the Digital 

21 Coast, Geospatial One-Stop, and the Federal Geo22 graphic Data Committee; 

23 (2) international mapping activities; 

24 (3) coastal states; 


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1 (4) user groups through workshops and other 

2 appropriate mechanisms; and 

3 (5) representatives of non-governmental enti4 ties. 

5 (f) ADVISORY PANEL.—The Administrator may con6 vene an ocean and coastal mapping advisory panel con7 sisting of representatives from non-governmental entities 

8 to provide input regarding activities of the committee. 

9 SEC. 4. NOAA INTEGRATED MAPPING INITIATIVE. 

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

11 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in con12 sultation with the Committee, shall develop and submit to 

13 the Congress a plan for an integrated ocean and coastal 

14 mapping initiative within the National Oceanic and At15 mospheric Administration. 

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

17 (1) identify and describe all ocean and coastal 

18 mapping programs within the agency, including 

19 those that conduct mapping or related activities in 

20 the course of existing missions, such as hydrographic 

21 surveys, ocean exploration projects, living marine re22 source conservation and management programs, 

23 coastal zone management projects, and ocean and 

24 coastal observations and science projects; 


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1 (2) establish priority mapping programs and es2 tablish and periodically update priorities for geo3 graphic areas in surveying and mapping across all 

4 missions of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

5 Administration, as well as minimum data acquisition 

6 and metadata standards for those programs; 

7 (3) encourage the development of innovative 

8 ocean and coastal mapping technologies and applica9 tions, such as Digital Coast, through research and 

10 development through cooperative or other agree11 ments with joint or cooperative research institutes or 

12 centers and with other non-governmental entities; 

13 (4) document available and developing tech14 nologies, best practices in data processing and dis15 tribution, and leveraging opportunities with other 

16 Federal agencies, coastal states, and non-govern17 mental entities; 

18 (5) identify training, technology, and other re19 source requirements for enabling the National Oce20 anic and Atmospheric Administration’s programs, 

21 vessels, and aircraft to support a coordinated ocean 

22 and coastal mapping program; 

23 (6) identify a centralized mechanism or office 

24 for coordinating data collection, processing, 

25 archiving, and dissemination activities of all such 


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1 mapping programs within the National Oceanic and 

2 Atmospheric Administration that meets Federal 

3 mandates for data accuracy and accessibility and 

4 designate a repository that is responsible for 

5 archiving and managing the distribution of all ocean 

6 and coastal mapping data to simplify the provision 

7 of services to benefit Federal and coastal state pro8 grams; and 

9 (7) set forth a timetable for implementation 

10 and completion of the plan, including a schedule for 

11 submission to the Congress of periodic progress re12 ports and recommendations for integrating ap13 proaches developed under the initiative into the 

14 interagency program. 

15 (c) NOAA JOINT OCEAN AND COASTAL MAPPING

16 CENTERS.—The Administrator may maintain and operate 

17 up to 3 joint ocean and coastal mapping centers, including 

18 a joint hydrographic center, which shall each be co-located 

19 with an institution of higher education. The centers shall 

20 serve as hydrographic centers of excellence and may con21 duct activities necessary to carry out the purposes of this 

22 Act, including— 

23 (1) research and development of innovative 

24 ocean and coastal mapping technologies, equipment, 

25 and data products; 


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1 (2) mapping of the United States Outer Conti2 nental Shelf and other regions; 

3 (3) data processing for nontraditional data and 

4 uses; 

5 (4) advancing the use of remote sensing tech6 nologies, for related issues, including mapping and 

7 assessment of essential fish habitat and of coral re8 sources, ocean observations, and ocean exploration; 

9 and 

10 (5) providing graduate education and training 

11 in ocean and coastal mapping sciences for members 

12 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis13 tration Commissioned Officer Corps, personnel of 

14 other agencies with ocean and coastal mapping pro15 grams, and civilian personnel. 

16 (d) ENHANCED OPPORTUNITIES FOR NON-GOVERN17 MENTAL CONTRACTING.—The Administrator shall con18 tinue developing a strategy for expanding contracting with 

19 non-governmental entities to minimize duplication and 

20 take maximum advantage of non-governmental capabilities 

21 in fulfilling the Administration’s mapping and charting re22 sponsibilities. Within 120 days after the date of enactment 

23 of this Act, the Administrator shall transmit a report de24 scribing the strategy developed under this subsection to 

25 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 


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1 of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources 

2 of the House of Representatives. 

3 SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY PROGRAM REPORTING. 

4 No later than 18 months after the date of enactment 

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

6 the Committee shall transmit to the Committee on Com7 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 

8 Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Rep9 resentatives a report detailing progress made in imple10 menting this Act, including— 

11 (1) an inventory of ocean and coastal mapping 

12 data within the territorial sea and the exclusive eco13 nomic zone and throughout the Continental Shelf of 

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

15 survey and the spatial resolution (metadata) of the 

16 data; 

17 (2) an inventory and description of any new 

18 Federal or federally funded programs conducting 

19 shoreline delineation and ocean or coastal mapping 

20 since the previous reporting cycle; 

21 (3) identification of priority areas in need of 

22 survey coverage using present technologies; 

23 (4) a resource plan that identifies when priority 

24 areas in need of modern ocean and coastal mapping 

25 surveys can be accomplished; 


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1 (5) the status of efforts to produce integrated 

2 digital maps of ocean and coastal areas; 

3 (6) a description of any products resulting from 

4 coordinated mapping efforts under this Act that im5 prove public understanding of the coasts and oceans, 

6 or regulatory decisionmaking; 

7 (7) documentation of minimum and desired 

8 standards for data acquisition and integrated 

9 metadata; 

10 (8) a statement of the status of Federal efforts 

11 to leverage mapping technologies, coordinate map12 ping activities, share expertise, and exchange data; 

13 (9) a statement of resource requirements for or14 ganizations to meet the goals of the program, includ15 ing technology needs for data acquisition, proc16 essing, and distribution systems; 

17 (10) a statement of the status of efforts to de18 classify data gathered by the Navy, the National 

19 Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and other agencies 

20 to the extent possible without jeopardizing national 

21 security, and make it available to partner agencies 

22 and the public; 

23 (11) the status of efforts to coordinate Federal 

24 programs with coastal state and local government 

25 programs and leverage those programs; and 


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1 (12) a description of efforts of Federal agencies 

2 to increase contracting with non-governmental enti3 ties. 

4 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the amounts au6 thorized by section 306 of the Hydrographic Services Im7 provement Act of 1998 (33 U.S.C. 892d), there are au8 thorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to carry 

9 out this Act— 

10 (1) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; 

11 (2) $26,000,000 for fiscal year 2009; 

12 (3) $32,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; 

13 (4) $38,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; and 

14 (5) $45,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 

15 through 2015. 

16 (b) JOINT OCEAN AND COASTAL MAPPING CEN17 TERS.—Of the amount appropriated under subsection (a) 

18 for each fiscal year, no more than 25 percent may be ap19 propriated to carry out section 4(c). 

20 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

21 In this Act: 

22 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis23 trator’’ means the Administrator of the National 

24 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 


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

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

3 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 

4 U.S.C. 1453(4). 

5 (3) COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Committee’’ 

6 means the Interagency Committee on Ocean and 

7 Coastal Mapping established by section 3. 

8 (4) EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE.—The term 

9 ‘‘exclusive economic zone’’ means the exclusive eco10 nomic zone of the United States established by Pres11 idential Proclamation No. 5030, of March 10, 1983. 

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

13 ‘‘non-governmental entities’’ includes non-govern14 mental organizations, members of the academic com15 munity, and private sector organizations that pro16 vide products and services associated with meas17 uring, locating, and preparing maps, charts, surveys, 

18 aerial photographs, satellite imagines, or other 

19 graphical or digital presentations depicting natural 

20 or manmade physical features, phenomena, and legal 

21 boundaries of the Earth. 

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

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

24 processing, and management of physical, biological, 

25 geological, chemical, and archaeological characterisVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:50 Jul 25, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2400.RFS H2400

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1 tics and boundaries of ocean and coastal areas, re2 sources, and sea beds through the use of acoustics, 

3 satellites, aerial photogrammetry, light and imaging, 

4 direct sampling, and other mapping technologies. 

5 (7) OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF.—The term 

6 ‘‘Outer Continental Shelf’’ means all submerged 

7 lands lying seaward and outside of lands beneath 

8 navigable waters (as that term is defined in section 

9 2 of the Submerged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1301)), 

10 and of which the subsoil and seabed appertain to the 

11 United States and are subject to its jurisdiction and 

12 control. 

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

14 sea’’ means the belt of sea measured from the base15 line of the United States determined in accordance 

16 with international law, as set forth in Presidential 

17 Proclamation Number 5928, dated December 27, 

18 1988. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 23, 2007. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 

By DEBORAH M. SPRIGGS, 

Deputy Clerk. 


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