I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4236

To establish a National Undersea Research Program within the National

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 18, 1994

Mr. ORTIZ (for himself, Mr. WELDON, Mr. FIELDS of Texas, Mr. GENE

GREEN of Texas, Mr. LAUGHLIN, Mr. ANDREWS of Texas, Mr. WASHINGTON, Mr. ROSE, and Mr. GEJDENSON) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries

A BILL

To establish a National Undersea Research Program within

the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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 ‘‘National Undersea

5 Research Program Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 For the purposes of this Act, the term—

8 (1) ‘‘Administration’’ means the National Oce9 anic and Atmospheric Administration;
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1 (2) ‘‘Center’’ means any National Undersea Re2 search Center in existence on the day before the

3 date of enactment of this Act or established under

4 section 5;

5 (3) ‘‘Center Director’’ means the Director of

6 any National Undersea Research Center;

7 (4) ‘‘Committee’’ means the National Undersea

8 Research Advisory Committee established under sec9 tion 4;

10 (5) ‘‘Office’’ means the Office of Undersea Re11 search established by section 3(d)(1);

12 (6) ‘‘priority research area’’ means any of the

13 priority research areas set forth in section 3(f)(1),

14 as those areas may be revised by the Under Sec15 retary under section 3(f)(2);

16 (7) ‘‘Program’’ means the National Undersea

17 Research Program established under section 3;

18 (8) ‘‘Program Director’’ means the Director of

19 the National Undersea Research Program appointed

20 pursuant to section 3(d)(2);

21 (9) ‘‘undersea region’’ means each of—

22 (A) the United States Northern Atlantic

23 region, comprised of the coastal and oceanic

24 waters and seabed north of Montauk, New
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1 York, and off Maine, New Hampshire, Massa2 chusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut;

3 (B) the Mid-Atlantic Bight region, com4 prised of the coastal and oceanic waters and

5 seabed south of Montauk, New York, and off

6 New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Dela7 ware, Maryland, and Virginia;

8 (C) the United States Southern Atlantic

9 region, comprised of the coastal and oceanic

10 waters and seabed off North Carolina, South

11 Carolina, Georgia, and the Atlantic coast of

12 Florida (including the Florida Keys);

13 (D) the Gulf of Mexico region, comprised

14 of the coastal and oceanic waters and seabed of

15 the Gulf of Mexico off Florida, Alabama, Mis16 sissippi, Louisiana, and Texas;

17 (E) the Great Lakes region, comprised of

18 the waters and lake beds of the Great Lakes;

19 (F) the California region, comprised of the

20 coastal and oceanic waters and seabed off Cali21 fornia;

22 (G) the United States Northeast Pacific

23 region, comprised of the coastal and oceanic

24 waters and seabed off Oregon, Washington, and

25 Alaska;
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1 (H) the Western Pacific region, comprised

2 of the coastal and oceanic waters and seabed off

3 Hawaii, Johnston Island, Guam, American

4 Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands, and

5 other Western Pacific waters and seabed rel6 evant to the purpose of the Program;

7 (I) the Caribbean region, comprised of the

8 coastal and oceanic waters and seabed off Puer9 to Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, and

10 other tropical and subtropical waters and sea11 bed relevant to the purposes of the Program;

12 and

13 (J) any other undersea region resulting

14 from a modification under section 3(e)(5);

15 (10) ‘‘undersea research’’ means scientific re16 search carried out in the oceans or large lakes of the

17 world, using advanced underwater technology includ18 ing diving, underwater observatories and labora19 tories, research submersibles, remotely operated ve20 hicles, autonomous vehicles, and any other research

21 techniques necessary to carry out the provisions of

22 this Act; and

23 (11) ‘‘Under Secretary’’ means the Under Sec24 retary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere.
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1 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF NA2 TIONAL UNDERSEA RESEARCH PROGRAM.

3 (a) PROGRAM ESTABLISHMENT AND MAINTE4 NANCE.—The Under Secretary shall establish and main5 tain in the Administration a program to be known as the

6 ‘‘National Undersea Research Program’’.

7 (b) PROGRAM PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Pro8 gram shall be to enhance scientific understanding of proc9 esses in the oceans and large lakes of the world, by—

10 (1) developing, maintaining, and carrying out

11 undersea research programs;

12 (2) investigating, developing, and applying tech13 nology for undersea research; and

14 (3) developing new approaches to undersea

15 technology transfer and marine science education.

16 (c) NATIONAL UNDERSEA RESEARCH CENTERS.—

17 The Program shall be conducted by the National Undersea

18 Research Centers established pursuant to section 5(a).

19 (d) OFFICE OF UNDERSEA RESEARCH.—

20 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in

21 the Administration the Office of Undersea Research.

22 (2) PROGRAM DIRECTOR.—The head of the Of23 fice and Program Officer of the National Undersea

24 Research Program is the Director of the National

25 Undersea Research Program, who shall be appointed

26 by the Under Secretary from among individuals with
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1 extensive knowledge and expertise in undersea re2 search and having appropriate administrative experi3 ence.

4 (e) DUTIES OF PROGRAM DIRECTOR.—Subject to the

5 supervision of the Under Secretary, the Program Director

6 shall carry out only the following duties:

7 (1) Facilitating and supporting the activities of

8 Centers.

9 (2) Establishing guidelines for the submission

10 and review of proposals from the Centers and pro11 posals from individual researchers that are submit12 ted to the Centers for research under the Program.

13 (3) Making grants and entering into contracts

14 and cooperative agreements under section 8 to ad15 vance knowledge in the priority research areas

16 through the Centers.

17 (4) Supporting the Memorandum of Agreement

18 Concerning Support of a National Academic Deep

19 Submergence Facility for Scientific Use.

20 (5) Modifying undersea regions as necessary

21 and appropriate.

22 (f) PRIORITY RESEARCH AREAS.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary may

24 use amounts appropriated for the Program to fund
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1 research, including long-term studies, within the fol2 lowing priority research areas:

3 (A) Oceanic, coastal, estuarine, and

4 limnological processes.

5 (B) Pathways and fates of materials in the

6 oceans and large lakes.

7 (C) Diversity, distribution, productivity,

8 and recruitment of organisms, including com9 mercially valuable species, with respect to habi10 tat characteristics in the oceans and large

11 lakes.

12 (D) Global change processes.

13 (E) Ocean lithosphere processes and min14 eral resources.

15 (F) Undersea research platform and in16 strument technology.

17 (G) Diving safety, physiology, and tech18 nology.

19 (H) Studies under section 21(e) of the

20 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C.

21 1347(e)).

22 (2) REVISION OF PRIORITY AREAS.—Upon the

23 recommendation of the Committee, the Under Sec24 retary may, after public comment, revise the priority

25 research areas under paragraph (1).
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1 SEC. 4. ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMITTEE.—The Under

3 Secretary shall establish an independent advisory commit4 tee to be known as the ‘‘National Undersea Research Ad5 visory Committee’’.

6 (b) COMPOSITION.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall consist

8 of 9 members appointed by the Under Secretary

9 from individuals who are eminent professional sci10 entists or engineers and active in at least one prior11 ity research area, of whom 2 members shall be ap12 pointed from individuals nominated by Center Direc13 tors. The Under Secretary shall complete appoint14 ments under this paragraph by not later than 6

15 months after the date of the enactment of this Act.

16 (2) BALANCE.—In appointing members of the

17 Committee, the Under Secretary shall seek to ensure

18 balanced representation of—

19 (A) priority research areas,

20 (B) disciplines related to priority research

21 areas, and

22 (C) geographic regions of the United

23 States.

24 (3) PROHIBITION ON APPOINTMENTS.—Except

25 as provided in paragraph (4), no member of the
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1 Committee may be an employee of a Center or of the

2 Administration.

3 (4) EX OFFICIO MEMBERS OF THE COMMIT4 TEE.—The Chief Scientist of the Administration

5 shall be a nonvoting ex officio member of the Com6 mittee.

7 (c) DUTIES.—The Committee shall advise the Under

8 Secretary and the Program Director concerning—

9 (1) the quality of research performed with

10 grants awarded under this Act, including the appli11 cability of such research to the priority research

12 areas;

13 (2) the designation, establishment, and oper14 ation of Centers;

15 (3) the modification of undersea regions;

16 (4) the need to revise the priority research

17 areas; and

18 (5) any other matters the Under Secretary re19 fers to the Committee for review and advice or that

20 the Committee considers appropriate.

21 (d) TERM OF MEMBERSHIP.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),

23 the term of membership on the Committee shall be

24 3 years.
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1 (2) INITIAL APPOINTMENTS.—Of the members

2 first appointed to the Committee—

3 (A) 3 members shall serve a term of 1

4 year;

5 (B) 3 members shall serve a term of 2

6 years; and

7 (C) 3 members shall serve a term of 3

8 years;

9 as specified by the Under Secretary at the time of

10 appointment.

11 (3) TERM LIMITATION.—No individual may

12 serve consecutive terms as a member of the Commit13 tee.

14 (e) COMPENSATION.—Members of the Committee,

15 while performing official duties as members of the Com16 mittee, are entitled to receive compensation for travel and

17 transportation expenses under section 5703 of title 5,

18 United States Code.

19 (f) CHAIRPERSON.—The members of the Committee

20 shall select annually from among the voting members of

21 the Committee an individual who shall serve as Chair22 person of the Committee. No member of the Committee

23 may serve more than 2 annual terms as Chairperson.
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1 (g) CONDUCT OF BUSINESS.—The Committee shall

2 conduct its business according to the majority vote of

3 those members present at a meeting of the Committee.

4 (h) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—The following guide5 lines apply to the conduct of business by the Committee:

6 (1) Each meeting shall be open to the public,

7 and interested persons shall be permitted an oppor8 tunity to present oral or written statements on items

9 on the agenda.

10 (2) Timely notice of each meeting, including the

11 time, place, and agenda, shall be published in the

12 Federal Register and copies sent to all Center Direc13 tors.

14 (i) EXEMPTION.—The Federal Advisory Committee

15 Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Committee.

16 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL UNDERSEA RE17 SEARCH CENTERS.

18 (a) ASSIGNMENT OF EXISTING REGIONS AND ESTAB19 LISHMENT OF NEW CENTERS.—

20 (1) ASSIGNMENT OF REGIONS TO EXISTING

21 CENTERS.—There are assigned to the Centers in ex22 istence on the day before the date of the enactment

23 of this Act undersea regions, as follows:

24 (A) The Western Pacific region is assigned

25 to the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory.
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1 (B) The United States Northeast Pacific

2 and Californian regions are assigned to the

3 West Coast National Undersea Research Center

4 at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.

5 (C) The United States Northern Atlantic

6 and Great Lakes regions are assigned to the

7 National Undersea Research Center at the Uni8 versity of Connecticut at Avery Point.

9 (D) The Mid-Atlantic Bight region is as10 signed to the New York Bight National Under11 sea Research Center.

12 (E) The United States Southern Atlantic

13 region is assigned to the National Undersea Re14 search Center at the University of North Caro15 lina at Wilmington.

16 (F) The Caribbean region is assigned to

17 the National Undersea Research Center at the

18 Caribbean Marine Research Center.

19 (G) The Gulf of Mexico region is assigned

20 to a new center to be established pursuant to

21 subsection (f).

22 (2) ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW CENTERS.—The

23 Under Secretary may establish a new Center to im24 plement the Program for any undersea region at an
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1 institution of higher education or oceanographic re2 search located in a State bordering the region—

3 (A) if there is a clearly demonstrated, sci4 entific need for such a Center;

5 (B) if there are adequate funds available

6 for the establishment of the Center;

7 (C) after reviewing each proposal submit8 ted under subsection (b) with respect to that re9 gion; and

10 (D) if the Committee concurs in the selec11 tion of that institution.

12 (3) LIMITATION.—The Under Secretary may

13 not establish a new Center for an undersea region

14 if the expenditure of amounts for that Center would

15 result in any reduction of amounts available for ex16 penditure for any other undersea region.

17 (b) SOLICITATION OF PROPOSALS FOR NEW CEN18 TERS.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary may

20 solicit proposals for the establishment of a new Cen21 ter under subsection (a)(2) from institutions of high22 er education or oceanographic research.

23 (2) PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS.—A proposal

24 under this subsection shall consist of—

25 (A) a proposed science program;
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1 (B) a program management plan;

2 (C) a description of the facilities of the in3 stitution at which the new Center is proposed to

4 be established;

5 (D) a description of relevant capabilities of

6 that institution;

7 (E) an operational safety plan;

8 (F) mechanisms for information transfer;

9 (G) a budget for the proposed Center; and

10 (H) any other information the Under Sec11 retary considers necessary.

12 (c) REVIEW OF PROPOSALS.—The Under Secretary

13 and the Committee shall review each proposal submitted

14 under subsection (b) on the basis of—

15 (1) relevance of the proposal to priority re16 search areas; and

17 (2) the capability of the applicant institution to

18 administer and direct research in those areas.

19 (d) CENTER DIRECTOR.—Each institution at which

20 a Center is established under this section may select, in

21 consultation with the Office, an individual who shall be

22 the Center Director of that Center.

23 (e) 6-YEAR REVIEW OF CENTERS AND REGIONS.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Every 6 years the Under

25 Secretary and the Committee shall jointly review—
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1 (A) the operation of each Center, except

2 that in the case of a Center in existence on the

3 day before the date of the enactment of this

4 Act, the first review of the Center shall be com5 pleted by not later than the date which is 5

6 years after that date of enactment; and

7 (B) the configuration of undersea regions

8 to determine whether those regions meet sci9 entific needs for research in priority research

10 areas.

11 (2) CONTENT OF REVIEW.—A review under this

12 subsection shall consist of—

13 (A) an evaluation of the quality of the re14 search conducted at the Center under the Pro15 gram and the applicability of the research to

16 the priority research areas, including consider17 ation of the reviews conducted under section

18 6(c);

19 (B) recommendations for changes in the

20 scientific research program and the operation of

21 the Center, that are considered beneficial by the

22 Committee and the Under Secretary;

23 (C) a determination of whether the contin24 ued operation of the Center will increase knowl25 edge in the priority research areas; and
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1 (D) recommendations for the modification

2 of the undersea regions of the Center.

3 (3) ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW CENTER AT DIF4 FERENT INSTITUTION.—If the Under Secretary and

5 the Committee determine as a result of a review

6 under this subsection that continued operation of a

7 Center is not warranted, the Under Secretary—

8 (A) shall provide notification of that deter9 mination to the Center, including a description

10 of any changes in the operations of the Center

11 the Under Secretary considers necessary for

12 continued operation of the Center;

13 (B) shall after 18 months after providing

14 that notice, and not later than 2 years after

15 providing that notice, review the implementa16 tion of those changes by the Center; and

17 (C) may establish, at a different institution

18 of higher education or oceanographic research,

19 a new Center for the same undersea region in

20 accordance with this section, if the Under Sec21 retary determines as a result of the review

22 under subparagraph (B) that those changes are

23 not implemented.

24 (f) NEW CENTER.—

25 (1) GULF OF MEXICO.—
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1 (A) ESTABLISHMENT.—Notwithstanding

2 subsection (a)(2) and (a)(3), the Under Sec3 retary shall establish at a qualified public insti4 tution a Center to conduct the Program for the

5 Gulf of Mexico undersea region, which shall be

6 known as the ‘‘Gulf of Mexico National Under7 sea Research Center’’. The Under Secretary

8 shall establish that Center no later than 180

9 days after the date of enactment of this Act.

10 (B) DEFINITION.—For the purposes of

11 this paragraph, the term ‘‘qualified public insti12 tution’’ means a public institution or consor13 tium of public institutions of higher edu14 cation—

15 (i) located directly on the coastline of,

16 or having direct access to, the Gulf of Mex17 ico, and proximate to the Flower Garden

18 Banks National Marine Sanctuary;

19 (ii) with strong undergraduate and

20 graduate programs in engineering, science,

21 and technology as they may apply to un22 dersea research;

23 (iii) with nationally recognized pro24 grams in marine science and maritime
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1 studies, including the presence of a degree

2 granting maritime academy;

3 (iv) with facilities for maintaining and

4 operating research and other vessels appro5 priate for deployment of equipment nec6 essary to conduct undersea research;

7 (v) with faculty and other personnel

8 with expertise in undersea research;

9 (vi) which maintains cooperative insti10 tutional relationships with Federal agen11 cies responsible for research work in the

12 Gulf of Mexico and along the Gulf of Mex13 ico coast;

14 (vii) which participates in cooperative

15 undersea research programs with Mexico;

16 and

17 (viii) which has received funding for

18 undersea research from the Under Sec19 retary in the past.

20 (2) LIMITATION.—In carrying out this sub21 section, the Under Secretary shall not reduce

22 amounts available for carrying out the Memorandum

23 of Agreement Concerning Support of a National

24 Academic Deep Submergence Facility for Scientific

25 Use.
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1 SEC. 6. NATIONAL UNDERSEA RESEARCH CENTER RE2 SEARCH PROGRAMS.

3 (a) INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH PROPOSALS.—

4 (1) SOLICITATION.—Each Center Director shall

5 annually solicit individual proposals from the sci6 entific community for research to advance the prior7 ity research areas of the Program. Research under

8 each proposal shall be primarily conducted within

9 the undersea region of the Center, but may be con10 ducted in another undersea region in cooperation

11 with the Center for that region, or other geographic

12 areas with the approval of the Program Director. In13 dividual proposals shall adhere to guidelines estab14 lished by the Program Director pursuant to section

15 3(e)(2). Proposals under this paragraph may be for

16 multiyear research.

17 (2) INDIVIDUAL PROPOSAL REVIEW PROCESS.—

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each individual pro19 posal shall be reviewed by an independent re20 view panel and by not less than 3 anonymous

21 mail reviewers. Each independent review panel

22 shall be composed of not less than 4 individuals

23 with experience in undersea research appointed

24 by the Program Director, at least one of whom

25 shall be a member of the Committee.
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1 (B) PANEL REVIEW.—Each review by an

2 independent review panel shall—

3 (i) assess the scientific merit of the

4 individual research proposal;

5 (ii) assess the ability of the Center to

6 carry out the proposed research; and

7 (iii) the applicability of the proposal

8 to the priority research areas.

9 (C) MAIL REVIEWS.—Each mail review

10 shall consider—

11 (i) the scientific merit of the proposal;

12 and

13 (ii) the capability of the principal in14 vestigator to carry out the proposed re15 search.

16 (3) ALLOWANCE FOR RESPONSE.—

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to any regula18 tion that is issued by the Program Director, a

19 Center Director shall—

20 (i) provide to each person who sub21 mits to the Center a proposal under this

22 section blinded copies of all mail reviews of

23 the proposal conducted under paragraph

24 (2), and
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1 (ii) give the person not more than 14

2 days to respond to those reviews before

3 rendering any final decision regarding

4 funding for the proposal.

5 (B) REVIEW OF PROCESS BY COMMIT6 TEE.—Not later than 3 years after the date of

7 the enactment of this Act, the Committee

8 shall—

9 (i) determine whether all Centers are

10 implementing subparagraph (A);

11 (ii) determine whether the opportunity

12 of persons who submit proposals to re13 spond to reviews pursuant to subparagraph

14 (A) has been utilized by those persons;

15 (iii) determine whether those re16 sponses have been effective in ensuring full

17 and fair consideration of those proposals;

18 and

19 (iv) recommend to the Program Direc20 tor that the procedures established by sub21 paragraph (A) be continued, terminated, or

22 modified (including the specific modifica23 tions which should be made).

24 (C) REGULATIONS IMPLEMENTING REC25 OMMENDATIONS.—The Program Director may
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1 issue regulations implementing any rec2 ommendation made by the Committee under

3 subparagraph (B)(iv).

4 (b) PROPOSED CENTER PROGRAM.—Each fiscal year

5 each Center Director shall submit to the Program Direc6 tor—

7 (1) a proposed program for the Center for the

8 upcoming fiscal year, which shall adhere to guide9 lines established by the Program Director pursuant

10 to section 3(e)(2) and shall include—

11 (A) a description of the activities per12 formed and research funded by the Center in

13 the previous fiscal year;

14 (B) those individual research proposals

15 submitted under subsection (a) that the Center

16 Director determines to be meritorious based on

17 reviews conducted under that subsection;

18 (C) a proposed budget for the operation of

19 the Center for the current fiscal year;

20 (D) any other materials requested by the

21 Program Director to clarify the proposed pro22 gram; and

23 (E) an annually revised long-range re24 search and operations plan; and
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1 (2) reviews, and responses thereto, of all indi2 vidual research proposals submitted to the Center

3 Director for the upcoming fiscal year.

4 (c) REVIEW OF PROPOSED CENTER PROGRAMS.—

5 The Program Director shall review the proposed programs

6 submitted by each Center Director under subsection (b).

7 (d) GIFTS, DEVISES, AND BEQUESTS.—Each Center

8 may accept, solicit, and use the services of volunteers, and

9 may accept, receive, hold, administer, and use gifts, de10 vises, and bequests, to carry out the research program of

11 the Center.

12 SEC. 7. PROCEDURES FOR JOINT REVIEW OF RESEARCH

13 PROPOSALS.

14 The Under Secretary, in consultation with the Pro15 gram Director and the Committee and jointly with the Di16 rector of the National Science Foundation and the Sec17 retary of the Navy, shall—

18 (1) develop procedures for the submittal and

19 joint review of proposals for research in priority re20 search areas to be carried out with assistance from

21 2 or more agencies within the Department of Com22 merce, the National Science Foundation, or the De23 partment of Defense; and
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1 (2) issue final rules establishing those proce2 dures by not later than 1 year after the date of the

3 enactment of this Act.

4 SEC. 8. GRANTS AND CONTRACTS FOR NATIONAL UNDER5 SEA RESEARCH CENTERS.

6 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Under Secretary may

7 make grants and enter into contracts and cooperative

8 agreements under this section to fund any Center program

9 if the Under Secretary finds that the program will advance

10 knowledge in the priority research areas.

11 (b) ALLOCATION OF FUNDING.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Based on the reviews under

13 section 6(c) of proposed Center programs, the Under

14 Secretary shall—

15 (A) allocate among the Centers, in such

16 manner as will best advance knowledge in the

17 priority research areas, all amounts available

18 for the current fiscal year for research to be

19 conducted by the Centers and administration of

20 the Centers, consistent with each Center’s long21 term responsibilities to conduct priority re22 search; and

23 (B) notify each Center Director of the

24 amount allocated to that Center under subpara25 graph (A).
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1 (c) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any grant made or contract

3 entered into under this section shall be subject to

4 paragraphs (2) and (3) and to any other terms, con5 ditions, and requirements the Under Secretary con6 siders necessary.

7 (2) LIMITATIONS ON USE FOR LAND AND

8 BUILDINGS.—Amounts provided under any grant or

9 contract under this section may not be used for—

10 (A) the purchase of any land; or

11 (B) the purchase or construction of any

12 building.

13 (3) MAINTENANCE OF RECORDS.—Any person

14 who receives or utilizes any proceeds of any grant of

15 contract under this section shall keep any records

16 the Under Secretary prescribes as necessary to fa17 cilitate effective audit and evaluation, including re18 ports which full disclose the amount and disposition

19 of funds received under this Act, the total cost of ac20 tivities for which those funds were used, and the

21 amount, if any, of costs which were provided

22 through other sources. The records shall be main23 tained for 6 years after the completion of the activ24 ity. The Under Secretary and the Comptroller Gen25 eral of the United States, or any of their duly au-
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1 thorized representatives, shall have access, for the

2 purpose of audit and evaluation, to any books, docu3 ments, papers, and records of receipts, which in the

4 opinion of the Under Secretary or of the Comptroller

5 General may be related or pertinent to the grants

6 and contracts.

7 SEC. 9. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE REVIEW BOARD.

8 After the date of the enactment of this Act, grants

9 and contracts under the Program shall not be subject to

10 review by the board in the Department of Commerce

11 known as the Financial Assistance Review Board.

12 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

13 (a) CENTER PROGRAM FUNDING.—There is author14 ized to be appropriated to the Under Secretary for use

15 for grants and contracts under section 8, to remain avail16 able until expended, $20,000,000 for fiscal year 1995,

17 $22,000,000 for fiscal year 1996, $24,000,000 for fiscal

18 year 1997, $26,000,000 for fiscal year 1998, and

19 $28,000,000 for fiscal year 1999.

20 (b) OFFICE OF UNDERSEA RESEARCH.—There is au21 thorized to be appropriated to the Under Secretary for the

22 administration of the Office of Undersea Research and

23 support of the Memorandum of Agreement Concerning

24 Support of a National Academic Deep Submergence Facil25 ity for Scientific Use, to remain available until expended,
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1 $2,100,000 for fiscal year 1995, $2,200,000 for fiscal year

2 1996, $2,300,000 for fiscal year 1997, $2,400,000 for fis3 cal year 1998, and $2,500,000 for fiscal year 1999.

4 (c) REVERSION OF UNOBLIGATED AMOUNTS.—The

5 amount of any grant, contract, or portion of a grant or

6 contract, made under section 3 or 8 that is not obligated

7 before the end of the third fiscal year in which it is author8 ized to be obligated—

9 (1) shall revert to the Under Secretary; and

10 (2) shall remain available for grants or con11 tracts under that section.

12 (d) LIMITATIONS ON USE.—Amounts appropriated

13 under the authority of subsection (a) shall not be available

14 for administration of this Act by the Office, or for pro15 gram or administrative expenses of the Administration or

16 the Department of Commerce.

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