II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5081 

To amend the Arctic Research Policy Act of 1984 to improve the Act. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2024 

Ms. MURKOWSKI introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend the Arctic Research Policy Act of 1984 to improve 

the Act. 

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 ‘‘Arctic Research and 

5 Policy Amendments Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LONG TITLE AMENDMENT. 

7 The Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 (15 

8 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.) is amended in the long title by strik9 ing ‘‘provide’’ and all that follows through the period at 

10 the end and inserting ‘‘provide a comprehensive national 

11 policy on national research needs and objectives in the 


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1 Arctic, for programs necessary to carry out that policy, 

2 including Federal programs of advanced materials re3 search and technology, and for other purposes.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

5 Section 102(a) of the Arctic Research and Policy Act 

6 of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 4101(a)) is amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘and home8 land’’ after ‘‘national’’; 

9 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘weather pat10 terns and must be understood in order to promote 

11 better agricultural management throughout the 

12 United States’’ and inserting ‘‘weather and climate 

13 patterns and must be better understood to address 

14 their impacts, challenges, and opportunities’’; 

15 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (5) through 

16 (17), as paragraphs (7) through (19), respectively; 

17 (4) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(5) a rapidly changing climate reshapes the 

20 economic, social, cultural, political, environmental, 

21 and security landscape of the region; 

22 ‘‘(6) sustained, robust, coordinated, and appro23 priately funded Arctic research is required to inform 

24 United States and international Arctic policy;’’; and 


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1 (5) in paragraph (7), as redesignated by para2 graph (3), by inserting ‘‘and climate’’ after ‘‘weath3 er’’. 

4 SEC. 4. ARCTIC RESEARCH COMMISSION. 

5 Section 103 of the Arctic Research and Policy Act 

6 of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 4102) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (b)— 

8 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

9 (i) in the matter preceding subpara10 graph (A), by striking ‘‘seven’’ and insert11 ing ‘‘eight’’; 

12 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 

13 (I) by striking ‘‘are representa14 tives of’’ and inserting ‘‘represents’’; 

15 (II) by striking ‘‘who live in 

16 areas’’ and inserting ‘‘who lives in an 

17 area’’; and 

18 (III) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the 

19 semicolon; 

20 (iii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

21 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

22 and’’; and 

23 (iv) by adding at the end the fol24 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(D) one non-voting member appointed by 

2 the Governor of Alaska from among individuals 

3 familiar with Alaska and the Arctic region.’’; 

4 and 

5 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘chair6 person’’ and inserting ‘‘Chair’’; and 

7 (2) in subsection (d)— 

8 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking the sec9 ond sentence and inserting the following: ‘‘A 

10 member of the Commission not presently em11 ployed for compensation shall be compensated 

12 at a rate equal to the daily equivalent of the an13 nual rate of basic pay prescribed for level IV of 

14 the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of 

15 title 5, United States Code, for each day (in16 cluding travel time) during which such member 

17 is engaged in the performance of the duties of 

18 the Commission, not to exceed 90 days of serv19 ice each year, or in the case of the Chair, not 

20 to exceed 120 days of service each year.’’; and 

21 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘Chair22 man’’ and inserting ‘‘Chair’’. 

23 SEC. 5. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION. 

24 Section 104 of the Arctic Research and Policy Act 

25 of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 4103) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a)— 

2 (A) by inserting ‘‘DUTIES OF THE COM3 MISSION.—’’ before ‘‘The Commission’’; 

4 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (3) 

5 through (10) as paragraphs (5) through (12), 

6 respectively; 

7 (C) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(3) hold an annual joint meeting with the 

10 Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee to 

11 discuss national Arctic research policy; 

12 ‘‘(4) work with the Interagency Arctic Research 

13 Policy Committee to identify research infrastructure 

14 priorities and develop a joint research infrastructure 

15 plan with a single budget to fund the research infra16 structure activities of both the Commission and the 

17 Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee;’’; 

18 and 

19 (D) in paragraph (5), as redesignated by 

20 subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘, Tribal,’’ after 

21 ‘‘State’’; 

22 (2) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub23 section (c); 

24 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(b) COMMISSION AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN RE2 SEARCH.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each year, the Commission 

4 may make a cash award to any person in recognition 

5 of excellence in Arctic research conducted by such 

6 person or outstanding support of Arctic research 

7 provided by such person. 

8 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT.—The amount of a cash award 

9 made to a person under paragraph (1) shall be fixed 

10 by the Commission and shall not exceed $10,000. 

11 ‘‘(3) INELIGIBILITY OF COMMISSION MEM12 BERS.—An individual who is or has been a member 

13 of the Commission shall be ineligible to receive an 

14 award under paragraph (1).’’; and 

15 (4) in subsection (c), as redesignated by para16 graph (2), by inserting ‘‘REPORT.—’’ before ‘‘Not 

17 later than’’. 

18 SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATION OF THE COMMISSION. 

19 Section 106 of the Arctic Research and Policy Act 

20 of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 4105) is amended— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘The Commission may’’ and in22 serting the following: 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may’’; 

24 (2) by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the 

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘(4) enter into agreements with the General 

2 Services Administration, or, at the discretion of the 

3 Commission, such other Federal agency or private 

4 entity that reaches an agreement with the Commis5 sion, for the procurement of necessary financial and 

6 administrative services, for which payment shall be 

7 made in advance or by reimbursement from funds of 

8 the Commission in amounts to be agreed upon by 

9 the Chair or Executive Director of the Commission 

10 and the authorized representative of the General 

11 Services Administration or other Federal agency or 

12 private entity that will provide the services;’’; 

13 (3) in paragraph (5), by striking the period at 

14 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

15 (4) by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(6) expend for representation and reception 

18 expenses each fiscal year not more than 1 percent of 

19 the amounts made available to the Commission 

20 under section 111 for such fiscal year.’’; and 

21 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(b) APPLICABLE REGULATIONS.—With respect to 

23 agreements entered into under subsection (a)(4), if a Fed24 eral agency affords the services described in such sub25 section, the regulations of that agency for the collection 


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1 of indebtedness of personnel resulting from erroneous pay2 ments required under section 5514(b) of title 5, United 

3 States Code, shall apply to the collection of erroneous pay4 ments made to or on behalf of a Commission employee 

5 and regulations of that agency for the administrative con6 trol of funds, as required under sections 1513(d) and 1514 

7 of title 31, United States Code, shall apply to appropria8 tions of the Commission. The Commission shall not be re9 quired to prescribe such regulations.’’. 

10 SEC. 7. LEAD AGENCY AND INTERAGENCY ARCTIC RE11 SEARCH POLICY COMMITTEE. 

12 Section 107(b)(2) of the Arctic Research and Policy 

13 Act of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 4106(b)(2)) is amended— 

14 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (L) as sub15 paragraph (P); 

16 (2) in subparagraph (K), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

17 after the semicolon; and 

18 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (K) the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(L) the Department of Agriculture; 

21 ‘‘(M) the Marine Mammal Commission; 

22 ‘‘(N) the Smithsonian Institution; 

23 ‘‘(O) the Denali Commission; and’’. 


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1 SEC. 8. CONSULTATION. 

2 Section 108(a) of the Arctic Research and Policy Act 

3 of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 4107(a)) is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (9)(B), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

5 after the semicolon; 

6 (2) by redesignating paragraph (10) as para7 graph (12); and 

8 (3) by inserting after paragraph (9) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(10) hold an annual joint meeting with the full 

11 Commission to discuss national Arctic research pol12 icy; 

13 ‘‘(11) work with the Commission to identify re14 search infrastructure priorities and develop a joint 

15 research infrastructure plan with a single budget to 

16 fund the research infrastructure activities of both 

17 the Commission and the Interagency Committee; 

18 and’’. 

19 SEC. 9. ARCTIC RESEARCH PLAN. 

20 Section 109(a) of the Arctic Research and Policy Act 

21 of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 4108(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘The 

22 Plan’’ and inserting ‘‘Notwithstanding section 3003 of the 

23 Federal Reports Elimination and Sunset Act of 1995 (31 

24 U.S.C. 1113 note), the plan’’. 


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1 SEC. 10. COORDINATION AND REVIEW OF BUDGET RE2 QUESTS. 

3 Section 110 of the Arctic Research and Policy Act 

4 of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 4109) is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating subsections (a) and (b) as 

6 subsections (b) and (c), respectively; and 

7 (2) by inserting before subsection (b), as redes8 ignated by paragraph (1), the following: 

9 ‘‘(a) BUDGET REQUEST OF INTERAGENCY COM10 MITTEE.—The Interagency Committee shall submit budg11 et requests specifying and commensurate with the re12 sources needed to meet the obligations of the Interagency 

13 Committee included in the Arctic Research Plan under 

14 section 109.’’. 

Æ 


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