I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7713 

To reauthorize the National Oceanographic Partnership Program, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 21, 2020 

Mr. PANETTA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on 

Armed Services, and Science, Space, 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 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the National Oceanographic Partnership 

Program, 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 ‘‘National Oceano5 graphic Partnership Program Revitalization Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘NOPP Revitalization Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF NATIONAL OCEANO2 GRAPHIC PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM. 

3 Chapter 893 of title 10, United States Code, is 

4 amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 8931. NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PARTNERSHIP 

6 PROGRAM. 

7 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of the Navy 

8 shall establish a program to be known as the ‘National 

9 Oceanographic Partnership Program’. 

10 ‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the program are 

11 as follows: 

12 ‘‘(1) To promote the national goals of assuring 

13 national security, advancing economic development, 

14 protecting quality of life, ensuring environmental 

15 stewardship, and strengthening science education 

16 and communication through improved knowledge of 

17 the ocean. 

18 ‘‘(2) To coordinate and strengthen oceano19 graphic efforts in support of those goals by— 

20 ‘‘(A) creating and carrying out partner21 ships among Federal agencies, academia, indus22 try, and other members of the oceanographic 

23 community in the areas of science, data, re24 sources, education, and communication; and 

25 ‘‘(B) accepting, planning, and executing 

26 oceanographic research projects funded by 


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1 grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, or 

2 other vehicles as appropriate, that contribute to 

3 assuring national security, advancing economic 

4 development, protecting quality of life, ensuring 

5 environmental stewardship, and strengthening 

6 science education and communication through 

7 improved knowledge of the ocean. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 8932. OCEAN POLICY COMMITTEE. 

9 ‘‘(a) COMMITTEE.—There is established an Ocean 

10 Policy Committee (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Com11 mittee’). The Committee shall retain the membership, co12 chairs, and subcommittees outlined in Executive Order 

13 13840. 

14 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Committee shall con15 tinue the activities of that Committee as it was in exist16 ence on the day before the date of enactment of this Act. 

17 In discharging its responsibilities and to assist in the exe18 cution of the activities delineated in this subparagraph, 

19 the Committee may delegate to a subcommittee, as appro20 priate. The Committee shall: 

21 ‘‘(1) Prescribe policies and procedures to imple22 ment the National Oceanographic Partnership Pro23 gram. 

24 ‘‘(2) Engage and collaborate, pursuant to exist25 ing laws and regulations, with stakeholders, includVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:20 Aug 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7713.IH H7713

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1 ing regional ocean partnerships, to address ocean-re2 lated matters that may require interagency or inter3 governmental solutions. 

4 ‘‘(3) Facilitate coordination and integration of 

5 Federal activities in ocean and coastal waters to in6 form ocean policy and identify priority ocean re7 search, technology, and data needs. 

8 ‘‘(4) Review, select, and identify partnership 

9 projects for implementation under the program, 

10 based on the following criteria: 

11 ‘‘(A) Whether the project addresses impor12 tant research objectives or operational goals. 

13 ‘‘(B) Whether the project has, or is de14 signed to have, appropriate participation within 

15 the oceanographic community of public, aca16 demic, commercial, private participation or sup17 port. 

18 ‘‘(C) Whether the partners have a long19 term commitment to the objectives of the 

20 project. 

21 ‘‘(D) Whether the resources supporting the 

22 project are shared among the partners. 

23 ‘‘(E) Whether the project has been sub24 jected to adequate review according to each of 

25 the supporting agencies. 


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1 ‘‘(c) ANNUAL REPORT AND BRIEF.—Not later than 

2 March 1 of each year, the Committee shall post a report 

3 on a publicly available website and brief the Committee 

4 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate; 

5 the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate; the Com6 mittee on Natural Resources of the House of Representa7 tives; the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

8 of the House of Representatives; and the Committee on 

9 Armed Services of the House of Representatives on the 

10 National Oceanographic Partnership Program. The report 

11 and brief shall discuss the following: 

12 ‘‘(1) A description of activities of the program 

13 carried out during the prior fiscal year. 

14 ‘‘(2) A general outline of the activities planned 

15 for the program during the current fiscal year. 

16 ‘‘(3) A summary of projects, partnerships, and 

17 collaborations, including the Federal and non-Fed18 eral sources of funding, continued from the prior fis19 cal year and projects expected to begin during the 

20 current and subsequent fiscal years, as required in 

21 the program office report outlined in section 

22 8932(f)(2)(C). 

23 ‘‘(4) The amounts requested in the budget sub24 mitted to Congress pursuant to section 1105(a) of 

25 title 31 for the subsequent fiscal year, for the proVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:20 Aug 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7713.IH H7713

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1 grams, projects, activities and the estimated expend2 itures under such programs, projects, and activities, 

3 to execute the National Oceanographic Partnership 

4 Program. 

5 ‘‘(5) A summary of national ocean research pri6 orities informed by the Ocean Research Advisory 

7 Panel required in section 8933(b)(4). 

8 ‘‘(6) A list of the members of the Ocean Re9 search Advisory Panel described in section 8933(a) 

10 and any working groups described in section 

11 8932(f)(2)(A) in existence during the fiscal years 

12 covered. 

13 The report and all briefing materials shall be posted to 

14 a publicly available website not later than 30 days after 

15 the briefing. 

16 ‘‘(d) NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PARTNERSHIP

17 FUND.—There is established in the Treasury a separate 

18 account to be known as the National Oceanographic Part19 nership Program Fund to be jointly managed by the Sec20 retary of the Navy, the Administrator of the National Oce21 anic and Atmospheric Administration, and any other Fed22 eral agency that contributes amounts to the Fund. 

23 ‘‘(1) APPROPRIATION AND AUTHORIZED

24 USES.—Amounts in the Fund shall be available to 

25 the NOPP without further appropriation to remain 


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1 available for up to 5 years from the date contributed 

2 or until expended for the purpose of carrying out 

3 this section. 

4 ‘‘(2) CREDITING OF AMOUNTS TO FUND.— 

5 There is authorized to be credited to the Fund the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(A) Such amounts as determined appro8 priate to be transferred to the Fund by the 

9 head of a Federal agency or entity participating 

10 in the National Oceanographic Partnership Pro11 gram. 

12 ‘‘(B) Funds provided by a State, local gov13 ernment, tribal government, territory, or pos14 session, or any subdivisions thereof. 

15 ‘‘(C) Funds contributed by a non-profit or16 ganization, individual, or Congressionally estab17 lished foundation; by private grants, contracts, 

18 and donations. 

19 ‘‘(3) CONTRACT AND GRANT AUTHORITY.—For 

20 the purpose of carrying out this section, as directed 

21 by the Committee, departments or agencies rep22 resented on the Committee may enter into contracts, 

23 make grants, including transactions authorized by 

24 paragraph (4), and may transfer funds available to 

25 the National Oceanographic Partnership Program 


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1 under paragraph (2) to participating departments 

2 and agencies for such purposes. 

3 ‘‘(4) COOPERATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES, 

4 STATES, TERRITORIES, AND POLITICAL SUBDIVI5 SIONS.—The Committee or any participating Fed6 eral agency or entity may enter into an agreement 

7 to use, with or without reimbursement, the land, 

8 services, equipment, personnel, and facilities of any 

9 department, agency, or instrumentality of the United 

10 States, or of any State, local government, Indian 

11 tribal government, Territory, District of Columbia, 

12 or possession, or of any political subdivision thereof, 

13 or of any foreign government or international orga14 nization or individual, for the purpose of carrying 

15 out this section. 

16 ‘‘(e) ESTABLISHMENT AND FORMS OF PARTNERSHIP

17 PROJECTS.—A partnership project under the National 

18 Oceanographic Partnership Program— 

19 ‘‘(1) may be established by any instrument that 

20 the Committee considers appropriate; and 

21 ‘‘(2) may include demonstration projects. 

22 ‘‘(f) PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM OFFICE.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Navy 

24 and Administrator of the National Oceanic and At25 mospheric Administration shall jointly establish a 


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1 partnership program office for the National Oceano2 graphic Partnership Program. Competitive proce3 dures will be used to select an external operator for 

4 the partnership program office. 

5 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The Committee will monitor the 

6 performance of the duties of the partnership pro7 gram office, which shall consist of the following: 

8 ‘‘(A) To support working groups estab9 lished by the Committee or subcommittee and 

10 report working group activities to the Com11 mittee, including working group proposals for 

12 partnership projects. 

13 ‘‘(B) To support the process for proposing 

14 partnership projects to the Committee, includ15 ing, where appropriate, managing review of 

16 such projects. 

17 ‘‘(C) To submit to the Committee and 

18 make publicly available an annual report on the 

19 status of all partnership projects, including the 

20 Federal and non-Federal sources of funding for 

21 each project, and activities of the office. 

22 ‘‘(D) To perform any additional duties for 

23 the administration of the National Oceano24 graphic Partnership Program that the Com25 mittee considers appropriate. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 8933. OCEAN RESEARCH ADVISORY PANEL. 

2 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Committee shall estab3 lish an Ocean Research Advisory Panel consisting of not 

4 less than 10 and not more than 18 members appointed 

5 by the Co-chairs, including the following: 

6 ‘‘(1) Three members who will represent the Na7 tional Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Med8 icine. 

9 ‘‘(2) Members selected from among individuals 

10 who will represent the views of ocean industries, 

11 State, tribal, territorial or local governments, aca12 demia, and such other views as the Co-chairs con13 sider appropriate. 

14 ‘‘(3) Members selected from among individuals 

15 eminent in the fields of marine science, marine tech16 nology, and marine policy, or related fields. 

17 The Committee shall ensure that an appropriate balance 

18 of academic, scientific, industry, and geographical inter19 ests and gender and racial diversity are represented by 

20 the members of the Advisory Panel. 

21 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Committee shall as22 sign the following responsibilities to the Advisory Panel: 

23 ‘‘(1) To advise the Committee on policies and 

24 procedures to implement the National Oceano25 graphic Partnership Program. 


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1 ‘‘(2) To advise the Committee on matters relat2 ing to national oceanographic science, engineering, 

3 facilities, or resource requirements. 

4 ‘‘(3) To advise the Committee on improving di5 versity, equity, and inclusion in the ocean sciences 

6 and related fields 

7 ‘‘(4) To advise the Committee on national ocean 

8 research priorities. 

9 ‘‘(5) Any additional responsibilities that the 

10 Committee considers appropriate. 

11 ‘‘(6) To meet no fewer than two times a year. 

12 ‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATIVE AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT.— 

13 The Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos14 pheric Administration shall provide such administrative 

15 and technical support as the Ocean Research Advisory 

16 Panel may require. 

17 ‘‘(d) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—Section 

18 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. 

19 App.) shall not apply to the Ocean Research Advisory 

20 Panel appointed under section 8933.’’. 

Æ 


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