II 

Calendar No. 237 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1344 

[Report No. 113–117] 

To promote research, monitoring, and observation of the Arctic and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 23, 2013 

Mr. BEGICH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

NOVEMBER 6, 2013 

Reported by Mr. ROCKEFELLER, with an amendment 

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

A BILL 

To promote research, monitoring, and observation of the 

Arctic 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 ‘‘Arctic Research, Moni5 toring, and Observing Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ARCTIC RESEARCH COMMISSION. 

2 (a) DUTIES OF THE ARCTIC RESEARCH COMMIS3 SION.—Section 104(a) of the Arctic Research and Policy 

4 Act of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 4103(a)) is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘assist in es6 tablishing’’ and inserting ‘‘establish’’; 

7 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through 

8 (10) as paragraphs (4) through (11), respectively; 

9 and 

10 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(3) award— 

13 ‘‘(A) grants to Federal, State, local, or 

14 tribal governments and academic and private 

15 organizations to conduct research on or related 

16 to the Arctic, including to the marine environ17 ment of the Arctic Ocean, its adjacent seas or 

18 associated lesser bodies of water; and 

19 ‘‘(B) such grants on the basis of merit in 

20 accordance with the national Arctic research 

21 program plan;’’. 

22 (b) ADMINISTRATION OF THE COMMISSION.—Section 

23 106 of the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 (15 

24 U.S.C. 4105) is amended— 

25 (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

26 end; 


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1 (2) in paragraph (5), by striking the period at 

2 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(6) enter into agreements with appropriate 

5 agencies or organizations to administer grants made 

6 pursuant to this title for Arctic research including 

7 reimbursement from funds of the Commission to ad8 minister such grants.’’. 

9 (c) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST; ARCTIC RESEARCH

10 COMMISSION.—Section 103 of the Arctic Research and 

11 Policy Act of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 4102) is amended by add12 ing at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(e) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—The Commission 

14 shall adopt conflict of interest and recusal provisions that 

15 apply to any decision by the Commission and to all mem16 bers of the Commission as if each member of the Commis17 sion is an ‘affected individual’ within the meaning of sec18 tion 302(j) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 

19 and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1852(j)), except that in 

20 addition to the disclosure requirements of paragraph (2) 

21 of such section 302(j), each member of the Commission 

22 shall disclose any financial interest or relationship in an 

23 organization or with an individual that is applying for 

24 funding from the Commission held by the member of the 

25 Commission, including an interest as an officer, director, 


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1 trustee, partner, employee, contractor, agent, or other rep2 resentative.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. NORTH PACIFIC RESEARCH BOARD. 

4 Subsection (e) of section 401 of the Department of 

5 the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 

6 1998 (43 U.S.C. 1474d(e)) is amended by striking para7 graph (5) and inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘(5) The Board may adopt such rules of proce9 dure and establish such committees as it deems nec10 essary to carry out the purposes of this title, includ11 ing the conduct of administrative duties between 

12 meetings. 

13 ‘‘(6) All decisions of the Board shall be by ma14 jority vote of the full board in regular session. 

15 ‘‘(7) The Board shall adopt conflict of interest 

16 and recusal provisions that apply to any decision by 

17 the Board and to all members of the Board as if 

18 each member of the Board is an ‘affected individual’ 

19 within the meaning of section 302(j) of the Magnu20 son-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 

21 Act (16 U.S.C. 1852(j)), except that in addition to 

22 the disclosure requirements of paragraph (2) of such 

23 section 302(j), each member of the Board shall dis24 close any financial interest or relationship in an or25 ganization or with an individual that is applying for 


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1 funding from the Board, including an interest as an 

2 officer, director, trustee, partner, employee, con3 tractor, agent, or other representative. 

4 ‘‘(8) The Secretary of Commerce may accept 

5 funds from a source other than the Government of 

6 the United States to be used by the Board to carry 

7 out the Board’s functions.’’. 

8 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

9 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Arctic Research, Moni10 toring, and Observing Act of 2013’’. 

11 SEC. 2. ARCTIC RESEARCH COMMISSION. 

12 (a) DUTIES OF THE ARCTIC RESEARCH COMMIS13 SION.—Section 104(a) of the Arctic Research and Policy 

14 Act of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 4103(a)) is amended— 

15 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘assist in es16 tablishing’’ and inserting ‘‘establish’’; 

17 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through (10) 

18 as paragraphs (4) through (11), respectively; and 

19 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(3) award— 

22 ‘‘(A) grants to Federal, State, local, or trib23 al governments and academic and private orga24 nizations to conduct research on or related to the 

25 Arctic, including to the marine environment of 


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1 the Arctic Ocean, its adjacent seas or associated 

2 lesser bodies of water; and 

3 ‘‘(B) such grants on the basis of merit in 

4 accordance with the national Arctic research 

5 program plan;’’. 

6 (b) ADMINISTRATION OF THE COMMISSION.—Section 

7 106 of the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 (15 

8 U.S.C. 4105) is amended— 

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

10 end; 

11 (2) in paragraph (5), by striking the period at 

12 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

13 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(6) enter into agreements with appropriate 

15 agencies or organizations to administer grants made 

16 pursuant to this title for Arctic research including re17 imbursement from funds of the Commission to admin18 ister such grants.’’. 

19 (c) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST; ARCTIC RESEARCH COM20 MISSION.—Section 103 of the Arctic Research and Policy 

21 Act of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 4102) is amended by adding at the 

22 end the following: 

23 ‘‘(e) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—The Commission shall 

24 adopt conflict of interest and recusal provisions which shall 

25 apply to any decision by the Commission and to all memVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:07 Nov 06, 2013 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1344.RS S1344

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1 bers of the Commission which at a minimum are substan2 tially equivalent to conflict of interest and recusal provi3 sions set forth in section 302(j) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

4 Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 

5 1852(j)) as if each member of the Commission is an ‘affected 

6 individual’ within the meaning of such section 302(j), ex7 cept that in addition to the disclosure requirements of such 

8 section 302(j), each Commission member shall disclose any 

9 financial interest or relationship in an organization or 

10 with an individual that is applying for funding from the 

11 Commission held by the Commission member, including an 

12 interest as an officer, director, trustee, partner, employee, 

13 contractor, agent, or other representative.’’. 

14 SEC. 3. NORTH PACIFIC RESEARCH BOARD. 

15 Subsection (e) of section 401 of the Department of the 

16 Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998 

17 (43 U.S.C. 1474d(e)) is amended by striking paragraph (5) 

18 and inserting the following: 

19 ‘‘(5) The Board may adopt such rules of proce20 dure and establish such committees as it deems nec21 essary to carry out the purposes of this title, includ22 ing the conduct of administrative duties between 

23 meetings. 

24 ‘‘(6) All decisions of the Board shall be by major25 ity vote of the full board in regular session. 


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1 ‘‘(7) The Board shall adopt conflict of interest 

2 and recusal provisions which at a minimum are sub3 stantially equivalent to conflict of interest and recusal 

4 provisions set forth in section 302(j) of the Magnuson5 Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 

6 (16 U.S.C. 1852(j)) shall apply to any decision by the 

7 Board and to all members of the Board as if each 

8 member of the Board is an ‘affected individual’ with9 in the meaning of such section 302(j), except that in 

10 addition to the disclosure requirements of such section 

11 302(j), each Board member shall disclose any finan12 cial interest or relationship in an organization or 

13 with an individual that is applying for funding from 

14 the Board, including an interest as an officer, direc15 tor, trustee, partner, employee, contractor, agent, or 

16 other representative. 

17 ‘‘(8) The Secretary of Commerce may accept 

18 funds from a source other than the Government of the 

19 United States to be used by the Board to carry out 

20 the Board’s functions.’’. 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS

sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Calendar No. 237 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1344 

[Report No. 113–117] 

A BILL 

To promote research, monitoring, and observation 

of the Arctic and for other purposes. 

NOVEMBER 6, 2013 

Reported with an amendment 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS