II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 173 

To establish an interagency committee to develop an ocean acidification research and monitoring plan and to establish an ocean acidification program within NOAA. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 8, 2009 

Mr. LAUTENBERG (for himself, Mr. INOUYE, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Ms. CANTWELL, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. KERRY, Mrs. BOXER, and Mr. REED) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To establish an interagency committee to develop an ocean 

acidification research and monitoring plan and to establish an ocean acidification program within NOAA. 

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 ‘‘Federal Ocean Acidifi5 cation Research And Monitoring Act of 2009’’ or the 

6 ‘‘FOARAM Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

2 (a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to pro3 vide for— 

4 (1) development and coordination of a com5 prehensive interagency plan to— 

6 (A) monitor and conduct research on the 

7 processes and consequences of ocean acidifica8 tion on marine organisms and ecosystems; and 

9 (B) establish an interagency research and 

10 monitoring program on ocean acidification; 

11 (2) establishment of an ocean acidification pro12 gram within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

13 Administration; 

14 (3) assessment and consideration of regional 

15 and national ecosystem and socioeconomic impacts 

16 of increased ocean acidification; and 

17 (4) research adaptation strategies and tech18 niques for effectively conserving marine ecosystems 

19 as they cope with increased ocean acidification. 

20 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

21 In this Act: 

22 (1) OCEAN ACIDIFICATION.—The term ‘‘ocean 

23 acidification’’ means the decrease in pH of the 

24 Earth’s oceans and changes in ocean chemistry 

25 caused by chemical inputs from the atmosphere, in26 cluding carbon dioxide. 


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1 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Ad3 ministrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos4 pheric Administration. 

5 (3) SUBCOMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Sub6 committee’’ means the Joint Subcommittee on 

7 Ocean Science and Technology of the National 

8 Science and Technology Council. 

9 SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY SUBCOMMITTEE. 

10 (a) DESIGNATION.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Joint Subcommittee on 

12 Ocean Science and Technology of the National 

13 Science and Technology Council shall coordinate 

14 Federal activities on ocean acidification and estab15 lish an interagency working group. 

16 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The interagency working 

17 group on ocean acidification shall be comprised of 

18 senior representatives from the National Oceanic 

19 and Atmospheric Administration, the National 

20 Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and 

21 Space Administration, the United States Geological 

22 Survey, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, 

23 and such other Federal agencies as appropriate. 

24 (3) CHAIRMAN.—The interagency working 

25 group shall be chaired by the representative from 


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1 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra2 tion. 

3 (b) DUTIES.—The Subcommittee shall— 

4 (1) develop the strategic research and moni5 toring plan to guide Federal research on ocean acidi6 fication required under section 5 of this Act and 

7 oversee the implementation of the plan; 

8 (2) oversee the development of— 

9 (A) an assessment of the potential impacts 

10 of ocean acidification on marine organisms and 

11 marine ecosystems; and 

12 (B) adaptation and mitigation strategies to 

13 conserve marine organisms and ecosystems ex14 posed to ocean acidification; 

15 (3) facilitate communication and outreach op16 portunities with nongovernmental organizations and 

17 members of the stakeholder community with inter18 ests in marine resources; 

19 (4) coordinate the United States Federal re20 search and monitoring program with research and 

21 monitoring programs and scientists from other na22 tions; and 

23 (5) establish or designate an Ocean Acidifica24 tion Information Exchange to make information on 

25 ocean acidification developed through or utilized by 


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1 the interagency ocean acidification program acces2 sible through electronic means, including informa3 tion which would be useful to policymakers, re4 searchers, and other stakeholders in mitigating or 

5 adapting to the impacts of ocean acidification. 

6 (c) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

7 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

8 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sub9 committee shall transmit a report to the Committee 

10 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

11 Senate and the Committee on Science and Tech12 nology and the Committee on Natural Resources of 

13 the House of Representatives that— 

14 (A) includes a summary of federally fund15 ed ocean acidification research and monitoring 

16 activities, including the budget for each of these 

17 activities; and 

18 (B) describes the progress in developing 

19 the plan required under section 5 of this Act. 

20 (2) BIENNIAL REPORT.—Not later than 2 years 

21 after the delivery of the initial report under para22 graph (1) and every 2 years thereafter, the Sub23 committee shall transmit a report to the Committee 

24 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

25 Senate and the Committee on Science and TechVerDate Nov 24 2008 20:22 Jan 10, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S173.IS S173

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1 nology and the Committee on Natural Resources of 

2 the House of Representatives that includes— 

3 (A) a summary of federally funded ocean 

4 acidification research and monitoring activities, 

5 including the budget for each of these activities; 

6 and 

7 (B) an analysis of the progress made to8 ward achieving the goals and priorities for the 

9 interagency research plan developed by the Sub10 committee under section 5. 

11 (3) STRATEGIC RESEARCH PLAN.—Not later 

12 than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, 

13 the Subcommittee shall transmit the strategic re14 search plan developed under section 5 to the Com15 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

16 the Senate and the Committee on Science and Tech17 nology and the Committee on Natural Resources of 

18 the House of Representatives. A revised plan shall 

19 be submitted at least once every 5 years thereafter. 

20 SEC. 5. STRATEGIC RESEARCH PLAN. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 

22 date of enactment of this Act, the Subcommittee shall de23 velop a strategic plan for Federal research and monitoring 

24 on ocean acidification that will provide for an assessment 

25 of the impacts of ocean acidification on marine organisms 


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1 and marine ecosystems and the development of adaptation 

2 and mitigation strategies to conserve marine organisms 

3 and marine ecosystems. In developing the plan, the Sub4 committee shall consider and use information, reports, and 

5 studies of ocean acidification that have identified research 

6 and monitoring needed to better understand ocean acidifi7 cation and its potential impacts, and recommendations 

8 made by the National Academy of Sciences in the review 

9 of the plan required under subsection (d). 

10 (b) CONTENTS OF THE PLAN.—The plan shall— 

11 (1) provide for interdisciplinary research among 

12 the ocean sciences, and coordinated research and ac13 tivities to improve the understanding of ocean chem14 istry that will affect marine ecosystems; 

15 (2) establish, for the 10-year period beginning 

16 in the year the plan is submitted, the goals and pri17 orities for Federal research and monitoring which 

18 will— 

19 (A) advance understanding of ocean acidi20 fication and its physical, chemical, and biologi21 cal impacts on marine organisms and marine 

22 ecosystems; 

23 (B) improve the ability to assess the socio24 economic impacts of ocean acidification; and 


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1 (C) provide information for the develop2 ment of adaptation and mitigation strategies to 

3 conserve marine organisms and marine eco4 systems; 

5 (3) describe specific activities, including— 

6 (A) efforts to determine user needs; 

7 (B) research activities; 

8 (C) monitoring activities; 

9 (D) technology and methods development; 

10 (E) data collection; 

11 (F) database development; 

12 (G) modeling activities; 

13 (H) assessment of ocean acidification im14 pacts; and 

15 (I) participation in international research 

16 efforts; 

17 (4) identify relevant programs and activities of 

18 the Federal agencies that contribute to the inter19 agency program directly and indirectly and set forth 

20 the role of each Federal agency in implementing the 

21 plan; 

22 (5) consider and utilize, as appropriate, reports 

23 and studies conducted by Federal agencies, the Na24 tional Research Council, or other entities; 


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1 (6) make recommendations for the coordination 

2 of the ocean acidification research and monitoring 

3 activities of the United States with such activities of 

4 other nations and international organizations; 

5 (7) outline budget requirements for Federal 

6 ocean acidification research and monitoring and as7 sessment activities to be conducted by each agency 

8 under the plan; 

9 (8) identify the monitoring systems and sam10 pling programs currently employed in collecting data 

11 relevant to ocean acidification and prioritize addi12 tional monitoring systems that may be needed to en13 sure adequate data collection and monitoring of 

14 ocean acidification and its impacts; and 

15 (9) describe specific activities designed to facili16 tate outreach and data and information exchange 

17 with stakeholder communities. 

18 (c) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—The plan shall include at 

19 a minimum the following program elements: 

20 (1) Monitoring of ocean chemistry and biologi21 cal impacts associated with ocean acidification at se22 lected coastal and open-ocean monitoring stations, 

23 including satellite-based monitoring to charac24 terize— 

25 (A) marine ecosystems; 


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1 (B) changes in marine productivity; and 

2 (C) changes in surface ocean chemistry. 

3 (2) Research to understand the species specific 

4 physiological responses of marine organisms to ocean 

5 acidification, impacts on marine food webs of ocean 

6 acidification, and to develop environmental and eco7 logical indices that track marine ecosystem re8 sponses to ocean acidification. 

9 (3) Modeling to predict changes in the ocean 

10 carbon cycle as a function of carbon dioxide and at11 mosphere-induced changes in temperature, ocean cir12 culation, biogeochemistry, ecosystem and terrestrial 

13 input, and modeling to determine impacts on marine 

14 ecosystems and individual marine organisms. 

15 (4) Technology development and standardiza16 tion of carbonate chemistry measurements on moor17 ings and autonomous floats. 

18 (5) Assessment of socioeconomic impacts of 

19 ocean acidification and development of adaptation 

20 and mitigation strategies to conserve marine orga21 nisms and marine ecosystems. 

22 (d) NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES EVALUA23 TION.—The Secretary shall enter into an agreement with 

24 the National Academy of Sciences to review the plan. 


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1 (e) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—In developing the plan, 

2 the Subcommittee shall consult with representatives of 

3 academic, State, industry and environmental groups. Not 

4 later than 90 days before the plan, or any revision thereof, 

5 is submitted to the Congress, the plan shall be published 

6 in the Federal Register for a public comment period of 

7 not less than 60 days. 

8 SEC. 6. NOAA OCEAN ACIDIFICATION ACTIVITIES. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish and 

10 maintain an ocean acidification program within the Na11 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to conduct 

12 research, monitoring, and other activities consistent with 

13 the strategic research and implementation plan developed 

14 by the Subcommittee under section 5 that— 

15 (1) includes— 

16 (A) interdisciplinary research among the 

17 ocean and atmospheric sciences, and coordi18 nated research and activities to improve under19 standing of ocean acidification; 

20 (B) the establishment of a long-term moni21 toring program of ocean acidification utilizing 

22 existing global and national ocean observing as23 sets, and adding instrumentation and sampling 

24 stations as appropriate to the aims of the re25 search program; 


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1 (C) research to identify and develop adap2 tation strategies and techniques for effectively 

3 conserving marine ecosystems as they cope with 

4 increased ocean acidification; 

5 (D) as an integral part of the research 

6 programs described in this Act, educational op7 portunities that encourage an interdisciplinary 

8 and international approach to exploring the im9 pacts of ocean acidification; 

10 (E) as an integral part of the research pro11 grams described in this Act, national public 

12 outreach activities to improve the under13 standing of current scientific knowledge of 

14 ocean acidification and its impacts on marine 

15 resources; and 

16 (F) coordination of ocean acidification 

17 monitoring and impacts research with other ap18 propriate international ocean science bodies 

19 such as the International Oceanographic Com20 mission, the International Council for the Ex21 ploration of the Sea, the North Pacific Marine 

22 Science Organization, and others; 

23 (2) provides grants for critical research projects 

24 that explore the effects of ocean acidification on eco25 systems and the socioeconomic impacts of increased 


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1 ocean acidification that are relevant to the goals and 

2 priorities of the strategic research plan; and 

3 (3) incorporates a competitive merit-based proc4 ess for awarding grants that may be conducted 

5 jointly with other participating agencies or under the 

6 National Oceanographic Partnership Program under 

7 section 7901 of title 10, United States Code. 

8 (b) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY.—In conducting the 

9 Program, the Secretary may enter into and perform such 

10 contracts, leases, grants, or cooperative agreements as 

11 may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act 

12 on such terms as the Secretary considers appropriate. 

13 SEC. 7. NSF OCEAN ACIDIFICATION ACTIVITIES. 

14 (a) RESEARCH ACTIVITIES.—The Director of the Na15 tional Science Foundation shall continue to carry out re16 search activities on ocean acidification which shall support 

17 competitive, merit-based, peer-reviewed proposals for re18 search and monitoring of ocean acidification and its im19 pacts, including— 

20 (1) impacts on marine organisms and marine 

21 ecosystems; 

22 (2) impacts on ocean, coastal, and estuarine 

23 biogeochemistry; and 


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1 (3) the development of methodologies and tech2 nologies to evaluate ocean acidification and its im3 pacts. 

4 (b) CONSISTENCY.—The research activities shall be 

5 consistent with the strategic research plan developed by 

6 the Subcommittee under section 5. 

7 (c) COORDINATION.—The Director shall encourage 

8 coordination of the Foundation’s ocean acidification activi9 ties with such activities of other nations and international 

10 organizations. 

11 SEC. 8. NASA OCEAN ACIDIFICATION ACTIVITIES. 

12 (a) OCEAN ACIDIFICATION ACTIVITIES.—The Ad13 ministrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Admin14 istration, in coordination with other relevant agencies, 

15 shall ensure that space-based monitoring assets are used 

16 in as productive a manner as possible for monitoring of 

17 ocean acidification and its impacts. 

18 (b) PROGRAM CONSISTENCY.—The Administrator 

19 shall ensure that the Agency’s research and monitoring 

20 activities on ocean acidification are carried out in a man21 ner consistent with the strategic research plan developed 

22 by the Subcommittee under section 5. 

23 (c) COORDINATION.—The Administrator shall en24 courage coordination of the Agency’s ocean acidification 


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1 activities with such activities of other nations and inter2 national organizations. 

3 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 (a) NOAA.—There are authorized to be appropriated 

5 to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

6 to carry out the purposes of this Act— 

7 (1) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2009; 

8 (2) $12,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; 

9 (3) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; and 

10 (4) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2012. 

11 (b) NSF.—There are authorized to be appropriated 

12 to the National Science Foundation to carry out the pur13 poses of this Act— 

14 (1) $6,000,000 for fiscal year 2009; 

15 (2) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; 

16 (3) $12,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; and 

17 (4) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2012. 

Æ 


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