116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1237 

AN ACT 

To amend the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and 

Monitoring Act of 2009 to establish an Ocean Acidification Advisory Board, to expand and improve the research 

on Ocean Acidification and Coastal Acidification, to establish and maintain a data archive system for Ocean 

Acidification data and Coastal Acidification data, and 

for other purposes. 
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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 ‘‘Coastal and Ocean 

5 Acidification Stressors and Threats Research Act of 

6 2019’’ or the ‘‘COAST Research Act of 2019’’. 

7 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 12402(a) of the Federal 

9 Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009 

10 (33 U.S.C. 3701(a)) is amended— 

11 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

12 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

13 (A), by striking ‘‘development and coordina14 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘coordination and imple15 mentation’’; 

16 (B) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

17 ‘‘acidification on marine organisms’’ and insert18 ing ‘‘acidification and coastal acidification on 

19 marine organisms’’; and 

20 (C) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘es21 tablish’’ and all that follows through the semi22 colon and inserting ‘‘maintain and advise an 

23 interagency research, monitoring, and public 

24 outreach program on ocean acidification and 

25 coastal acidification;’’; 
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1 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘establish2 ment’’ and inserting ‘‘maintenance’’; 

3 (3) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘and coastal 

4 acidification’’ after ‘‘ocean acidification’’; and 

5 (4) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘and coastal 

6 acidification that take into account other environ7 mental and anthropogenic stressors’’ after ‘‘ocean 

8 acidification’’. 

9 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

10 Section 12402 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Re11 search and Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3701(a)) 

12 is amended by striking ‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—’’. 

13 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

14 Section 12403 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Re15 search and Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3702) is 

16 amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘of the 

18 Earth’s oceans’’ and all that follows before the pe19 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘and changes in the 

20 water chemistry of the Earth’s oceans, coastal estu21 aries, and waterways caused by carbon dioxide from 

22 the atmosphere and the breakdown of organic mat23 ter’’; 

24 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘Joint Sub25 committee on Ocean Science and Technology of the 
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1 National Science and Technology Council’’ and in2 serting ‘‘National Science and Technology Council 

3 Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology’’; 

4 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and 

5 (3) as paragraphs (2), (3), and (4), respectively; 

6 (4) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so re7 designated, the following new paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(1) COASTAL ACIDIFICATION.—The term 

9 ‘coastal acidification’ means the combined decrease 

10 in pH and changes in the water chemistry of coastal 

11 oceans, estuaries, and other bodies of water from 

12 chemical inputs (including carbon dioxide from the 

13 atmosphere), freshwater inputs, and excess nutrient 

14 run-off from land and coastal atmospheric pollution 

15 that result in processes that release carbon dioxide, 

16 acidic nitrogen, and sulfur compounds as byproducts 

17 which end up in coastal waters.’’; and 

18 (5) by adding at the end the following new 

19 paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(5) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each 

21 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 

22 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American 

23 Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern 

24 Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands of the United 
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1 States, and any other territory or possession of the 

2 United States.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP. 

4 Section 12404 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Re5 search and Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3703) is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) in the heading, by striking ‘‘SUB8 COMMITTEE’’ and inserting ‘‘WORKING GROUP’’; 

9 (2) in subsection (a)— 

10 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Joint 

11 Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Tech12 nology of the National Science and Technology 

13 Council shall coordinate Federal activities on 

14 ocean acidification and’’ and insert ‘‘Sub15 committee shall’’; 

16 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘Wildlife 

17 Service,’’ and inserting ‘‘Wildlife Service, the 

18 Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the En19 vironmental Protection Agency, the Department 

20 of Agriculture, the Department of State, the 

21 Department of Energy, the Department of the 

22 Navy, the National Park Service, the Bureau of 

23 Indian Affairs, the National Institute of Stand24 ards and Technology, the Smithsonian Institu25 tion,’’; and 
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1 (C) in paragraph (3), in the heading, by 

2 striking ‘‘CHAIRMAN’’ and inserting ‘‘CHAIR’’; 

3 (3) in subsection (b)— 

4 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, in5 cluding the efforts of the National Oceanic and 

6 Atmospheric Administration to facilitate such 

7 implementation’’ after ‘‘of the plan’’; 

8 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

9 (i) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 

10 ‘‘and coastal acidification’’ after ‘‘ocean 

11 acidification’’; and 

12 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 

13 ‘‘and coastal acidification’’ after ‘‘ocean 

14 acidification’’; 

15 (C) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

16 and inserting a semicolon; 

17 (D) in paragraph (5)— 

18 (i) by striking ‘‘developed’’ and insert19 ing ‘‘and coastal acidification developed’’; 

20 and 

21 (ii) by striking the period at the end 

22 and inserting ‘‘and coastal acidification; 

23 and’’; and 

24 (E) by adding at the end the following new 

25 paragraph: 
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1 ‘‘(6) ensure that each of the Federal agencies 

2 represented on the interagency working group— 

3 ‘‘(A) participates in the Ocean Acidifica4 tion Information Exchange established under 

5 paragraph (5); and 

6 ‘‘(B) delivers data and information to sup7 port the data archive system established under 

8 section 12406(d).’’; 

9 (4) in subsection (c), in paragraph (2)— 

10 (A) by inserting ‘‘, and to the Office of 

11 Management and Budget,’’ after ‘‘House of 

12 Representatives’’; and 

13 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘the 

14 interagency research’’ and inserting ‘‘inter15 agency strategic research’’; 

16 (5) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub17 section (d); and 

18 (6) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(c) ADVISORY BOARD.— 

21 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Chair of the Sub22 committee shall establish an Ocean Acidification Ad23 visory Board. 

24 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The Advisory Board shall— 
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1 ‘‘(A) not later than 180 days before the 

2 Subcommittee submits the most recent report 

3 under subsection (d)(2)— 

4 ‘‘(i) review such report; 

5 ‘‘(ii) submit an analysis of such report 

6 to the Subcommittee for consideration in 

7 the final report submitted under subsection 

8 (d)(2); and 

9 ‘‘(iii) concurrently with the Sub10 committee’s final submission of the report 

11 under subsection (d)(2), the Advisory 

12 Board shall submit a copy of the analysis 

13 provided to the Subcommittee to the Com14 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Trans15 portation of the Senate, the Committee on 

16 Science, Space, and Technology of the 

17 House of Representatives, and the Com18 mittee on Natural Resources of the House 

19 of Representatives; 

20 ‘‘(B) not later than 180 days before the 

21 Subcommittee submits the most recent strategic 

22 research plan under subsection (d)(3) to Con23 gress— 

24 ‘‘(i) review such plan; 
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1 ‘‘(ii) submit an analysis of such plan 

2 and the implementation thereof to the Sub3 committee for consideration in the final 

4 strategic research plan submitted under 

5 subsection (d)(3); and 

6 ‘‘(iii) concurrently with the Sub7 committee’s final submission of the stra8 tegic research plan under subsection 

9 (d)(3), the Advisory Board shall submit a 

10 copy of the analysis provided to the Sub11 committee to the Committee on Commerce, 

12 Science, and Transportation of the Senate, 

13 the Committee on Science, Space, and 

14 Technology of the House of Representa15 tives, and the Committee on Natural Re16 sources of the House of Representatives; 

17 ‘‘(C) provide ongoing advice to the Sub18 committee and the interagency working group 

19 on matters related to Federal activities on 

20 ocean acidification and coastal acidification; 

21 ‘‘(D) advise the Subcommittee and the 

22 interagency working group on— 

23 ‘‘(i) efforts to coordinate research and 

24 monitoring activities related to ocean acidi25 fication and coastal acidification; and 
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1 ‘‘(ii) the best practices for the stand2 ards developed for data archiving under 

3 section 12406(e); 

4 ‘‘(E) publish in the Federal Register a 

5 charter; 

6 ‘‘(F) provide the Library of Congress 

7 with— 

8 ‘‘(i) the charter described in subpara9 graph (E); 

10 ‘‘(ii) any schedules and minutes for 

11 meetings of the Advisory Board; 

12 ‘‘(iii) any documents that are ap13 proved by the Advisory Board; and 

14 ‘‘(iv) any reports and analysis pre15 pared by the Advisory Board; and 

16 ‘‘(G) establish a publicly accessible web 

17 page on the website of the National Oceanic 

18 and Atmospheric Administration, that contains 

19 the information described in clauses (i) through 

20 (iv) of subparagraph (F). 

21 ‘‘(3) MEMBERSHIP.—The Advisory Board shall 

22 consist of 24 members as follows: 

23 ‘‘(A) Two representatives of the shellfish 

24 and crab industry. 
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1 ‘‘(B) One representative of the finfish in2 dustry. 

3 ‘‘(C) One representative of seafood proc4 essors. 

5 ‘‘(D) Three representatives from academia, 

6 including both natural and social sciences. 

7 ‘‘(E) One representative of recreational 

8 fishing. 

9 ‘‘(F) One representative of relevant non10 governmental organizations. 

11 ‘‘(G) Six representatives from relevant 

12 State, local, and Tribal governments. 

13 ‘‘(H) One representative from the Alaska 

14 Ocean Acidification Network. 

15 ‘‘(I) One representative from the California 

16 Current Acidification Network. 

17 ‘‘(J) One representative from the North18 east Coastal Acidification Network. 

19 ‘‘(K) One representative from the South20 east Coastal Acidification Network. 

21 ‘‘(L) One representative from the Gulf of 

22 Mexico Coastal Acidification Network. 

23 ‘‘(M) One representative from the Mid-At24 lantic Coastal Acidification Network. 
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1 ‘‘(N) One representative from the Pacific 

2 Islands Ocean Observing System or similar en3 tity representing the island territories and pos4 sessions of the United States in the Pacific 

5 Ocean, and the State of Hawaii. 

6 ‘‘(O) One representative from the Carib7 bean Regional Association for Coastal Ocean 

8 Observing or a similar entity representing Puer9 to Rico and the United States Virgin Islands. 

10 ‘‘(P) One representative from the National 

11 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall 

12 serve as an ex-officio member of the Advisory 

13 Board without a vote. 

14 ‘‘(4) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.—The Chair 

15 of the Subcommittee shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) appoint members to the Advisory 

17 Board (taking into account the geographical in18 terests of each individual to be appointed as a 

19 member of the Advisory Board to ensure that 

20 an appropriate balance of geographical interests 

21 are represented by the members of the Advisory 

22 Board) who— 

23 ‘‘(i) represent the interest group for 

24 which each seat is designated; 
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1 ‘‘(ii) demonstrate expertise on ocean 

2 acidification or coastal acidification and its 

3 scientific, economic, industry, cultural, and 

4 community impacts; and 

5 ‘‘(iii) have a record of distinguished 

6 service with respect to ocean acidification 

7 or coastal acidification, and such impacts; 

8 ‘‘(B) give consideration to nominations and 

9 recommendations from the members of the 

10 interagency working group and the public for 

11 such appointments; and 

12 ‘‘(C) ensure that an appropriate balance of 

13 scientific, industry, and geographical interests 

14 are represented by the members of the Advisory 

15 Board. 

16 ‘‘(5) TERM OF MEMBERSHIP.—Each member of 

17 the Advisory Board— 

18 ‘‘(A) shall be appointed for a 5-year term; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(B) may be appointed to more than one 

21 term. 

22 ‘‘(6) CHAIR.—The Chair of the Subcommittee 

23 shall appoint one member of the Advisory Board to 

24 serve as the Chair of the Advisory Board. 
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1 ‘‘(7) MEETINGS.—Not less than once each cal2 endar year, the Advisory Board shall meet at such 

3 times and places as may be designated by the Chair 

4 of the Advisory Board, in consultation with the 

5 Chair of the Subcommittee and the Chair of the 

6 interagency working group. 

7 ‘‘(8) BRIEFING.—The Chair of the Advisory 

8 Board shall brief the Subcommittee and the inter9 agency working group on the progress of the Advi10 sory Board as necessary. 

11 ‘‘(9) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.— 

12 Section 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act 

13 shall not apply to the Advisory Board.’’. 

14 SEC. 5. STRATEGIC RESEARCH PLAN. 

15 Section 12405 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Re16 search and Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3704) is 

17 amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (a)— 

19 (A) by striking ‘‘acidification’’ each place it 

20 appears and inserting ‘‘acidification and coastal 

21 acidification’’; 

22 (B) in the first sentence— 

23 (i) by inserting ‘‘, and not later than 

24 every 5 years thereafter’’ after ‘‘the date of 

25 enactment of this Act’’; 
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1 (ii) by inserting ‘‘address the socio2 economic impacts of ocean acidification 

3 and coastal acidification and to’’ after 

4 ‘‘mitigation strategies to’’; and 

5 (iii) by striking ‘‘marine ecosystems’’ 

6 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘eco7 systems’’; and 

8 (C) in the second sentence, by inserting 

9 ‘‘and recommendations made by the Advisory 

10 Board in the review of the plan required under 

11 section 12404(c)(2)(B)(i)’’ after ‘‘subsection 

12 (d)’’; 

13 (2) in subsection (b)— 

14 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘and so15 cial sciences’’ after ‘‘among the ocean sciences’’; 

16 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

17 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

18 ‘‘impacts’’ and inserting ‘‘impacts, includ19 ing trends of changes in ocean chemistry,’’; 

20 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 

21 (I) by striking ‘‘improve the abil22 ity to assess the’’ and inserting ‘‘as23 sess the short-term and long-term’’; 

24 and 
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1 (II) by striking ‘‘; and’’ at the 

2 end and inserting a semicolon; 

3 (iii) by amending subparagraph (C) to 

4 read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(C) provide information for the— 

6 ‘‘(i) development of adaptation and 

7 mitigation strategies to address the socio8 economic impacts of ocean acidification 

9 and coastal acidification; 

10 ‘‘(ii) conservation of marine organisms 

11 and ecosystems; 

12 ‘‘(iii) assessment of the effectiveness 

13 of such adaptation and mitigation strate14 gies; and’’; and 

15 (iv) by adding at the end the following 

16 new subparagraph: 

17 ‘‘(D) improve research on— 

18 ‘‘(i) ocean acidification and coastal 

19 acidification; 

20 ‘‘(ii) the interactions between and ef21 fects of multiple combined stressors includ22 ing changes in water chemistry, changes in 

23 sediment delivery, hypoxia, and harmful 

24 algal blooms, on ocean acidification and 

25 coastal acidification; and 
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1 ‘‘(iii) the effect of environmental 

2 stressors on marine resources and eco3 systems;’’; 

4 (C) in paragraph (3)— 

5 (i) in subparagraph (F), by striking 

6 ‘‘database development’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘data management’’; 

8 (ii) in subparagraph (H) by striking 

9 ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

10 (iii) by adding at the end the fol11 lowing new subparagraphs: 

12 ‘‘(J) assessment of adaptation and mitiga13 tion strategies; and 

14 ‘‘(K) education and outreach activities;’’; 

15 (D) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘set 

16 forth’’ and inserting ‘‘ensure an appropriate 

17 balance of contribution in establishing’’; 

18 (E) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘reports’’ 

19 and inserting ‘‘the best available peer-reviewed 

20 scientific reports’’; 

21 (F) in paragraph (6)— 

22 (i) by inserting ‘‘and coastal acidifica23 tion’’ after ‘‘ocean acidification’’; and 

24 (ii) by striking ‘‘of the United States’’ 

25 and inserting ‘‘within the United States’’; 
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1 (G) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘outline 

2 budget requirements’’ and inserting ‘‘estimate 

3 costs associated for full implementation of each 

4 element of the plan by fiscal year’’; 

5 (H) in paragraph (8)— 

6 (i) by inserting ‘‘and coastal acidifica7 tion’’ after ‘‘ocean acidification’’ each place 

8 it appears; 

9 (ii) by striking ‘‘its’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘their’’; and 

11 (iii) by striking ‘‘; and’’ at the end 

12 and inserting a semicolon; 

13 (I) in paragraph (9), by striking the period 

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

15 (J) by adding at the end the following new 

16 paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(10) describe monitoring needs necessary to 

18 support potentially affected industry members, 

19 coastal stakeholders, fishery management councils 

20 and commissions, non-Federal resource managers, 

21 and scientific experts on decision-making and adap22 tation related to ocean acidification and coastal 

23 acidification.’’; 

24 (3) in subsection (c)— 
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1 (A) in paragraph (1)(C), by striking ‘‘sur2 face’’; 

3 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘and 

4 coastal acidification’’ after ‘‘ocean acidification’’ 

5 each place it appears; 

6 (C) in paragraph (3)— 

7 (i) by striking ‘‘input, and’’ and in8 serting ‘‘inputs,’’; 

9 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, marine food webs,’’ 

10 after ‘‘marine ecosystems’’; and 

11 (iii) by inserting ‘‘, and modeling that 

12 supports fisheries management’’ after 

13 ‘‘marine organisms’’; 

14 (D) in paragraph (5), by inserting ‘‘and 

15 coastal acidification’’ after ‘‘ocean acidifica16 tion’’; and 

17 (E) by adding at the end the following new 

18 paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(6) Research to understand related and cumu20 lative stressors and other biogeochemical processes 

21 occurring in conjunction with ocean acidification and 

22 coastal acidification.’’; and 

23 (4) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the 

24 following: 
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1 ‘‘(e) ADVISORY BOARD EVALUATION.—Not later 

2 than 180 days before a plan is submitted to Congress, the 

3 Subcommittee shall provide the Advisory Board estab4 lished under section 12404(c) a copy of the plan for pur5 poses of review under paragraph (2)(B)(i) of such section. 

6 ‘‘(f) PUBLICATION AND PUBLIC COMMENT.—Not 

7 later than 90 days before the strategic research plan, or 

8 any revision thereof, is submitted to Congress, the Sub9 committee shall publish the plan in the Federal Register 

10 and provide an opportunity for submission of public com11 ments for a period of not less than 60 days.’’. 

12 SEC. 6. NOAA OCEAN ACIDIFICATION ACTIVITIES. 

13 Section 12406 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Re14 search and Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3705) is 

15 amended— 

16 (1) in subsection (a)— 

17 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

18 by inserting ‘‘coordination,’’ after ‘‘research, 

19 monitoring,’’; 

20 (B) in paragraph (1)— 

21 (i) in subparagraph (B)— 

22 (I) by inserting ‘‘including the 

23 Integrated Ocean Observing System 

24 and the ocean observing assets of 
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1 other Federal and State agencies,’’ 

2 after ‘‘ocean observing assets,’’; and 

3 (II) by inserting ‘‘and agency 

4 and department missions, prioritizing 

5 the location of monitoring instru6 ments, assets, and projects to maxi7 mize the efficiency of resources and to 

8 optimize understanding of socio9 economic impacts and ecosystem 

10 health’’ after ‘‘research program’’; 

11 (ii) in subparagraph (C)— 

12 (I) by striking ‘‘adaptation’’ and 

13 inserting ‘‘adaptation and mitigation’’; 

14 and 

15 (II) by inserting ‘‘and supporting 

16 socioeconomically vulnerable commu17 nities and industries’’ after ‘‘marine 

18 ecosystems’’; 

19 (iii) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

20 ‘‘its impacts’’ and inserting ‘‘their respec21 tive impacts’’; 

22 (iv) in subparagraph (F), by striking 

23 ‘‘monitoring and impacts research’’ and in24 serting ‘‘research, monitoring, and adapta25 tion and mitigation strategies’’; and 
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1 (v) by adding at the end the following 

2 new subparagraph: 

3 ‘‘(G) research to improve understanding of 

4 the effect of— 

5 ‘‘(i) other environmental stressors on 

6 ocean acidification and coastal acidifica7 tion; 

8 ‘‘(ii) multiple environmental stressors 

9 on living marine resources and coastal eco10 systems; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) adaptation and mitigation strat12 egies to address the socioeconomic impacts 

13 of ocean acidification and coastal acidifica14 tion.’’; 

15 (C) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘critical 

16 research projects that explore’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘critical research and education projects that 

18 explore and communicate’’; and 

19 (D) in paragraphs (1) and (2), by striking 

20 ‘‘acidification’’ each place it appears and insert21 ing ‘‘acidification and coastal acidification’’; 

22 and 

23 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub24 sections: 
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1 ‘‘(c) RELATIONSHIP TO INTERAGENCY WORKING

2 GROUP.—The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin3 istration shall serve as the lead Federal agency responsible 

4 for coordinating the Federal response to ocean acidifica5 tion and coastal acidification, by— 

6 ‘‘(1) leading the interagency working group in 

7 implementing the strategic research plan under sec8 tion 12405; 

9 ‘‘(2) coordinating monitoring and research ef10 forts among Federal agencies in cooperation with 

11 State, local, and Tribal government and inter12 national partners; 

13 ‘‘(3) maintaining an Ocean Acidification Infor14 mation Exchange described under section 

15 12404(b)(5) to allow for information to be electroni16 cally accessible, including information— 

17 ‘‘(A) on ocean acidification developed 

18 through or used by the ocean acidification pro19 gram described under section 12406(a); or 

20 ‘‘(B) that would be useful to State govern21 ments, local governments, Tribal governments, 

22 resource managers, policymakers, researchers, 

23 and other stakeholders in mitigating or adapt24 ing to the impacts of ocean acidification and 

25 coastal acidification; and 
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1 ‘‘(4) establishing and maintaining the data ar2 chive system under subsection (d). 

3 ‘‘(d) DATA ARCHIVE SYSTEM.— 

4 ‘‘(1) MANAGEMENT.—The Secretary, in coordi5 nation with members of the interagency working 

6 group, shall provide for the long-term stewardship 

7 of, and access to, data relating to ocean acidification 

8 and coastal acidification by establishing and main9 taining a data archive system that the National Cen10 ter for Environmental Information uses to process, 

11 store, archive, provide access to, and incorporate to 

12 the extent possible, such data collected— 

13 ‘‘(A) through relevant federally-funded re14 search; and 

15 ‘‘(B) by a Federal agency, State agency, 

16 local agency, Tribe, academic scientist, citizen 

17 scientist, or industry organization. 

18 ‘‘(2) EXISTING GLOBAL OR NATIONAL DATA AS19 SETS.—In establishing and maintaining the data ar20 chive system under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

21 shall ensure that existing global or national data as22 sets (including the data assets maintained by the 

23 National Centers for Environmental Information, 

24 the Integrated Ocean Observing System, and other 
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1 existing data systems within Federal agencies) are 

2 incorporated to the greatest extent possible. 

3 ‘‘(e) STANDARDS, PROTOCOLS, AND PROCEDURES.— 

4 With respect to the data described in subsection (d), the 

5 Secretary, in coordination with members of the inter6 agency working group, shall establish and revise as nec7 essary the standards, protocols, or procedures for— 

8 ‘‘(1) processing, storing, archiving, and pro9 viding access to such data; 

10 ‘‘(2) the interoperability and intercalibration of 

11 such data; 

12 ‘‘(3) the collection of any metadata underlying 

13 such data; and 

14 ‘‘(4) sharing such data with State, local, and 

15 Tribal government programs, potentially affected in16 dustry members, coastal stakeholders, fishery man17 agement councils and commissions, non-Federal re18 source managers, and academia. 

19 ‘‘(f) DISSEMINATION OF OCEAN ACIDIFICATION

20 DATA AND COASTAL ACIDIFICATION DATA.—The Sec21 retary, in coordination with members of the interagency 

22 working group, shall disseminate the data described under 

23 subsection (d) to the greatest extent practicable by sharing 

24 such data on full and open access exchanges, including 
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1 the Ocean Acidification Information Exchange described 

2 in section 12404(b)(5). 

3 ‘‘(g) REQUIREMENT.—Recipients of grants from the 

4 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under 

5 this subtitle that collect data described under subsection 

6 (d) shall— 

7 ‘‘(1) collect such data in accordance with the 

8 standards, protocols, or procedures established pur9 suant to subsection (e); and 

10 ‘‘(2) submit such data to the data archive sys11 tem under subsection (d), in accordance with any 

12 rules promulgated by the Secretary.’’. 

13 SEC. 7. NSF OCEAN ACIDIFICATION ACTIVITIES. 

14 Section 12407 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Re15 search and Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3706) is 

16 amended— 

17 (1) by striking ‘‘ocean acidification’’ each place 

18 it appears and inserting ‘‘ocean acidification and 

19 coastal acidification’’; 

20 (2) in subsection (a)— 

21 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph 

22 (1)— 

23 (i) by striking ‘‘continue’’ and all that 

24 follows through ‘‘which shall’’; 
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1 (ii) by striking ‘‘proposals for re2 search’’ and inserting ‘‘proposals for the 

3 researching’’; and 

4 (iii) by striking ‘‘its impacts’’ and in5 serting ‘‘their respective impacts’’; 

6 (B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘marine 

7 ecosystems’’ and inserting ‘‘ecosystems’’; 

8 (C) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

9 at the end and inserting a semicolon; 

10 (D) in paragraph (3)— 

11 (i) by striking ‘‘and its impacts’’ and 

12 inserting ‘‘and their respective impacts’’; 

13 and 

14 (ii) by striking the period at the end 

15 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

16 (E) by adding at the end the following new 

17 paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(4) adaptation and mitigation strategies to ad19 dress socioeconomic effects of ocean acidification and 

20 coastal acidification.’’; and 

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

22 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENT.—Recipients of grants from the 

23 National Science Foundation under this subtitle that col24 lect data described under section 12406(d) shall— 
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1 ‘‘(1) collect data in accordance with the stand2 ards, protocols, or procedures established pursuant 

3 to section 12406(e); and 

4 ‘‘(2) submit such data to the Director and the 

5 Secretary, in accordance with any rules promulgated 

6 by the Director or the Secretary.’’. 

7 SEC. 8. NASA OCEAN ACIDIFICATION ACTIVITIES. 

8 Section 12408 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Re9 search and Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3707) is 

10 amended— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘ocean acidification’’ each place 

12 it appears and inserting ‘‘ocean acidification and 

13 coastal acidification’’; 

14 (2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘its impacts’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘their respective impacts’’; and 

16 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub17 section: 

18 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENT.—Researchers from the National 

19 Aeronautics and Space Administration under this subtitle 

20 that collect data described under section 12406(d) shall— 

21 ‘‘(1) collect such data in accordance with the 

22 standards, protocols, or procedures established pur23 suant to section 12406(e); and 
29 

•HR 1237 EH

1 ‘‘(2) submit such data to the Administrator and 

2 the Secretary, in accordance with any rules promul3 gated by the Administrator or the Secretary.’’. 

4 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 Section 12409 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Re6 search and Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3708) is 

7 amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘subtitle—’’ 

9 and all that follows through paragraph (4) and in10 serting the following: ‘‘subtitle $30.5 million for 

11 each of the fiscal years 2020 through 2024.’’; and 

12 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘subtitle—’’ 

13 and all that follows through paragraph (4) and in14 serting the following: ‘‘subtitle $20 million for each 

15 of the fiscal years 2020 through 2024.’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives June 5, 2019. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 
116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1237 

AN ACT 

To amend the Federal Ocean Acidification Refor other purposes. fication data and Coastal Acidification data, and maintain a data archive system for Ocean Acidi- cation and Coastal Acidification, to establish and pand and improve the research on Ocean Acidifi- an Ocean Acidification Advisory Board, to ex- search and Monitoring Act of 2009 to establish