I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 14 

To provide for ocean acidification research and monitoring, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 6, 2009 

Mr. BAIRD (for himself, Mr. INSLEE, and Mr. EHLERS) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science and Technology 

A BILL 

To provide for ocean acidification research and monitoring, 

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

6 ‘‘FOARAM Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

8 (a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to pro9 vide for— 


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1 (1) development and coordination of a com2 prehensive interagency plan to— 

3 (A) monitor and conduct research on the 

4 processes and consequences of ocean acidifica5 tion on marine organisms and ecosystems; and 

6 (B) establish an interagency research and 

7 monitoring program on ocean acidification; 

8 (2) establishment of an ocean acidification pro9 gram within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

10 Administration; 

11 (3) assessment and consideration of regional 

12 and national ecosystem and socioeconomic impacts 

13 of increased ocean acidification; and 

14 (4) research on adaptation strategies and tech15 niques for effectively conserving marine ecosystems 

16 as they cope with increased ocean acidification. 

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

18 In this Act: 

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

20 acidification’’ means the decrease in pH of the 

21 Earth’s oceans and changes in ocean chemistry 

22 caused by chemical inputs from the atmosphere, in23 cluding carbon dioxide. 

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

25 the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the AdVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:07 Jan 08, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H14.IH H14

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1 ministrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos2 pheric Administration. 

3 (3) SUBCOMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Sub4 committee’’ means the Joint Subcommittee on 

5 Ocean Science and Technology of the National 

6 Science and Technology Council. 

7 SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY SUBCOMMITTEE. 

8 (a) DESIGNATION.—The Joint Subcommittee on 

9 Ocean Science and Technology of the National Science 

10 and Technology Council shall coordinate Federal activities 

11 on ocean acidification. 

12 (b) DUTIES.—The Subcommittee shall— 

13 (1) develop the strategic research and moni14 toring plan to guide Federal research on ocean acidi15 fication required under section 5 and oversee the im16 plementation of the plan; 

17 (2) oversee the development of— 

18 (A) an assessment of the potential impacts 

19 of ocean acidification on marine organisms and 

20 marine ecosystems; and 

21 (B) adaptation and mitigation strategies to 

22 conserve marine organisms and ecosystems ex23 posed to ocean acidification; 

24 (3) facilitate communication and outreach op25 portunities with nongovernmental organizations and 


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1 members of the stakeholder community with inter2 ests in marine resources; 

3 (4) coordinate the United States Federal re4 search and monitoring program with research and 

5 monitoring programs and scientists from other na6 tions; and 

7 (5) establish or designate an Ocean Acidifica8 tion Information Exchange to make information on 

9 ocean acidification developed through or utilized by 

10 the interagency ocean acidification program acces11 sible through electronic means, including informa12 tion which would be useful to policymakers, re13 searchers, and other stakeholders in mitigating or 

14 adapting to the impacts of ocean acidification. 

15 (c) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

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

17 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sub18 committee shall transmit a report to the Committee 

19 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

20 Senate and the Committee on Science and Tech21 nology and the Committee on Natural Resources of 

22 the House of Representatives that— 

23 (A) includes a summary of federally fund24 ed ocean acidification research and monitoring 


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1 activities, including the budget for each of these 

2 activities; and 

3 (B) describes the progress in developing 

4 the strategic research plan required under sec5 tion 5. 

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

7 after the delivery of the initial report under para8 graph (1) and every 2 years thereafter, 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 includes— 

14 (A) a summary of federally funded ocean 

15 acidification research and monitoring activities, 

16 including the budget for each of these activities; 

17 and 

18 (B) an analysis of the progress made to19 ward achieving the goals and priorities for the 

20 strategic research plan developed by the Sub21 committee under section 5. 

22 (3) STRATEGIC RESEARCH PLAN.—Not later 

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

24 the Subcommittee shall transmit the strategic re25 search plan developed under section 5 to the ComVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:07 Jan 08, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H14.IH H14

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1 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

2 the Senate and the Committee on Science and Tech3 nology and the Committee on Natural Resources of 

4 the House of Representatives. A revised plan shall 

5 be submitted at least once every 5 years thereafter. 

6 SEC. 5. STRATEGIC RESEARCH PLAN. 

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

8 date of enactment of this Act, the Subcommittee shall de9 velop a strategic plan for Federal research and monitoring 

10 on ocean acidification that will provide for an assessment 

11 of the impacts of ocean acidification on marine organisms 

12 and marine ecosystems and the development of adaptation 

13 and mitigation strategies to conserve marine organisms 

14 and marine ecosystems. In developing the plan, the Sub15 committee shall consider and use information, reports, and 

16 studies of ocean acidification that have identified research 

17 and monitoring needed to better understand ocean acidifi18 cation and its potential impacts, and recommendations 

19 made by the National Academy of Sciences in the review 

20 of the plan required under subsection (d). 

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

22 (1) establish, for the 10-year period beginning 

23 in the year the plan is submitted, the goals and pri24 orities for Federal research and monitoring which 

25 will— 


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1 (A) advance understanding of ocean acidi2 fication and its physical, chemical, and biologi3 cal impacts on marine organisms and marine 

4 ecosystems; 

5 (B) improve the ability to assess the socio6 economic impacts of ocean acidification; and 

7 (C) provide information for the develop8 ment of adaptation and mitigation strategies to 

9 conserve marine organisms and marine eco10 systems; 

11 (2) describe specific activities, including— 

12 (A) efforts to determine user needs; 

13 (B) research activities; 

14 (C) monitoring activities; 

15 (D) technology and methods development; 

16 (E) data collection; 

17 (F) database development; 

18 (G) modeling activities; 

19 (H) assessment of ocean acidification im20 pacts; and 

21 (I) participation in international research 

22 efforts; 

23 (3) identify relevant programs and activities of 

24 the Federal agencies that contribute to the inter25 agency program directly and indirectly and set forth 


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1 the role of each Federal agency in implementing the 

2 plan; 

3 (4) consider and utilize, as appropriate, reports 

4 and studies conducted by Federal agencies, the Na5 tional Research Council, or other entities; 

6 (5) make recommendations for the coordination 

7 of the ocean acidification research and monitoring 

8 activities of the United States with such activities of 

9 other nations and international organizations; 

10 (6) outline budget requirements for Federal 

11 ocean acidification research and monitoring and as12 sessment activities to be conducted by each agency 

13 under the plan; 

14 (7) identify the monitoring systems and sam15 pling programs currently employed in collecting data 

16 relevant to ocean acidification and prioritize addi17 tional monitoring systems that may be needed to en18 sure adequate data collection and monitoring of 

19 ocean acidification and its impacts; and 

20 (8) describe specific activities designed to facili21 tate outreach and data and information exchange 

22 with stakeholder communities. 

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

24 a minimum the following program elements: 


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1 (1) Monitoring of ocean chemistry and biologi2 cal impacts associated with ocean acidification at se3 lected coastal and open-ocean monitoring stations, 

4 including satellite-based monitoring to charac5 terize— 

6 (A) marine ecosystems; 

7 (B) changes in marine productivity; and 

8 (C) changes in surface ocean chemistry. 

9 (2) Research to understand the species specific 

10 physiological response of marine organisms to ocean 

11 acidification, impacts on marine food webs of ocean 

12 acidification, and to develop environmental and eco13 logical indices that track marine ecosystem re14 sponses to ocean acidification. 

15 (3) Modeling to predict changes in the ocean 

16 carbon cycle as a function of carbon dioxide and at17 mosphere-induced changes in temperature, ocean cir18 culation, biogeochemistry, ecosystem and terrestrial 

19 input, and modeling to determine impacts on marine 

20 ecosystems and individual marine organisms. 

21 (4) Technology development and standardiza22 tion of carbonate chemistry measurements on moor23 ings and autonomous floats. 

24 (5) Assessment of socioeconomic impacts of 

25 ocean acidification and development of adaptation 


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1 and mitigation strategies to conserve marine orga2 nisms and marine ecosystems. 

3 (d) NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES EVALUA4 TION.—The Secretary shall enter into an agreement with 

5 the National Academy of Sciences to review the plan. 

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

7 the Subcommittee shall consult with representatives of 

8 academic, State, industry and environmental groups. Not 

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

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

11 in the Federal Register for a public comment period of 

12 not less than 60 days. 

13 SEC. 6. NOAA OCEAN ACIDIFICATION ACTIVITIES. 

14 The Secretary shall conduct research and monitoring 

15 activities and may establish a program on ocean acidifica16 tion within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin17 istration consistent with the strategic research plan devel18 oped by the Subcommittee under section 5 that— 

19 (1) includes— 

20 (A) interdisciplinary research among the 

21 ocean and atmospheric sciences, and coordi22 nated research and activities to improve under23 standing of ocean acidification; 

24 (B) the establishment of a long-term moni25 toring program of ocean acidification utilizing 


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1 existing global and national ocean observing as2 sets, and adding instrumentation and sampling 

3 stations as appropriate to the aims of the re4 search program; 

5 (C) research to identify and develop adap6 tation strategies and techniques for effectively 

7 conserving marine ecosystems as they cope with 

8 increased ocean acidification; 

9 (D) as an integral part of the research 

10 programs described in this Act, educational op11 portunities that encourage an interdisciplinary 

12 and international approach to exploring the im13 pacts of ocean acidification; 

14 (E) as an integral part of the research pro15 grams described in this Act, national public 

16 outreach activities to improve the under17 standing of current scientific knowledge of 

18 ocean acidification and its impacts on marine 

19 resources; and 

20 (F) coordination of ocean acidification 

21 monitoring and impacts research with other ap22 propriate international ocean science bodies 

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1 ploration of the Sea, the North Pacific Marine 

2 Science Organization, and others; 

3 (2) provides grants for critical research projects 

4 that explore the effects of ocean acidification on eco5 systems and the socioeconomic impacts of increased 

6 ocean acidification that are relevant to the goals and 

7 priorities of the strategic research plan; and 

8 (3) incorporates a competitive merit-based proc9 ess for awarding grants that may be conducted 

10 jointly with other participating agencies or under the 

11 National Oceanographic Partnership Program under 

12 section 7901 of title 10, United States Code. 

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 2010; 

8 (2) $12,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; 

9 (3) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2012; and 

10 (4) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2013. 

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 2010; 

15 (2) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; 

16 (3) $12,000,000 for fiscal year 2012; and 

17 (4) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2013. 

Æ 


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