II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2229 

To direct the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Administrator of 

the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to conduct coastal 

community vulnerability assessments related to ocean acidification, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 14, 2017 

Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. PETERS, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, 

and Ms. CANTWELL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the 

Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration, to conduct coastal community vulnerability assessments related to ocean acidification, 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 ‘‘Coastal Communities 

5 Ocean Acidification Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COASTAL COMMUNITY VULNERABILITY ASSESS2 MENT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 12406 of the Federal 

4 Ocean Acidification Research And Monitoring Act of 2009 

5 (33 U.S.C. 3705) is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub7 section (d); and 

8 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(b) COMMUNITY VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, through the 

12 program established under subsection (a), shall con13 duct an ocean acidification coastal community vul14 nerability assessment, and issue a corresponding 

15 public report, that shall be updated at least once 

16 every 7 years. 

17 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The assessment con18 ducted under paragraph (1) shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) identify the United States coastal 

20 communities, including island communities, low21 population rural communities, and subsistence 

22 communities, that are most dependent on coast23 al and ocean resources that may be impacted by 

24 ocean acidification; 

25 ‘‘(B) assess the nature of the social and 

26 economic vulnerabilities of those communities; 


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1 ‘‘(C) identify the ocean acidification im2 pacts that might harm those communities, in3 cluding impacts from changes in ocean and 

4 coastal marine resources that are not managed 

5 by the Federal Government; 

6 ‘‘(D) identify key knowledge gaps where 

7 research could be devoted to better understand 

8 the possible impacts of ocean acidification on 

9 those communities, the risks and threats facing 

10 those communities, and possible adaptation 

11 strategies for those communities; and 

12 ‘‘(E) be conducted in collaboration with ex13 perts, indigenous knowledge groups, and stake14 holders who are familiar with the unique eco15 nomic, social, ecological, geographic, and re16 source concerns of coastal communities in the 

17 United States, including representatives of— 

18 ‘‘(i) the National Marine Fisheries 

19 Service and the Office for Coastal Manage20 ment of the National Oceanic and Atmos21 pheric Administration; 

22 ‘‘(ii) Integrated Coastal and Ocean 

23 Observing System regional information co24 ordination entities established under sec25 tion 12304(c)(4) of the Integrated Coastal 


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1 and Ocean Observation System Act of 

2 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3603(c)(4)); 

3 ‘‘(iii) regional ocean acidification net4 works; and 

5 ‘‘(iv) State sea grant programs (as de6 fined in section 203 of the National Sea 

7 Grant College Program Act (33 U.S.C. 

8 1122)). 

9 ‘‘(c) SUPPORT FOR STATE AND LOCAL VULNER10 ABILITY ASSESSMENTS AND STRATEGIC RESEARCH

11 PLANNING.—In carrying out the program established 

12 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall collaborate with 

13 State, local, and tribal government entities that are con14 ducting or have completed vulnerability assessments, stra15 tegic research planning, or other similar activities related 

16 to ocean acidification and its impacts on coastal commu17 nities, for the purpose of— 

18 ‘‘(1) determining whether such activities can be 

19 used as a model for other communities; and 

20 ‘‘(2) identifying opportunities for the National 

21 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other 

22 relevant Federal agencies to support such activi23 ties.’’. 

24 (b) ONGOING INPUT MECHANISM.—Section 

25 12404(b)(5) of the Federal Ocean Acidification Research 


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1 And Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3703(b)(5)) is 

2 amended by adding at the end before the period the fol3 lowing: ‘‘, also including an ongoing mechanism that al4 lows affected industry members, coastal stakeholders, non5 Federal resource managers, regional environmental moni6 toring programs, indigenous knowledge groups, and sci7 entific experts not employed by the Federal Government 

8 to provide input on research, data, and monitoring that 

9 is necessary to support on-the-ground management, deci10 sionmaking, and adaptation related to ocean acidification 

11 and its impacts’’. 

12 (c) STRATEGIC RESEARCH PLAN.—Section 12405 of 

13 the Federal Ocean Acidification Research And Monitoring 

14 Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3704) is amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (b)— 

16 (A) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

17 after the semicolon; 

18 (B) in paragraph (9), by striking the pe19 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

20 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(10) make recommendations for research that 

22 should be conducted, including in the social sciences 

23 and economics, to address the key knowledge gaps 

24 identified in the community vulnerability assessment 

25 report conducted under section 12406(b).’’; and 


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1 (2) in subsection (e), by inserting ‘‘, tribal gov2 ernments, indigenous knowledge groups,’’ after ‘‘in3 dustry’’. 

4 (d) REPORT ON SUPPORT FOR STATE AND LOCAL

5 VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENTS AND STRATEGIC RE6 SEARCH PLANNING.—Not later than 90 days after the 

7 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 

8 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

9 shall submit to Congress a report on the efforts of the 

10 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to sup11 port State, local, and tribal community vulnerability as12 sessments, strategic research and planning, and moni13 toring needs, pursuant to section 12406(c) of the Federal 

14 Ocean Acidification Research And Monitoring Act of 2009 

15 (as added by subsection (a) of this section). 

Æ 


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