II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3613 

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

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 21, 2012 

Mr. BEGICH (for himself and Ms. MURKOWSKI) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

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 2012’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find8 ings: 

9 (1) The United States is an Arctic Nation 

10 with— 


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1 (A) an approximately 700-mile border with 

2 the Arctic Ocean; 

3 (B) more than 100,000,000 acres of land 

4 above the Arctic Circle; and 

5 (C) an even broader area defined as Arctic 

6 by temperature, which includes the Bering Sea 

7 and Aleutian Islands. 

8 (2) The Arctic region of the United States is 

9 home to an indigenous population that has subsisted 

10 for millennia on the abundance in marine mammals, 

11 fish, and wildlife, many of which are unique to the 

12 region. 

13 (3) Temperatures in the United States Arctic 

14 region have warmed by 3 to 4 degrees Celsius over 

15 the past half-century, a rate of increase that is twice 

16 the global average. 

17 (4) The Arctic ice pack is rapidly diminishing 

18 and thinning, and the National Oceanic and Atmos19 pheric Administration estimates the Arctic Ocean 

20 may be ice free during summer months in as few as 

21 30 years. 

22 (5) Such changes to the Arctic region are hav23 ing a significant impact on the indigenous people of 

24 the Arctic, their communities and ecosystems, as 


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1 well as the marine mammals, fish, and wildlife upon 

2 which they depend. 

3 (6) Such changes are opening new portions of 

4 the United States Arctic continental shelf to possible 

5 development for offshore oil and gas, commercial 

6 fishing, marine shipping, and tourism. 

7 (7) Existing Federal research and science advi8 sory programs focused on the environmental and so9 cioeconomic impacts of a changing Arctic lack a co10 hesive, coordinated, and integrated approach and are 

11 not adequately coordinated with State, local, aca12 demic, and private-sector Arctic research programs. 

13 (8) The lack of research integration and syn14 thesis of findings of Arctic research has impeded the 

15 progress of the United States and international com16 munity in understanding climate change impacts 

17 and feedback mechanisms in the Arctic Ocean. 

18 (9) An improved scientific understanding of the 

19 changing Arctic is critical to the development of ap20 propriate and effective regional, national, and global 

21 climate change adaptation strategies. 

22 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to estab23 lish a permanent program to conduct research, moni24 toring, and observation activities in the Arctic— 


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1 (1) to promote and sustain a productive and re2 silient marine, coastal, and estuarine ecosystem in 

3 the Arctic and the human uses of its natural re4 sources through greater understanding of how the 

5 ecosystem works and monitoring and observation of 

6 its vital signs; and 

7 (2) to track and evaluate the effectiveness of 

8 natural resource management in the Arctic in order 

9 to facilitate improved performance and adaptive 

10 management. 

11 SEC. 3. 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 

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

19 and 

20 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(3) provide— 

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

24 tribal governments and academic and private 

25 organizations to conduct research on or related 


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1 to the Arctic, including to the marine environ2 ment of the Arctic Ocean, its adjacent seas or 

3 associated lesser bodies of water; and 

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

5 accordance with such national Arctic research 

6 program plan;’’. 

7 (b) ADMINISTRATION OF THE COMMISSION.—Section 

8 106 of the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 (15 

9 U.S.C. 4105) is amended— 

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

11 end; 

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

13 the end and inserting a semicolon and ‘‘and’’; and 

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

15 ‘‘(6) enter into agreements with appropriate 

16 agencies or organizations to administer grants made 

17 pursuant to this title for Arctic research including 

18 reimbursement from funds of the Commission to ad19 minister such grants.’’. 

20 (c) COMPENSATION OF COMMISSION MEMBERS.— 

21 Section 103(d)(1) of the Arctic Research and Policy Act 

22 of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 4102(d)(1)) is amended by striking 

23 ‘‘for compensation’’ in the second sentence and inserting 

24 ‘‘by the Federal Government or any State or local govern25 ment’’. 


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1 (d) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.— 

2 (1) ARCTIC RESEARCH COMMISSION.—Section 

3 103 of the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 

4 (15 U.S.C. 4102) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘(e) The Commission shall adopt conflict of interest 

7 and recusal provisions that apply to any decision by the 

8 Commission and to all members of the Commission as if 

9 each member of the Commission is an ‘affected individual’ 

10 within the meaning of section 302(j) of the Magnuson11 Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 

12 U.S.C. 1852(j)), except that in addition to the disclosure 

13 requirements of paragraph (2) of such section 302(j), each 

14 Commission member shall disclose any financial interest 

15 or relationship in an organization or with an individual 

16 that is applying for funding from the Commission held by 

17 the Commission member, including an interest as an offi18 cer, director, trustee, partner, employee, contractor, agent, 

19 or other representative.’’. 

20 (2) NORTH PACIFIC RESEARCH BOARD.—Sub21 section (e) of section 401 of the Department of the 

22 Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 

23 1998 (43 U.S.C. 1474d) is amended— 

24 (A) in paragraph (4)(B), by striking ‘‘15 

25 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘20 percent’’; and 


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1 (B) by striking paragraph (5) and insert2 ing the following: 

3 ‘‘(5) The Board shall adopt conflict of interest 

4 and recusal provisions that apply to any decision by 

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

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

7 within the meaning of section 302(j) of the Magnu8 son-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 

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

10 the disclosure requirements of paragraph (2) of such 

11 section 302(j), each Board member shall disclose 

12 any financial interest or relationship in an organiza13 tion or with an individual that is applying for fund14 ing from the Board, including an interest as an offi15 cer, director, trustee, partner, employee, contractor, 

16 agent, or other representative.’’. 

17 SEC. 4. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT AND RESTORA18 TION FUND. 

19 (a) TRANSFER AND AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS

20 EARNED.—Subsection (c) of section 401 of the Depart21 ment of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations 

22 Act, 1998 (43 U.S.C. 1474d) is amended— 

23 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘To the extent 

24 provided in the subsequent appropriations Acts, 80 

25 percent of such amounts shall be made available’’ 


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1 and inserting ‘‘40 percent of such amounts shall be 

2 made available without further appropriations’’; 

3 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘20 percent’’ 

4 and inserting ‘‘25 percent’’; and 

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

6 ‘‘(3) 25 percent of such amounts shall be made 

7 without further appropriation to the United States 

8 Arctic Research Commission for the purposes of car9 rying out research and monitoring in the Arctic as 

10 provided in subsection (f). 

11 ‘‘(4) 10 percent of such amounts shall be made 

12 available without further appropriations to the Sec13 retary of Commerce to fund the Alaska Ocean Ob14 serving Program as provided in subsection (g).’’. 

15 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—Section 401 of the Department 

16 of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 

17 1998 (43 U.S.C. 1474d) is amended by adding at the end 

18 the following: 

19 ‘‘(f) UNITED STATES ARCTIC RESEARCH COMMIS20 SION.—Funds available under subsection (c)(3) shall be 

21 used by the Arctic Research Commission established by 

22 section 103 of the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 

23 to provide grants to Federal and State governments and 

24 academic and private organizations to conduct research 

25 and monitoring, including the identification of Important 


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1 Ecological Areas, on or related to the Arctic, including the 

2 marine environment of the Arctic Ocean, its adjacent seas 

3 or associated lesser bodies of water. Not more than 20 

4 percent of such funds may be used to provide support for 

5 the Arctic Research Commission and administer grants 

6 under this subsection.’’. 

7 ‘‘(g) ALASKA OCEAN OBSERVING SYSTEM.—Funds 

8 available under subsection (c)(4) shall be used to support 

9 the Alaska Ocean Observing System in a manner con10 sistent with the Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation 

11 System Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.), for the pur12 pose of establishing long-term ocean observing systems 

13 and monitoring programs in waters of the United States 

14 in the North Pacific, Bering Sea, and Arctic Ocean. Not 

15 more than 20 percent of the funds made available pursu16 ant to subsection (c)(4) may be used to provide adminis17 trative support under this subsection. 

18 ‘‘(h) DUPLICATION OF EFFORT; REPORT.—Pro19 grams and grants funded pursuant to paragraphs (2), (3), 

20 and (4) of subsection (c) shall seek to avoid duplicating 

21 other research activities. The North Pacific Research 

22 Board, the Arctic Research Commission, and the Alaska 

23 Ocean Observing System shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) meet not less than once annually to pro2 mote coordination among research programs and 

3 projects; and 

4 ‘‘(2) submit to Congress and the President an 

5 annual report on the status of research conducted 

6 pursuant to this title. 

7 ‘‘(i) ARCTIC DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

8 ‘Arctic’ has the meaning given that term in section 112 

9 of the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 

10 4111).’’. 

Æ 


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