I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1489 

To authorize the Secretary of Commerce to establish a coastal ocean 

observation system. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 6, 2005 

Mr. GILCHREST introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Science, for 

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Commerce to establish a 

coastal ocean observation system. 

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 Ocean Obser5 vation System Integration and Implementation Act of 

6 2005’’. 

7 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

8 The purposes of this Act are the following: 
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1 (1) To gain a better understanding of the ma2 rine environment and marine processes important to 

3 coastal and fishery management, marine operations, 

4 environmental prediction, and other appropriate ac5 tivities. 

6 (2) To authorize the establishment of an obser7 vation system to collect data on environmental vari8 ables in coastal ocean waters of the United States to 

9 meet regional and national information requirements 

10 and support an integrated national ocean observing 

11 system. 

12 (3) To more effectively predict and mitigate im13 pacts of natural hazards such as tsunamis, hurri14 canes, coastal erosion, and fluctuating water levels 

15 in the Great Lakes, and conserve healthy and re16 store degraded coastal ecosystems. 

17 (4) To enable the sustainable use of ocean and 

18 coastal resources. 

19 (5) To ensure that a broad-based multisector 

20 constituency is included in the development of the 

21 System, including local, State, tribal, and Federal 

22 agencies, private companies, nongovernmental orga23 nizations, and academic institutions. 

24 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

25 In this Act: 
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1 (1) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘‘Administra2 tion’’ means the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

3 Administration. 

4 (2) COASTAL WATERS OF THE UNITED

5 STATES.—The term ‘‘coastal waters of the United 

6 States’’ means waters of coastal and estuarine areas 

7 of United States, waters of the Great Lakes and the 

8 exclusive economic zone of the United States, includ9 ing bays, lagoons, fjords, tidal wetlands, and other 

10 semienclosed bodies of water that are connected to 

11 ocean waters. 

12 (3) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Council’’ means the 

13 National Ocean Research Leadership Council. 

14 (4) PANEL.—The term ‘‘Panel’’ means the 

15 Ocean and Research Advisory Panel. 

16 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

17 the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Ad18 ministration. 

19 (6) SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘System’’ means the 

20 Coastal Ocean Observation System established by 

21 the Secretary under section 4. 

22 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF COASTAL OCEAN OBSERVA23 TION SYSTEM. 

24 (a) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary, in consultation 

25 with the Council, shall establish within the Administration 
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1 a Coastal Ocean Observation System to support coastal 

2 and fishery management activities and an integrated na3 tional ocean observation system. 

4 (b) COMPONENTS AND FUNCTIONS.—The System 

5 shall— 

6 (1) consist of components of the Administration 

7 and other Federal agencies and non-Federal entities 

8 designated as units under section 5; 

9 (2) transmit such data to users including, as 

10 appropriate, in real time or near real time; 

11 (3) produce forecasts and other appropriate 

12 products representing ocean conditions and proc13 esses; and 

14 (4) manage the collected data in accordance 

15 with best practices for archiving and future use. 

16 SEC. 5. DESIGNATION OF UNITS AND STANDARDS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may, in consulta18 tion with the Council, designate as a unit of the System 

19 to carry out the purposes of this Act any Federal agency 

20 or non-Federal entity that operates marine sensors and 

21 other devices that collect remotely sensed and in situ ob22 servation data in the ocean and coastal waters of the 

23 United States in a routine manner, including continuous 

24 observations. 
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1 (b) CRITERIA FOR DESIGNATION.—The Secretary 

2 may not designate an agency or other entity as a unit of 

3 the System unless the Secretary certifies, in consultation 

4 with the Council, that the entity has adequate technical 

5 expertise to operate and sustain the technology in the unit, 

6 and collect and distribute data in accordance with stand7 ards and protocols established under subsection (c). 

8 (c) DATA STANDARDS, PROTOCOLS, AND SYSTEMS.— 

9 The Secretary shall— 

10 (1) establish, in consultation with the Council 

11 and the Panel, standards, and protocols for the col12 lection, availability, and distribution by units of the 

13 System of data regarding coastal waters of the 

14 United States; and 

15 (2) establish management, quality control, and 

16 assessment systems for such data collection, avail17 ability, and distribution. 

18 SEC. 6. COORDINATION AND ACTIVITIES OF THE SYSTEM. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, in consulta20 tion with the Council, coordinate those observation activi21 ties of units of the System that are conducted with respect 

22 to the coastal waters of the United States, as necessary 

23 to collect data to carry out the purposes of this Act. 

24 (b) INCLUDED ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary shall, in 

25 consultation with the Council, ensure that— 
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1 (1) data collection activities of the System in2 clude all of the relevant coastal ocean observations 

3 necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act; and 

4 (2) data collected through the System is useful 

5 for developing forecast models to support coastal 

6 and fishery management, safe and efficient marine 

7 navigation, weather and climate prediction, and 

8 other appropriate activities. 

9 (c) PREVENTION COMPETITION WITH PRIVATE SEC10 TOR AND DUPLICATION OF EFFORT.—The Secretary shall 

11 ensure that data collection activities conducted through 

12 the System— 

13 (1) do not compete with private sector activi14 ties; and 

15 (2) minimize duplication of effort. 

16 SEC. 7. CIVIL LIABILITY. 

17 For purposes of determining civil liability under sec18 tion 2671 of title 28, United States Code, any unit of the 

19 System that is designated by the Secretary under section 

20 5, and any employee thereof, shall be treated as an instru21 mentality of the United States with respect to any act or 

22 omission committed by any such unit or employee in ful23 filling the purposes of this Act. 

24 SEC. 8. DATA AVAILABILITY AND PRODUCTS. 

25 The Secretary shall— 
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1 (1) work with the Panel and user groups to en2 sure the development of viable end-use products of 

3 the System to support coastal and fishery manage4 ment activities and other appropriate activities; 

5 (2) in consultation with the Council, develop a 

6 data management and communication system by 

7 which all data collected by the System regarding 

8 coastal waters of the United States are integrated 

9 and available; and 

10 (3) in conjunction with Federal, State, and 

11 local agencies, and academic institutions, use data 

12 collected by the System to develop forecast models to 

13 support and improve coastal and fishery manage14 ment, safe and efficient marine navigation, weather 

15 and climate prediction, and other appropriate activi16 ties. 

17 SEC. 9. PILOT PROJECTS. 

18 (a) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary, in consultation 

19 with the Council, shall carry out pilot projects to deter20 mine the effectiveness of collecting and integrating coastal 

21 ocean observation data to support the Coastal Ocean Ob22 servation System established under this Act. 

23 (b) INCLUDED PROJECTS.—The pilot projects shall— 

24 (1) test the integration of data among multiple 

25 Federal agencies and non-Federal entities that oper-
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1 ate marine sensors and other devices to collect or 

2 use coastal ocean observation data; 

3 (2) produce operational applications relevant to 

4 the purposes of this Act; 

5 (3) demonstrate potential economic and societal 

6 benefits of the System; and 

7 (4) advance research and development of useful 

8 technologies and applications. 

9 SEC. 10. PROCESS FOR TRANSITION FROM RESEARCH TO 

10 OPERATION. 

11 The Secretary, in consultation with the Council, shall 

12 formulate a process by which— 

13 (1) funding is made available for research on 

14 new technologies for collecting data regarding coast15 al waters of the United States; 

16 (2) such technologies are tested in pilot 

17 projects, including— 

18 (A) accelerated research into biological and 

19 chemical sensing techniques and satellite sen20 sors for collecting such data; and 

21 (B) developing technologies to improve all 

22 aspects of the System, especially the timeliness 

23 and accuracy of its predictive models and the 

24 usefulness of its information products; and 
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1 (3) technology that has been demonstrated to 

2 be useful for the System is incorporated into use by 

3 the System. 

4 SEC. 11. CONTRACTS AND GRANTS. 

5 The Secretary may enter into contracts or cooperative 

6 agreements with, or make grants to, units of the System 

7 to carry out observation activities with respect to coastal 

8 waters of the United States. 

9 SEC. 12. IMPLEMENTATION PLAN. 

10 Not later than 12 months after the date of the enact11 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Con12 gress and the Council a plan for implementation of this 

13 Act, including for— 

14 (1) coordinating activities of the Secretary 

15 under this Act with other Federal agencies; and 

16 (2) distributing, to units of the System, funds 

17 available to carry out this Act. 

18 SEC. 13. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

19 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than two years after 

20 the date of the enactment of this Act and every two years 

21 thereafter, the Secretary shall transmit to the Congress 

22 a report on progress made in implementing this Act. 

23 (b) CONTENTS.—The report shall include the fol24 lowing: 
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1 (1) A description of activities carried out under 

2 this Act. 

3 (2) An evaluation of the effectiveness of the 

4 System. 

5 (3) Benefits of the System to users of data 

6 products resulting from the System (including the 

7 general public, industry, scientists, resource man8 agers, emergency responders, policy makers, and 

9 educators). 

10 (4) Recommendations concerning— 

11 (A) modifications to the System; and 

12 (B) funding levels for the System in subse13 quent fiscal years. 

14 SEC. 14. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

15 To carry out this Act there are authorized to be ap16 propriated to the Secretary— 

17 (1) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; 

18 (2) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; 

19 (3) $35,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; and 

20 (4) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2008. 

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