I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2553 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 21, 2015 

Ms. PINGREE (for herself, Mr. BUCHANAN, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. 

KING of New York, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. CURBELO of Florida, and Mr. 

CRENSHAW) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

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 2015’’. 

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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 (c); 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 those commu26 nities’ social and economic vulnerabilities; 

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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 these vulnerable communities, the risks and 

10 threats facing these communities, and possible 

11 adaptation strategies for these communities; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(E) be conducted in collaboration with ex14 perts who are familiar with the unique eco15 nomic, social, ecological, geographic, and re16 source concerns of the Nation’s coastal commu17 nities, including representatives from the Na18 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra19 tion’s National Marine Fisheries Service and 

20 the Office for Coastal Management.’’. 

21 (b) ONGOING INPUT MECHANISM.—Section 

22 12404(b)(5) of the Federal Ocean Acidification Research 

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

24 amended by adding at the end before the period the fol25 lowing: ‘‘, also including an ongoing mechanism that almstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 lows affected industry members, coastal stakeholders, non2 Federal resource managers, and scientific experts not em3 ployed by the Federal Government to provide input on re4 search, data, and monitoring that is necessary to support 

5 on-the-ground management, decisionmaking, and adapta6 tion related to ocean acidification and its impacts’’. 

7 (c) STRATEGIC RESEARCH PLAN.—Section 12405(b) 

8 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Research And Moni9 toring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3704(b)) is amended— 

10 (1) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

11 the semicolon; 

12 (2) in paragraph (9), by striking the period at 

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

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

15 ‘‘(10) make recommendations for research that 

16 should be conducted, including in the social sciences 

17 and economics, to address the key knowledge gaps 

18 identified in the community vulnerability assessment 

19 report conducted under subsection (b) of section 

20 12406.’’. 

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