I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1716 

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 

MARCH 13, 2019 

Ms. PINGREE (for herself, Mr. ROONEY of Florida, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. 

BONAMICI, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. YOUNG, and Mr. THOMPSON of 

California) 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 2019’’. 


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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 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 ‘‘(c) SUPPORT FOR STATE AND LOCAL VULNER22 ABILITY ASSESSMENTS AND STRATEGIC RESEARCH

23 PLANNING.—In carrying out the program established 

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

25 State and local government entities that are conducting 


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1 or have completed vulnerability assessments, strategic re2 search planning, or other similar activities related to ocean 

3 acidification and its impacts on coastal communities, for 

4 the purpose of— 

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

6 used as a model for other communities; and 

7 ‘‘(2) identifying opportunities for the National 

8 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to support 

9 such activities.’’. 

10 (b) ONGOING INPUT MECHANISM.—Section 

11 12404(b)(5) of the Federal Ocean Acidification Research 

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

13 amended by adding at the end before the period the fol14 lowing: ‘‘, also including an ongoing mechanism that al15 lows affected industry members, coastal stakeholders, non16 Federal resource managers, coastal acidification networks, 

17 and scientific experts not employed by the Federal Govern18 ment to provide input on research, data, and monitoring 

19 that is necessary to support on-the-ground management, 

20 decisionmaking, and adaptation related to ocean acidifica21 tion and its impacts’’. 

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

23 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Research And Moni24 toring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3704(b)) is amended— 


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

2 the semicolon; 

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

4 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

6 ‘‘(10) make recommendations for research that 

7 should be conducted, including in the social sciences 

8 and economics, to address the key knowledge gaps 

9 identified in the community vulnerability assessment 

10 report conducted under subsection (b) of section 

11 12406.’’. 

12 (d) REPORT ON SUPPORT FOR STATE AND LOCAL

13 VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENTS AND STRATEGIC RE14 SEARCH PLANNING.—Not later than 180 days after the 

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

16 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

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

18 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to sup19 port State and local community vulnerability assessments 

20 and strategic research planning, pursuant to section 

21 12406(c) of the Federal Ocean Acidification Research And 

22 Monitoring Act of 2009 (as added by subsection (a) of 

23 this section). 

Æ 


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