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Union Calendar No. 56 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1716 

[Report No. 116–81] 

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 

MAY 23, 2019 

Additional sponsors: Mr. GOLDEN, Mr. CRIST, Ms. GABBARD, Miss 

GONZA ́LEZ-COLO ́N of Puerto Rico, Mr. PANETTA, Ms. WEXTON, Mr. 

BUCHANAN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. WALTZ, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, 

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, and Ms. JOHNSON of Texas 

MAY 23, 2019 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 13, 2019] 


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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. 


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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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STATE AND UNITED STATES DEFINED. 

7 Section 12403 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Re8 search And Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3702) is 

9 amended— 

10 (1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para11 graph (4); 

12 (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(3) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each State 

15 of the United States, the District of Columbia, the 

16 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, 

17 Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

18 Islands, the Virgin Islands of the United States, and 

19 any other territory or possession of the United 

20 States.’’; and 

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

22 ‘‘(5) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘United States’ 

23 means the States, collectively.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. COASTAL COMMUNITY VULNERABILITY ASSESS2 MENT. 

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

4 Acidification Research And Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 

5 U.S.C. 3705) is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection 

7 (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 pub15 lic report, which shall be updated at least once every 

16 7 years. 

17 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The assessment conducted 

18 under paragraph (1) shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) identify the United States coastal com20 munities, including island communities, low21 population rural communities, and subsistence 

22 communities, that are most dependent on coastal 

23 and ocean resources that may be impacted by 

24 ocean acidification; 

25 ‘‘(B) assess the nature of the social and eco26 nomic vulnerabilities of those communities, inVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:22 May 24, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1716.RH H1716

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1 cluding the economic impact on local or regional 

2 commercial fisheries and recreational opportuni3 ties; 

4 ‘‘(C) identify the ocean acidification im5 pacts that might harm those communities, in6 cluding impacts from changes in ocean and 

7 coastal marine resources that are not managed 

8 by the Federal Government; 

9 ‘‘(D) identify key knowledge gaps where re10 search could be devoted to better understand the 

11 possible impacts of ocean acidification on those 

12 communities, the risks and threats facing those 

13 communities, and possible adaptation strategies 

14 for those communities; and 

15 ‘‘(E) be conducted in collaboration with ex16 perts, indigenous knowledge groups, and stake17 holders who are familiar with the unique eco18 nomic, social, ecological, geographic, and re19 source concerns of coastal communities in the 

20 United States, including representatives of— 

21 ‘‘(i) the National Marine Fisheries 

22 Service and the Office for Coastal Manage23 ment of the National Oceanic and Atmos24 pheric Administration; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) National Integrated Coastal and 

2 Ocean Observation System regional infor3 mation coordination entities established 

4 under section 12304(c)(4) of the Integrated 

5 Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act 

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

7 ‘‘(iii) regional ocean acidification net8 works; and 

9 ‘‘(iv) State sea grant programs (as de10 fined in section 203 of the National Sea 

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

12 1122)). 

13 ‘‘(c) SUPPORT FOR STATE AND LOCAL VULNERABILITY

14 ASSESSMENTS AND STRATEGIC RESEARCH PLANNING.—In 

15 carrying out the program established under subsection (a), 

16 the Secretary shall collaborate with State, local, and tribal 

17 government entities that are conducting or have completed 

18 vulnerability assessments, strategic research planning, or 

19 other similar activities related to ocean acidification and 

20 its impacts on coastal communities, for the purpose of— 

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

22 used as a model for other communities; and 

23 ‘‘(2) identifying opportunities for the National 

24 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other 

25 relevant Federal agencies to support such activities.’’. 


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1 (b) ONGOING INPUT MECHANISM.—Section 

2 12404(b)(5) of the Federal Ocean Acidification Research 

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

4 amended— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘including information’’ and in6 serting the following: ‘‘including— 

7 ‘‘(A) information’’; 

8 (2) by striking the period at the end and insert9 ing ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

11 ‘‘(B) an ongoing mechanism that allows af12 fected industry members, coastal stakeholders, 

13 non-Federal resource managers, community 

14 acidification networks, indigenous knowledge 

15 groups, and scientific experts not employed by 

16 the Federal Government to provide input on re17 search, data, and monitoring that is necessary to 

18 support on-the-ground management, decision19 making, and adaptation related to ocean acidifi20 cation and its impacts.’’. 

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

22 the Federal Ocean Acidification Research And Monitoring 

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

24 (1) in subsection (b)— 


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

2 after the semicolon; 

3 (B) in paragraph (9), by striking the period 

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

5 (C) 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 section 12406(b).’’; and 

11 (2) in subsection (e), by inserting ‘‘, tribal gov12 ernments, indigenous knowledge groups,’’ after ‘‘in13 dustry’’. 

14 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

15 12409(a) of the Federal Ocean Acidification Research And 

16 Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3708(a)) is amended 

17 to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(a) NOAA.—There are authorized to be appropriated 

19 to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

20 to carry out the purposes of this subtitle $2,700,000 for each 

21 of fiscal years 2020 through 2024.’’. 

22 (e) REPORT ON SUPPORT FOR STATE AND LOCAL VUL23 NERABILITY ASSESSMENTS AND STRATEGIC RESEARCH

24 PLANNING.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the 

25 enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the National 


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1 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall submit to 

2 Congress a report on the efforts of the National Oceanic and 

3 Atmospheric Administration to support State, local, and 

4 tribal community vulnerability assessments, strategic re5 search and planning, and monitoring needs, pursuant to 

6 section 12406(c) of the Federal Ocean Acidification Re7 search And Monitoring Act of 2009 (as added by subsection 

8 (a) of this section). 


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Union Calendar No. 56 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1716 

[Report No. 116–81] 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Commerce, acting 

poses. lated to ocean acidification, and for other purcoastal community vulnerability assessments reanic and Atmospheric Administration, to conduct through the Administrator of the National OceMAY 23, 2019 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


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