116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1716 

AN ACT 

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, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Coastal Communities 

3 Ocean Acidification Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. STATE AND UNITED STATES DEFINED. 

5 Section 12403 of the Federal Ocean Acidification Re6 search And Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3702) is 

7 amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para9 graph (4); 

10 (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol11 lowing: 

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

13 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 

14 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American 

15 Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern 

16 Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands of the United 

17 States, and any other territory or possession of the 

18 United States.’’; and 

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

20 ‘‘(5) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘United 

21 States’ means the States, collectively.’’. 

22 SEC. 3. COASTAL COMMUNITY VULNERABILITY ASSESS23 MENT. 

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

25 Ocean Acidification Research And Monitoring Act of 2009 

26 (33 U.S.C. 3705) is amended— 
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1 (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub2 section (d); and 

3 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(b) COMMUNITY VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, through the 

7 program established under subsection (a), shall con8 duct an ocean acidification coastal community vul9 nerability assessment, and issue a corresponding 

10 public report, which shall be updated at least once 

11 every 7 years. 

12 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The assessment con13 ducted under paragraph (1) shall— 

14 ‘‘(A) identify the United States coastal 

15 communities, including island communities, low16 population rural communities, and subsistence 

17 communities, that are most dependent on coast18 al and ocean resources that may be impacted by 

19 ocean acidification; 

20 ‘‘(B) assess the nature of the social and 

21 economic vulnerabilities of those communities, 

22 including the economic impact on local or re23 gional commercial fisheries and recreational op24 portunities; 
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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 those communities, the risks and threats facing 

10 those communities, and possible adaptation 

11 strategies for those communities; and 

12 ‘‘(E) be conducted in collaboration with ex13 perts, indigenous knowledge groups, and stake14 holders who are familiar with the unique eco15 nomic, social, ecological, geographic, and re16 source concerns of coastal communities in the 

17 United States, including representatives of— 

18 ‘‘(i) the National Marine Fisheries 

19 Service and the Office for Coastal Manage20 ment of the National Oceanic and Atmos21 pheric Administration; 

22 ‘‘(ii) National Integrated Coastal and 

23 Ocean Observation System regional infor24 mation coordination entities established 

25 under section 12304(c)(4) of the Inte-
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1 grated Coastal and Ocean Observation 

2 System Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 

3 3603(c)(4)); 

4 ‘‘(iii) regional ocean acidification net5 works; and 

6 ‘‘(iv) State sea grant programs (as de7 fined in section 203 of the National Sea 

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

9 1122)). 

10 ‘‘(c) SUPPORT FOR STATE AND LOCAL VULNER11 ABILITY ASSESSMENTS AND STRATEGIC RESEARCH

12 PLANNING.—In carrying out the program established 

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

14 State, local, and tribal government entities that are con15 ducting or have completed vulnerability assessments, stra16 tegic research planning, or other similar activities related 

17 to ocean acidification and its impacts on coastal commu18 nities, for the purpose of— 

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

20 used as a model for other communities; and 

21 ‘‘(2) identifying opportunities for the National 

22 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other 

23 relevant Federal agencies to support such activi24 ties.’’. 
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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 

18 to support on-the-ground management, deci19 sionmaking, and adaptation related to ocean 

20 acidification 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 pe4 riod 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 

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

17 amended to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(a) NOAA.—There are authorized to be appro19 priated to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis20 tration to carry out the purposes of this subtitle $2.7 mil21 lion for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024.’’. 

22 (e) REPORT ON SUPPORT FOR STATE AND LOCAL

23 VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENTS AND STRATEGIC RE24 SEARCH PLANNING.—Not later than 180 days after the 

25 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 
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1 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

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

3 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to sup4 port State, local, and tribal community vulnerability as5 sessments, strategic research and planning, and moni6 toring needs, pursuant to section 12406(c) of the Federal 

7 Ocean Acidification Research And Monitoring Act of 2009 

8 (as added by subsection (a) of this section). 

Passed the House of Representatives June 5, 2019. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1716 

AN ACT 

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 Oce-