I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1552

To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2000 and fiscal year 2001 for

the Marine Research and related environmental research and development

program activities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Science Foundation, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 26, 1999

Mr. CALVERT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, and in addition to the Committee on Resources, 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 appropriations for fiscal year 2000 and fiscal

year 2001 for the Marine Research and related environmental research and development program activities of

the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

and the National Science Foundation, 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 ‘‘Marine Research and

3 Related Environmental Research and Development Pro4 grams Authorization Act of 1999’’.

5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

6 For purposes of this Act, the term—

7 (1) ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Administrator

8 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis9 tration; and

10 (2) ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of Com11 merce.

12 SEC. 3. NATIONAL OCEAN SERVICE.

13 (a) OPERATIONS, RESEARCH, AND FACILITIES.—

14 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary

15 to enable the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis16 tration to carry out the Operations, Research, and Facili17 ties marine research and related environmental research

18 and development activities of the National Ocean Service

19 $200,343,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $200,343,000 for

20 fiscal year 2001, to remain available until expended.

21 (b) NAVIGATION SERVICES.—Of the amounts author22 ized under subsection (a), $82,967,000 for fiscal year

23 2000 and $82,967,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for

24 Navigation Services, of which—
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1 (1) $33,335,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

2 $33,335,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Map3 ping and Charting;

4 (2) $14,900,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

5 $14,900,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Hydro6 graphic Survey Backlog;

7 (3) $19,849,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

8 $19,849,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Geod9 esy; and

10 (4) $14,883,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

11 $14,883,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Tide

12 and Current Data.

13 (c) OCEAN RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION ASSESS14 MENT.—Of the amounts authorized under subsection (a),

15 $99,650,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $99,650,000 for fis16 cal year 2001 shall be for Ocean Resources and Conserva17 tion Assessment, of which—

18 (1) $7,970,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

19 $7,970,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Oceanic

20 and Coastal Research;

21 (2) $6,085,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

22 $6,085,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for the

23 Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory;
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1 (3) $46,281,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

2 $46,281,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for the

3 Ocean Assessment Program;

4 (4) $19,884,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

5 $19,884,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Re6 sponse and Restoration; and

7 (5) $19,430,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

8 $19,430,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for the

9 Coastal Ocean Program.

10 (d) ACQUISITION OF DATA.—Of the amounts author11 ized under subsection (a), $17,726,000 for fiscal year

12 2000 and $17,726,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for

13 Acquisition of Data.

14 SEC. 4. OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH.

15 (a) OPERATIONS, RESEARCH, AND FACILITIES.—

16 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary

17 to enable the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis18 tration to carry out the Operations, Research, and Facili19 ties marine research and related environmental research

20 and development activities of the Office of Oceanic and

21 Atmospheric Research $44,320,000 for fiscal year 2000

22 and $44,320,000 for fiscal year 2001, to remain available

23 until expended.

24 (b) MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH.—Of the

25 amounts authorized under subsection (a), $22,300,000 for
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1 fiscal year 2000 and $22,300,000 for fiscal year 2001

2 shall be for Marine Environmental Research.

3 (c) NURP.—Of the amounts authorized under sub4 section (a), $9,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

5 $9,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for the National

6 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Undersea Re7 search Program (NURP).

8 (d) ACQUISITION OF DATA.—Of the amounts author9 ized under subsection (a), $13,020,000 for fiscal year

10 2000 and $13,020,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for

11 Acquisition of Data.

12 SEC. 5. PROGRAM SUPPORT.

13 (a) OPERATIONS, RESEARCH, AND FACILITIES.—

14 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary

15 to enable the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis16 tration to carry out the Operations, Research, and Facili17 ties marine research and related environmental research

18 and development activities of Program Support

19 $63,769,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $63,769,000 for fis20 cal year 2001, to remain available until expended.

21 (b) ADMINISTRATION AND SERVICES.—Of the

22 amounts authorized under subsection (a), $52,750,000 for

23 fiscal year 2000 and $52,750,000 for fiscal year 2001

24 shall be for Administration and Services, of which—
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1 (1) $19,200,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

2 $19,200,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Execu3 tive Direction and Administration;

4 (2) $700,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $700,000

5 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Systems Acquisition

6 Office;

7 (3) $31,850,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

8 $31,850,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Central

9 Administrative Support; and

10 (4) $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

11 $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Histori12 cally Black Colleges and Universities.

13 (c) AIRCRAFT SERVICES.—Of the amounts author14 ized under subsection (a), $11,019,000 for fiscal year

15 2000 and $11,019,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for

16 Aircraft Services.

17 (d) INDEPENDENT AUDIT OF AIRCRAFT SERVICES.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after

19 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary

20 shall, using available funds, enter into appropriate

21 arrangements with an independent external auditor

22 capable of providing an audit to determine whether

23 outsourcing of aircraft services is a more cost-effec24 tive alternative to in-house operation of aircraft in

25 meeting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
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1 ministration’s aircraft requirements of the conduct

2 of marine and atmospheric research and related en3 vironmental research and development activities, and

4 for other data and mission needs.

5 (2) AUDITING PROCEDURES.—

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The audit under para7 graph (1) shall be conducted in accordance with

8 generally accepted government auditing stand9 ards.

10 (B) ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—The Sec11 retary shall provide the independent external

12 auditor the information such auditor requires to

13 conduct the audit under paragraph (1). The

14 independent external auditor may inspect any

15 records of and have access to personnel of the

16 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra17 tion to obtain such information.

18 (3) REPORT OF THE RESULTS OF THE

19 AUDIT.—Not later than 180 days after the initiation

20 of the audit required by this subsection, the inde21 pendent external auditor shall submit a report con22 cerning the results of the audit to the Committee on

23 Science of the House of Representatives and the

24 Committee on Science, Commerce, and Transpor25 tation of the Senate.
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1 SEC. 6. FACILITIES.

2 (a) OPERATIONS, RESEARCH, AND FACILITIES.—

3 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary

4 to enable the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis5 tration to carry out the Operations, Research, and Facili6 ties marine research and related environmental research

7 and development activities required to carry out Facilities

8 Maintenance and Repairs and Environmental Compliance

9 $5,717,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $5,717,000 for fiscal

10 year 2001, to remain available until expended.

11 (b) FACILITIES MAINTENANCE AND REPAIRS.—Of

12 the amounts authorized under subsection (a), $1,818,000

13 for fiscal year 2000 and $1,818,000 for fiscal year 2001

14 shall be for Facilities Maintenance and Repairs.

15 (c) ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE.—Of the amounts

16 authorized under subsection (a), $3,899,000 for fiscal

17 year 2000 and $3,899,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be

18 for Facilities Environmental Compliance.

19 SEC. 7. FLEET MAINTENANCE, PLANNING AND REPLACE20 MENT.

21 (a) FLEET MAINTENANCE AND PLANNING.—There

22 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to en23 able the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra24 tion to carry out the Operations, Research, and Facilities

25 marine research and related environmental research and

26 development activities of Fleet Maintenance and Planning
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1 $9,243,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $9,243,000 for fiscal

2 year 2001, to remain available until expended.

3 (b) FLEET REPLACEMENT.—There are authorized to

4 be appropriated to the National Science Foundation

5 $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $50,000,000 for fis6 cal year 2001, to remain available to expended, to meet

7 the marine research and related environmental research

8 and development data requirements of the National Oce9 anic and Atmospheric Administration set forth in the

10 ‘‘NOAA Fisheries Data Acquisition Plan’’, dated Sep11 tember 1998, and that could also help meet the Nation’s

12 marine research and related environmental research and

13 development needs. The National Science Foundation, in

14 consultation with the Department of the Navy, the Univer15 sity-National Oceanic Laboratory System, academia, the

16 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the

17 private sector, and any other parties it considers appro18 priate, shall develop a strategy for meeting such require19 ments and other Federal marine research and related envi20 ronmental research and development requirements, using

21 funds appropriated under this subsection and at the lowest

22 possible cost. The National Science Foundation shall con23 sider all options, including various methods of acquiring

24 vessel services, remote sensing, and any other possible

25 means.
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1 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date

2 of enactment of this Act, the Director of the National

3 Science Foundation shall submit to the Committee on

4 Science of the House of Representatives and the Com5 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the

6 Senate a report detailing the strategy developed pursuant

7 to subsection (b) and a plan for implementing such strat8 egy.

9 (d) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT FOR REDUCTION

10 IN AUTHORIZED NUMBER OF NOAA CORPS COMMIS11 SIONED OFFICERS.—Section 2(a)(3) of the Coast and

12 Geodetic Survey Commissioned Officers’ Act of 1948 (33

13 U.S.C. 853a(a)(3)) is amended by inserting ‘‘and the

14 Committee on Science’’ after ‘‘Committee on Resources’’.

15 SEC. 8. MARINE SERVICES.

16 (a) SERVICE CONTRACTS.—Notwithstanding any

17 other provision of law and subject to the availability of

18 appropriations, the Secretary shall enter into contracts,

19 including multiyear contracts, subject to subsection (c),

20 for the use of vessels to conduct marine research and re21 lated environmental research and development activities,

22 monitoring, enforcement, and management, and to acquire

23 other data necessary to carry out the missions of the Na24 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Sec25 retary shall enter into these contracts unless—
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1 (1) the cost of the contract is more than the

2 cost (including the cost of vessel operation, mainte3 nance, and all personnel) to the National Oceanic

4 and Atmospheric Administration of obtaining those

5 services on vessels of the National Oceanic and At6 mospheric Administration;

7 (2) the contract is for more than 7 years; or

8 (3) the data is acquired through a vessel agree9 ment pursuant to subsection (d).

10 (b) VESSELS.—The Secretary may not enter into any

11 contract under this section for the construction, lease-pur12 chase, upgrade, or service life extension of any vessel.

13 (c) MULTIYEAR CONTRACTS.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2)

15 and (3), and notwithstanding section 1341 of title

16 31, United States Code, and section 11 of title 41,

17 United States Code, the Secretary may acquire data,

18 including marine research and related environmental

19 research and development data, under multiyear

20 contracts.

21 (2) REQUIRED FINDINGS.—The Secretary may

22 not enter into a contract pursuant to this subsection

23 unless the Secretary finds with respect to that con24 tract that there is a reasonable expectation that

25 throughout the contemplated contract period the
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1 Secretary will request from Congress funding for the

2 contract at the level required to avoid contract ter3 mination.

4 (3) REQUIRED PROVISIONS.—The Secretary

5 may not enter into a contract pursuant to this sub6 section unless the contract includes—

7 (A) a provision under which the obligation

8 of the United States to make payments under

9 the contract for any fiscal year is subject to the

10 availability of appropriations provided in ad11 vance for those payments;

12 (B) a provision that specifies the term of

13 effectiveness of the contract; and

14 (C) appropriate provisions under which, in

15 case of any termination of the contract before

16 the end of the term specified pursuant to sub17 paragraph (B), the United States shall only be

18 liable for the lesser of—

19 (i) an amount specified in the contract

20 for such a termination; or

21 (ii) amounts that were appropriated

22 before the date of the termination for the

23 performance of the contract or for procure24 ment of the type of acquisition covered by
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1 the contract and are unobligated on the

2 date of the termination.

3 (d) VESSEL AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary shall use

4 excess capacity of University-National Oceanographic

5 Laboratory System vessels where appropriate and may

6 enter into memoranda of agreement with the operators of

7 these vessels to carry out this requirement.

8 SEC. 9. REPEAL.

9 The NOAA Fleet Modernization Act (33 U.S.C. 891

10 et seq.) is repealed.

11 SEC. 10. ELIGIBILITY FOR AWARDS.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall exclude

13 from consideration for grant agreements for marine re14 search and related environmental research and develop15 ment activities made by the National Oceanic and Atmos16 pheric Administration after fiscal year 1999 any person

17 who received funds, other than those described in sub18 section (b), appropriated for a fiscal year after fiscal year

19 1999, under a grant agreement from any Federal funding

20 source for a project that was not subjected to a competi21 tive, merit-based award process. Any exclusion from con22 sideration pursuant to this section shall be effective for

23 a period of 5 years after the person receives such Federal

24 funds.
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1 (b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to

2 the receipt of Federal funds by a person due to the mem3 bership of that person in a class specified by law for which

4 assistance is awarded to members of the class according

5 to a formula provided by law.

6 (c) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the

7 term ‘‘grant agreement’’ means a legal instrument whose

8 principal purpose is to transfer a thing of value to the

9 recipient to carry out a public purpose of support or stim10 ulation authorized by a law of the United States, and does

11 not include the acquisition (by purchase, lease, or barter)

12 of property or services for the direct benefit or use of the

13 United States Government. Such term does not include

14 a cooperative agreement (as such term is used in section

15 6305 of title 31, United States Code) or a cooperative re16 search and development agreement (as such term is de17 fined in section 12(d)(1) of the Stevenson-Wydler Tech18 nology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a(d)(1))).

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