II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 39 

To establish a coordinated national ocean exploration program within the 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 4, 2007 

Mr. STEVENS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To establish a coordinated national ocean exploration program within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Ocean and Coastal Exploration and NOAA Act (OCEAN 

6 Act)’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—NATIONAL OCEAN EXPLORATION PROGRAM 


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Sec. 101. Short title. 

Sec. 102. Establishment. 

Sec. 103. Authorities. 

Sec. 104. Exploration technology and infrastructure task force. 

Sec. 105. Interagency financing. 

Sec. 106. Authorization of appropriations. 

TITLE II—UNDERSEA RESEARCH PROGRAM 

Sec. 201. Short title. 

Sec. 202. Establishment. 

Sec. 203. Purpose. 

Sec. 204. Program. 

Sec. 205. Regional centers and technology institute. 

Sec. 206. Competitiveness. 

Sec. 207. Authorization of appropriations. 

1 TITLE I—NATIONAL OCEAN 

2 EXPLORATION PROGRAM 

3 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This title may be cited as the ‘‘National Ocean Explo5 ration Program Act’’. 

6 SEC. 102. ESTABLISHMENT. 

7 The Secretary of Commerce, through the Adminis8 trator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis9 tration, shall, in consultation with the National Science 

10 Foundation and other appropriate Federal agencies, es11 tablish a coordinated national ocean exploration program 

12 within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra13 tion that promotes collaboration with existing programs 

14 of the agency, including those authorized in title II. 

15 SEC. 103. AUTHORITIES. 

16 In carrying out the program the Administrator of the 

17 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall— 


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1 (1) conduct interdisciplinary exploration voy2 ages or other scientific activities in conjunction with 

3 other Federal agencies or academic or educational 

4 institutions, to survey little known areas of the ma5 rine environment, inventory, observe, and assess liv6 ing and nonliving marine resources, and report such 

7 findings; 

8 (2) give priority attention to deep ocean re9 gions, with a focus on surveying deep water marine 

10 systems that hold potential for important scientific 

11 discoveries, such as hydrothermal vent communities 

12 and seamounts; 

13 (3) conduct scientific voyages to locate, define, 

14 and document historic shipwrecks, submerged sites, 

15 and other ocean exploration activities that combine 

16 archaeology and oceanographic sciences; 

17 (4) develop, in consultation with the National 

18 Science Foundation, a transparent process for re19 viewing and approving proposals for activities to be 

20 conducted under this program; 

21 (5) enhance the technical capability of the 

22 United States marine science community by pro23 moting the development of improved oceanographic 

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1 lection systems, as well as underwater platforms and 

2 sensors; 

3 (6) accept donations of property, data, and 

4 equipment to be applied for the purpose of exploring 

5 the oceans or increasing knowledge of the oceans; 

6 (7) establish an ocean exploration forum to en7 courage partnerships and promote communication 

8 among experts and other stakeholders in order to 

9 enhance the scientific and technical expertise and 

10 relevance of the national program; and 

11 (8) avoid directing the programs towards activi12 ties relating to global temperature trends and in13 stead focus on underwater regions of particular sci14 entific interest. 

15 SEC. 104. EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGY AND INFRASTRUC16 TURE TASK FORCE. 

17 The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra18 tion, in coordination with the National Aeronautics and 

19 Space Administration, the U.S. Geological Survey, Office 

20 of Naval Research, and relevant governmental, non-gov21 ernmental, academic, and other experts, shall convene an 

22 ocean technology and infrastructure task force to develop 

23 and implement a strategy— 

24 (1) to facilitate transfer of new exploration 

25 technology to the program; 


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1 (2) to improve availability of communications 

2 infrastructure, including satellite capabilities, to the 

3 program; 

4 (3) to develop an integrated, workable and com5 prehensive data management information processing 

6 system that will make information on unique and 

7 significant features obtained by the program avail8 able for research and management purposes; 

9 (4) to conduct public outreach activities that 

10 improve the public understanding of ocean science, 

11 resources, and processes, in conjunction with rel12 evant programs of the National Oceanic and Atmos13 pheric Administration, the National Science Founda14 tion, and other agencies; and 

15 (5) to encourage cost-sharing partnerships with 

16 governmental and non-governmental entities that 

17 will assist in transferring exploration technology and 

18 technical expertise to the program. 

19 SEC. 105. INTERAGENCY FINANCING. 

20 The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra21 tion, the National Science Foundation, and other Federal 

22 agencies involved in the program, are authorized to par23 ticipate in interagency financing and share, transfer, re24 ceive and spend funds appropriated to any Federal partici25 pant in the program for the purposes of carrying out any 


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1 administrative or programmatic project or activity under 

2 this section. Funds may be transferred among such de3 partments and agencies through an appropriate instru4 ment that specifies the goods, services, or space being ac5 quired from another Federal participant and the costs of 

6 the same. 

7 SEC. 106. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

8 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Na9 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to carry 

10 out the program— 

11 (1) $30,500,000 for fiscal year 2008; 

12 (2) $33,550,000 for fiscal year 2009; 

13 (3) $36,905,000 for fiscal year 2010; 

14 (4) $40,596,000 for fiscal year 2011; 

15 (5) $44,655,000 for fiscal year 2012; 

16 (6) $49,121,000 for fiscal year 2013; 

17 (7) $54,033,000 for fiscal year 2014; 

18 (8) $59,436,000 for fiscal year 2015; 

19 (9) $65,379,000 for fiscal year 2016; and 

20 (10) $71,917,000 for fiscal year 2017. 

21 TITLE II—UNDERSEA RESEARCH 

22 PROGRAM 

23 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE. 

24 This title may be cited as the ‘‘NOAA Undersea Re25 search Program Act of 2007’’. 


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1 SEC. 202. ESTABLISHMENT. 

2 The Administrator of the National Oceanic and At3 mospheric Administration shall establish and maintain an 

4 undersea research program and shall designate a Director 

5 of that program. 

6 SEC. 203. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of the program is to increase scientific 

8 knowledge essential for the informed management, use 

9 and preservation of oceanic, coastal and large lake re10 sources through undersea research, exploration, education 

11 and technology development. The program shall be part 

12 of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 

13 undersea research, education, and technology development 

14 efforts, and also make available the infrastructure and ex15 pertise to service the undersea science needs of the aca16 demic community. 

17 SEC. 204. PROGRAM. 

18 The program shall be conducted through a national 

19 headquarters, a network of regional undersea research 

20 centers, and a national technology institute. Overall direc21 tion of the program will be provided by the program direc22 tor with advice from the Council of Center directors com23 prised of the directors of the regional centers and the na24 tional technology institute. 


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1 SEC. 205. REGIONAL CENTERS AND TECHNOLOGY INSTI2 TUTE. 

3 The following research, exploration, education, and 

4 technology programs shall be conducted through the net5 work of regional centers and the national technology insti6 tute: 

7 (1) Core research and exploration based on na8 tional and regional undersea research priorities. 

9 (2) Advanced undersea technology to support 

10 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra11 tion’s research mission and programs. 

12 (3) Undersea science-based education and out13 reach programs to enrich ocean science education 

14 and public awareness of the oceans and Great 

15 Lakes. 

16 (4) Development of advanced undersea tech17 nology associated with seafloor observatories, re18 motely operated vehicles, autonomous underwater ve19 hicles, and new sampling and sensing technologies. 

20 (5) Discovery, study, and development of nat21 ural products from ocean and aquatic systems. 

22 SEC. 206. COMPETITIVENESS. 

23 Except for a small discretionary fund for rapid re24 sponse activities and for the National Oceanic and Atmos25 pheric Administration-related service projects, for which 

26 no more than 10 percent of the program budget shall be 


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1 set aside, the external projects supported by the regional 

2 centers shall be managed using an open and competitive 

3 process to evaluate scientific merit, relevance to the Na4 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, regional 

5 and national research goals, and technical feasibility. 

6 SEC. 207. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

7 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Na8 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration— 

9 (1) for fiscal year 2008— 

10 (A) $12,500,000 for the regional centers, 

11 of which 50 percent shall be for West Coast Re12 gional Centers and 50 percent shall be for East 

13 Coast Regional Centers; and 

14 (B) $5,000,000 for the National Tech15 nology Institute; 

16 (2) for fiscal year 2009— 

17 (A) $13,750,000 for the regional centers, 

18 of which 50 percent shall be for West Coast Re19 gional Centers and 50 percent shall be for East 

20 Coast Regional Centers; and 

21 (B) $5,500,000 for the National Tech22 nology Institute; 

23 (3) for fiscal year 2010— 

24 (A) $15,125,000 for the regional centers, 

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1 gional Centers and 50 percent shall be for East 

2 Coast Regional Centers; and 

3 (B) $6,050,000 for the National Tech4 nology Institute; 

5 (4) for fiscal year 2011— 

6 (A) $16,638,000 for the regional centers, 

7 of which 50 percent shall be for West Coast Re8 gional Centers and 50 percent shall be for East 

9 Coast Regional Centers; and 

10 (B) $6,655,000 for the National Tech11 nology Institute; 

12 (5) for fiscal year 2012— 

13 (A) $18,301,000 for the regional centers, 

14 of which 50 percent shall be for West Coast Re15 gional Centers and 50 percent shall be for East 

16 Coast Regional Centers; and 

17 (B) $7,321,000 for the National Tech18 nology Institute; 

19 (6) for fiscal year 2013— 

20 (A) $20,131,000 for the regional centers, 

21 of which 50 percent shall be for West Coast Re22 gional Centers and 50 percent shall be for East 

23 Coast Regional Centers; and 

24 (B) $8,053,000 for the National Tech25 nology Institute; 


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1 (7) for fiscal year 2014— 

2 (A) $22,145,000 for the regional centers, 

3 of which 50 percent shall be for West Coast Re4 gional Centers and 50 percent shall be for East 

5 Coast Regional Centers; and 

6 (B) $8,859,000 for the National Tech7 nology Institute; 

8 (8) for fiscal year 2015— 

9 (A) $24,359,000 for the regional centers, 

10 of which 50 percent shall be for West Coast Re11 gional Centers and 50 percent shall be for East 

12 Coast Regional Centers; and 

13 (B) $9,744,000 for the National Tech14 nology Institute; 

15 (9) for fiscal year 2016— 

16 (A) $26,795,000 for the regional centers, 

17 of which 50 percent shall be for West Coast Re18 gional Centers and 50 percent shall be for East 

19 Coast Regional Centers; and 

20 (B) $10,718,000 for the National Tech21 nology Institute; and 

22 (10) for fiscal year 2017— 

23 (A) $29,474,000 for the regional centers, 

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1 gional Centers and 50 percent shall be for East 

2 Coast Regional Centers; and 

3 (B) $11,790,000 for the National Tech4 nology Institute. 

Æ 


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