II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2166 

To designate Regional Ocean Partnerships of the National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 18, 2019 

Mr. WICKER (for himself, Mr. JONES, Mr. CASSIDY, Ms. COLLINS, and Ms. 

CANTWELL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To designate Regional Ocean Partnerships of 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Regional Ocean Part5 nership Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS; PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find8 ings: 


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1 (1) The ocean and coastal waters of the United 

2 States are foundational to the economy, security, 

3 global competitiveness, and well-being of the United 

4 States and continuously serve the people of the 

5 United States and other countries as an important 

6 source of food, energy, economic productivity, recre7 ation, beauty, and enjoyment. 

8 (2) Over many years, the resource productivity 

9 and water quality of the ocean and coastal areas of 

10 the United States have been diminished by pollution, 

11 increasing population demands, economic develop12 ment, and natural and man-made hazard events, 

13 both acute and chronic. 

14 (3) Ocean and coastal areas of the United 

15 States are managed by State and Federal resource 

16 agencies and regulated by various overlapping au17 thorities, thereby creating a significant need for co18 ordination to enhance the ecological and economic 

19 health of those areas. 

20 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con21 gress that the United States should seek to attain coordi22 nation of the efforts relating to the management, con23 servation, resilience, and restoration of ocean and coastal 

24 areas to reduce duplication of efforts and maximize effi25 ciencies through collaborative regional efforts by Regional 


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1 Ocean Partnerships, in consultation with Federal agencies 

2 and State and local authorities. 

3 (c) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are as fol4 lows: 

5 (1) To expand and strengthen cooperative vol6 untary efforts intended to manage and restore ocean 

7 and coastal areas spanning across multiple State 

8 boundaries. 

9 (2) To expand Federal support for monitoring, 

10 data management, and restoration activities in ocean 

11 and coastal areas. 

12 (3) To commit the United States to a com13 prehensive cooperative program to achieve improved 

14 water quality in, and improvements in the produc15 tivity of living resources of, all coastal ecosystems. 

16 (4) To authorize Regional Ocean Partnerships 

17 as coordinators of Federal and State authorities re18 lating to voluntary efforts for the collaborative man19 agement of the large marine ecosystems, thereby re20 ducing duplication of efforts and maximizing oppor21 tunities to leverage support in the ocean and coastal 

22 regions. 

23 (5) To enable Regional Ocean Partnerships to 

24 receive Federal funding to conduct the scientific re25 search, conservation and restoration management, 


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1 and priority coordination necessary to achieve the 

2 purposes described in paragraphs (1) through (4). 

3 SEC. 3. REGIONAL OCEAN PARTNERSHIPS. 

4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis6 trator’’ means the Administrator of the National 

7 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

8 (2) COASTAL STATE.—The term ‘‘coastal state’’ 

9 has the meaning given that term in section 304 of 

10 the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 

11 U.S.C. 1453). 

12 (3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

13 means an Indian tribe, as defined in section 4 of the 

14 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

15 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

16 (b) REGIONAL OCEAN PARTNERSHIPS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—A coastal state may partici18 pate in a Regional Ocean Partnership with one or 

19 more other coastal states that share a common 

20 ocean or coastal area with the coastal state. 

21 (2) APPLICATION.—The Governor of a coastal 

22 state or the Governors of a group of coastal states 

23 may apply to the Secretary of Commerce, on behalf 

24 of a partnership, for the partnership to receive desVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Jul 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2166.IS S2166

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1 ignation as a Regional Ocean Partnership if the 

2 partnership— 

3 (A) meets the requirements under para4 graph (3); and 

5 (B) submits an application for such des6 ignation in such manner, in such form, and 

7 containing such information as the Secretary 

8 may require. 

9 (3) REQUIREMENTS.—A partnership is eligible 

10 for designation as a Regional Ocean Partnership by 

11 the Secretary under paragraph (2) if the partner12 ship— 

13 (A) is established to coordinate the man14 agement of coastal resources; 

15 (B) focuses on the environmental issues af16 fecting the ocean and coastal areas of the coast17 al states participating in the partnership; 

18 (C) does not have a regulatory function; 

19 and 

20 (D) is not duplicative of an existing Re21 gional Ocean Partnership designated under 

22 paragraph (4), as determined by the Secretary. 

23 (4) DESIGNATION OF CERTAIN ENTITIES AS RE24 GIONAL OCEAN PARTNERSHIPS.—Notwithstanding 


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1 paragraph (2) or (3), the following entities are des2 ignated as Regional Ocean Partnerships: 

3 (A) The Gulf of Mexico Alliance, rep4 resenting the ocean and coastal area shared by 

5 the States of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mis6 sissippi, and Texas. 

7 (B) The Northeast Regional Ocean Coun8 cil, representing the ocean and coastal area 

9 shared by the States of Maine, Vermont, New 

10 Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and 

11 Rhode Island. 

12 (C) The Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on 

13 the Ocean, representing the ocean and coastal 

14 area shared by the States of New York, New 

15 Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. 

16 (D) The West Coast Ocean Alliance, in17 cluding the States of California, Oregon, and 

18 Washington and the Indian Tribes in those 

19 States. 

20 (c) GOVERNING BODIES OF REGIONAL OCEAN PART21 NERSHIPS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—A Regional Ocean Partner23 ship designated under subsection (b) shall be gov24 erned by a governing body. 


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1 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—A governing body described 

2 in paragraph (1)— 

3 (A) shall be comprised, at a minimum, of 

4 voting members from each coastal state partici5 pating in the Regional Ocean Partnership, des6 ignated by the Governor of the coastal state; 

7 and 

8 (B) may include such other members as 

9 the partnership considers appropriate. 

10 (d) FUNCTIONS.—A Regional Ocean Partnership des11 ignated under subsection (b) may perform the following 

12 functions: 

13 (1) Promote coordination of the actions of the 

14 agencies of coastal states participating in the part15 nership with the actions of the appropriate officials 

16 of Federal agencies and other authorities in devel17 oping strategies— 

18 (A) to conserve living resources, increase 

19 valuable habitats, enhance coastal resilience, 

20 and address such other issues related to the 

21 shared ocean or coastal area as are determined 

22 to be a priority by those states; 

23 (B) to manage regional data portals and 

24 develop associated data products for purposes 

25 that support the priorities of those states; and 


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1 (C) to obtain the support of appropriate 

2 officials for such strategies. 

3 (2) In cooperation with appropriate Federal 

4 agencies and State and local authorities, develop and 

5 implement specific action plans to carry out coordi6 nation goals. 

7 (3) Coordinate and implement priority plans 

8 and projects, and facilitate science, research, mod9 eling, monitoring, data collection, and other activi10 ties that support the goals of the partnership 

11 through the provision of grants and contracts under 

12 subsection (e). 

13 (4) Engage and collaborate with stakeholders to 

14 address ocean and coastal related matters that re15 quire interagency or intergovernmental solutions. 

16 (5) Implement outreach programs for public in17 formation, education, and participation to foster 

18 stewardship of the resources of the ocean and coast19 al areas. 

20 (6) Develop and make available, through publi21 cations, technical assistance, and other appropriate 

22 means, information pertaining to cross-jurisdictional 

23 issues being addressed through the coordinated ac24 tivities of the partnership. 


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1 (7) Serve as the liaison with, and provide infor2 mation to, international counterparts, as appro3 priate. 

4 (e) GRANTS AND CONTRACTS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—A Regional Ocean Partner6 ship designated under subsection (b) may, from 

7 amounts made available to the partnership by the 

8 Administrator or the head of another Federal agen9 cy— 

10 (A) provide grants to eligible persons de11 scribed in paragraph (2) for the purposes de12 scribed in paragraph (3); and 

13 (B) enter into contracts with such persons 

14 for such purposes. 

15 (2) ELIGIBLE PERSONS.—The eligible persons 

16 described in this paragraph are the following: 

17 (A) Indian Tribes. 

18 (B) State and local governments. 

19 (C) Nongovernmental organizations. 

20 (D) Institutions of higher education. 

21 (E) Individuals. 

22 (F) Private entities. 

23 (3) PURPOSES.—The purposes described in this 

24 paragraph are the following: 


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1 (A) Monitoring the water quality and living 

2 resources of multi-State ocean and coastal eco3 systems. 

4 (B) Researching and addressing the effects 

5 of natural and human-induced environmental 

6 changes to ocean and coastal ecosystems. 

7 (C) Developing and executing cooperative 

8 strategies that— 

9 (i) address regional data issues identi10 fied by the partnership; and 

11 (ii) will result in more effective man12 agement of common ocean and coastal 

13 areas. 

14 (f) REPORTS AND ASSESSMENTS.— 

15 (1) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

16 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and an17 nually thereafter, each Regional Ocean Partnership 

18 designated under subsection (b) shall submit to the 

19 Administrator, and make available to the public, a 

20 report that describes the following: 

21 (A) Each project and activity for which the 

22 partnership received funding under this section 

23 during the previous fiscal year. 

24 (B) The goals and objectives of those 

25 projects and activities. 


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1 (C) The net benefits of the projects and 

2 activities funded under this section during pre3 vious fiscal years. 

4 (D) The collaborative efforts of the part5 nership. 

6 (2) ASSESSMENTS AND REPORTS.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 years 

8 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

9 every 5 years thereafter, the Administrator, in 

10 coordination with the Regional Ocean Partner11 ships designated under subsection (b), shall— 

12 (i) assess the effectiveness of the part13 nerships in coordinating regional priorities 

14 relating to the management of common 

15 ocean and coastal areas; and 

16 (ii) submit to Congress a report on 

17 that assessment. 

18 (B) REPORT REQUIREMENTS.—The report 

19 required under subparagraph (A)(ii) shall in20 clude the following: 

21 (i) An assessment of the overall status 

22 of coordinated efforts in regional eco23 systems covered by the Regional Ocean 

24 Partnerships designated under subsection 

25 (b). 


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1 (ii) An assessment of the effectiveness 

2 of the management strategies that such 

3 partnerships are implementing and the ex4 tent to which the priority needs of the re5 gions covered by such partnerships are 

6 being met through such strategies. 

7 (iii) Such recommendations as the Ad8 ministrator may have for the improved co9 ordination among the regulatory and non10 regulatory programs operating in the re11 gions covered by such partnerships, includ12 ing recommendations for strengthening the 

13 strategies being implemented or adopting 

14 improved strategies. 

15 (g) AVAILABILITY OF FEDERAL FUNDS.—In addition 

16 to amounts made available to Regional Ocean Partner17 ships designated under subsection (b) by the Adminis18 trator under this section, the head of any other Federal 

19 agency may provide grants to, enter into contracts with, 

20 or otherwise provide funding to such partnerships. 

21 (h) AUTHORITIES.—Nothing in this section estab22 lishes any new legal or regulatory authority of the Na23 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or of the 

24 Regional Ocean Partnerships designated under subsection 

25 (b), other than— 


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1 (1) the authority of the Administrator to pro2 vide amounts to the partnerships; and 

3 (2) the authority of the partnerships to provide 

4 grants and enter into contracts under subsection (e). 

5 (i) FUNDING.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Of amounts authorized to be 

7 appropriated to the National Oceanic and Atmos8 pheric Administration, the Administrator may make 

9 the following amounts available to Regional Ocean 

10 Partnerships designated under subsection (b) to 

11 carry out activities of the partnerships under this 

12 Act: 

13 (A) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2020. 

14 (B) $10,100,000 for fiscal year 2021. 

15 (C) $10,202,000 for fiscal year 2022. 

16 (D) $10,306,040 for fiscal year 2023. 

17 (E) $10,412,160 for fiscal year 2024. 

18 (F) $10,520,404 for fiscal year 2025. 

19 (2) DISTRIBUTION OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts 

20 made available under paragraph (1) shall be divided 

21 evenly among the Regional Ocean Partnerships des22 ignated under subsection (b). 


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1 (3) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts 

2 made available under paragraph (1) shall remain 

3 available until expended. 

Æ 


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