II 

Calendar No. 195 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 381 

To establish the National Ocean Mapping, Exploration, and Characterization 

Council, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 23, 2021 

Mr. WICKER (for himself, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. SCHATZ, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. 

WHITEHOUSE, and Mrs. HYDE-SMITH) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

DECEMBER 16, 2021 

Reported by Ms. CANTWELL, with an amendment 

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

A BILL 

To establish the National Ocean Mapping, Exploration, and 

Characterization Council, 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 ‘‘National Ocean Explo5 ration Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) The health and resilience of the ocean are 

4 vital to the security and economy of the United 

5 States and to the lives of the people of the United 

6 States. 

7 (2) The United States depends on the ocean to 

8 regulate weather and climate, to sustain and protect 

9 the diversity of life, for maritime shipping, for na10 tional defense, and for food, energy, medicine, recre11 ation, and other services essential to the people of 

12 the United States and all humankind. 

13 (3) The prosperity, security, and well-being of 

14 the United States depend on successful under15 standing and stewardship of the ocean. 

16 (4) Interdisciplinary cooperation and engage17 ment among government agencies, research institu18 tions, nongovernmental organizations, States, and 

19 the private sector are essential for successful stew20 ardship of ocean and coastal environments, national 

21 economic growth, national security, and development 

22 of agile strategies that develop, promote, and use 

23 new technologies. 

24 (5) Ocean exploration can help the people of the 

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1 ards of the ocean and serve as catalysts and enablers 

2 for other sectors of the economy. 

3 (6) Mapping, exploration, and characterization 

4 of the ocean provides basic, essential information to 

5 protect and restore the marine environment, stimu6 late economic activity, and provide security for the 

7 United States. 

8 (7) A robust national ocean exploration pro9 gram engaging multiple Federal agencies, the pri10 vate sector, nongovernmental organizations, and aca11 demia is— 

12 (A) essential to the interests of the United 

13 States and vital to its security and economy 

14 and the health and well-being of all people of 

15 the United States; and 

16 (B) critical to reestablish the United 

17 States at the forefront of global ocean explo18 ration and stewardship. 

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this Act: 

21 (1) CHARACTERIZATION.—The term ‘‘charac22 terization’’ refers to activities that provide com23 prehensive data and interpretations for a specific 

24 area of interest of the seafloor, sub-bottom, water 

25 column, or hydrologic features, such as water masses 


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1 and currents, in direct support of specific research, 

2 environmental protection, resource management, pol3 icymaking, or applied mission objectives. 

4 (2) EXPLORATION.—The term ‘‘exploration’’ re5 fers to activities that provide— 

6 (A) a multidisciplinary view of an unknown 

7 or poorly understood area of the seafloor, sub8 bottom, or water column; and 

9 (B) an initial assessment of the physical, 

10 chemical, geological, biological, archeological, or 

11 other characteristics of such an area. 

12 (3) MAPPING.—The term ‘‘mapping’’ refers to 

13 activities that provide comprehensive data and infor14 mation needed to understand seafloor characteris15 tics, such as depth, topography, bottom type, sedi16 ment composition and distribution, underlying geo17 logic structure, and benthic flora and fauna. 

18 SEC. 4. OCEAN POLICY COMMITTEE. 

19 (a) SUBCOMMITTEES.—Section 8932(c) of title 10, 

20 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘(c) SUBCOMMITTEES.—(1) The Committee shall in22 clude— 

23 ‘‘(A) a subcommittee to be known as the ‘Ocean 

24 Science and Technology Subcommittee’; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) a subcommittee to be known as the ‘Ocean 

2 Resource Management Subcommittee’. 

3 ‘‘(2) In discharging its responsibilities in support of 

4 agreed-upon scientific needs, and to assist in the execution 

5 of the responsibilities described in subsection (b), the 

6 Committee may delegate responsibilities to the Ocean 

7 Science and Technology Subcommittee, the Ocean Re8 source Management Subcommittee, or another sub9 committee of the Committee, as the Committee determines 

10 appropriate.’’. 

11 (b) INCREASED ACCESS TO GEOSPATIAL DATA FOR

12 MORE EFFICIENT AND INFORMED DECISION MAKING.— 

13 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF DOCUMENT SYSTEM.— 

14 Section 8932(b) of title 10, United States Code, is 

15 amended— 

16 (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

17 the end; 

18 (B) in paragraph (4)(F), by striking the 

19 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

20 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

21 paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(5) establish or designate one or more systems 

23 for ocean-related documents prepared under the Na24 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

25 4321 et seq.), in accordance with subsection (h).’’. 


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1 (2) ELEMENTS.—Section 8932 of such title is 

2 amended— 

3 (A) by redesignating subsection (h) as sub4 section (i); and 

5 (B) by inserting after subsection (g) the 

6 following new subsection (h): 

7 ‘‘(h) ELEMENTS OF DOCUMENT SYSTEM.—The sys8 tems established or designated under subsection (b)(5) 

9 shall include the following: 

10 ‘‘(1) A publicly accessible, centralized digital ar11 chive of documents described in subsection (b)(5) 

12 that are finalized after the date of the enactment of 

13 the National Ocean Exploration Act, including— 

14 ‘‘(A) environmental impact statements; 

15 ‘‘(B) environmental assessments; 

16 ‘‘(C) categorical exclusions; 

17 ‘‘(D) records of decision; and 

18 ‘‘(E) other relevant documents as deter19 mined by the Committee. 

20 ‘‘(2) Geospatially referenced data, if any, con21 tained in the documents under paragraph (1). 

22 ‘‘(3) A mechanism to retrieve information 

23 through geo-information tools that can map and in24 tegrate relevant geospatial information, such as— 

25 ‘‘(A) Ocean Report Tools; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the Environmental Studies Program 

2 Information System; 

3 ‘‘(C) Regional Ocean Partnerships; and 

4 ‘‘(D) the Integrated Ocean Observing Sys5 tem.’’. 

6 SEC. 5. NATIONAL OCEAN MAPPING, EXPLORATION, AND 

7 CHARACTERIZATION COUNCIL. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall establish 

9 a council, to be known as the ‘‘National Ocean Mapping, 

10 Exploration, and Characterization Council’’ (in this sec11 tion referred to as the ‘‘Council’’). 

12 (b) PURPOSE.—The Council shall— 

13 (1) update national priorities for ocean map14 ping, exploration, and characterization; and 

15 (2) coordinate and facilitate activities to ad16 vance those priorities. 

17 (c) REPORTING.—The Council shall report to the 

18 Ocean Science and Technology Subcommittee of the 

19 Ocean Policy Committee established under section 8932(c) 

20 of title 10, United States Code. 

21 (d) MEMBERSHIP.—The Council shall be composed of 

22 not fewer than one senior-level representative from each 

23 of the following: 

24 (1) The Department of the Navy. 

25 (2) The Department of the Interior. 


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1 (3) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad2 ministration. 

3 (4) The department in which the Coast Guard 

4 is operating. 

5 (5) The Office of Management and Budget. 

6 (6) The Office of Science and Technology Pol7 icy. 

8 (7) The National Science Foundation. 

9 (8) The National Aeronautics and Space Ad10 ministration. 

11 (9) The Marine Mammal Commission. 

12 (10) The Department of Transportation. 

13 (11) The Department of Energy. 

14 (12) The Office of the Director of National In15 telligence. 

16 (e) CO-CHAIRS.—The Council shall be co-chaired 

17 by— 

18 (1) two senior-level representatives from the 

19 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; 

20 and 

21 (2) one senior-level representative from the De22 partment of the Interior. 

23 (f) DUTIES.—The Council shall— 

24 (1) set national ocean mapping, exploration, 

25 and characterization priorities and strategies; 


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1 (2) cultivate and facilitate transparent and sus2 tained partnerships among Federal and State agen3 cies, private industry, academia, and nongovern4 mental organizations to conduct ocean mapping, ex5 ploration, and characterization activities and related 

6 technology development; 

7 (3) coordinate improved processes for data com8 pilation, management, access, synthesis, and visual9 ization with respect to ocean mapping, exploration, 

10 and characterization, with a focus on building on ex11 isting ocean data management systems, as appro12 priate; 

13 (4) encourage education, workforce training, 

14 and public engagement activities that— 

15 (A) advance interdisciplinary principles 

16 that contribute to ocean mapping, exploration, 

17 research, and characterization; 

18 (B) improve public engagement with and 

19 understanding of ocean science; and 

20 (C) provide opportunities for underserved 

21 populations; 

22 (5) coordinate activities as appropriate with do23 mestic and international ocean mapping, exploration, 

24 and characterization initiatives or programs; and 


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1 (6) establish and monitor metrics to track 

2 progress in achieving the priorities set under para3 graph (1). 

4 (g) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP ON OCEAN EX5 PLORATION AND CHARACTERIZATION.— 

6 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall es7 tablish a new interagency working group to be 

8 known as the ‘‘Interagency Working Group on 

9 Ocean Exploration and Characterization’’. 

10 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Interagency Working 

11 Group on Ocean Exploration and Characterization 

12 shall be comprised of senior representatives from 

13 Federal agencies with ocean exploration and charac14 terization responsibilities. 

15 (3) FUNCTIONS.—The Interagency Working 

16 Group on Ocean Exploration and Characterization 

17 shall support the Council and the Ocean Science and 

18 Technology Subcommittee of the Ocean Policy Com19 mittee established under section 8932(c) of title 10, 

20 United States Code, on ocean exploration and char21 acterization activities and associated technology de22 velopment across the Federal Government, State 

23 governments, private industry, nongovernmental or24 ganizations, and academia. 

25 (h) OVERSIGHT.—The Council shall oversee— 


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1 (1) the Interagency Working Group on Ocean 

2 Exploration and Characterization established under 

3 subsection (g)(1); and 

4 (2) the Interagency Working Group on Ocean 

5 and Coastal Mapping under section 12203 of the 

6 Ocean and Coastal Mapping Integration Act (33 

7 U.S.C. 3502). 

8 (i) PLAN.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

10 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Council 

11 shall develop or update and submit to the appro12 priate committees of Congress a plan for an inte13 grated cross-sectoral ocean mapping, exploration, 

14 and characterization initiative. 

15 (2) ELEMENTS.—The plan required by para16 graph (1) shall— 

17 (A) discuss the utility and benefits of 

18 ocean exploration and characterization; 

19 (B) identify and describe national ocean 

20 mapping, exploration, and characterization pri21 orities; 

22 (C) identify and describe Federal and fed23 erally funded ocean mapping, exploration, and 

24 characterization programs; 


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1 (D) facilitate and incorporate non-Federal 

2 input into national ocean mapping, exploration, 

3 and characterization priorities; 

4 (E) ensure effective coordination of ocean 

5 mapping, exploration, and characterization ac6 tivities among programs described in subpara7 graph (C); 

8 (F) identify opportunities for combining 

9 overlapping or complementary needs, activities, 

10 and resources of Federal agencies and non-Fed11 eral organizations relating to ocean mapping, 

12 exploration, and characterization while not re13 ducing benefits from existing mapping, explo14 rations, and characterization activities; 

15 (G) promote new and existing partnerships 

16 among Federal and State agencies, private in17 dustry, academia, and nongovernmental organi18 zations to conduct or support ocean mapping, 

19 exploration, and characterization activities and 

20 technology development needs, including 

21 through coordination under section 3 of the 

22 Commercial Engagement Through Ocean Tech23 nology Act of 2018 (33 U.S.C. 4102); 

24 (H) develop a transparent and sustained 

25 mechanism for non-Federal partnerships and 


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1 stakeholder engagement in strategic planning 

2 and mission execution to be implemented not 

3 later than December 31, 2022; 

4 (I) establish standardized collection and 

5 data management protocols, such as with re6 spect to metadata, for ocean mapping, explo7 ration, and characterization; 

8 (J) encourage the development, testing, 

9 demonstration, and adoption of innovative 

10 ocean mapping, exploration, and characteriza11 tion technologies and applications; 

12 (K) promote protocols for accepting data, 

13 equipment, approaches, or other resources that 

14 support national ocean mapping, exploration, 

15 and characterization priorities; 

16 (L) identify best practices for the protec17 tion of marine life during mapping, exploration, 

18 and characterization activities; 

19 (M) identify training, technology, and 

20 other resource requirements for enabling the 

21 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra22 tion and other appropriate Federal agencies to 

23 support a coordinated national ocean mapping, 

24 exploration, and characterization effort; 


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1 (N) identify and facilitate a centralized 

2 mechanism or office for coordinating data col3 lection, compilation, processing, archiving, and 

4 dissemination activities relating to ocean map5 ping, exploration, and characterization that 

6 meets Federal mandates for data accuracy and 

7 accessibility; 

8 (O) designate repositories responsible for 

9 archiving and managing ocean mapping, explo10 ration, and characterization data; 

11 (P) set forth a timetable and estimated 

12 costs for implementation and completion of the 

13 plan; 

14 (Q) to the extent practicable, align ocean 

15 exploration and characterization efforts with ex16 isting programs and identify key gaps; and 

17 (R) identify criteria for determining the 

18 optimal frequency of observations. 

19 (j) BRIEFINGS.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

20 of the enactment of this Act, and not less frequently than 

21 once every 2 years thereafter, the Council shall brief the 

22 appropriate committees of Congress on— 

23 (1) progress made toward meeting the national 

24 priorities described in subsection (i)(2)(B); and 


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1 (2) recommendations for meeting such prior2 ities, such as additional authorities that may be 

3 needed to develop a mechanism for non-Federal 

4 partnerships and stakeholder engagement described 

5 in subsection (i)(2)(H). 

6 (k) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS DE7 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate commit8 tees of Congress’’ means— 

9 (1) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

10 Transportation and the Committee on Armed Serv11 ices of the Senate; and 

12 (2) the Committee on Natural Resources, the 

13 Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and 

14 the Committee on Armed Services of the House of 

15 Representatives. 

16 SEC. 6. MODIFICATIONS TO THE OCEAN EXPLORATION 

17 PROGRAM OF THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND 

18 ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION. 

19 (a) PURPOSE.—Section 12001 of the Omnibus Public 

20 Land Management Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3401) is 

21 amended by striking ‘‘and the national undersea research 

22 program’’. 

23 (b) PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.—Section 12002 of such 

24 Act (33 U.S.C. 3402) is amended— 


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1 (1) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘and un2 dersea’’; and 

3 (2) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘and un4 dersea research and exploration’’ and inserting ‘‘re5 search and ocean exploration and characterization 

6 efforts’’. 

7 (c) POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE ADMINIS8 TRATOR.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 12003(a) of such 

10 Act (33 U.S.C. 3403(a)) is amended— 

11 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

12 by inserting ‘‘, in coordination with the Ocean 

13 Policy Committee established under section 

14 8932 of title 10, United States Code,’’ after 

15 ‘‘Administration’’; 

16 (B) in paragraph (1)— 

17 (i) by striking ‘‘voyages’’ and insert18 ing ‘‘expeditions’’; 

19 (ii) by striking ‘‘Federal agencies’’ 

20 and all that follows through ‘‘and survey’’ 

21 and inserting ‘‘Federal and State agencies, 

22 Tribal governments, private industry, aca23 demia, and nongovernmental organizations, 

24 to map, explore, and characterize’’; and 


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1 (iii) by inserting ‘‘characterize,’’ after 

2 ‘‘observe,’’; 

3 (C) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘of the 

4 exclusive economic zone’’ after ‘‘deep ocean re5 gions’’; 

6 (D) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘voy7 ages’’ and inserting ‘‘expeditions’’; 

8 (E) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘, in con9 sultation with the National Science Founda10 tion,’’; 

11 (F) by amending paragraph (5) to read as 

12 follows: 

13 ‘‘(5) support technological innovation of the 

14 United States marine science community by pro15 moting the development and use of new and emerg16 ing technologies for research, communication, navi17 gation, and data collection, such as sensors and au18 tonomous vehicles;’’; 

19 (G) in paragraph (6)— 

20 (i) by inserting ‘‘, in collaboration 

21 with the National Ocean Mapping, Explo22 ration, and Characterization Council estab23 lished under section 5 of the National 

24 Ocean Exploration Act,’’ after ‘‘forum’’; 

25 and 


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1 (ii) by striking the period at the end 

2 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

4 ‘‘(7) provide guidance, in coordination with the 

5 National Ocean Mapping, Exploration, and Charac6 terization Council, to Federal and State agencies, 

7 Tribal governments, private industry, academia (in8 cluding secondary schools, community colleges, and 

9 universities), and nongovernmental organizations on 

10 data standards, protocols for accepting data, and co11 ordination of data collection, compilation, processing, 

12 archiving, and dissemination for data relating to 

13 ocean exploration and characterization.’’. 

14 (2) DONATIONS.—Section 12003(b) of such Act 

15 (33 U.S.C. 3403(b)) is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(b) DONATIONS.—For the purpose of mapping, ex17 ploring, and characterizing the oceans or increasing the 

18 knowledge of the oceans, the Administrator may— 

19 ‘‘(1) accept monetary donations and donations 

20 of property, data, and equipment; and 

21 ‘‘(2) pay all necessary expenses in connection 

22 with the conveyance or transfer of a gift, devise, or 

23 bequest.’’. 


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1 (3) DEFINITION OF EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC

2 ZONE.—Section 12003 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 3403) 

3 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION OF EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE.— 

5 In this section, the term ‘exclusive economic zone’ means 

6 the zone established by Presidential Proclamation Number 

7 5030, dated March 10, 1983 (16 U.S.C. 1453 note; relat8 ing to the exclusive economic zone of the United States 

9 of America).’’. 

10 (d) REPEAL OF OCEAN EXPLORATION AND UNDER11 SEA RESEARCH TECHNOLOGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE

12 TASK FORCE.—Section 12004 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 

13 3404) is repealed. 

14 (e) EDUCATION, WORKFORCE TRAINING, AND OUT15 REACH.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Such Act is further amended 

17 by inserting after section 12003 the following new 

18 section 12004: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 12004. EDUCATION, WORKFORCE TRAINING, AND 

20 OUTREACH. 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Na22 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall— 

23 ‘‘(1) conduct education and outreach efforts in 

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1 lic on the discoveries made by the program under 

2 section 12002; and 

3 ‘‘(2) to the extent possible, coordinate the ef4 forts described in paragraph (1) with the outreach 

5 strategies of other domestic or international ocean 

6 mapping, exploration, and characterization initia7 tives. 

8 ‘‘(b) EDUCATION AND OUTREACH EFFORTS.—Ef9 forts described in subsection (a)(1) may include— 

10 ‘‘(1) education of the general public, teachers, 

11 students, and ocean and coastal resource managers; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(2) workforce training, reskilling, and opportu14 nities to encourage development of ocean related 

15 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics 

16 (STEM) technical training programs involving sec17 ondary schools, community colleges, and universities, 

18 including Historically Black Colleges or Universities 

19 (within the meaning of the term ‘‘part B institution’’ 

20 under section 322 of the Higher Education Act of 

21 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061)), Tribal Colleges or Univer22 sities (as defined in section 316(b) of such Act (20 

23 U.S.C. 1059c(b))), and other minority-serving insti24 tutions (as described in section 371(a) of such Act 

25 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a)))). 


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1 ‘‘(c) OUTREACH STRATEGY.—Not later than 180 

2 days after the date of the enactment of the National 

3 Ocean Exploration Act, the Administrator of the National 

4 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall develop an 

5 outreach strategy to broadly disseminate information on 

6 the discoveries made by the program under section 

7 12002.’’. 

8 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con9 tents in section 1(b) of the Omnibus Public Land 

10 Management Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–11; 123 

11 Stat. 991) is amended by striking the item relating 

12 to section 12004 and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 12004. Education, workforce training, and outreach.’’. 

13 (f) OCEAN EXPLORATION ADVISORY BOARD.— 

14 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Section 12005(a)(1) of 

15 such Act (33 U.S.C. 3505(1)) is amended by insert16 ing ‘‘and the National Ocean Mapping, Exploration, 

17 and Characterization Council established under sec18 tion 5 of the National Ocean Exploration Act’’ after 

19 ‘‘advise the Administrator’’. 

20 (2) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 

21 12005(c) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 3505(c)) is amend22 ed by inserting ‘‘this’’ before ‘‘part’’. 

23 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

24 12006 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 3406) is amended by strik25 ing ‘‘this part’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘this 


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1 part $60,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 

2 2030’’. 

3 (h) DEFINITIONS.—Such Act is further amended by 

4 inserting after section 12006 the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 12007. DEFINITIONS. 

6 ‘‘In this part: 

7 ‘‘(1) CHARACTERIZATION.—The terms ‘charac8 terization’, ‘characterize’, and ‘characterizing’ refer 

9 to activities that provide comprehensive data and in10 terpretations for a specific area of interest of the 

11 seafloor, sub-bottom, water column, or hydrologic 

12 features, such as water masses and currents, in di13 rect support of specific research, environmental pro14 tection, resource management, policymaking, or ap15 plied mission objectives. 

16 ‘‘(2) EXPLORATION.—The term ‘exploration’, 

17 ‘explore’, and ‘exploring’ refer to activities that pro18 vide— 

19 ‘‘(A) a multidisciplinary view of an un20 known or poorly understood area of the 

21 seafloor, sub-bottom, or water column; and 

22 ‘‘(B) an initial assessment of the physical, 

23 chemical, geological, biological, archaeological, 

24 or other characteristics of such an area. 


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1 ‘‘(3) MAPPING.—The terms ‘map’ and ‘map2 ping’ refer to activities that provide comprehensive 

3 data and information needed to understand seafloor 

4 characteristics, such as depth, topography, bottom 

5 type, sediment composition and distribution, under6 lying geologic structure, and benthic flora and 

7 fauna.’’. 

8 (i) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

9 in section 1(b) of the Omnibus Public Land Management 

10 Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–11; 123 Stat. 991) is 

11 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

12 12006 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 12007. Definitions.’’. 

13 SEC. 7. REPEAL. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The NOAA Undersea Research 

15 Program Act of 2009 (part II of subtitle A of title XII 

16 of Public Law 111–11; 33 U.S.C. 3421 et seq.) is re17 pealed. 

18 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

19 in section 1(b) of the Omnibus Public Land Management 

20 Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–11; 123 Stat. 991) is 

21 amended by striking the items relating to part II of sub22 title A of title XII of such Act. 


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1 SEC. 8. MODIFICATIONS TO OCEAN AND COASTAL MAPPING 

2 PROGRAM OF THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND 

3 ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 12202(a) of the 

6 Ocean and Coastal Mapping Integration Act (33 

7 U.S.C. 3501(a)) is amended— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘establish a program to de9 velop a coordinated and’’ and inserting ‘‘estab10 lish and maintain a program to coordinate’’; 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘plan’’ and inserting ‘‘ef12 forts’’; and 

13 (C) by striking ‘‘that enhances’’ and all 

14 that follows and inserting ‘‘that— 

15 ‘‘(1) enhances ecosystem approaches in deci16 sion-making for natural resource and habitat man17 agement restoration and conservation, emergency re18 sponse, and coastal resilience and adaptation; 

19 ‘‘(2) establishes research and mapping prior20 ities; 

21 ‘‘(3) supports the siting of research and other 

22 platforms; and 

23 ‘‘(4) advances ocean and coastal science.’’. 

24 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—Section 12202 of such Act 

25 (33 U.S.C. 3501) is amended by striking subsection 


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1 (b) and redesignating subsection (c) as subsection 

2 (b). 

3 (3) PROGRAM PARAMETERS.—Subsection (b) of 

4 section 12202 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 3501), as re5 designated by paragraph (2), is amended— 

6 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

7 by striking ‘‘developing’’ and inserting ‘‘main8 taining’’; 

9 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘and 

10 for leveraging existing Federal geospatial serv11 ices capacities and contract vehicles for effi12 ciencies’’ after ‘‘coastal mapping’’; 

13 (C) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘with 

14 coastal state and local government programs’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘with mapping programs, in con16 junction with Federal and State agencies, Trib17 al governments, private industry, academia, and 

18 nongovernmental organizations’’; 

19 (D) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘of real20 time tide data and the development’’ and insert21 ing ‘‘of tide data and water-level data and the 

22 development and dissemination’’; 

23 (E) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

24 and inserting a semicolon; 


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1 (F) in paragraph (10), by striking the pe2 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

4 ‘‘(11) support— 

5 ‘‘(A) the Ocean Science and Technology 

6 Subcommittee of the Ocean Policy Committee 

7 established under section 8932(c) of title 10, 

8 United States Code; and 

9 ‘‘(B) the National Ocean Mapping, Explo10 ration, and Characterization Council established 

11 under section 5 of the National Ocean Explo12 ration Act.’’. 

13 (b) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP ON OCEAN AND

14 COASTAL MAPPING.— 

15 (1) NAME CHANGE.—The Ocean and Coastal 

16 Mapping Integration Act (33 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) is 

17 amended— 

18 (A) in section 12202 (33 U.S.C. 3501)— 

19 (i) in subsection (a), by striking 

20 ‘‘Interagency Committee on Ocean and 

21 Coastal Mapping’’ and inserting ‘‘Inter22 agency Working Group on Ocean and 

23 Coastal Mapping under section 12203’’; 

24 and 


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1 (ii) in subsection (b), as redesignated 

2 by subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘Com3 mittee’’ and inserting ‘‘Working Group’’; 

4 (B) in section 12203 (33 U.S.C. 3502)— 

5 (i) in the section heading, by striking 

6 ‘‘COMMITTEE’’ and inserting ‘‘WORKING

7 GROUP’’; 

8 (ii) in subsection (b), in the first sen9 tence, by striking ‘‘committee’’ and insert10 ing ‘‘Working Group’’; 

11 (iii) in subsection (e), by striking 

12 ‘‘committee’’ and inserting ‘‘Working 

13 Group’’; and 

14 (iv) in subsection (f), by striking 

15 ‘‘committee’’ and inserting ‘‘Working 

16 Group’’; and 

17 (C) in section 12208 (33 U.S.C. 3507), by 

18 amending paragraph (3) to read as follows: 

19 ‘‘(3) WORKING GROUP.—The term ‘Working 

20 Group’ means the Interagency Working Group on 

21 Ocean and Coastal Mapping under section 12203.’’. 

22 (2) IN GENERAL.—Section 12203(a) of such 

23 Act (33 U.S.C. 3502(a)) is amended by striking 

24 ‘‘within 30 days’’ and all that follows and inserting 

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1 ment of the National Ocean Exploration Act, shall 

2 use the Interagency Working Group on Ocean and 

3 Coastal Mapping in existence as of the date of the 

4 enactment of such Act to implement section 

5 12202.’’. 

6 (3) MEMBERSHIP.—Section 12203(b) of such 

7 Act (33 U.S.C. 3502(b)) is amended— 

8 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘sen9 ior’’ both places it appears and inserting ‘‘sen10 ior-level’’; 

11 (B) in the third sentence, by striking ‘‘the 

12 Minerals Management Service’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management of 

14 the Department of the Interior, the Office of 

15 the Assistant Secretary, Fish and Wildlife and 

16 Parks of the Department of the Interior’’; and 

17 (C) by striking the second sentence. 

18 (4) CO-CHAIRS.—Section 12203(c) of such Act 

19 (33 U.S.C. 3502(c)) is amended to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(c) CO-CHAIRS.—The Working Group shall be co21 chaired by one representative from each of the following: 

22 ‘‘(1) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

23 Administration. 

24 ‘‘(2) The Department of the Interior. 


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1 ‘‘(3) The United States Army Corps of Engi2 neers.’’. 

3 (5) SUBORDINATE GROUPS.—Section 12203(d) 

4 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 3502(d)) is amended to read 

5 as follows: 

6 ‘‘(d) SUBORDINATE GROUPS.—The co-chairs may es7 tablish such permanent or temporary subordinate groups 

8 as determined appropriate by the Working Group.’’. 

9 (6) MEETINGS.—Section 12203(e) of such Act 

10 (33 U.S.C. 3502(e)) is amended by striking ‘‘each 

11 subcommittee and each working group’’ and insert12 ing ‘‘each subordinate group’’. 

13 (7) COORDINATION.—Section 12203(f) of such 

14 Act (33 U.S.C. 3502(f)) is amended by striking 

15 paragraphs (1) through (5) and inserting the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(1) other Federal efforts, such as the Digital 

18 Coast, the Federal Geographic Data Committee, 

19 GeoPlatform, the Integrated Ocean Observing Sys20 tem, the Hydrographic Services Review Panel of the 

21 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 

22 the Ocean Exploration Advisory Board of the Na23 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the 

24 National Geospatial Advisory Committee of the De25 partment of the Interior, the advisory committee for 


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1 the National Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observa2 tion System, and the Technical Mapping Advisory 

3 Council of the Federal Emergency Management 

4 Agency; 

5 ‘‘(2) international mapping activities; 

6 ‘‘(3) coastal states; 

7 ‘‘(4) coastal Indian Tribes; 

8 ‘‘(5) data acquisition and user groups through 

9 workshops, partnerships, and other appropriate 

10 mechanisms; and 

11 ‘‘(6) representatives of nongovernmental enti12 ties.’’. 

13 (8) ADVISORY PANEL.—Section 12203 of such 

14 Act (33 U.S.C. 3502) is amended by striking sub15 section (g). 

16 (9) FUNCTIONS.—Section 12203 of such Act 

17 (33 U.S.C. 3502), as amended by paragraph (8), is 

18 further amended by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(g) SUPPORT FUNCTIONS.—The Working Group 

20 shall support the National Ocean Mapping, Exploration, 

21 and Characterization Council established under section 5 

22 of the National Ocean Exploration Act and the Ocean 

23 Science and Technology Subcommittee of the Ocean Policy 

24 Committee established under section 8932(c) of title 10, 

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1 ciated technology development across the Federal Govern2 ment, State governments, private industry, nongovern3 mental organizations, and academia.’’. 

4 (10) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of 

5 contents in section 1(b) of the Omnibus Public Land 

6 Management Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–11; 123 

7 Stat. 991) is amended by striking the item relating 

8 to section 12203 and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 12203. Interagency working group on ocean and coastal mapping.’’. 

9 (c) BIENNIAL REPORTS.—Section 12204 of the 

10 Ocean and Coastal Mapping Integration Act (33 U.S.C. 

11 3503) is amended— 

12 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

13 striking ‘‘No later’’ and all that follows through 

14 ‘‘House of Representatives’’ and inserting ‘‘Not later 

15 than 18 months after the date of the enactment of 

16 the National Ocean Exploration Act, and biennially 

17 thereafter until 2040, the co-chairs of the Working 

18 Group, in coordination with the National Ocean 

19 Mapping, Exploration, and Characterization Council 

20 established under section 5 of such Act, shall submit 

21 to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans22 portation and the Committee on Energy and Natural 

23 Resources of the Senate, and the Committee on Nat24 ural Resources and the Committee on Science, 


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1 Space, and Technology of the House of Representa2 tives,’’; 

3 (2) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, including 

4 the data maintained by the National Centers for En5 vironmental Information of the National Oceanic 

6 and Atmospheric Administration,’’ after ‘‘mapping 

7 data’’; 

8 (3) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘, including 

9 a plan to map the coasts of the United States on a 

10 requirements-based cycle, with mapping agencies 

11 and partners coordinating on a unified approach 

12 that factors in recent related studies, meets multiple 

13 user requirements, and identifies gaps’’ after ‘‘ac14 complished’’; 

15 (4) by striking paragraph (10) and redesig16 nating paragraphs (11), (12), and (13) as para17 graphs (10), (11), and (12), respectively; 

18 (5) in paragraph (10), as so redesignated, by 

19 striking ‘‘with coastal state and local government 

20 programs’’ and inserting ‘‘with international, coastal 

21 state, and local government and nongovernmental 

22 mapping programs’’; 

23 (6) in paragraph (11), as redesignated by para24 graph (4)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘increase’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘streamline and expand’’; 

3 (B) by inserting ‘‘for the purpose of ful4 filling Federal mapping and charting respon5 sibilities, plans, and strategies’’ after ‘‘entities’’; 

6 and 

7 (C) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting a 

8 semicolon; 

9 (7) in paragraph (12), as redesignated by para10 graph (4), by striking the period at the end and in11 serting a semicolon; and 

12 (8) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(13) a progress report on the development of 

14 new and innovative technologies and applications 

15 through research and development, including cooper16 ative or other agreements with joint or cooperative 

17 research institutes and centers and other nongovern18 mental entities; 

19 ‘‘(14) a description of best practices in data 

20 processing and distribution and leveraging opportu21 nities among agencies represented on the Working 

22 Group and with coastal states, coastal Indian Tribes, 

23 and nongovernmental entities; 

24 ‘‘(15) an identification of any training, tech25 nology, or other requirements for enabling Federal 


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1 mapping programs, vessels, and aircraft to support 

2 a coordinated ocean and coastal mapping program; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(16) a timetable for implementation and com5 pletion of the plan described in paragraph (3), in6 cluding recommendations for integrating new ap7 proaches into the program.’’. 

8 (d) NOAA JOINT OCEAN AND COASTAL MAPPING

9 CENTERS.— 

10 (1) CENTERS.—Section 12205(c) of such Act 

11 (33 U.S.C. 3504(c)) is amended— 

12 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

13 by striking ‘‘3’’ and inserting ‘‘three’’; and 

14 (B) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘and 

15 uncrewed’’ after ‘‘sensing’’. 

16 (2) PLAN.—Section 12205 of such Act (33 

17 U.S.C. 3504) is amended— 

18 (A) in the section heading, by striking 

19 ‘‘PLAN’’ and inserting ‘‘NOAA JOINT OCEAN

20 AND COASTAL MAPPING CENTERS’’; 

21 (B) by striking subsections (a), (b), and 

22 (d); and 

23 (C) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘(c) 

24 NOAA JOINT OCEAN AND COASTAL MAPPING

25 CENTERS.—’’. 


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1 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con2 tents in section 1(b) of the Omnibus Public Land 

3 Management Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–11; 123 

4 Stat. 991) is amended by striking the item relating 

5 to section 12205 and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 12205. NOAA joint ocean and coastal mapping centers.’’. 

6 (e) OCEAN AND COASTAL MAPPING FEDERAL FUND7 ING OPPORTUNITY.—The Ocean and Coastal Mapping In8 tegration Act (33. U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) is amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating sections 12206, 12207, 

10 and 12208 as sections 12208, 12209, and 12210, 

11 respectively; and 

12 (2) by inserting after section 12205 the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 12206. OCEAN AND COASTAL MAPPING FEDERAL 

15 FUNDING OPPORTUNITY. 

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

17 date of the enactment of the National Ocean Exploration 

18 Act, the Administrator shall develop an integrated ocean 

19 and coastal mapping Federal funding match opportunity 

20 within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra21 tion with Federal, State, Tribal, local, nonprofit, private 

22 industry, or academic partners in order to increase the co23 ordinated acquisition, processing, stewardship, and archi24 val of new ocean and coastal mapping data in United 

25 States waters. 


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1 ‘‘(b) RULES.—The Administrator shall develop ad2 ministrative and procedural rules for the ocean and coastal 

3 mapping Federal funding match opportunity developed 

4 under subsection (a), to include— 

5 ‘‘(1) specific and detailed criteria that must be 

6 addressed by an applicant, such as geographic over7 lap with pre-established priorities, number and type 

8 of project partners, benefit to the applicant, coordi9 nation with other funding opportunities, and benefit 

10 to the public; 

11 ‘‘(2) determination of the appropriate funding 

12 match amounts and mechanisms to use, such as 

13 grants, agreements, or contracts; and 

14 ‘‘(3) other funding award criteria as are nec15 essary or appropriate to ensure that evaluations of 

16 proposals and decisions to award funding under this 

17 section are based on objective standards applied fair18 ly and equitably to those proposals. 

19 ‘‘(c) GEOSPATIAL SERVICES AND CONTRACT VEHI20 CLES.—The ocean and coastal mapping Federal funding 

21 match opportunity developed under subsection (a) shall le22 verage Federal expertise and capacities for geospatial 

23 services and Federal geospatial contract vehicles using the 

24 private sector for acquisition efficiencies. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 12207. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS, CONTRACTS, 

2 AND GRANTS. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—To carry out interagency activi4 ties under this subtitle, the heads of agencies represented 

5 on the Working Group may enter into cooperative agree6 ments, or any other agreement with each other, and trans7 fer, receive, and expend funds made available by any Fed8 eral agency, any State or subdivision thereof, or any public 

9 or private organization or individual, for ocean and coastal 

10 mapping investigations, surveys, studies, and other 

11 geospatial collaborations authorized by this subtitle or 

12 agreements authorized by section 5 of the Act entitled ‘An 

13 Act to define the functions and duties of the Coast and 

14 Geodetic Survey, and for other purposes’, approved Au15 gust 6, 1947 (33 U.S.C. 883e). 

16 ‘‘(b) GRANTS.—The Administrator may make grants 

17 to any State or subdivision thereof or any public or private 

18 organization or individual to carry out the purposes of this 

19 subtitle.’’. 

20 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

21 12209 of such Act, as redesignated by subsection (e)(1), 

22 is amended— 

23 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘this subtitle’’ 

24 and all that follows and inserting ‘‘this subtitle 

25 $45,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 

26 2030.’’; 


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1 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘this subtitle’’ 

2 and all that follows and inserting ‘‘this subtitle 

3 $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 

4 2030.’’; 

5 (3) by striking subsection (c); and 

6 (4) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(c) OCEAN AND COASTAL MAPPING FEDERAL

9 FUNDING OPPORTUNITY.—Of amounts appropriated pur10 suant to subsection (a), $20,000,000 is authorized to 

11 carry out section 12206.’’. 

12 (g) DEFINITIONS.— 

13 (1) OCEAN AND COASTAL MAPPING.—Para14 graph (5) of section 12210 of such Act, as redesig15 nated by subsection (e)(1), is amended by striking 

16 ‘‘processing, and management’’ and inserting ‘‘proc17 essing, management, maintenance, interpretation, 

18 certification, and dissemination’’. 

19 (2) COASTAL INDIAN TRIBE.—Section 12210 of 

20 such Act, as redesignated by subsection (e)(1), is 

21 amended by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(9) COASTAL INDIAN TRIBE.—The term 

23 ‘coastal Indian Tribe’ means an ‘Indian tribe’, as de24 fined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination 


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1 and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304), the 

2 land of which is located in a coastal state.’’. 

3 (h) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of contents 

4 in section 1(b) of the Omnibus Public Land Management 

5 Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–11; 123 Stat. 991) is 

6 amended by striking the items relating to sections 12206 

7 through 12208 and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 12206. Ocean and coastal mapping Federal funding opportunity. 

‘‘Sec. 12207. Cooperative agreements, contracts, and grants. 

‘‘Sec. 12208. Effect on other laws. 

‘‘Sec. 12209. Authorization of appropriations. 

‘‘Sec. 12210. Definitions.’’. 

8 SEC. 9. MODIFICATIONS TO HYDROGRAPHIC SERVICES IM9 PROVEMENT ACT OF 1998. 

10 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 302(4)(A) of the Hydro11 graphic Services Improvement Act of 1998 (33 U.S.C. 

12 892(4)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘hydrodynamic fore13 cast and datum transformation models,’’ after ‘‘nautical 

14 information databases,’’. 

15 (b) FUNCTIONS OF THE ADMINISTRATOR.—Section 

16 303(b) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 892a(b)) is amended— 

17 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

18 inserting ‘‘precision navigation,’’ after ‘‘promote’’; 

19 and 

20 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

21 (A) by inserting ‘‘and hydrodynamic fore22 cast models’’ after ‘‘monitoring systems’’; 


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1 (B) by inserting ‘‘and provide foundational 

2 information and services required to support 

3 coastal resilience planning for coastal transpor4 tation and other infrastructure, coastal protec5 tion and restoration projects, and related activi6 ties’’ after ‘‘efficiency’’; and 

7 (C) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting a 

8 semicolon. 

9 (c) QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAM.—Section 304(a) 

10 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 892b(a)) is amended by striking 

11 ‘‘product produced’’ and inserting ‘‘product or service pro12 duced or disseminated’’. 

13 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

14 306(a) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 892d(a)) is amended— 

15 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘$70,814,000 

16 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023’’ and in17 serting ‘‘$71,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 

18 through 2030’’; 

19 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘$25,000,000 

20 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023’’ and in21 serting ‘‘$34,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 

22 through 2030’’; 

23 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘$29,932,000 

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1 serting ‘‘$38,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 

2 through 2030’’; 

3 (4) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘$26,800,000 

4 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023’’ and in5 serting ‘‘$45,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 

6 through 2030’’; and 

7 (5) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘$30,564,000 

8 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023’’ and in9 serting ‘‘$35,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 

10 through 2030’’. 

11 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

12 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Ocean Explo13 ration Act’’. 

14 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

15 Congress makes the following findings: 

16 (1) The health and resilience of the ocean are 

17 vital to the security and economy of the United States 

18 and to the lives of the people of the United States. 

19 (2) The United States depends on the ocean to 

20 regulate weather and climate, to sustain and protect 

21 the diversity of life, for maritime shipping, for na22 tional defense, and for food, energy, medicine, recre23 ation, and other services essential to the people of the 

24 United States and all humankind. 


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1 (3) The prosperity, security, and well-being of 

2 the United States depend on successful understanding 

3 and stewardship of the ocean. 

4 (4) Interdisciplinary cooperation and engage5 ment among government agencies, research institu6 tions, nongovernmental organizations, States, Indian 

7 Tribes, and the private sector are essential for success8 ful stewardship of ocean and coastal environments, 

9 national economic growth, national security, and de10 velopment of agile strategies that develop, promote, 

11 and use new technologies. 

12 (5) Ocean exploration can help the people of the 

13 United States understand how to be effective stewards 

14 of the ocean and serve as catalysts and enablers for 

15 other sectors of the economy. 

16 (6) Mapping, exploration, and characterization 

17 of the ocean provides basic, essential information to 

18 protect and restore the marine environment, stimulate 

19 economic activity, and provide security for the United 

20 States. 

21 (7) A robust national ocean exploration program 

22 engaging multiple Federal agencies, Indian Tribes, 

23 the private sector, nongovernmental organizations, 

24 and academia is— 


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1 (A) essential to the interests of the United 

2 States and vital to its security and economy and 

3 the health and well-being of all people of the 

4 United States; and 

5 (B) critical to reestablish the United States 

6 at the forefront of global ocean exploration and 

7 stewardship. 

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) CHARACTERIZATION.—The term ‘‘character11 ization’’ refers to activities that provide comprehen12 sive data and interpretations for a specific area of in13 terest of the seafloor, sub-bottom, water column, or hy14 drologic features, such as water masses and currents, 

15 in direct support of specific research, environmental 

16 protection, resource management, policymaking, or 

17 applied mission objectives. 

18 (2) EXPLORATION.—The term ‘‘exploration’’ re19 fers to activities that provide— 

20 (A) a multidisciplinary view of an un21 known or poorly understood area of the seafloor, 

22 sub-bottom, or water column; and 

23 (B) an initial assessment of the physical, 

24 chemical, geological, biological, archeological, or 

25 other characteristics of such an area. 


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

2 has the meaning given that term in section 4 of the 

3 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

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

5 (4) MAPPING.—The term ‘‘mapping’’ refers to 

6 activities that provide comprehensive data and infor7 mation needed to understand seafloor characteristics, 

8 such as depth, topography, bottom type, sediment 

9 composition and distribution, underlying geologic 

10 structure, and benthic flora and fauna. 

11 SEC. 4. OCEAN POLICY COMMITTEE. 

12 (a) SUBCOMMITTEES.—Section 8932(c) of title 10, 

13 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘(c) SUBCOMMITTEES.—(1) The Committee shall in15 clude— 

16 ‘‘(A) a subcommittee to be known as the ‘Ocean 

17 Science and Technology Subcommittee’; and 

18 ‘‘(B) a subcommittee to be known as the ‘Ocean 

19 Resource Management Subcommittee’. 

20 ‘‘(2) In discharging its responsibilities in support of 

21 agreed-upon scientific needs, and to assist in the execution 

22 of the responsibilities described in subsection (b), the Com23 mittee may delegate responsibilities to the Ocean Science 

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1 agement Subcommittee, or another subcommittee of the 

2 Committee, as the Committee determines appropriate.’’. 

3 (b) INCREASED ACCESS TO GEOSPATIAL DATA FOR

4 MORE EFFICIENT AND INFORMED DECISION MAKING.— 

5 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF DOCUMENT SYSTEM.— 

6 Section 8932(b) of title 10, United States Code, is 

7 amended— 

8 (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

9 the end; 

10 (B) in paragraph (4)(F), by striking the pe11 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

12 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

13 paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(5) establish or designate one or more systems 

15 for ocean-related documents prepared under the Na16 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

17 4321 et seq.), in accordance with subsection (h).’’. 

18 (2) ELEMENTS.—Section 8932 of such title is 

19 amended— 

20 (A) by redesignating subsection (h) as sub21 section (i); and 

22 (B) by inserting after subsection (g) the fol23 lowing new subsection (h): 


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1 ‘‘(h) ELEMENTS OF DOCUMENT SYSTEM.—The systems 

2 established or designated under subsection (b)(5) shall in3 clude the following: 

4 ‘‘(1) A publicly accessible, centralized digital ar5 chive of documents described in subsection (b)(5) that 

6 are finalized after the date of the enactment of the 

7 National Ocean Exploration Act, including— 

8 ‘‘(A) environmental impact statements; 

9 ‘‘(B) environmental assessments; 

10 ‘‘(C) categorical exclusions; 

11 ‘‘(D) records of decision; and 

12 ‘‘(E) other relevant documents as deter13 mined by the Committee. 

14 ‘‘(2) Geospatially referenced data, if any, con15 tained in the documents under paragraph (1). 

16 ‘‘(3) A mechanism to retrieve information 

17 through geo-information tools that can map and inte18 grate relevant geospatial information, such as— 

19 ‘‘(A) Ocean Report Tools; 

20 ‘‘(B) the Environmental Studies Program 

21 Information System; 

22 ‘‘(C) Regional Ocean Partnerships; and 

23 ‘‘(D) the Integrated Ocean Observing Sys24 tem.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. NATIONAL OCEAN MAPPING, EXPLORATION, AND 

2 CHARACTERIZATION COUNCIL. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall establish a 

4 council, to be known as the ‘‘National Ocean Mapping, Ex5 ploration, and Characterization Council’’ (in this section 

6 referred to as the ‘‘Council’’). 

7 (b) PURPOSE.—The Council shall— 

8 (1) update national priorities for ocean map9 ping, exploration, and characterization; and 

10 (2) coordinate and facilitate activities to ad11 vance those priorities. 

12 (c) REPORTING.—The Council shall report to the 

13 Ocean Science and Technology Subcommittee of the Ocean 

14 Policy Committee established under section 8932(c) of title 

15 10, United States Code. 

16 (d) MEMBERSHIP.—The Council shall be composed of 

17 not fewer than one senior-level representative from each of 

18 the following: 

19 (1) The Department of the Navy. 

20 (2) The Department of the Interior. 

21 (3) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad22 ministration. 

23 (4) The department in which the Coast Guard is 

24 operating. 

25 (5) The Office of Management and Budget. 

26 (6) The Office of Science and Technology Policy. 


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1 (7) The National Science Foundation. 

2 (8) The National Aeronautics and Space Admin3 istration. 

4 (9) The Marine Mammal Commission. 

5 (10) The Department of Transportation. 

6 (11) The Department of Energy. 

7 (12) The Office of the Director of National Intel8 ligence. 

9 (e) CO-CHAIRS.—The Council shall be co-chaired by— 

10 (1) two senior-level representatives from the Na11 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and 

12 (2) one senior-level representative from the De13 partment of the Interior. 

14 (f) DUTIES.—The Council shall— 

15 (1) set national ocean mapping, exploration, and 

16 characterization priorities and strategies; 

17 (2) cultivate and facilitate transparent and sus18 tained partnerships among Federal and State agen19 cies, Indian Tribes, private industry, academia, and 

20 nongovernmental organizations to conduct ocean 

21 mapping, exploration, and characterization activities 

22 and related technology development; 

23 (3) coordinate improved processes for data com24 pilation, management, access, synthesis, and visual25 ization with respect to ocean mapping, exploration, 


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1 and characterization, with a focus on building on ex2 isting ocean data management systems, as appro3 priate; 

4 (4) encourage education, workforce training, and 

5 public engagement activities that— 

6 (A) advance interdisciplinary principles 

7 that contribute to ocean mapping, exploration, 

8 research, and characterization; 

9 (B) improve public engagement with and 

10 understanding of ocean science; and 

11 (C) provide opportunities for underserved 

12 populations; 

13 (5) coordinate activities as appropriate with do14 mestic and international ocean mapping, exploration, 

15 and characterization initiatives or programs; and 

16 (6) establish and monitor metrics to track 

17 progress in achieving the priorities set under para18 graph (1). 

19 (g) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP ON OCEAN EXPLO20 RATION AND CHARACTERIZATION.— 

21 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall estab22 lish a new interagency working group to be known as 

23 the ‘‘Interagency Working Group on Ocean Explo24 ration and Characterization’’. 


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1 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Interagency Working 

2 Group on Ocean Exploration and Characterization 

3 shall be comprised of senior representatives from Fed4 eral agencies with ocean exploration and character5 ization responsibilities. 

6 (3) FUNCTIONS.—The Interagency Working 

7 Group on Ocean Exploration and Characterization 

8 shall support the Council and the Ocean Science and 

9 Technology Subcommittee of the Ocean Policy Com10 mittee established under section 8932(c) of title 10, 

11 United States Code, on ocean exploration and charac12 terization activities and associated technology devel13 opment across the Federal Government, State govern14 ments, Indian Tribes, private industry, nongovern15 mental organizations, and academia. 

16 (h) OVERSIGHT.—The Council shall oversee— 

17 (1) the Interagency Working Group on Ocean 

18 Exploration and Characterization established under 

19 subsection (g)(1); and 

20 (2) the Interagency Working Group on Ocean 

21 and Coastal Mapping under section 12203 of the 

22 Ocean and Coastal Mapping Integration Act (33 

23 U.S.C. 3502). 

24 (i) PLAN.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Council shall 

3 develop or update and submit to the appropriate com4 mittees of Congress a plan for an integrated cross-sec5 toral ocean mapping, exploration, and characteriza6 tion initiative. 

7 (2) ELEMENTS.—The plan required by para8 graph (1) shall— 

9 (A) discuss the utility and benefits of ocean 

10 exploration and characterization; 

11 (B) identify and describe national ocean 

12 mapping, exploration, and characterization pri13 orities; 

14 (C) identify and describe Federal and feder15 ally funded ocean mapping, exploration, and 

16 characterization programs; 

17 (D) facilitate and incorporate non-Federal 

18 input into national ocean mapping, exploration, 

19 and characterization priorities; 

20 (E) ensure effective coordination of ocean 

21 mapping, exploration, and characterization ac22 tivities among programs described in subpara23 graph (C); 

24 (F) identify opportunities for combining 

25 overlapping or complementary needs, activities, 


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1 and resources of Federal agencies and non-Fed2 eral organizations relating to ocean mapping, 

3 exploration, and characterization while not re4 ducing benefits from existing mapping, explo5 rations, and characterization activities; 

6 (G) promote new and existing partnerships 

7 among Federal and State agencies, Indian 

8 Tribes, private industry, academia, and non9 governmental organizations to conduct or sup10 port ocean mapping, exploration, and character11 ization activities and technology development 

12 needs, including through coordination under sec13 tion 3 of the Commercial Engagement Through 

14 Ocean Technology Act of 2018 (33 U.S.C. 4102) 

15 and the National Oceanographic Partnership 

16 Program under section 8931 of title 10, United 

17 States Code; 

18 (H) develop a transparent and sustained 

19 mechanism for non-Federal partnerships and 

20 stakeholder engagement in strategic planning 

21 and mission execution to be implemented not 

22 later than December 31, 2022; 

23 (I) establish standardized collection and 

24 data management protocols, such as with respect 


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1 to metadata, for ocean mapping, exploration, 

2 and characterization; 

3 (J) encourage the development, testing, dem4 onstration, and adoption of innovative ocean 

5 mapping, exploration, and characterization tech6 nologies and applications; 

7 (K) promote protocols for accepting data, 

8 equipment, approaches, or other resources that 

9 support national ocean mapping, exploration, 

10 and characterization priorities; 

11 (L) identify best practices for the protection 

12 of marine life during mapping, exploration, and 

13 characterization activities; 

14 (M) identify training, technology, and other 

15 resource requirements for enabling the National 

16 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and 

17 other appropriate Federal agencies to support a 

18 coordinated national ocean mapping, explo19 ration, and characterization effort; 

20 (N) identify and facilitate a centralized 

21 mechanism or office for coordinating data collec22 tion, compilation, processing, archiving, and dis23 semination activities relating to ocean mapping, 

24 exploration, and characterization that meets 


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1 Federal mandates for data accuracy and accessi2 bility; 

3 (O) designate repositories responsible for 

4 archiving and managing ocean mapping, explo5 ration, and characterization data; 

6 (P) set forth a timetable and estimated costs 

7 for implementation and completion of the plan; 

8 (Q) to the extent practicable, align ocean ex9 ploration and characterization efforts with exist10 ing programs and identify key gaps; and 

11 (R) identify criteria for determining the op12 timal frequency of observations. 

13 (j) BRIEFINGS.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

14 of the enactment of this Act, and not less frequently than 

15 once every 2 years thereafter, the Council shall brief the ap16 propriate committees of Congress on— 

17 (1) progress made toward meeting the national 

18 priorities described in subsection (i)(2)(B); and 

19 (2) recommendations for meeting such priorities, 

20 such as additional authorities that may be needed to 

21 develop a mechanism for non-Federal partnerships 

22 and stakeholder engagement described in subsection 

23 (i)(2)(H). 


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1 (k) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS DE2 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate committees 

3 of Congress’’ means— 

4 (1) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

5 Transportation and the Committee on Armed Services 

6 of the Senate; and 

7 (2) the Committee on Natural Resources, the 

8 Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and 

9 the Committee on Armed Services of the House of 

10 Representatives. 

11 SEC. 6. MODIFICATIONS TO THE OCEAN EXPLORATION PRO12 GRAM OF THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND AT13 MOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION. 

14 (a) PURPOSE.—Section 12001 of the Omnibus Public 

15 Land Management Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3401) is amend16 ed by striking ‘‘and the national undersea research pro17 gram’’. 

18 (b) PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.—Section 12002 of such 

19 Act (33 U.S.C. 3402) is amended— 

20 (1) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘and under21 sea’’; and 

22 (2) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘and un23 dersea research and exploration’’ and inserting ‘‘re24 search and ocean exploration and characterization ef25 forts’’. 


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1 (c) POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE ADMINISTRATOR.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 12003(a) of such Act 

3 (33 U.S.C. 3403(a)) is amended— 

4 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

5 by inserting ‘‘, in coordination with the Ocean 

6 Policy Committee established under section 8932 

7 of title 10, United States Code,’’ after ‘‘Adminis8 tration’’; 

9 (B) in paragraph (1)— 

10 (i) by striking ‘‘voyages’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘expeditions’’; 

12 (ii) by striking ‘‘Federal agencies’’ and 

13 all that follows through ‘‘and survey’’ and 

14 inserting ‘‘Federal and State agencies, Trib15 al governments, private industry, academia, 

16 and nongovernmental organizations, to 

17 map, explore, and characterize’’; and 

18 (iii) by inserting ‘‘characterize,’’ after 

19 ‘‘observe,’’; 

20 (C) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘of the 

21 exclusive economic zone’’ after ‘‘deep ocean re22 gions’’; 

23 (D) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘voyages’’ 

24 and inserting ‘‘expeditions’’; 


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1 (E) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘, in con2 sultation with the National Science Founda3 tion,’’; 

4 (F) by amending paragraph (5) to read as 

5 follows: 

6 ‘‘(5) support technological innovation of the 

7 United States marine science community by pro8 moting the development and use of new and emerging 

9 technologies for research, communication, navigation, 

10 and data collection, such as sensors and autonomous 

11 vehicles;’’; 

12 (G) in paragraph (6)— 

13 (i) by inserting ‘‘, in collaboration 

14 with the National Ocean Mapping, Explo15 ration, and Characterization Council estab16 lished under section 5 of the National Ocean 

17 Exploration Act,’’ after ‘‘forum’’; and 

18 (ii) by striking the period at the end 

19 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

20 (H) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(7) provide guidance, in coordination with the 

22 National Ocean Mapping, Exploration, and Charac23 terization Council, to Federal and State agencies, 

24 Tribal governments, private industry, academia (in25 cluding secondary schools, community colleges, and 


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1 universities), and nongovernmental organizations on 

2 data standards, protocols for accepting data, and co3 ordination of data collection, compilation, processing, 

4 archiving, and dissemination for data relating to 

5 ocean exploration and characterization.’’. 

6 (2) DONATIONS.—Section 12003(b) of such Act 

7 (33 U.S.C. 3403(b)) is amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(b) DONATIONS.—For the purpose of mapping, ex9 ploring, and characterizing the oceans or increasing the 

10 knowledge of the oceans, the Administrator may— 

11 ‘‘(1) accept monetary donations and donations of 

12 property, data, and equipment; and 

13 ‘‘(2) pay all necessary expenses in connection 

14 with the conveyance or transfer of a gift, devise, or 

15 bequest.’’. 

16 (3) DEFINITION OF EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC

17 ZONE.—Section 12003 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 3403) 

18 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION OF EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE.— 

20 In this section, the term ‘exclusive economic zone’ means 

21 the zone established by Presidential Proclamation Number 

22 5030, dated March 10, 1983 (16 U.S.C. 1453 note; relating 

23 to the exclusive economic zone of the United States of Amer24 ica).’’. 


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1 (d) REPEAL OF OCEAN EXPLORATION AND UNDERSEA

2 RESEARCH TECHNOLOGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE TASK

3 FORCE.—Section 12004 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 3404) is re4 pealed. 

5 (e) EDUCATION, WORKFORCE TRAINING, AND OUT6 REACH.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Such Act is further amended 

8 by inserting after section 12003 the following new sec9 tion 12004: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 12004. EDUCATION, WORKFORCE TRAINING, AND OUT11 REACH. 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the National 

13 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall— 

14 ‘‘(1) conduct education and outreach efforts in 

15 order to broadly disseminate information to the pub16 lic on the discoveries made by the program under sec17 tion 12002; and 

18 ‘‘(2) to the extent possible, coordinate the efforts 

19 described in paragraph (1) with the outreach strate20 gies of other domestic or international ocean map21 ping, exploration, and characterization initiatives. 

22 ‘‘(b) EDUCATION AND OUTREACH EFFORTS.—Efforts 

23 described in subsection (a)(1) may include— 


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1 ‘‘(1) education of the general public, teachers, 

2 students, and ocean and coastal resource managers; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(2) workforce training, reskilling, and opportu5 nities to encourage development of ocean related 

6 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics 

7 (STEM) technical training programs involving sec8 ondary schools, community colleges, and universities, 

9 including Historically Black Colleges or Universities 

10 (within the meaning of the term ‘‘part B institution’’ 

11 under section 322 of the Higher Education Act of 

12 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061)), Tribal Colleges or Univer13 sities (as defined in section 316(b) of such Act (20 

14 U.S.C. 1059c(b))), and other minority-serving institu15 tions (as described in section 371(a) of such Act (20 

16 U.S.C. 1067q(a))). 

17 ‘‘(c) OUTREACH STRATEGY.—Not later than 180 days 

18 after the date of the enactment of the National Ocean Explo19 ration Act, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and 

20 Atmospheric Administration shall develop an outreach 

21 strategy to broadly disseminate information on the discov22 eries made by the program under section 12002.’’. 

23 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con24 tents in section 1(b) of the Omnibus Public Land 

25 Management Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–11; 123 


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1 Stat. 991) is amended by striking the item relating 

2 to section 12004 and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 12004. Education, workforce training, and outreach.’’. 

3 (f) OCEAN EXPLORATION ADVISORY BOARD.— 

4 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Section 12005(a)(1) of 

5 such Act (33 U.S.C. 3505(1)) is amended by inserting 

6 ‘‘and the National Ocean Mapping, Exploration, and 

7 Characterization Council established under section 5 

8 of the National Ocean Exploration Act’’ after ‘‘advise 

9 the Administrator’’. 

10 (2) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 12005(c) 

11 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 3505(c)) is amended by insert12 ing ‘‘this’’ before ‘‘part’’. 

13 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

14 12006 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 3406) is amended by striking 

15 ‘‘this part’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘this part 

16 $60,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2026’’. 

17 (h) DEFINITIONS.—Such Act is further amended by in18 serting after section 12006 the following: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 12007. DEFINITIONS. 

20 ‘‘In this part: 

21 ‘‘(1) CHARACTERIZATION.—The terms ‘character22 ization’, ‘characterize’, and ‘characterizing’ refer to 

23 activities that provide comprehensive data and inter24 pretations for a specific area of interest of the 

25 seafloor, sub-bottom, water column, or hydrologic feaVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:45 Dec 17, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00061 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S381.RS S381

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1 tures, such as water masses and currents, in direct 

2 support of specific research, environmental protection, 

3 resource management, policymaking, or applied mis4 sion objectives. 

5 ‘‘(2) EXPLORATION.—The term ‘exploration’, ‘ex6 plore’, and ‘exploring’ refer to activities that pro7 vide— 

8 ‘‘(A) a multidisciplinary view of an un9 known or poorly understood area of the seafloor, 

10 sub-bottom, or water column; and 

11 ‘‘(B) an initial assessment of the physical, 

12 chemical, geological, biological, archaeological, or 

13 other characteristics of such an area. 

14 ‘‘(3) MAPPING.—The terms ‘map’ and ‘mapping’ 

15 refer to activities that provide comprehensive data 

16 and information needed to understand seafloor char17 acteristics, such as depth, topography, bottom type, 

18 sediment composition and distribution, underlying 

19 geologic structure, and benthic flora and fauna.’’. 

20 (i) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents in 

21 section 1(b) of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act 

22 of 2009 (Public Law 111–11; 123 Stat. 991) is amended 

23 by inserting after the item relating to section 12006 the fol24 lowing: 

‘‘Sec. 12007. Definitions.’’. 


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1 SEC. 7. REPEAL. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The NOAA Undersea Research Pro3 gram Act of 2009 (part II of subtitle A of title XII of Public 

4 Law 111–11; 33 U.S.C. 3421 et seq.) is repealed. 

5 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents in 

6 section 1(b) of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act 

7 of 2009 (Public Law 111–11; 123 Stat. 991) is amended 

8 by striking the items relating to part II of subtitle A of 

9 title XII of such Act. 

10 SEC. 8. MODIFICATIONS TO OCEAN AND COASTAL MAPPING 

11 PROGRAM OF THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND 

12 ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION. 

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 12202(a) of the Ocean 

15 and Coastal Mapping Integration Act (33 U.S.C. 

16 3501(a)) is amended— 

17 (A) by striking ‘‘establish a program to de18 velop a coordinated and’’ and inserting ‘‘estab19 lish and maintain a program to coordinate’’; 

20 (B) by striking ‘‘plan’’ and inserting ‘‘ef21 forts’’; and 

22 (C) by striking ‘‘that enhances’’ and all that 

23 follows and inserting ‘‘that— 

24 ‘‘(1) enhances ecosystem approaches in decision25 making for natural resource and habitat management 


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1 restoration and conservation, emergency response, and 

2 coastal resilience and adaptation; 

3 ‘‘(2) establishes research and mapping priorities; 

4 ‘‘(3) supports the siting of research and other 

5 platforms; and 

6 ‘‘(4) advances ocean and coastal science.’’. 

7 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—Section 12202 of such Act 

8 (33 U.S.C. 3501) is amended by striking subsection 

9 (b) and redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (b). 

10 (3) PROGRAM PARAMETERS.—Subsection (b) of 

11 section 12202 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 3501), as redes12 ignated by paragraph (2), is amended— 

13 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

14 by striking ‘‘developing’’ and inserting ‘‘main15 taining’’; 

16 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘and for 

17 leveraging existing Federal geospatial services 

18 capacities and contract vehicles for efficiencies’’ 

19 after ‘‘coastal mapping’’; 

20 (C) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘with 

21 coastal state and local government programs’’ 

22 and inserting ‘‘with mapping programs, in con23 junction with Federal and State agencies, Tribal 

24 governments, private industry, academia, and 

25 nongovernmental organizations’’; 


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1 (D) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘of real2 time tide data and the development’’ and insert3 ing ‘‘of tide data and water-level data and the 

4 development and dissemination’’; 

5 (E) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

6 and inserting a semicolon; 

7 (F) in paragraph (10), by striking the pe8 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

9 (G) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(11) support— 

11 ‘‘(A) the Ocean Science and Technology 

12 Subcommittee of the Ocean Policy Committee es13 tablished under section 8932(c) of title 10, 

14 United States Code; and 

15 ‘‘(B) the National Ocean Mapping, Explo16 ration, and Characterization Council established 

17 under section 5 of the National Ocean Explo18 ration Act.’’. 

19 (b) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP ON OCEAN AND

20 COASTAL MAPPING.— 

21 (1) NAME CHANGE.—The Ocean and Coastal 

22 Mapping Integration Act (33 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) is 

23 amended— 

24 (A) in section 12202 (33 U.S.C. 3501)— 


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1 (i) in subsection (a), by striking 

2 ‘‘Interagency Committee on Ocean and 

3 Coastal Mapping’’ and inserting ‘‘Inter4 agency Working Group on Ocean and 

5 Coastal Mapping under section 12203’’; and 

6 (ii) in subsection (b), as redesignated 

7 by subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘Com8 mittee’’ and inserting ‘‘Working Group’’; 

9 (B) in section 12203 (33 U.S.C. 3502)— 

10 (i) in the section heading, by striking 

11 ‘‘COMMITTEE’’ and inserting ‘‘WORKING

12 GROUP’’; 

13 (ii) in subsection (b), in the first sen14 tence, by striking ‘‘committee’’ and insert15 ing ‘‘Working Group’’; 

16 (iii) in subsection (e), by striking 

17 ‘‘committee’’ and inserting ‘‘Working 

18 Group’’; and 

19 (iv) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘com20 mittee’’ and inserting ‘‘Working Group’’; 

21 and 

22 (C) in section 12208 (33 U.S.C. 3507), by 

23 amending paragraph (3) to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(3) WORKING GROUP.—The term ‘Working 

2 Group’ means the Interagency Working Group on 

3 Ocean and Coastal Mapping under section 12203.’’. 

4 (2) IN GENERAL.—Section 12203(a) of such Act 

5 (33 U.S.C. 3502(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘within 

6 30 days’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘not later 

7 than 30 days after the date of the enactment of the 

8 National Ocean Exploration Act, shall use the Inter9 agency Working Group on Ocean and Coastal Map10 ping in existence as of the date of the enactment of 

11 such Act to implement section 12202.’’. 

12 (3) MEMBERSHIP.—Section 12203(b) of such Act 

13 (33 U.S.C. 3502(b)) is amended— 

14 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘sen15 ior’’ both places it appears and inserting ‘‘sen16 ior-level’’; 

17 (B) in the third sentence, by striking ‘‘the 

18 Minerals Management Service’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management of the 

20 Department of the Interior, the Office of the As21 sistant Secretary, Fish and Wildlife and Parks 

22 of the Department of the Interior’’; and 

23 (C) by striking the second sentence. 

24 (4) CO-CHAIRS.—Section 12203(c) of such Act 

25 (33 U.S.C. 3502(c)) is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(c) CO-CHAIRS.—The Working Group shall be co2 chaired by one representative from each of the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad4 ministration. 

5 ‘‘(2) The Department of the Interior. 

6 ‘‘(3) The United States Army Corps of Engi7 neers.’’. 

8 (5) SUBORDINATE GROUPS.—Section 12203(d) of 

9 such Act (33 U.S.C. 3502(d)) is amended to read as 

10 follows: 

11 ‘‘(d) SUBORDINATE GROUPS.—The co-chairs may es12 tablish such permanent or temporary subordinate groups 

13 as determined appropriate by the Working Group.’’. 

14 (6) MEETINGS.—Section 12203(e) of such Act 

15 (33 U.S.C. 3502(e)) is amended by striking ‘‘each 

16 subcommittee and each working group’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘each subordinate group’’. 

18 (7) COORDINATION.—Section 12203(f) of such 

19 Act (33 U.S.C. 3502(f)) is amended by striking para20 graphs (1) through (5) and inserting the following: 

21 ‘‘(1) other Federal efforts, such as the Digital 

22 Coast, the Federal Geographic Data Committee, 

23 GeoPlatform, the Integrated Ocean Observing System, 

24 the Hydrographic Services Review Panel of the Na25 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the 


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1 Ocean Exploration Advisory Board of the National 

2 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Na3 tional Geospatial Advisory Committee of the Depart4 ment of the Interior, the advisory committee for the 

5 National Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation 

6 System, and the Technical Mapping Advisory Council 

7 of the Federal Emergency Management Agency; 

8 ‘‘(2) international mapping activities; 

9 ‘‘(3) coastal states; 

10 ‘‘(4) coastal Indian Tribes; 

11 ‘‘(5) data acquisition and user groups through 

12 workshops, partnerships, and other appropriate mech13 anisms; and 

14 ‘‘(6) representatives of nongovernmental enti15 ties.’’. 

16 (8) ADVISORY PANEL.—Section 12203 of such 

17 Act (33 U.S.C. 3502) is amended by striking sub18 section (g). 

19 (9) FUNCTIONS.—Section 12203 of such Act (33 

20 U.S.C. 3502), as amended by paragraph (8), is fur21 ther amended by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(g) SUPPORT FUNCTIONS.—The Working Group shall 

23 support the National Ocean Mapping, Exploration, and 

24 Characterization Council established under section 5 of the 

25 National Ocean Exploration Act and the Ocean Science and 


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1 Technology Subcommittee of the Ocean Policy Committee 

2 established under section 8932(c) of title 10, United States 

3 Code, on ocean mapping activities and associated tech4 nology development across the Federal Government, State 

5 governments, coastal Indian Tribes, private industry, non6 governmental organizations, and academia.’’. 

7 (10) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con8 tents in section 1(b) of the Omnibus Public Land 

9 Management Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–11; 123 

10 Stat. 991) is amended by striking the item relating 

11 to section 12203 and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 12203. Interagency working group on ocean and coastal mapping.’’. 

12 (c) BIENNIAL REPORTS.—Section 12204 of the Ocean 

13 and Coastal Mapping Integration Act (33 U.S.C. 3503) is 

14 amended— 

15 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

16 striking ‘‘No later’’ and all that follows through 

17 ‘‘House of Representatives’’ and inserting ‘‘Not later 

18 than 18 months after the date of the enactment of the 

19 National Ocean Exploration Act, and biennially 

20 thereafter until 2040, the co-chairs of the Working 

21 Group, in coordination with the National Ocean 

22 Mapping, Exploration, and Characterization Council 

23 established under section 5 of such Act, shall submit 

24 to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans25 portation and the Committee on Energy and Natural 


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1 Resources of the Senate, and the Committee on Nat2 ural Resources and the Committee on Science, Space, 

3 and Technology of the House of Representatives,’’; 

4 (2) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, including 

5 the data maintained by the National Centers for En6 vironmental Information of the National Oceanic and 

7 Atmospheric Administration,’’ after ‘‘mapping data’’; 

8 (3) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘, including 

9 a plan to map the coasts of the United States on a 

10 requirements-based cycle, with mapping agencies and 

11 partners coordinating on a unified approach that fac12 tors in recent related studies, meets multiple user re13 quirements, and identifies gaps’’ after ‘‘accom14 plished’’; 

15 (4) by striking paragraph (10) and redesig16 nating paragraphs (11), (12), and (13) as paragraphs 

17 (10), (11), and (12), respectively; 

18 (5) in paragraph (10), as so redesignated, by 

19 striking ‘‘with coastal state and local government pro20 grams’’ and inserting ‘‘with international, coastal 

21 state, and local government and nongovernmental 

22 mapping programs’’; 

23 (6) in paragraph (11), as redesignated by para24 graph (4)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘increase’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘streamline and expand’’; 

3 (B) by inserting ‘‘for the purpose of ful4 filling Federal mapping and charting respon5 sibilities, plans, and strategies’’ after ‘‘entities’’; 

6 and 

7 (C) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting a 

8 semicolon; 

9 (7) in paragraph (12), as redesignated by para10 graph (4), by striking the period at the end and in11 serting a semicolon; and 

12 (8) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(13) a progress report on the development of 

14 new and innovative technologies and applications 

15 through research and development, including coopera16 tive or other agreements with joint or cooperative re17 search institutes and centers and other nongovern18 mental entities; 

19 ‘‘(14) a description of best practices in data 

20 processing and distribution and leveraging opportuni21 ties among agencies represented on the Working 

22 Group and with coastal states, coastal Indian Tribes, 

23 and nongovernmental entities; 

24 ‘‘(15) an identification of any training, tech25 nology, or other requirements for enabling Federal 


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1 mapping programs, vessels, and aircraft to support a 

2 coordinated ocean and coastal mapping program; and 

3 ‘‘(16) a timetable for implementation and com4 pletion of the plan described in paragraph (3), in5 cluding recommendations for integrating new ap6 proaches into the program.’’. 

7 (d) NOAA JOINT OCEAN AND COASTAL MAPPING CEN8 TERS.— 

9 (1) CENTERS.—Section 12205(c) of such Act (33 

10 U.S.C. 3504(c)) is amended— 

11 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

12 by striking ‘‘3’’ and inserting ‘‘three’’; and 

13 (B) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘and 

14 uncrewed’’ after ‘‘sensing’’. 

15 (2) PLAN.—Section 12205 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 

16 3504) is amended— 

17 (A) in the section heading, by striking 

18 ‘‘PLAN’’ and inserting ‘‘NOAA JOINT OCEAN

19 AND COASTAL MAPPING CENTERS’’; 

20 (B) by striking subsections (a), (b), and (d); 

21 and 

22 (C) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘(c) 

23 NOAA JOINT OCEAN AND COASTAL MAPPING

24 CENTERS.—’’. 


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1 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con2 tents in section 1(b) of the Omnibus Public Land 

3 Management Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–11; 123 

4 Stat. 991) is amended by striking the item relating 

5 to section 12205 and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 12205. NOAA joint ocean and coastal mapping centers.’’. 

6 (e) OCEAN AND COASTAL MAPPING FEDERAL FUNDING

7 OPPORTUNITY.—The Ocean and Coastal Mapping Integra8 tion Act (33. U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) is amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating sections 12206, 12207, and 

10 12208 as sections 12208, 12209, and 12210, respec11 tively; and 

12 (2) by inserting after section 12205 the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 12206. OCEAN AND COASTAL MAPPING FEDERAL 

15 FUNDING OPPORTUNITY. 

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

17 date of the enactment of the National Ocean Exploration 

18 Act, the Administrator shall develop an integrated ocean 

19 and coastal mapping Federal funding match opportunity 

20 within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra21 tion with Federal, State, Tribal, local, nonprofit, private 

22 industry, or academic partners in order to increase the co23 ordinated acquisition, processing, stewardship, and archi24 val of new ocean and coastal mapping data in United 

25 States waters. 


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1 ‘‘(b) RULES.—The Administrator shall develop admin2 istrative and procedural rules for the ocean and coastal 

3 mapping Federal funding match opportunity developed 

4 under subsection (a), to include— 

5 ‘‘(1) specific and detailed criteria that must be 

6 addressed by an applicant, such as geographic overlap 

7 with pre-established priorities, number and type of 

8 project partners, benefit to the applicant, coordina9 tion with other funding opportunities, and benefit to 

10 the public; 

11 ‘‘(2) determination of the appropriate funding 

12 match amounts and mechanisms to use, such as 

13 grants, agreements, or contracts; and 

14 ‘‘(3) other funding award criteria as are nec15 essary or appropriate to ensure that evaluations of 

16 proposals and decisions to award funding under this 

17 section are based on objective standards applied fairly 

18 and equitably to those proposals. 

19 ‘‘(c) GEOSPATIAL SERVICES AND CONTRACT VEHI20 CLES.—The ocean and coastal mapping Federal funding 

21 match opportunity developed under subsection (a) shall le22 verage Federal expertise and capacities for geospatial serv23 ices and Federal geospatial contract vehicles using the pri24 vate sector for acquisition efficiencies. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 12207. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS, CONTRACTS, AND 

2 GRANTS. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—To carry out interagency activi4 ties under this subtitle, the heads of agencies represented 

5 on the Working Group may enter into cooperative agree6 ments, or any other agreement with each other, and trans7 fer, receive, and expend funds made available by any Fed8 eral agency, any State or subdivision thereof, or any public 

9 or private organization or individual, for ocean and coastal 

10 mapping investigations, surveys, studies, and other 

11 geospatial collaborations authorized by this subtitle or 

12 agreements authorized by section 5 of the Act entitled ‘An 

13 Act to define the functions and duties of the Coast and Geo14 detic Survey, and for other purposes’, approved August 6, 

15 1947 (33 U.S.C. 883e). 

16 ‘‘(b) GRANTS.—The Administrator may make grants 

17 to any State or subdivision thereof or any public or private 

18 organization or individual to carry out the purposes of this 

19 subtitle.’’. 

20 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

21 12209 of such Act, as redesignated by subsection (e)(1), is 

22 amended— 

23 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘this subtitle’’ 

24 and all that follows and inserting ‘‘this subtitle 

25 $45,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 

26 2026.’’; 


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1 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘this subtitle’’ 

2 and all that follows and inserting ‘‘this subtitle 

3 $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 

4 2026.’’; 

5 (3) by striking subsection (c); and 

6 (4) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(c) OCEAN AND COASTAL MAPPING FEDERAL FUND9 ING OPPORTUNITY.—Of amounts appropriated pursuant to 

10 subsection (a), $20,000,000 is authorized to carry out sec11 tion 12206.’’. 

12 (g) DEFINITIONS.— 

13 (1) OCEAN AND COASTAL MAPPING.—Paragraph 

14 (5) of section 12210 of such Act, as redesignated by 

15 subsection (e)(1), is amended by striking ‘‘processing, 

16 and management’’ and inserting ‘‘processing, man17 agement, maintenance, interpretation, certification, 

18 and dissemination’’. 

19 (2) COASTAL INDIAN TRIBE.—Section 12210 of 

20 such Act, as redesignated by subsection (e)(1), is 

21 amended by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(9) COASTAL INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘coastal 

23 Indian Tribe’ means an ‘Indian tribe’, as defined in 

24 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and EduVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:45 Dec 17, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00077 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S381.RS S381

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1 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304), the land of 

2 which is located in a coastal state.’’. 

3 (h) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of contents in 

4 section 1(b) of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act 

5 of 2009 (Public Law 111–11; 123 Stat. 991) is amended 

6 by striking the items relating to sections 12206 through 

7 12208 and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 12206. Ocean and coastal mapping Federal funding opportunity. 

‘‘Sec. 12207. Cooperative agreements, contracts, and grants. 

‘‘Sec. 12208. Effect on other laws. 

‘‘Sec. 12209. Authorization of appropriations. 

‘‘Sec. 12210. Definitions.’’. 

8 SEC. 9. MODIFICATIONS TO HYDROGRAPHIC SERVICES IM9 PROVEMENT ACT OF 1998. 

10 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 302(4)(A) of the Hydro11 graphic Services Improvement Act of 1998 (33 U.S.C. 

12 892(4)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘hydrodynamic forecast 

13 and datum transformation models,’’ after ‘‘nautical infor14 mation databases,’’. 

15 (b) FUNCTIONS OF THE ADMINISTRATOR.—Section 

16 303(b) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 892a(b)) is amended— 

17 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

18 inserting ‘‘precision navigation,’’ after ‘‘promote’’; 

19 and 

20 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

21 (A) by inserting ‘‘and hydrodynamic fore22 cast models’’ after ‘‘monitoring systems’’; 


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1 (B) by inserting ‘‘and provide foundational 

2 information and services required to support 

3 coastal resilience planning for coastal transpor4 tation and other infrastructure, coastal protec5 tion and restoration projects, and related activi6 ties’’ after ‘‘efficiency’’; and 

7 (C) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting a 

8 semicolon. 

9 (c) QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAM.—Section 304(a) 

10 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 892b(a)) is amended by striking 

11 ‘‘product produced’’ and inserting ‘‘product or service pro12 duced or disseminated’’. 

13 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

14 306(a) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 892d(a)) is amended— 

15 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘$70,814,000 

16 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023’’ and in17 serting ‘‘$71,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 

18 through 2026’’; 

19 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘$25,000,000 

20 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023’’ and in21 serting ‘‘$34,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 

22 through 2026’’; 

23 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘$29,932,000 

24 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023’’ and inVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:45 Dec 17, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00079 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S381.RS S381

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1 serting ‘‘$38,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 

2 through 2026’’; 

3 (4) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘$26,800,000 

4 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023’’ and in5 serting ‘‘$45,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 

6 through 2026’’; and 

7 (5) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘$30,564,000 

8 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023’’ and in9 serting ‘‘$35,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 

10 through 2026’’. 


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Calendar No. 195 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 381 

A BILL 

To establish the National Ocean Mapping, Exploother purposes. ration, and Characterization Council, and for 

DECEMBER 16, 2021 

Reported with an amendment 


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