II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1581 

To establish an interagency committee to develop an ocean acidification research and monitoring plan and to establish an ocean acidification program within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 7, 2007 

Mr. LAUTENBERG (for himself and Ms. CANTWELL) introduced the following 

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

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To establish an interagency committee to develop an ocean 

acidification research and monitoring plan and to establish an ocean acidification program within the National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Federal Ocean Acidification Research And Monitoring 

6 Act of 2007’’ or the ‘‘FOARAM Act’’. 

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

8 this Act is as follows: 


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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings and purposes. 

Sec. 3. Interagency committee on ocean acidification. 

Sec. 4. Strategic research and implementation plan. 

Sec. 5. NOAA ocean acidification program. 

Sec. 6. Definitions. 

Sec. 7. Authorization of appropriations. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) The oceans help mitigate the effects of glob4 al warming by absorbing atmospheric carbon diox5 ide. About a third of anthropogenic carbon dioxide 

6 is currently absorbed by the ocean. 

7 (2) The rapid increase in atmospheric carbon 

8 dioxide is overwhelming the natural ability of the 

9 oceans to cope with human-induced carbon dioxide 

10 emissions. 

11 (3) The emission of carbon dioxide into the at12 mosphere is causing the oceans to become more 

13 acidic. The increase in acidity and changes in ocean 

14 chemistry are corrosive to marine shells and orga15 nisms that form the base of the food chain for many 

16 fish and marine mammals including the skeletons of 

17 corals which provide one of the richest habitats on 

18 earth. 

19 (4) The rich biodiversity of marine organisms is 

20 an important contribution to the national economy 

21 and the change in ocean chemistry threatens our 


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1 fisheries and marine environmental quality, and 

2 could result in significant social and economic costs. 

3 (5) Existing Federal programs support research 

4 in related ocean chemistry, but gaps in funding, co5 ordination, and outreach have impeded national 

6 progress in addressing ocean acidification. 

7 (6) National investment in a coordinated pro8 gram of research and monitoring would improve the 

9 understanding of ocean acidification effects on whole 

10 ecosystems, advance our knowledge of the socio-eco11 nomic impacts of increased ocean acidification, and 

12 strengthen the ability of marine resource managers 

13 to assess and prepare for the harmful impacts of 

14 ocean acidification on our marine resources. 

15 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to pro16 vide for— 

17 (1) development and coordination of a com18 prehensive interagency plan to monitor and conduct 

19 research on the processes and consequences of ocean 

20 acidification on marine organisms and ecosystems 

21 and to establish an ocean acidification program 

22 within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad23 ministration; and 

24 (2) assessment and consideration of regional 

25 and national ecosystem and socio-economic impacts 


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1 of increased ocean acidification, and integration into 

2 marine resource decisions. 

3 SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE ON OCEAN ACIDIFICA4 TION. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is hereby established 

7 an Interagency Committee on Ocean Acidification. 

8 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Committee shall be 

9 comprised of senior representatives from the Na10 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the 

11 National Science Foundation, the National Aero12 nautics and Space Administration, the United States 

13 Geological Survey, the United States Fish and Wild14 life Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, 

15 the Department of Energy, and such other Federal 

16 agencies as the Secretary considers appropriate. 

17 (3) CHAIRMAN.—The Committee shall be 

18 chaired by the representative from the National Oce19 anic and Atmospheric Administration. The chairman 

20 may create subcommittees chaired by any member 

21 agency of the committee. Working groups may be 

22 formed by the full Committee to address issues that 

23 may require more specialized expertise than is pro24 vided by existing subcommittees. 


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1 (b) PURPOSE.—The Committee shall oversee the 

2 planning, establishment, and coordination of a plan de3 signed to improve the understanding of the role of in4 creased ocean acidification on marine ecosystems. 

5 (c) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

6 (1) STRATEGIC RESEARCH AND IMPLEMENTA7 TION PLAN.—The Committee shall submit the stra8 tegic research and implementation plan established 

9 under section 4 to the Senate Committee on Com10 merce, Science, and Transportation and the House 

11 of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources. 

12 (2) TRIENNIAL REPORT.—Not later than 2 

13 years after the date of the enactment of this Act and 

14 every 3 years thereafter, the Committee shall trans15 mit a report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, 

16 Science, and Transportation and the House of Rep17 resentatives Committee on Natural Resources that 

18 includes— 

19 (A) a summary of federally funded ocean 

20 acidification research and monitoring activities, 

21 including the budget for each of these activities; 

22 and 

23 (B) an analysis of the progress made to24 ward achieving the goals and priorities for the 

25 interagency research plan developed by the 


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1 Committee under section 4 and recommenda2 tions for future activities. 

3 SEC. 4. STRATEGIC RESEARCH AND IMPLEMENTATION 

4 PLAN. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Within 1 year after the date of 

6 enactment of this Act, the Committee shall develop a stra7 tegic research and implementation plan for coordinated 

8 Federal activities. In developing the plan, the Committee 

9 shall consider and use reports and studies conducted by 

10 Federal agencies and departments, the National Research 

11 Council, the Ocean Research and Resources Advisory 

12 Panel, the Joint Subcommittee on Ocean, Science, and 

13 Technology of the National Science and Technology Coun14 cil, the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative, and other ex15 pert scientific bodies. 

16 (b) SCOPE.—The plan shall— 

17 (1) provide for interdisciplinary research among 

18 the ocean sciences, and coordinated research and ac19 tivities to improve understanding of ocean acidifica20 tion that will affect marine ecosystems and to assess 

21 the potential and realized socio-economic impact of 

22 ocean acidification, including— 

23 (A) effects of atmospheric carbon dioxide 

24 on ocean chemistry; 


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1 (B) biological impacts of ocean acidifica2 tion, including research on— 

3 (i) commercially and recreationally 

4 important species and ecologically impor5 tant calcifiers that lie at the base of the 

6 food chain; and 

7 (ii) physiological changes in response 

8 to ocean acidification; 

9 (C) identification and assessment of eco10 systems most at risk from projected changes in 

11 ocean chemistry including— 

12 (i) coral reef ecosystems; 

13 (ii) polar ecosystems; and 

14 (iii) coastal ocean ecosystems; 

15 (D) modeling the effects of pH including 

16 ecosystem forecasting; 

17 (E) identifying feedback mechanisms re18 sulting from the ocean chemistry changes and 

19 the subsequent decrease in calcification rates in 

20 organisms; 

21 (F) socio-economic impacts of ocean acidi22 fication, including commercially and 

23 recreationally important fisheries; 


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1 (2) establish, for the 10-year period beginning 

2 in the year it is submitted, goals, priorities, and 

3 guidelines for coordinated activities that will— 

4 (A) most effectively advance scientific un5 derstanding of the characteristics and impacts 

6 of ocean acidification; 

7 (B) provide forecasts of changes in ocean 

8 acidification and the consequent impacts on ma9 rine ecosystems; and 

10 (C) provide a basis for policy decisions to 

11 reduce and manage ocean acidification and its 

12 environmental impacts; 

13 (3) provide an estimate of Federal funding re14 quirements for research and monitoring activities; 

15 and 

16 (4) identify and strengthen relevant programs 

17 and activities of the Federal agencies and depart18 ments that would contribute to accomplishing the 

19 goals of the plan and prevent unnecessary duplica20 tion of efforts, including making recommendations 

21 for the use of observing systems and technological 

22 research and development. 

23 SEC. 5. NOAA OCEAN ACIDIFICATION PROGRAM. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish and 

25 maintain an ocean acidification program within the NaVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:51 Jun 09, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1581.IS S1581

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1 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to imple2 ment activities consistent with the strategic research and 

3 implementation plan developed by the Committee under 

4 section 4 that— 

5 (1) includes— 

6 (A) interdisciplinary research among the 

7 ocean sciences, and coordinated research and 

8 activities to improve understanding of ocean 

9 acidification; 

10 (B) the establishment of a long-term moni11 toring program of pH levels in the ocean uti12 lizing existing global ocean observing assets and 

13 adding instrumentation and sampling stations 

14 as appropriate to the aims of the research pro15 gram; 

16 (C) educational opportunities that encour17 age an interdisciplinary and international ap18 proach to exploring the impacts of ocean acidifi19 cation; 

20 (D) national public outreach activities to 

21 improve the understanding of ocean acidifica22 tion and its impacts on marine resources; and 

23 (E) coordination of ocean acidification 

24 monitoring and impacts research with other ap25 propriate international ocean science bodies 


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1 such as the International Oceanographic Com2 mission, the International Council for the Ex3 ploration of the Sea, the North Pacific Marine 

4 Science Organization, and others; 

5 (2) provides grants for critical research projects 

6 that explore the effects of ocean acidification on eco7 systems and the socio-economic impacts of increased 

8 ocean acidification that are relevant to the goals and 

9 priorities of the strategic research plan; and 

10 (3) incorporates a competitive merit-based 

11 grant process that may be conducted jointly with 

12 other participating agencies or under the National 

13 Oceanographic Partnership Program under section 

14 7901 of title 10, United States Code. 

15 (b) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY.—In conducting the 

16 Program, the Secretary may enter into and perform such 

17 contracts, leases, grants, or cooperative agreements as 

18 may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act 

19 on such terms as the Secretary deems appropriate. 

20 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

21 In this Act: 

22 (1) COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Committee’’ 

23 means the Interagency Committee on Ocean Acidifi24 cation established by section 3(a). 


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1 (2) OCEAN ACIDIFICATION.—The term ‘‘ocean 

2 acidification’’ means the decrease in the pH of the 

3 Earth’s oceans caused by the uptake of anthropo4 genic carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. 

5 (3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 

6 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra7 tion Ocean Acidification Program established under 

8 section 5. 

9 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

10 the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Ad11 ministrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos12 pheric Administration. 

13 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro15 priated to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis16 tration $30,000,000 to carry out the purposes of this Act 

17 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012, and such sums 

18 as may be necessary for fiscal years after fiscal year 2012. 

19 (b) ALLOCATION.— 

20 (1) Of the amounts made available to carry out 

21 this Act for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall allocate 

22 at least 60 percent to other departments and agen23 cies to carry out the priorities of the plan developed 

24 by the Committee. 


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1 (2) Of the amounts made available to carry out 

2 this Act for any fiscal year, the Secretary, and other 

3 departments and agencies to which amounts are al4 located under paragraph (1), shall allocate at least 

5 50 percent for competitive grants. 

Æ 


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