II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 272 

To promote research, monitoring, and observation of the Arctic and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 11, 2013 

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

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To promote research, monitoring, and observation of the 

Arctic 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 ‘‘Arctic Research, Moni5 toring, and Observing Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

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

9 (1) The United States is an Arctic Nation 

10 with— 


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1 (A) an approximately 700-mile border with 

2 the Arctic Ocean; 

3 (B) more than 100,000,000 acres of land 

4 above the Arctic Circle; and 

5 (C) an even broader area defined as Arctic 

6 by temperature, which includes the Bering Sea 

7 and Aleutian Islands. 

8 (2) The Arctic region of the United States is 

9 home to an indigenous population that has subsisted 

10 for millennia on the abundance in marine mammals, 

11 fish, and wildlife, many of which are unique to the 

12 region. 

13 (3) Temperatures in the United States Arctic 

14 region have warmed by 3 to 4 degrees Celsius over 

15 the past half-century, a rate of increase that is twice 

16 the global average. 

17 (4) The Arctic ice pack is rapidly diminishing 

18 and thinning, and the National Oceanic and Atmos19 pheric Administration estimates the Arctic Ocean 

20 may be ice free during summer months in as few as 

21 30 years. 

22 (5) Such changes to the Arctic region are hav23 ing a significant impact on the indigenous people of 

24 the Arctic, their communities and ecosystems, as 


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1 well as the marine mammals, fish, and wildlife upon 

2 which they depend. 

3 (6) Such changes are opening new portions of 

4 the United States Arctic continental shelf to possible 

5 development for offshore oil and gas, commercial 

6 fishing, marine shipping, and tourism. 

7 (7) Existing Federal research and science advi8 sory programs focused on the environmental and so9 cioeconomic impacts of a changing Arctic lack a co10 hesive, coordinated, and integrated approach and are 

11 not adequately coordinated with State, local, aca12 demic, and private-sector Arctic research programs. 

13 (8) The lack of research integration and syn14 thesis of findings of Arctic research has impeded the 

15 progress of the United States and international com16 munity in understanding climate change impacts 

17 and feedback mechanisms in the Arctic Ocean. 

18 (9) An improved scientific understanding of the 

19 changing Arctic is critical to the development of ap20 propriate and effective regional, national, and global 

21 climate change adaptation strategies. 

22 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to estab23 lish a permanent program to conduct research, moni24 toring, and observation activities in the Arctic— 


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1 (1) to promote and sustain a productive and re2 silient marine, coastal, and estuarine ecosystem in 

3 the Arctic and the human uses of its natural re4 sources through greater understanding of how the 

5 ecosystem works and monitoring and observation of 

6 its vital signs; and 

7 (2) to track and evaluate the effectiveness of 

8 natural resource management in the Arctic in order 

9 to facilitate improved performance and adaptive 

10 management. 

11 SEC. 3. ARCTIC RESEARCH COMMISSION. 

12 (a) DUTIES OF THE ARCTIC RESEARCH COMMIS13 SION.—Section 104(a) of the Arctic Research and Policy 

14 Act of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 4103(a)) is amended— 

15 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘assist in es16 tablishing’’ and inserting ‘‘establish’’; 

17 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through 

18 (10) as paragraphs (4) through (11), respectively; 

19 and 

20 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(3) award— 

23 ‘‘(A) grants to Federal, State, local, or 

24 tribal governments and academic and private 

25 organizations to conduct research on or related 


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1 to the Arctic, including to the marine environ2 ment of the Arctic Ocean, its adjacent seas or 

3 associated lesser bodies of water; and 

4 ‘‘(B) such grants on the basis of merit in 

5 accordance with such national Arctic research 

6 program plan;’’. 

7 (b) ADMINISTRATION OF THE COMMISSION.—Section 

8 106 of the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 (15 

9 U.S.C. 4105) is amended— 

10 (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

11 end; 

12 (2) in paragraph (5), by striking the period at 

13 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

15 ‘‘(6) enter into agreements with appropriate 

16 agencies or organizations to administer grants made 

17 pursuant to this title for Arctic research including 

18 reimbursement from funds of the Commission to ad19 minister such grants.’’. 

20 (c) COMPENSATION OF COMMISSION MEMBERS.— 

21 Section 103(d)(1) of the Arctic Research and Policy Act 

22 of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 4102(d)(1)) is amended by striking 

23 ‘‘for compensation’’ in the second sentence and inserting 

24 ‘‘by the Federal Government or any State or local govern25 ment’’. 


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1 (d) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.— 

2 (1) ARCTIC RESEARCH COMMISSION.—Section 

3 103 of the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 

4 (15 U.S.C. 4102) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘(e) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—The Commission 

7 shall adopt conflict of interest and recusal provisions that 

8 apply to any decision by the Commission and to all mem9 bers of the Commission as if each member of the Commis10 sion is an ‘affected individual’ within the meaning of sec11 tion 302(j) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 

12 and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1852(j)), except that in 

13 addition to the disclosure requirements of paragraph (2) 

14 of such section 302(j), each member of the Commission 

15 shall disclose any financial interest or relationship in an 

16 organization or with an individual that is applying for 

17 funding from the Commission held by the member of the 

18 Commission, including an interest as an officer, director, 

19 trustee, partner, employee, contractor, agent, or other rep20 resentative.’’. 

21 (2) NORTH PACIFIC RESEARCH BOARD.—Sub22 section (e) of section 401 of the Department of the 

23 Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 

24 1998 (43 U.S.C. 1474d) is amended— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (4)(B), by striking ‘‘15 

2 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘20 percent’’; and 

3 (B) by striking paragraph (5) and insert4 ing the following: 

5 ‘‘(5) The Board shall adopt conflict of interest 

6 and recusal provisions that apply to any decision by 

7 the Board and to all members of the Board as if 

8 each member of the Board is an ‘affected individual’ 

9 within the meaning of section 302(j) of the Magnu10 son-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 

11 Act (16 U.S.C. 1852(j)), except that in addition to 

12 the disclosure requirements of paragraph (2) of such 

13 section 302(j), each member of the Board shall dis14 close any financial interest or relationship in an or15 ganization or with an individual that is applying for 

16 funding from the Board, including an interest as an 

17 officer, director, trustee, partner, employee, con18 tractor, agent, or other representative.’’. 

19 SEC. 4. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT AND RESTORA20 TION FUND. 

21 (a) TRANSFER AND AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS

22 EARNED.—Subsection (c) of section 401 of the Depart23 ment of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations 

24 Act, 1998 (43 U.S.C. 1474d) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘To the extent 

2 provided in the subsequent appropriations Acts, 80 

3 percent of such amounts shall be made available’’ 

4 and inserting ‘‘40 percent of such amounts shall be 

5 made available without further appropriations’’; 

6 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘20 percent’’ 

7 and inserting ‘‘25 percent’’; and 

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

9 ‘‘(3) 25 percent of such amounts shall be made 

10 without further appropriation to the United States 

11 Arctic Research Commission for the purposes of car12 rying out research and monitoring in the Arctic as 

13 provided in subsection (f). 

14 ‘‘(4) 10 percent of such amounts shall be made 

15 available without further appropriations to the Sec16 retary of Commerce to fund the Alaska Ocean Ob17 serving Program as provided in subsection (g).’’. 

18 (b) AUTHORITY TO ACCEPT NON-FEDERAL FUNDS

19 FOR USE BY NORTH PACIFIC RESEARCH BOARD.—Sub20 section (e) of such section is amended by adding at the 

21 end the following: 

22 ‘‘(6) ACCEPTANCE OF NON-FEDERAL FUNDS.— 

23 The Secretary of Commerce may accept funds from 

24 a source other than the Government of the United 


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1 States to be used by the Board to carry out this 

2 subsection.’’. 

3 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Such section is further amend4 ed by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(f) UNITED STATES ARCTIC RESEARCH COMMIS6 SION.— 

7 ‘‘(1) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds available under 

8 subsection (c)(3) shall be used by the Arctic Re9 search Commission established by section 103 of the 

10 Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 

11 4102) to award grants under subsection (a)(3) of 

12 such section. 

13 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Not more than 20 percent 

14 of funds available under subsection (c)(3) may be 

15 used for costs associated with administering the 

16 awarding of grants under section 103(a)(3) of the 

17 Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 

18 4102(a)(3)). 

19 ‘‘(g) ALASKA OCEAN OBSERVING SYSTEM.—Funds 

20 available under subsection (c)(4) shall be used to support 

21 the Alaska Ocean Observing System in a manner con22 sistent with the Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation 

23 System Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.), for the pur24 pose of establishing long-term ocean observing systems 

25 and monitoring programs in waters of the United States 


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1 in the North Pacific, Bering Sea, and Arctic Ocean. Not 

2 more than 20 percent of the funds made available pursu3 ant to subsection (c)(4) may be used to provide adminis4 trative support under this subsection. 

5 ‘‘(h) DUPLICATION OF EFFORT; REPORT.—Pro6 grams and grants funded pursuant to paragraphs (2), (3), 

7 and (4) of subsection (c) shall seek to avoid duplicating 

8 other research activities. The North Pacific Research 

9 Board, the Arctic Research Commission, and the Alaska 

10 Ocean Observing System shall— 

11 ‘‘(1) meet not less than once annually to pro12 mote coordination among research programs and 

13 projects; and 

14 ‘‘(2) submit to Congress and the President an 

15 annual report on the status of research conducted 

16 pursuant to this title. 

17 ‘‘(i) ARCTIC DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

18 ‘Arctic’ has the meaning given that term in section 112 

19 of the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 

20 4111).’’. 

Æ 


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