I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 845 

To provide for ocean acidification collaborative research grant opportunities. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 3, 2017 

Mr. CARBAJAL (for himself, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. KEATING, Mr. LOWENTHAL, 

Mr. HECK, and Ms. BONAMICI) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To provide for ocean acidification collaborative research grant 

opportunities. 

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 ‘‘Ocean Acidification 

5 Research Partnerships Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. OCEAN ACIDIFICATION COLLABORATIVE RE7 SEARCH GRANTS. 

8 The Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Moni9 toring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.) is amended 

10 by inserting after section 12406 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 12406A. OCEAN ACIDIFICATION COLLABORATIVE RE2 SEARCH GRANTS. 

3 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) ACADEMIC COMMUNITY.—The term ‘aca5 demic community’ includes faculty and other rep6 resentatives of institutions of higher education and 

7 other schools, researchers, scientists, and natural re8 source managers. 

9 ‘‘(2) SEAFOOD INDUSTRY.—The term ‘seafood 

10 industry’ includes shellfish growers, shellfish har11 vesters, commercial fishermen, recreational fisher12 men, other members of the seafood harvesting or 

13 supply chain, and organizations representing any of 

14 such groups. 

15 ‘‘(b) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall provide grants 

16 for collaborative research projects on ocean acidification 

17 developed and conducted through partnerships between 

18 the seafood industry and the academic community. 

19 ‘‘(c) CRITERIA FOR APPROVAL.—The Secretary may 

20 not provide a grant for a project under this section unless 

21 the project is— 

22 ‘‘(1) consistent with the themes identified under 

23 the strategic research plan developed by the Sub24 committee under section 12405; and 

25 ‘‘(2) designed to— 


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1 ‘‘(A) develop and support partnerships, 

2 communications, and shared understanding be3 tween the seafood industry and the academic 

4 community; 

5 ‘‘(B) include the seafood industry in re6 search on ocean acidification; 

7 ‘‘(C) deliver research, monitoring, or adap8 tation results which will benefit both the sea9 food industry and the academic community; 

10 ‘‘(D) incorporate into the research agenda 

11 the expertise of both the seafood industry, in12 cluding their unique understanding of the nat13 ural environment, and the academic community; 

14 ‘‘(E) promote better understanding of sea15 food industry research questions and priorities 

16 within the academic community; 

17 ‘‘(F) promote wider understanding of 

18 ocean acidification among the academic commu19 nity, the seafood industry, and other stake20 holders as appropriate; and 

21 ‘‘(G) include appropriately balanced sup22 port from both the seafood industry and the 

23 academic community. 

24 ‘‘(d) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall prioritize fund25 ing under this section to projects which— 


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1 ‘‘(1) address ecosystems and communities vul2 nerable to the impacts of ocean acidification; 

3 ‘‘(2) demonstrate support from local stake4 holders, such as representatives of States or other 

5 governmental jurisdictions, community organiza6 tions, tribes, or educational institutions, as appro7 priate, located within the region in which the project 

8 will be undertaken; or 

9 ‘‘(3) utilize seafood industry assets as research 

10 and monitoring platforms. 

11 ‘‘(e) IMPLEMENTATION GUIDELINES.—Not later 

12 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this section, 

13 the Secretary, in collaboration with the Subcommittee, 

14 shall issue implementation guidelines under this section, 

15 including criteria and priorities for grants. Those guide16 lines shall be developed in consultation, as appropriate, 

17 with— 

18 ‘‘(1) State, regional, and local decisionmakers 

19 with ocean acidification experience; 

20 ‘‘(2) the seafood industry and other marine-de21 pendent industries; 

22 ‘‘(3) formal and informal educators, including 

23 both those within academia and those who are not; 

24 ‘‘(4) tribes; 


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1 ‘‘(5) nongovernmental organizations involved in 

2 ocean acidification research, prevention, or adapta3 tion; and 

4 ‘‘(6) any other appropriate community stake5 holders. 

6 ‘‘(f) CONTENTS OF PROPOSALS.—Each proposal for 

7 a grant under this section shall include— 

8 ‘‘(1) a description of the qualifications of the 

9 individuals or entities who will conduct the project; 

10 ‘‘(2) a plan for ensuring full participation and 

11 engagement of both industry and academic commu12 nity participants, including a description of how each 

13 partner will contribute expertise to the project in 

14 terms of design, execution, and interpretation of re15 sults; 

16 ‘‘(3) a plan for the dissemination of the results 

17 of the research project, which may include— 

18 ‘‘(A) educational programs; 

19 ‘‘(B) presentations to members of the sea20 food industry, the academic community, and 

21 community stakeholders; 

22 ‘‘(C) scientific publication; and 

23 ‘‘(D) delivery to appropriate representa24 tives of States or other government jurisdictions 

25 who would use the information; 


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1 ‘‘(4) a description of how the project is con2 sistent with the program elements described in sec3 tion 12405(c); and 

4 ‘‘(5) any other information the Secretary con5 siders necessary for evaluating the eligibility of the 

6 project for funding under this section. 

7 ‘‘(g) ALTERNATIVE PARTICIPANTS.—The Secretary 

8 may make a grant under this section to a partnership in 

9 which a marine-dependent industry is substituted for the 

10 seafood industry if the proposed project serves the pur11 poses of this section. In such a case, the participation and 

12 interests of that marine-dependent industry shall be sub13 stituted for those of the seafood industry in applying the 

14 requirements of this section. 

15 ‘‘(h) PROJECT REPORTING.—Each grantee under 

16 this section shall provide periodic reports as required by 

17 the Secretary. Each such report shall include all informa18 tion required by the Secretary for evaluating the progress 

19 and success of the project. 

20 ‘‘(i) MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para22 graph (2), the total amount of Federal funding for 

23 a collaborative research project supported under this 

24 section may not exceed 85 percent of the total cost 

25 of such project. For purposes of this paragraph, the 


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1 non-Federal share of project costs may be provided 

2 by in-kind contributions and other noncash support. 

3 ‘‘(2) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive all or 

4 part of the matching requirement under paragraph 

5 (1) if the Secretary determines that no reasonable 

6 means are available through which applicants can 

7 meet the matching requirement and the probable 

8 benefit of such project outweighs the public interest 

9 in such matching requirement. 

10 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

11 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for car12 rying out this section $5,000,000 for each of the fiscal 

13 years 2018 through 2022.’’. 

Æ 


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