II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2489

To establish a program within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration to integrate Federal coastal and ocean mapping activities. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 2, 2004

Mr. INOUYE (for himself, Mr. STEVENS, Mr. HOLLINGS, Mr. GREGG, Ms. 

SNOWE, and Mr. LOTT) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL

To establish a program within the National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration to integrate Federal coastal 

and ocean mapping activities.

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 ‘‘Coastal and Ocean 

5 Mapping Integration Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INTEGRATED COASTAL AND OCEAN MAPPING PRO7 GRAM. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Na9 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall es-
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1 tablish a program to develop, in coordination with the 

2 Interagency Committee on Coastal and Ocean Mapping, 

3 a coordinated and comprehensive Federal ocean and coast4 al mapping program for the Great Lakes and Coastal 

5 State waters, the territorial sea, the exclusive economic 

6 zone, and the continental shelf of the United States that 

7 enhances conservation and management of marine re8 sources, improves decision-making regarding research pri9 orities and the siting of research and other platforms, and 

10 advances coastal and ocean science. 

11 (b) PROGRAM PARAMETERS.—In developing such a 

12 program, the Administrator shall work with the Com13 mittee to—

14 (1) identify all Federal programs conducting 

15 shoreline delineation and coastal or ocean mapping, 

16 noting geographic coverage, frequency, spatial cov17 erage, resolution, and subject matter focus of the 

18 data and location of data archives; 

19 (2) promote cost-effective, cooperative mapping 

20 efforts among all Federal coastal and ocean mapping 

21 agencies by increasing data sharing, developing data 

22 acquisition and metadata standards, and facilitating 

23 the interoperability of in situ data collection systems, 

24 data processing, archiving, and distribution of data 

25 products; 
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1 (3) facilitate the adaptation of existing tech2 nologies as well as foster expertise in new coastal 

3 and ocean mapping technologies by engaging in co4 operative training programs and leveraging agency 

5 expertise, non-governmental organizations, and pri6 vate sector resources to efficiently meet Federal 

7 mapping mandates; 

8 (4) develop standards and protocols for testing 

9 innovative experimental mapping technologies and 

10 transferring new technologies to the private sector; 

11 (5) centrally archive, manage, and distribute 

12 data sets as well as provide mapping products and 

13 services to the general public in service of statutory 

14 requirements; and 

15 (6) develop specific data presentation methods 

16 for use by Federal, State, and other entities that 

17 document locations of federally permitted activities, 

18 submerged cultural resources, undersea cables, off19 shore aquaculture projects, and any areas designated 

20 for the purposes of environmental protection or con21 servation and management of living marine re22 sources. 
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1 SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE ON COASTAL AND 

2 OCEAN MAPPING. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established 

4 an Interagency Committee on Coastal and Ocean Map5 ping. 

6 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Committee shall be com7 prised of senior representatives from Federal agencies 

8 with ocean and coastal mapping and surveying responsibil9 ities. The representatives shall be high-ranking officials of 

10 their respective agencies or departments and, whenever 

11 possible, the head of the portion of the agency or depart12 ment that is most relevant to the purposes of this Act. 

13 Membership shall include senior representatives from the 

14 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the 

15 Chief of Naval Operations, the United States Geological 

16 Survey, Minerals Management Service, National Science 

17 Foundation, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, 

18 United States Army Corps of Engineers, United States 

19 Coast Guard, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal 

20 Emergency Management Agency and National Aero21 nautics and Space Administration, and other appropriate 

22 Federal agencies involved in ocean and coastal mapping. 

23 (c) CHAIRMAN.—The Committee shall be chaired by 

24 the representative from the National Oceanic and Atmos25 pheric Administration. The chairman may create sub26 committees chaired by any member agency of the com-
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1 mittee. Working groups may be formed by the full Com2 mittee to address issues of short duration. 

3 (d) MEETINGS.—The Committee shall meet on a 

4 quarterly basis, but subcommittee or working group meet5 ings shall meet on an as-needed basis. 

6 (e) COORDINATION.—The committee should coordi7 nate activities, when appropriate, with other Federal ef8 forts, including the Digital Coast, Geospatial One-Stop, 

9 and the Federal Geographic Data Committee. 

10 SEC. 4. NOAA INTEGRATED MAPPING INITIATIVE. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 

12 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in con13 sultation with the Committee, shall develop and submit to 

14 the Congress a plan for an integrated coastal and ocean 

15 mapping initiative within the National Oceanic and At16 mospheric Administration. 

17 (b) PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—The plan shall—

18 (1) identify and describe all coastal and ocean 

19 mapping programs within the agency, including 

20 those that conduct mapping or related activities in 

21 the course of existing missions, such as hydrographic 

22 surveys, ocean exploration projects, living marine re23 source conservation and management programs, 

24 coastal zone management projects, and coastal and 

25 ocean science projects; 
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1 (2) establish geographic priorities and minimum 

2 data acquisition and metadata standards for those 

3 programs; 

4 (3) encourage the development of innovative 

5 coastal and ocean mapping technologies and applica6 tions through research and development cooperative 

7 agreements at joint institutes; 

8 (4) document available and developing tech9 nologies, best practices in data processing and dis10 tribution, and leveraging opportunities with other 

11 Federal agencies, non-governmental organizations, 

12 and the private sector; 

13 (5) identify training, technology, and other re14 source requirements for enabling the National Oce15 anic and Atmospheric Administration’s programs, 

16 ships, and aircraft to support a coordinated coastal 

17 and ocean mapping program; 

18 (6) identify a centralized mechanism for coordi19 nating data collection, processing, archiving, and dis20 semination activities of all such mapping programs 

21 within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad22 ministration, including—

23 (A) designating primary data processing 

24 centers to maximize efficiency in information 

25 technology investment, develop consistency in 
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1 data processing, and meet Federal mandates 

2 for data accessibility; and 

3 (B) designating a repository that is re4 sponsible for archiving and managing the dis5 tribution of all coastal and ocean mapping data 

6 to simplify the provision of services to benefit 

7 Federal and State programs; and 

8 (7) set forth a timetable for implementation 

9 and completion of the plan, including a schedule for 

10 periodic Congressional progress reports, and rec11 ommendations for integrating approaches developed 

12 under the initiative into the interagency program. 

13 (c) NOAA JOINT HYDROGRAPHIC CENTERS.—The 

14 Secretary is authorized to maintain and operate up to 3 

15 joint hydrographic centers, which shall be co-located with 

16 an institution of higher education. The centers shall serve 

17 as hydrographic centers of excellence and are authorized 

18 to conduct activities necessary to carry out the purposes 

19 of this Act, including—

20 (1) research and development of innovative 

21 coastal and ocean mapping technologies, equipment, 

22 and data products; 

23 (2) mapping of the United States outer conti24 nental shelf; 
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1 (3) data processing for non-traditional data and 

2 uses; 

3 (4) advancing the use of remote sensing tech4 nologies, for related issues, including mapping and 

5 assessment of essential fish habitat and of coral re6 sources, ocean observations and ocean exploration; 

7 and 

8 (5) providing graduate education in hydro9 graphic sciences for National Oceanic and Atmos10 pheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps 

11 and civilian personnel. 

12 SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY PROGRAM REPORTING. 

13 No later than 18 months after the date of enactment 

14 of this Act, and bi-annually thereafter, the Chairman of 

15 the Committee shall transmit to the Senate Committee on 

16 Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House of 

17 Representatives Committee on Resources a report detail18 ing progress made in implementing the provisions of this 

19 Act, including—

20 (1) an inventory of data within the territorial 

21 seas and the exclusive economic zone and throughout 

22 the continental shelf of the United States, noting the 

23 age and source of the survey and the spatial resolu24 tion (metadata) of the data;
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1 (2) identification of priority areas in need of 

2 survey coverage using present technologies; 

3 (3) a resource plan that identifies when priority 

4 areas in need of modern coastal and ocean mapping 

5 surveys can be accomplished; 

6 (4) the status of efforts to produce integrated 

7 digital maps of coastal and ocean areas; 

8 (5) a description of any products resulting from 

9 coordinated mapping efforts under this Act that im10 prove public understanding of the coasts, oceans, or 

11 regulatory decision-making; 

12 (6) documentation of minimum and desired 

13 standards for data acquisition and integrated 

14 metadata; 

15 (7) a statement of the status of Federal efforts 

16 to leverage mapping technologies, coordinate map17 ping activities, share expertise, and exchange data; 

18 (8) a statement of resource requirements for or19 ganizations to meet the goals of the program, includ20 ing technology needs for data acquisition, processing 

21 and distribution systems; 

22 (9) a statement of the status of efforts to de23 classify data gathered by the Navy, the National 

24 Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and other agencies to 

25 the extent possible without jeopardizing national se-
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1 curity, and make it available to partner agencies and 

2 the public; and 

3 (10) a resource plan for a digital coast inte4 grated mapping pilot project for the northern Gulf 

5 of Mexico that will—

6 (A) cover the area from the authorized 

7 coastal counties through the territorial sea; and 

8 (B) identify how such a pilot project will 

9 leverage public and private mapping data and 

10 resources, such as the United States Geological 

11 Survey National Map, to result in an oper12 ational coastal change assessment program for 

13 the subregion. 

14 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the amounts au16 thorized by section 306 of the Hydrographic Services Im17 provement Act of 1998 (33 U.S.C. 892d), there are au18 thorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to carry 

19 out this Act—

20 (1) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; 

21 (2) $26,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; 

22 (3) $32,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; 

23 (4) $38,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; and 

24 (5) $45,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 

25 through 2012. 
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1 (b) JOINT HYDROGRAPHIC CENTERS.—Of the 

2 amounts appropriated pursuant to subsection (a), the fol3 lowing amounts shall be used to carry out section 4(c) of 

4 this Act: 

5 (1) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2005. 

6 (2) $11,000,000 for fiscal year 2006. 

7 (3) $12,000,000 for fiscal year 2006. 

8 (4) $13,000,000 for fiscal year 2006. 

9 (5) $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 

10 through 2012. 

11 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

12 In this Act: 

13 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis14 trator’’ means the Administrator of the National 

15 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

16 (2) COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Committee’’ 

17 means the Interagency Ocean Mapping Committee 

18 established by section 3. 

19 (3) EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE.—The term 

20 ‘‘exclusive economic zone’’ means the exclusive eco21 nomic zone of the United States established by Pres22 idential Proclamation No. 5030, of March 10, 1983. 

23 (4) OCEAN AND COASTAL MAPPING.—The term 

24 ‘‘ocean and coastal mapping’’ means the collection of 

25 physical, biological, geological, chemical, and archae-
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1 ological characteristics of ocean and coastal sea beds 

2 through the use of acoustics, satellites, aerial photo3 grammetry, light and imaging, and direct sampling. 

4 (5) TERRITORIAL SEA.—The term ‘‘territorial 

5 sea’’ means the belt of sea measured from the base6 line of the United States determined in accordance 

7 with international law, as set forth in Presidential 

8 Proclamation Number 5928, dated December 27, 

9 1988.

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