II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2852 

To establish, within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 

an integrated and comprehensive ocean, coastal, Great Lakes, and atmospheric research, prediction, and environmental information program to 

support renewable energy. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 9, 2009 

Mr. BEGICH (for himself and Ms. SNOWE) introduced the following bill; which 

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

Transportation 

A BILL 

To establish, within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration, an integrated and comprehensive ocean, 

coastal, Great Lakes, and atmospheric research, prediction, and environmental information program to support renewable energy. 

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 ‘‘Renewable Energy En5 vironmental Research Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

2 The purpose of this Act is to establish an integrated 

3 and comprehensive ocean, coastal, Great Lakes, and at4 mospheric research, prediction, and environmental infor5 mation program to support renewable energy. 

6 SEC. 3. RENEWABLE ENERGY RESEARCH PLAN. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall develop 

8 a plan— 

9 (1) to define requirements for a comprehensive 

10 and integrated ocean, coastal, Great Lakes, and at11 mosphere science program to support renewable en12 ergy development in the United States based on the 

13 public hearings, public comments, and a review of 

14 scientific and industry information; 

15 (2) to identify and describe current climate, 

16 weather, and water data programs, products, serv17 ices, and authorities within NOAA relevant to re18 newable energy development; 

19 (3) to provide targeted research, data, moni20 toring, observation, and other information, products, 

21 and services concerning climate, weather, and water 

22 in support of renewable energy and ‘‘smart grid’’ 

23 technology, including research to accurately quantify 

24 the downstream micro-climate impacts of wind25 power turbines; 


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1 (4) to provide research, data, monitoring, and 

2 other information, products, and services to inform 

3 renewable energy decisions concerning coastal and 

4 marine habitats, living marine resources and the 

5 ecosystems on which they depend and coastal and 

6 marine planning; and 

7 (5) to reduce duplication and leverage the re8 sources of existing NOAA programs through coordi9 nation with— 

10 (A) other offices and programs within 

11 NOAA, including the atmospheric, ocean, and 

12 coastal observation systems; 

13 (B) Federal, State, tribal, and local obser14 vation systems; and 

15 (C) other entities, including the private 

16 sector organizations and institutions of higher 

17 education; and 

18 (6) to facilitate public-private cooperation, in19 cluding identification and assessment of current pri20 vate sector capabilities. 

21 (b) PUBLIC HEARINGS.—In developing the plan, the 

22 Administrator shall provide public notice and opportunity 

23 for 1 or more public hearings and shall seek comments 

24 from Federal and State agencies, tribes, local govern25 ments, representatives of the private sector, and other parVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:32 Dec 10, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2852.IS S2852

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1 ties interested in renewable energy observations, data, and 

2 use in order to improve NOAA climate, weather, and 

3 water observation data products and services to more ef4 fectively support renewable energy development. 

5 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF RESEARCH, PREDICTION, AND 

6 ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION PROGRAM. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Within 18 months after the date 

8 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall establish 

9 a program to develop and implement an integrated and 

10 comprehensive ocean, coastal, Great Lakes and atmos11 phere research and operations program, based on the plan 

12 required by section 3, to support renewable energy devel13 opment in the United States. 

14 (b) PROGRAM COMPONENTS.—At a minimum, the 

15 program shall include— 

16 (1) improvements in coordinated climate, 

17 weather, and water research, monitoring, and obser18 vations to support— 

19 (A) renewable energy development; and 

20 (B) the understanding and mitigation of 

21 the impact of renewable energy development on 

22 living marine resources, including protected spe23 cies and the marine and coastal environment; 

24 (2) coordinated weather, water, and climate 

25 prediction capability focused on renewable energy 


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1 and ‘‘smart grid’’ technology to provide information 

2 and decision services in support of renewable energy 

3 development; 

4 (3) support for the transition to, and reliable 

5 delivery of, sustained operational weather, water, 

6 and climate products from research, observation, 

7 and prediction outputs; 

8 (4) means of identifying biological and ecologi9 cal effects of marine renewable energy development 

10 on living marine resources, the marine and coastal 

11 environment, marine-dependent industries, and 

12 coastal communities; 

13 (5) baseline ecological characterization, includ14 ing research, data collection, and mapping, of the 

15 coastal and marine environment and living marine 

16 resources for marine renewable energy development; 

17 (6) avoidance, minimization, and mitigation 

18 strategies to address the potential impacts of marine 

19 renewable energy on the marine, coastal, and Great 

20 Lakes environment, including developing effective 

21 monitoring protocols, use of adaptive management, 

22 informed engineering design and operating param23 eters, and the establishment of protocols for mini24 mizing the environmental impacts of testing, develVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:32 Dec 10, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2852.IS S2852

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1 oping, and deploying marine renewable energy de2 vices; 

3 (7) support for the development of marine spe4 cial area management plan by states as defined by 

5 the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 

6 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.) that would support renewable 

7 energy development consistent with natural resource 

8 protection and other coastal-dependent economic 

9 growth; 

10 (8) comprehensive digital mapping, modeling, 

11 and other geospatial information and services to 

12 support planning for renewable energy and steward13 ship of ecosystem and living marine ecosystems, in14 cluding protected species, in ocean and coastal areas; 

15 (9) a coordinated approach for examining and 

16 quantifying the micro-climate impacts of wind-power 

17 farms on soil transpiration and drying; and 

18 (10) provision for outreach to the public and 

19 private sector about program research, information, 

20 and products, including making non-proprietary in21 formation and best management practices developed 

22 under this program available to the public. 

23 (c) USE IN AGENCY DECISIONS.—The program es24 tablished under subsection (b) shall be designed to collect, 

25 synthesize, and distribute data in a manner that can be 


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1 used by marine resource managers responsible for making 

2 decisions about marine renewable energy projects. The 

3 Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Commerce, Min4 erals Management Service, Federal Energy Regulatory 

5 Commission, and Department of Energy shall consider 

6 this information when making planning, siting, and per7 mitting decisions for marine renewable energy. 

8 (d) SUPPORT FOR PUBLIC-PRIVATE COOPERA9 TION.—To the extent practicable, in implementing the 

10 program established under this section, the Administrator 

11 shall seek appropriate opportunities to facilitate and ex12 pand cooperation with private sector entities to develop 

13 and expand information services that serve the renewable 

14 energy industry. 

15 SEC. 5. BIENNIAL REPORTS. 

16 Not later than 2 years after the date of the enact17 ment of this Act and every 2 years thereafter, the Admin18 istrator shall prepare and transmit a report to the Senate 

19 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, 

20 the House of Representatives Committee on Natural Re21 sources, and the House of Representatives Committee on 

22 Science and Technology on progress made in imple23 menting this Act, including— 

24 (1) a description of activities carried out under 

25 this Act; 


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1 (2) recommendations for priority activities 

2 under this Act for fiscal years beginning after the 

3 date on which the report is submitted; and 

4 (3) funding levels for activities under this Act 

5 in those fiscal years. 

6 SEC. 6. LIBRARY. 

7 Within 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 

8 Act, the Administrator, in consultation with relevant Fed9 eral agencies, shall establish a renewable energy informa10 tion library and data portal. The library shall include, at 

11 a minimum— 

12 (1) links to data and information products for 

13 use in renewable energy development; 

14 (2) links to planning and decision support tools 

15 for use in renewable energy development; 

16 (3) data about the baseline condition of ocean 

17 and coastal resources; and 

18 (4) links to digital mapping and geospatial in19 formation, products, and services described in sec20 tion 4(b). 

21 SEC. 7. FEDERAL COORDINATION. 

22 In carrying out activities under this Act, the Adminis23 trator shall coordinate with the Secretary of the Interior, 

24 the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Transportation, 

25 the Secretary of Defense, the Federal Energy Regulatory 


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1 Commission, the Department in which the Coast Guard 

2 is operating, and the heads of other relevant Federal agen3 cies. 

4 SEC. 8. AGREEMENTS. 

5 The Administrator may enter into and perform such 

6 contracts, leases, grants, cooperative agreements, or other 

7 agreements and transactions with any agency or instru8 mentality of the United States, or with any State, local, 

9 tribal, territorial or foreign government, or with any per10 son, corporation, firm, partnership, educational institu11 tion, nonprofit organization, or international organization 

12 as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act. 

13 SEC. 9. AUTHORITY TO RECEIVE FUNDS. 

14 The Administrator may accept, retain, and use funds 

15 received from any party pursuant to an agreement entered 

16 into under section 8 for activities furthering the purposes 

17 of this Act. 

18 SEC. 10. USE OF OCEAN OBSERVING OFFSHORE INFRA19 STRUCTURE. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any offshore exploration and pro21 duction facility, at the discretion of the Administrator, 

22 may execute a memorandum of understanding authorizing 

23 the use of offshore platforms and infrastructure for the 

24 placement of meteorological and oceanographic observa25 tion sensors of a type to be designated by the AdminisVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:32 Dec 10, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2852.IS S2852

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1 trator in support of the Integrated Ocean Observing Sys2 tem. 

3 (b) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—All informa4 tion collected by such sensors will be managed by NOAA 

5 and be readily available for use in spill response as well 

6 as available to the National Weather Service, other NOAA 

7 programs, and the general public. 

8 SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis11 trator’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce for 

12 Oceans and Atmosphere in the Under Secretary’s 

13 capacity as Administrator of NOAA. 

14 (2) MARINE RENEWABLE ENERGY.—The term 

15 ‘‘marine renewable energy’’ means any form of re16 newable energy derived from the sea including wave 

17 energy, tidal energy, ocean current energy, offshore 

18 wind energy, salinity gradient energy, ocean thermal 

19 gradient energy, and ocean thermal energy conver20 sion. 

21 (3) NOAA.—The term ‘‘NOAA’’ means the Na22 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

23 SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

24 (a) IMPLEMENTATION AND EXECUTION.—There are 

25 authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator 


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1 $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014 

2 to carry out this Act. 

3 (b) GRANTS TO EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND

4 COASTAL STATES.—Of the amounts appropriated pursu5 ant to subsection (b), the Administrator shall make up to 

6 50 percent available to educational institutions, and to 

7 States with coastal zone management programs approved 

8 under the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 

9 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.), to carry out activities that support 

10 the program established under section 4. 

11 SEC. 13. SAVINGS PROVISION. 

12 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to supersede 

13 or modify the jurisdiction, responsibilities, or authority of 

14 any Federal or State agency under any provision of law 

15 in effect on the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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