II 

Calendar No. 428 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2852 

[Report No. 111–206] 

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, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. NELSON of Florida, and Mrs. 

HUTCHISON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

JUNE 14, 2010 

Reported by Mr. ROCKEFELLER, without amendment 

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, 

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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Renewable Energy En3 vironmental Research Act of 2009’’. 

4 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

5 The purpose of this Act is to establish an integrated 

6 and comprehensive ocean, coastal, Great Lakes, and at7 mospheric research, prediction, and environmental infor8 mation program to support renewable energy. 

9 SEC. 3. RENEWABLE ENERGY RESEARCH PLAN. 

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

11 a plan— 

12 (1) to define requirements for a comprehensive 

13 and integrated ocean, coastal, Great Lakes, and at14 mosphere science program to support renewable en15 ergy development in the United States based on the 

16 public hearings, public comments, and a review of 

17 scientific and industry information; 

18 (2) to identify and describe current climate, 

19 weather, and water data programs, products, serv20 ices, and authorities within NOAA relevant to re21 newable energy development; 

22 (3) to provide targeted research, data, moni23 toring, observation, and other information, products, 

24 and services concerning climate, weather, and water 

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

26 technology, including research to accurately quantify 

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1 the downstream micro-climate impacts of wind2 power turbines; 

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

4 other information, products, and services to inform 

5 renewable energy decisions concerning coastal and 

6 marine habitats, living marine resources and the 

7 ecosystems on which they depend and coastal and 

8 marine planning; and 

9 (5) to reduce duplication and leverage the re10 sources of existing NOAA programs through coordi11 nation with— 

12 (A) other offices and programs within 

13 NOAA, including the atmospheric, ocean, and 

14 coastal observation systems; 

15 (B) Federal, State, tribal, and local obser16 vation systems; and 

17 (C) other entities, including the private 

18 sector organizations and institutions of higher 

19 education; and 

20 (6) to facilitate public-private cooperation, in21 cluding identification and assessment of current pri22 vate sector capabilities. 

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

24 Administrator shall provide public notice and opportunity 

25 for 1 or more public hearings and shall seek comments 

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1 from Federal and State agencies, tribes, local govern2 ments, representatives of the private sector, and other par3 ties interested in renewable energy observations, data, and 

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

5 water observation data products and services to more ef6 fectively support renewable energy development. 

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

8 ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION PROGRAM. 

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

10 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall establish 

11 a program to develop and implement an integrated and 

12 comprehensive ocean, coastal, Great Lakes and atmos13 phere research and operations program, based on the plan 

14 required by section 3, to support renewable energy devel15 opment in the United States. 

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

17 program shall include— 

18 (1) improvements in coordinated climate, 

19 weather, and water research, monitoring, and obser20 vations to support— 

21 (A) renewable energy development; and 

22 (B) the understanding and mitigation of 

23 the impact of renewable energy development on 

24 living marine resources, including protected spe25 cies and the marine and coastal environment; 

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1 (2) coordinated weather, water, and climate 

2 prediction capability focused on renewable energy 

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

4 and decision services in support of renewable energy 

5 development; 

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

7 delivery of, sustained operational weather, water, 

8 and climate products from research, observation, 

9 and prediction outputs; 

10 (4) means of identifying biological and ecologi11 cal effects of marine renewable energy development 

12 on living marine resources, the marine and coastal 

13 environment, marine-dependent industries, and 

14 coastal communities; 

15 (5) baseline ecological characterization, includ16 ing research, data collection, and mapping, of the 

17 coastal and marine environment and living marine 

18 resources for marine renewable energy development; 

19 (6) avoidance, minimization, and mitigation 

20 strategies to address the potential impacts of marine 

21 renewable energy on the marine, coastal, and Great 

22 Lakes environment, including developing effective 

23 monitoring protocols, use of adaptive management, 

24 informed engineering design and operating param25 eters, and the establishment of protocols for minimstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with BILLS

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1 mizing the environmental impacts of testing, devel2 oping, and deploying marine renewable energy de3 vices; 

4 (7) support for the development of marine spe5 cial area management plan by states as defined by 

6 the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 

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

8 energy development consistent with natural resource 

9 protection and other coastal-dependent economic 

10 growth; 

11 (8) comprehensive digital mapping, modeling, 

12 and other geospatial information and services to 

13 support planning for renewable energy and steward14 ship of ecosystem and living marine ecosystems, in15 cluding protected species, in ocean and coastal areas; 

16 (9) a coordinated approach for examining and 

17 quantifying the micro-climate impacts of wind-power 

18 farms on soil transpiration and drying; and 

19 (10) provision for outreach to the public and 

20 private sector about program research, information, 

21 and products, including making non-proprietary in22 formation and best management practices developed 

23 under this program available to the public. 

24 (c) USE IN AGENCY DECISIONS.—The program es25 tablished under subsection (b) shall be designed to collect, 

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

2 used by marine resource managers responsible for making 

3 decisions about marine renewable energy projects. The 

4 Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Commerce, Min5 erals Management Service, Federal Energy Regulatory 

6 Commission, and Department of Energy shall consider 

7 this information when making planning, siting, and per8 mitting decisions for marine renewable energy. 

9 (d) SUPPORT FOR PUBLIC-PRIVATE COOPERA10 TION.—To the extent practicable, in implementing the 

11 program established under this section, the Administrator 

12 shall seek appropriate opportunities to facilitate and ex13 pand cooperation with private sector entities to develop 

14 and expand information services that serve the renewable 

15 energy industry. 

16 SEC. 5. BIENNIAL REPORTS. 

17 Not later than 2 years after the date of the enact18 ment of this Act and every 2 years thereafter, the Admin19 istrator shall prepare and transmit a report to the Senate 

20 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, 

21 the House of Representatives Committee on Natural Re22 sources, and the House of Representatives Committee on 

23 Science and Technology on progress made in imple24 menting this Act, including— 

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1 (1) a description of activities carried out under 

2 this Act; 

3 (2) recommendations for priority activities 

4 under this Act for fiscal years beginning after the 

5 date on which the report is submitted; and 

6 (3) funding levels for activities under this Act 

7 in those fiscal years. 

8 SEC. 6. LIBRARY. 

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

10 Act, the Administrator, in consultation with relevant Fed11 eral agencies, shall establish a renewable energy informa12 tion library and data portal. The library shall include, at 

13 a minimum— 

14 (1) links to data and information products for 

15 use in renewable energy development; 

16 (2) links to planning and decision support tools 

17 for use in renewable energy development; 

18 (3) data about the baseline condition of ocean 

19 and coastal resources; and 

20 (4) links to digital mapping and geospatial in21 formation, products, and services described in sec22 tion 4(b). 

23 SEC. 7. FEDERAL COORDINATION. 

24 In carrying out activities under this Act, the Adminis25 trator shall coordinate with the Secretary of the Interior, 

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1 the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Transportation, 

2 the Secretary of Defense, the Federal Energy Regulatory 

3 Commission, the Department in which the Coast Guard 

4 is operating, and the heads of other relevant Federal agen5 cies. 

6 SEC. 8. AGREEMENTS. 

7 The Administrator may enter into and perform such 

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

9 agreements and transactions with any agency or instru10 mentality of the United States, or with any State, local, 

11 tribal, territorial or foreign government, or with any per12 son, corporation, firm, partnership, educational institu13 tion, nonprofit organization, or international organization 

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

15 SEC. 9. AUTHORITY TO RECEIVE FUNDS. 

16 The Administrator may accept, retain, and use funds 

17 received from any party pursuant to an agreement entered 

18 into under section 8 for activities furthering the purposes 

19 of this Act. 

20 SEC. 10. USE OF OCEAN OBSERVING OFFSHORE INFRA21 STRUCTURE. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any offshore exploration and pro23 duction facility, at the discretion of the Administrator, 

24 may execute a memorandum of understanding authorizing 

25 the use of offshore platforms and infrastructure for the 

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1 placement of meteorological and oceanographic observa2 tion sensors of a type to be designated by the Adminis3 trator in support of the Integrated Ocean Observing Sys4 tem. 

5 (b) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—All informa6 tion collected by such sensors will be managed by NOAA 

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

8 as available to the National Weather Service, other NOAA 

9 programs, and the general public. 

10 SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act: 

12 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis13 trator’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce for 

14 Oceans and Atmosphere in the Under Secretary’s 

15 capacity as Administrator of NOAA. 

16 (2) MARINE RENEWABLE ENERGY.—The term 

17 ‘‘marine renewable energy’’ means any form of re18 newable energy derived from the sea including wave 

19 energy, tidal energy, ocean current energy, offshore 

20 wind energy, salinity gradient energy, ocean thermal 

21 gradient energy, and ocean thermal energy conver22 sion. 

23 (3) NOAA.—The term ‘‘NOAA’’ means the Na24 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

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1 SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 (a) IMPLEMENTATION AND EXECUTION.—There are 

3 authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator 

4 $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014 

5 to carry out this Act. 

6 (b) GRANTS TO EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND

7 COASTAL STATES.—Of the amounts appropriated pursu8 ant to subsection (b), the Administrator shall make up to 

9 50 percent available to educational institutions, and to 

10 States with coastal zone management programs approved 

11 under the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 

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

13 the program established under section 4. 

14 SEC. 13. SAVINGS PROVISION. 

15 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to supersede 

16 or modify the jurisdiction, responsibilities, or authority of 

17 any Federal or State agency under any provision of law 

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

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Calendar No. 428 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2852 

[Report No. 111–206] 

A BILL 

To establish, within the National Oceanic and Atable energy. mental information program to support renew- atmospheric research, prediction, and environ- comprehensive ocean, coastal, Great Lakes, and mospheric Administration, an integrated and 

JUNE, 14, 2010 

Reported without amendment 

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