IB 

Union Calendar No. 316 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2693 

[Report No. 111–553] 

To amend title VII of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 3, 2009 

Ms. WOOLSEY (for herself and Mr. BAIRD) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Science and Technology 

JULY 21, 2010 

Additional sponsors: Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. LUJA ́N, 

and Mr. SESTAK

JULY 21, 2010 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 3, 2009] 


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A BILL 

To amend title VII of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, and 

for other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Oil Pollution Research 

5 and Development Program Reauthorization Act of 2010’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FEDERAL OIL POLLUTION RESEARCH COMMITTEE. 

7 (a) PURPOSES.—Section 7001(a)(2) of the Oil Pollu8 tion Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2761(a)(2)) is amended by 

9 striking ‘‘State’’ and inserting ‘‘State and tribal’’. 

10 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—Section 7001(a)(3) of such Act (33 

11 U.S.C. 2761(a)(3)) is amended to read as follows: 

12 ‘‘(3) STRUCTURE.— 

13 ‘‘(A) MEMBERS.—The Interagency Com14 mittee shall consist of representatives from the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(i) The Coast Guard. 

17 ‘‘(ii) The Department of Commerce, in18 cluding the National Oceanic and Atmos19 pheric Administration. 

20 ‘‘(iii) The Department of the Interior. 

21 ‘‘(iv) The Environmental Protection 

22 Agency. 

23 ‘‘(B) COLLABORATING AGENCIES.—The 

24 Interagency Committee shall collaborate with the 

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘(i) The National Institute of Stand2 ards and Technology. 

3 ‘‘(ii) The Department of Energy. 

4 ‘‘(iii) The Department of Transpor5 tation, including the Maritime Administra6 tion and the Pipeline and Hazardous Mate7 rials Safety Administration. 

8 ‘‘(iv) The Department of Defense, in9 cluding the Army Corps of Engineers and 

10 the Navy. 

11 ‘‘(v) The Department of Homeland Se12 curity, including the United States Fire 

13 Administration in the Federal Emergency 

14 Management Agency. 

15 ‘‘(vi) The National Aeronautics and 

16 Space Administration. 

17 ‘‘(vii) The National Science Founda18 tion. 

19 ‘‘(viii) Other Federal agencies, as ap20 propriate.’’. 

21 (c) ROLE OF THE CHAIR.—Section 7001(a)(4) of such 

22 Act (33. U.S.C. 2761(a)(4)) is amended to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(4) CHAIR.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A representative of the 

25 Coast Guard shall serve as Chair. 


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1 ‘‘(B) ROLE OF CHAIR.—The primary role of 

2 the Chair shall be to ensure that— 

3 ‘‘(i) the activities of the Interagency 

4 Committee and the agencies listed in para5 graph (3)(B) are coordinated; 

6 ‘‘(ii) the implementation plans re7 quired under subsection (b)(1) are com8 pleted and submitted; 

9 ‘‘(iii) the annual reports required 

10 under subsection (e) are completed and sub11 mitted; 

12 ‘‘(iv) the Interagency Committee meets 

13 in accordance with the requirements of 

14 paragraph (5); and 

15 ‘‘(v) the Oil Pollution Research Advi16 sory Committee under subsection (f) is es17 tablished and utilized.’’. 

18 (d) ACTIVITIES.—Section 7001(a) of such Act (33 

19 U.S.C. 2761(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(5) ACTIVITIES.— 

22 ‘‘(A) ONGOING, COORDINATED EFFORTS.— 

23 The Interagency Committee shall ensure that the 

24 research, development, and demonstration efforts 


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1 authorized by this section are coordinated and 

2 conducted on an ongoing basis. 

3 ‘‘(B) MEETINGS.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Interagency 

5 Committee shall meet, or otherwise commu6 nicate, as appropriate, to— 

7 ‘‘(I) plan program-related activi8 ties; and 

9 ‘‘(II) determine whether the pro10 gram is resulting in the development of 

11 new or improved methods and tech12 nologies to prevent, detect, respond to, 

13 contain, and mitigate oil discharge. 

14 ‘‘(ii) FREQUENCY.—In no event shall 

15 the Interagency Committee meet less than 

16 once per year. 

17 ‘‘(C) INFORMATION EXCHANGE.—The Inter18 agency Committee, acting through the Adminis19 trator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

20 Administration, shall develop a national infor21 mation clearinghouse on oil discharge that— 

22 ‘‘(i) includes scientific information 

23 and research on preparedness, response, and 

24 restoration; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) serves as a single electronic access 

2 and input point for Federal agencies, emer3 gency responders, the research community, 

4 and other interested parties for such infor5 mation.’’. 

6 SEC. 3. OIL POLLUTION RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY 

7 PLAN. 

8 (a) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Section 7001(b)(1) of 

9 such Act (33 U.S.C. 2761(b)(1)) is amended— 

10 (1) by striking ‘‘180 days after the date of enact11 ment of this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘180 days after the 

12 date of enactment of the Oil Pollution Research and 

13 Development Program Reauthorization Act of 2010 

14 and periodically thereafter, as appropriate, but not 

15 less than once every 5 years’’; 

16 (2) by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting 

17 the following: 

18 ‘‘(A) identify the roles and responsibilities 

19 of each member agency of the Interagency Com20 mittee under subsection (a)(3)(A) and each of the 

21 collaborating agencies under subsection 

22 (a)(3)(B);’’; 

23 (3) in subparagraph (B) by inserting ‘‘contain24 ment,’’ after ‘‘response,’’; 


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1 (4) in subparagraph (D) by inserting ‘‘contain2 ment,’’ after ‘‘response,’’; 

3 (5) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara4 graph (E); 

5 (6) in subparagraph (F)— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘the States’’ through ‘‘re7 search needs’’ and inserting ‘‘State and tribal 

8 governments, regional oil pollution research 

9 needs, including natural seeps and pollution re10 sulting from importing oil from overseas,’’; and 

11 (B) by striking the period at the end and 

12 inserting a semicolon; and 

13 (7) by adding at the end the following new sub14 paragraphs: 

15 ‘‘(G) identify the information needed to con16 duct risk assessment and risk analysis research 

17 to effectively prevent oil discharges, including in18 formation on human factors and decisionmaking, 

19 and to protect the environment; and 

20 ‘‘(H) identify a methodology that— 

21 ‘‘(i) provides for the solicitation, eval22 uation, preapproval, funding, and utiliza23 tion of technologies and research projects de24 veloped by the public and private sector in 

25 advance of future oil discharges; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) where appropriate, ensures that 

2 such technologies are readily available for 

3 rapid testing and potential deployment and 

4 that research projects can be implemented 

5 during an incident response.’’. 

6 (b) ADVICE AND GUIDANCE.—Section 7001(b)(2) of 

7 such Act (33 U.S.C. 2761(b)(2)) is amended to read as fol8 lows: 

9 ‘‘(2) ADVICE AND GUIDANCE.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Chair shall solicit 

11 advice and guidance in the development of the 

12 research plan under paragraph (1) from— 

13 ‘‘(i) the Oil Pollution Research Advi14 sory Committee established under subsection 

15 (f); 

16 ‘‘(ii) the National Institute of Stand17 ards and Technology on issues relating to 

18 quality assurance and standards measure19 ments; 

20 ‘‘(iii) third party standard-setting or21 ganizations on issues relating to voluntary 

22 consensus standards; and 

23 ‘‘(iv) the public in accordance with 

24 subparagraph (B). 


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1 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC COMMENT.—Prior to the sub2 mission of the research plan to Congress under 

3 paragraph (1), the research plan shall be pub4 lished in the Federal Register and subject to a 

5 public comment period of 30 days. The Chair 

6 shall review the public comments received and 

7 incorporate those comments into the plan, as ap8 propriate.’’. 

9 (c) REVIEW.—Section 7001(b) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 

10 2761(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(3) REVIEW.—After the submission of each re12 search plan to Congress under paragraph (1), the 

13 Chair shall contract with the National Academy of 

14 Sciences— 

15 ‘‘(A) to review the research plan; 

16 ‘‘(B) to assess the adequacy of the research 

17 plan; and 

18 ‘‘(C) to submit a report to Congress on the 

19 conclusions of the assessment. 

20 ‘‘(4) INCORPORATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS.— 

21 The Chair shall address any recommendations in the 

22 review conducted under paragraph (3) and shall in23 corporate such recommendations into the research 

24 plan, as appropriate.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. OIL POLLUTION RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 

2 PROGRAM. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Section 7001(c)(1) of such Act 

4 (33 U.S.C. 2761(c)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘research 

5 and development, as provided in this subsection’’ and in6 serting ‘‘research, development, and demonstration, as pro7 vided in this subsection and subsection (a)(2)’’. 

8 (b) INNOVATIVE OIL POLLUTION TECHNOLOGY.—Sec9 tion 7001(c)(2) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 2761(c)(2)) is 

10 amended— 

11 (1) in the matter before subparagraph (A), by 

12 striking ‘‘preventing or mitigating’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘preventing, detecting, containing, recovering, or 

14 mitigating’’; 

15 (2) by striking subparagraph (I); 

16 (3) by redesignating subparagraph (J) as sub17 paragraph (I); 

18 (4) by striking the period at the end of subpara19 graph (I) (as so redesignated) and by inserting at the 

20 end a semicolon; and 

21 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(J) technologies and methods to address oil 

23 discharge on land and in inland waters, coastal 

24 areas, offshore areas, including deepwater and 

25 ultra-deepwater areas, and polar and other icy 

26 areas; 


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1 ‘‘(K) modeling and simulation capabilities, 

2 including tools and technologies, that can be used 

3 to facilitate effective recovery and containment of 

4 oil discharge during incident response; and 

5 ‘‘(L) research conducted by the Environ6 mental Protection Agency on the development 

7 and approval of technologies with maximum ef8 fectiveness, including application and delivery 

9 mechanisms, and minimum toxicity to natural 

10 resources, the public, and the environment in 

11 both the near and long-term.’’. 

12 (c) OIL POLLUTION TECHNOLOGY EVALUATION.—Sec13 tion 7001(c)(3) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 2761(c)(3)) is 

14 amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘(3) OIL POLLUTION TECHNOLOGY EVALUA16 TION.—The program established under this subsection 

17 shall provide for the evaluation of oil pollution pre18 vention, containment, and mitigation technologies, in19 cluding— 

20 ‘‘(A) the evaluation of the performance and 

21 effectiveness of such technologies in preventing, 

22 detecting, containing, recovering, and mitigating 

23 oil discharges; 

24 ‘‘(B) the evaluation of the environmental ef25 fects of the use of such technologies; 


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1 ‘‘(C) the evaluation and testing of tech2 nologies developed independently of the research 

3 and development program established under this 

4 subsection, including technologies developed by 

5 small businesses; 

6 ‘‘(D) the establishment, with the advice and 

7 guidance of the National Institute of Standards 

8 and Technology, of standards and testing proto9 cols traceable to national standards to measure 

10 the performance of oil pollution prevention, con11 tainment, or mitigation technologies; 

12 ‘‘(E) an evaluation of the environmental ef13 fects and utility of controlled field testing; 

14 ‘‘(F) the use, where appropriate, of con15 trolled field testing to evaluate real-world appli16 cation of new or improved oil discharge preven17 tion, response, containment, recovery, or mitiga18 tion technologies; and 

19 ‘‘(G) an evaluation of the effectiveness of oil 

20 pollution prevention technologies based on prob21 abilistic risk analyses of the system.’’. 

22 (d) OIL POLLUTION EFFECTS RESEARCH.—Section 

23 7001(c)(4) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 2761(c)(4)) is amended— 

24 (1) by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting 

25 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 

2 ‘‘(i) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Inter3 agency Committee, acting through the Ad4 ministrator of the National Oceanic and At5 mospheric Administration, shall establish a 

6 research program to monitor and scientif7 ically evaluate the environmental effects, in8 cluding long-term effects, of oil discharge. 

9 ‘‘(ii) SPECIFICATIONS.—Such program 

10 shall include the following elements: 

11 ‘‘(I) Research on and the develop12 ment of effective tools to detect, meas13 ure, observe, analyze, monitor, model, 

14 and forecast the presence, transport, 

15 fate, and effect of an oil discharge 

16 throughout the environment, including 

17 tools and models to accurately measure 

18 and predict the flow of oil discharged. 

19 ‘‘(II) The development of methods, 

20 including economic methods, to assess 

21 and predict damages to natural re22 sources, including air quality, result23 ing from oil discharges, including in 

24 economically disadvantaged commu25 nities and areas. 


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1 ‘‘(III) The identification of types 

2 of ecologically sensitive areas at par3 ticular risk from oil discharges, such as 

4 inland waters, coastal areas, offshore 

5 areas, including deepwater and ultra6 deepwater areas, and polar and other 

7 icy areas. 

8 ‘‘(IV) The preparation of sci9 entific monitoring and evaluation 

10 plans for the areas identified under 

11 subclause (III) to be implemented in 

12 the event of major oil discharges in 

13 such areas. 

14 ‘‘(V) The collection of environ15 mental baseline data in the areas iden16 tified under subclause (III) if such 

17 data are insufficient. 

18 ‘‘(VI) The use of both onshore and 

19 offshore air quality monitoring to 

20 study the effects of oil pollution and oil 

21 pollution cleanup technologies on air 

22 quality; and making the results, health, 

23 and safety warnings readily available 

24 to the public, including emergency re25 sponders, the research community, 


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1 local residents, and other interested 

2 parties. 

3 ‘‘(VII) Research on technologies, 

4 methods, and standards for protecting 

5 removal personnel and for volunteers 

6 that may participate in incident re7 sponses, including training, adequate 

8 supervision, protective equipment, 

9 maximum exposure limits, and decon10 tamination procedures.’’; 

11 (2) in subparagraph (B)— 

12 (A) by striking ‘‘(B) The Department of 

13 Commerce’’ and all that follows through ‘‘future 

14 oil discharges.’’ and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(B) CONDITIONS.—The Interagency Com16 mittee, acting through the Administrator of the 

17 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra18 tion, shall conduct research activities under sub19 paragraph (A) for areas in which— 

20 ‘‘(i) the amount of oil discharged ex21 ceeds 250,000 gallons; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) a study of the long-term environ23 mental effects of the discharge would be of 

24 significant scientific value, especially for 


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1 preventing or responding to future oil dis2 charges.’’; 

3 (B) by striking ‘‘ATHOS I, and’’ and in4 serting ‘‘ATHOS I;’’; and 

5 (C) by striking the period at the end and 

6 inserting ‘‘; Prince William Sound, where oil 

7 was discharged by the EXXON VALDEZ; and 

8 the Gulf of Mexico, where oil was discharged by 

9 the DEEPWATER HORIZON.’’; and 

10 (3) in subparagraph (C) by striking ‘‘Research’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘COORDINATION.—Research’’. 

12 (e) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.—Section 7001(c)(6) 

13 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 2761(c)(6)) is amended— 

14 (1) by striking the first sentence and inserting 

15 the following: ‘‘The United States Coast Guard, in 

16 conjunction with such agencies as the President may 

17 designate, shall conduct a total of 2 port oil pollution 

18 minimization demonstration projects, 1 with the 

19 Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, and 

20 1 with a port on the Great Lakes, for the purpose of 

21 developing and demonstrating integrated port oil pol22 lution prevention and cleanup systems that utilize the 

23 information and implement the improved practices 

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1 ment, and demonstration program established in this 

2 section.’’; and 

3 (2) in the second sentence by striking ‘‘oil spill’’ 

4 and inserting ‘‘oil discharge’’. 

5 (f) SIMULATED ENVIRONMENTAL TESTING.—Section 

6 7001(c)(7) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 2761(c)(7)) is amended 

7 by inserting ‘‘Oil pollution technology testing and evalua8 tions shall be given priority over all other activities per9 formed at such Research Center.’’ after ‘‘evaluations.’’. 

10 (g) REGIONAL RESEARCH PROGRAM.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 7001(c)(8) of such Act 

12 (33 U.S.C. 2761(c)(8)) is amended— 

13 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 

14 (i) by striking ‘‘program of competitive 

15 grants’’ and inserting ‘‘program of peer-re16 viewed, competitive grants’’; and 

17 (ii) by striking ‘‘(1989)’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘(2009)’’; 

19 (B) in subparagraph (C) by striking ‘‘the 

20 entity or entities which’’ and inserting ‘‘at least 

21 one entity that’’; and 

22 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

23 subparagraph: 

24 ‘‘(H) In carrying out this paragraph, the 

25 Interagency Committee shall coordinate the proVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:13 Jul 21, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2693.RH H2693

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1 gram of peer-reviewed, competitive grants to uni2 versities or other research institutions, including 

3 Minority Serving Institutions as defined under 

4 section 371(a) of the Higher Education Act of 

5 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a)), and provide consid6 eration to such institutions in the recommenda7 tions for awarding grants.’’. 

8 (2) FUNDING.—Section 7001(c)(9) of such Act 

9 (33 U.S.C. 2741(c)(9)) is amended by striking ‘‘1991’’ 

10 and all that follows through ‘‘shall be available’’ and 

11 inserting ‘‘2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015, there 

12 are authorized to be appropriated from amounts in 

13 the Fund $12,000,000’’. 

14 SEC. 5. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION. 

15 Section 7001(d) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 2761(d)) is 

16 amended to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(d) INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION.—In accordance 

18 with the research plan submitted under subsection (b), the 

19 Interagency Committee shall engage in international co20 operation by harnessing global expertise through collabo21 rative partnerships with foreign governments and research 

22 entities, and domestic and foreign private actors, including 

23 nongovernmental organizations and private sector compa24 nies, and by leveraging public and private capital, tech25 nology, expertise, and services towards innovative models 


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1 that can be instituted to conduct collaborative oil pollution 

2 research, development, and demonstration activities, includ3 ing controlled field tests of oil discharges, oil recovery, and 

4 cleanup standards.’’. 

5 SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORTS. 

6 Section 7001(e) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 2761(e)) is 

7 amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(e) ANNUAL REPORT.— 

9 ‘‘(1) Concurrent with the submission to Congress 

10 of the President’s annual budget request in each year 

11 after the date of enactment of the Oil Pollution Re12 search and Development Program Reauthorization 

13 Act of 2010, the Chair of the Interagency Committee 

14 shall submit to Congress a report describing the— 

15 ‘‘(A) activities carried out under this sec16 tion in the preceding fiscal year, including— 

17 ‘‘(i) a description of major research 

18 conducted on oil discharge prevention, de19 tection, containment, recovery, and mitiga20 tion techniques in all environments by each 

21 agency described in subsection (a)(3)(A) 

22 and (B); and 

23 ‘‘(ii) a summary of— 

24 ‘‘(I) projects in which the agency 

25 contributed funding or other resources; 


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1 ‘‘(II) major projects undertaken 

2 by State and tribal governments, and 

3 foreign governments; and 

4 ‘‘(III) major projects undertaken 

5 by the private sector and educational 

6 institutions; 

7 ‘‘(B) activities being carried out under this 

8 section in the current fiscal year, including a de9 scription of major research and development ac10 tivities on oil discharge prevention, detection, 

11 containment, recovery, and mitigation tech12 nologies and techniques in all environments that 

13 each agency will conduct or contribute to; and 

14 ‘‘(C) activities proposed to be carried out 

15 under this section in the subsequent fiscal year, 

16 including an analysis of how these activities will 

17 further the purposes of the program authorized 

18 by this section. 

19 ‘‘(2) If the National Academy of Sciences pro20 vides recommendations on the research plan under 

21 section 7001(b)(3), the Chair shall include, in the first 

22 annual report under paragraph (1) of this subsection, 

23 a description of those recommendations incorporated 

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1 planation for, any recommendations that are not in2 cluded in such plan.’’. 

3 SEC. 7. ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 

4 Section 7001 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 2761) is further 

5 amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating subsection (f) as subsection 

7 (g); and 

8 (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the following: 

9 ‘‘(f) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 

10 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days 

11 after the date of enactment of the Oil Pollution Re12 search and Development Program Reauthorization 

13 Act of 2010, the Chair of the Interagency Committee 

14 shall establish an advisory committee to be known as 

15 the Oil Pollution Research Advisory Committee (in 

16 this subsection referred to as the ‘advisory com17 mittee’). 

18 ‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The advisory committee 

20 shall be composed of members appointed by the 

21 Chair, in consultation with the each member 

22 agency described in subsection (a)(3), includ23 ing— 

24 ‘‘(i) individuals with extensive knowl25 edge and research experience or operational 


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1 knowledge of prevention, detection, response, 

2 containment, and mitigation of oil dis3 charges; 

4 ‘‘(ii) individuals broadly representative 

5 of stakeholders affected by oil discharges; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(iii) other individuals, as determined 

8 by the Chair. 

9 ‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS.—The Chair shall— 

10 ‘‘(i) appoint no more than 25 members 

11 that shall not include representatives of the 

12 Federal Government, but may include rep13 resentatives from State, tribal, and local 

14 governments; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) ensure that no class of individ16 uals described in clause (ii) or (iii) of subparagraph (A) comprises more than 1 17 ⁄3 of 

18 the membership of the advisory committee. 

19 ‘‘(C) TERMS OF SERVICE.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Members shall be 

21 appointed for a 3-year term and may serve 

22 for not more than 2 terms, except as pro23 vided in clause (iii). 


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1 ‘‘(ii) VACANCIES.—Vacancy appoint2 ments shall be for the remainder of the un3 expired term of the vacancy. 

4 ‘‘(iii) SPECIAL RULE.—If a member is 

5 appointed to fill a vacancy and the remain6 der of the unexpired term is less than 1 

7 year, the member may subsequently be ap8 pointed for 2 full terms. 

9 ‘‘(D) COMPENSATION AND EXPENSES.— 

10 Members of the advisory committee shall not be 

11 compensated for service on the advisory com12 mittee, but may be allowed travel expenses, in13 cluding per diem in lieu of subsistence, in ac14 cordance with subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 

15 5, United States Code. 

16 ‘‘(3) DUTIES.—The advisory committee shall re17 view, advise, and comment on Interagency Committee 

18 activities, including the following: 

19 ‘‘(A) Management and functioning of the 

20 Interagency Committee. 

21 ‘‘(B) Collaboration of the Interagency Com22 mittee and the agencies listed in subsection 

23 (a)(3)(B). 

24 ‘‘(C) The research and technology develop25 ment of new or improved response capabilities. 


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1 ‘‘(D) The use of cost-effective research mech2 anisms. 

3 ‘‘(E) Research, computation, and modeling 

4 needs and other resources needed to develop a 

5 comprehensive program of oil pollution research. 

6 ‘‘(4) SUBCOMMITTEES.—The advisory committee 

7 may establish subcommittees of its members. 

8 ‘‘(5) MEETINGS.—The advisory committee shall 

9 meet at least once per year and at other times at the 

10 call of the chairperson. 

11 ‘‘(6) REPORT.—The advisory committee shall 

12 submit biennial reports to the Interagency Committee 

13 and Congress on the function, activities, and progress 

14 of the Interagency Committee and the programs estab15 lished under this section. 

16 ‘‘(7) EXPIRATION.—Section 14 of the Federal 

17 Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not 

18 apply to the advisory committee.’’. 

19 SEC. 8. FUNDING. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7001(g) of such Act, as re21 designated by section 7 of this Act, is amended to read as 

22 follows: 

23 ‘‘(g) FUNDING.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

25 appropriated from amounts in the Fund not more 


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1 than $48,000,000 annually to carry out this section, 

2 except for subsection (c)(8). 

3 ‘‘(2) SPECIFIC ALLOCATIONS.—From the 

4 amounts in paragraph (1), there are authorized to be 

5 appropriated— 

6 ‘‘(A) $16,000,000 to the Administrator of 

7 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis8 tration annually to carry out this section; and 

9 ‘‘(B) $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

10 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 to carry out the ac11 tivities in subsection (c)(6).’’. 

12 (b) AUTHORIZATION.—Section 1012(a)(5)(C) of such 

13 Act (33 U.S.C. 2712(a)(5)(C)) is amended to read as fol14 lows: 

15 ‘‘(C) not more than $48,000,000 in each fis16 cal year shall be available to carry out title VII 

17 of this Act; and’’. 

18 SEC. 9. ACCESS TO RESEARCH DURING AN EMERGENCY. 

19 Section 7001 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 2761) is amended 

20 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

21 ‘‘(h) ACCESS TO RESEARCH DURING AN EMER22 GENCY.—Any entity that receives Federal funding for re23 search, the methodologies or results of which may be useful 

24 for response activities in the event of an oil discharge inci25 dent described in sections 300.300-334 of title 40 of the Code 


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27 

•HR 2693 RH

1 of Federal Regulations, shall, upon request, make the meth2 odologies or results of such research available to the Inter3 agency Committee and the Federal On-Scene Coordinator 

4 (as defined in section 311(a)(21) of the Federal Water Pol5 lution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1321(a)(21)), except to the 

6 extent that the information is protected from disclosure 

7 under section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code. Such 

8 information shall be for use in response activities in the 

9 event of an oil discharge, and shall not be included in infor10 mation made publicly available pursuant to this Act.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 316 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2693 

[Report No. 111–553] 

A BILL 

To amend title VII of the Oil Pollution Act of 

1990, and for other purposes. 

JULY 21, 2010 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


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