nerships or to any advisory committees established under 
this title. 
SEC. 403. REGIONAL OCEAN STRATEGIC PLANS. 
(a) REQUIREMENT.—Each Regional Ocean Partner-
ship shall, within 3 years after establishment of the Part-
nership, prepare and submit to the Administrator and the 
Committee on Ocean Policy for review and consultation 
and approval by the Administration pursuant to this sec-
tion a Regional Ocean Strategic Plan for the ocean region 
of the Partnership. 
(b) CONTENTS.—Each Regional Ocean Strategic 
Plan prepared by a Regional Ocean Partnership shall, at 
a minimum, include the following: 
(1) An assessment of the ocean region in order 
to guide management decisions, including consider-
ation of ecological, economic, educational, social, cul-
tural nutritional, and recreational factors. 
(2) Identification of multiple indicators that 
measure ecosystem health and the effectiveness of 
current management efforts, and an analysis of their 
current status. 
(3) Determination of priority issues within the 
region and adjoining inland regions and an assess-
ment of the capacity of existing governance mecha-
nisms to address those problems.
(4) Determination of solutions and specific poli-
cies to address the priority problems that take an 
adaptive, ecosystem-based approach. 
(5) Identification of short and long-term eco-
system goals, responsibilities for taking actions to 
implement solutions to priority problems and to 
achieve those ecosystem goals, and the necessary re-
sources. 
(6) An analysis of the gaps in authority, coordi-
nation, and resources, including funding, that must 
be filled in order to fully achieve the plan’s goals. 
(7) Identification of model programs whose ex-
isting infrastructure aid in implementation of the 
plan. 
(c) MEETINGS.—Each Regional Ocean Partnership 
shall meet— 
(1) at least twice each year— 
(A) during the development of the Re-
gional Ocean Strategic Plan; and 
(B) after completion of such plan to mon-
itor the implementation of the plan’s goals and 
objectives and develop strategies for adaptive 
management; and 
(2) at other times at the call of the Adminis-
trator.
(d) AMENDING PLANS.—Each approved Regional 
Ocean Strategic Plan shall be reviewed and revised by the 
relevant Regional Ocean Partnership at least once every 
five years. Any proposed amendments to the plan shall be 
transmitted to the Administrator for review pursuant to 
this section. 
(e) ACTION BY ADMINISTRATOR.— 
(1) REVIEW OF PLANS.— 
(A) COMMENCEMENT OF REVIEW.—Within 
10 days after transmittal of a Regional Ocean 
Strategic Plan by a Regional Ocean Partner-
ship to the Administrator and the Committee 
on Ocean Policy, or any amendment to such a 
plan, the Administrator in consultation with the 
Committee on Ocean Policy shall commence a 
review of the plan or amendment. 
(B) PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENT.—Im-
mediately after receipt of such a plan, the Ad-
ministrator shall publish in the Federal Reg-
ister a notice stating that the plan or amend-
ment is available and that public comments 
may be submitted to the Administrator within 
60 days after the date the notice is published. 
(C) REQUIREMENTS FOR APPROVAL.—Be-
fore approving a Regional Ocean Strategic
Plan, or any amendments to such a plan, sub-
mitted by a Regional Ocean Partnership, the 
Administrator, in consultation with the Com-
mittee on Ocean Policy, must find that the 
plan— 
(i) is consistent with the guiding prin-
ciples under section 402(b), and 
(ii) adequately addresses the required 
elements under subsection (b) of this sec-
tion. 
(D) DEADLINE FOR REVIEW.—Within 120 
days after transmittal by the Regional Ocean 
Partnership to the Administrator of a Regional 
Ocean Strategic Plan, or an amendment to such 
a plan, the Administrator in consultation with 
the Committee on Ocean Policy shall approve or 
disapprove the plan by written notice. If the 
Administrator disapproves a Regional Ocean 
Strategic Plan or amendment, the Adminis-
trator in consultation with the Committee on 
Ocean Policy shall make conforming rec-
ommendations to the Regional Ocean Partner-
ship. The Regional Ocean Partnership may sub-
mit a revised plan or amendment to the Admin-
istrator and the Committee on Ocean Policy for 
review under this title. 
(2) GRANTS.—The Administrator, subject to 
the availability of funds in the Ocean and Great 
Lakes Conservation Trust Fund established in sec-
tion 801, may award grants to members of a Re-
gional Ocean Partnership, other than representatives 
of the Federal Government, to cover expenses in-
curred in developing a draft Ocean and Coastal 
Strategic Plan or to implement an approved plan. 
(f) IMPLEMENTATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Indian tribes, States, Com-
monwealths, territories and possessions of the 
United States with a representative on a Regional 
Ocean Partnership, and the Federal Government 
shall, to the maximum extent practicable, implement 
an approved Regional Ocean Strategic Plan con-
sistent with existing legal authorities. 
(2) 
RECOMMENDATIONS
FOR
MORE
RE-
SOURCES.—If existing legal authority is inadequate 
or other resources are needed to successfully imple-
ment an approved Regional Ocean Strategic Plan in 
consultation with the Committee on Ocean Policy, 
the representatives of Indian tribes, States, Com-
monwealths, territories and possessions of the
United States, and of the Federal Government serv-
ing on a Regional Ocean Partnership shall make rec-
ommendations to the Congress and States regarding 
necessary changes. 
SEC. 404. NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES STUDY OF RE-
GIONAL OCEANS GOVERNANCE. 
(a) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Administrator and the 
Committee on Ocean Policy shall, as soon as practicable, 
enter into an arrangement with the National Research 
Council of the National Academy of Sciences to carry out 
a study of existing regional and ecosystem-based ap-
proaches to coastal and ocean governance. 
(b) MATTERS INCLUDED.—The study required by 
subsection (a) shall evaluate— 
(1) current coastal and oceans approaches to 
ecosystem-based management and their effectiveness 
at maintaining healthy marine ecosystems; 
(2) approaches to regional governance currently 
in use in the United States; and 
(3) mechanisms for engaging Federal, State, 
and local governments, special interest groups, and 
the general public in the management process. 
(c) RECOMMENDATIONS.—In carrying out the study 
required by subsection (a), the National Research Council 
may develop recommendations it considers appropriate