and directly related to the subject matter of the study. 
It is the sense of the Congress that the National Research 
Council should develop recommendations on the best 
methods of creating governance structures, specific to 
each of the Regional Ocean Partnerships created in sec-
tion 402, that include ecosystem-based management strat-
egies and broad participation. 
(d) REPORTS.—The National Research Council shall 
submit to the Administrator, the Committee on Ocean Pol-
icy, and each of the Regional Ocean Partnerships created 
in section 402 by not later than one year after entering 
into the arrangement required by subsection (a), a final 
report on the study that includes all findings, conclusions, 
and recommendations. Upon receipt of the final report, 
each of the Regional Ocean Partnerships shall consider 
and integrate recommendations of the National Research 
Council to improve regional governance structures. 
(e) PROVISION
OF INFORMATION.—The Adminis-
trator and the Regional Ocean Partnerships shall, in a 
timely manner, make available to the National Research 
Council all information that the National Research Coun-
cil considers necessary to carry out its responsibilities 
under this section. 
(f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—This section shall not 
be construed to affect section 402.
(g) FUNDING.—Of the amounts made available to the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration pursu-
ant to the authorization of appropriations, an appropriate 
amount shall be available only for carrying out the study 
required by this section. 
SEC. 405. REGULATIONS. 
The Administrator shall issue such regulations as the 
Administrator considers necessary to ensure proper ad-
ministration of this title. 
SEC. 406. OTHER AUTHORITY. 
This title shall not be construed as superseding or 
diminishing the authorities and responsibilities, under any 
other provision of law, of the Administrator or any other 
Federal, State, or tribal officer, employee, department, or 
agency. 
SEC. 407. OCEAN ECOSYSTEM RESOURCE INFORMATION 
SYSTEMS. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 
(1) Ecosystem-based management will require 
development of an ocean information systems com-
prised of a set of information management tools and 
products capable of integrating and disseminating 
information essential for informed decision-making. 
(2) Information generated by ocean monitoring 
systems, including the National Environmental Ob-
servatory Network, will be more useful if fully inte-
grated into resource information systems developed 
for ecosystem-based management applications. Data 
from these offshore monitoring programs, coupled 
with other information on ocean and aquatic eco-
systems, will provide a basis for understanding nat-
ural and anthropogenic environmental variability, in-
cluding climate change and the resulting impacts on 
living marine resources. 
(3) Natural resource information systems have 
been developed and are presently a successful man-
agement tool for onshore uses, including some Pa-
cific Coast watersheds, and they should now be ap-
plied to the ocean environment to facilitate eco-
system-based management of the United States 
oceans waters. 
(b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 
(1) REQUIREMENT.—The Administrator shall, 
within 90 days after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, establish a network of regional ocean eco-
system resource information systems to act as an or-
ganized repository of geophysical, atmospheric, 
oceanographic, and marine biological data, including 
genetic research, studies, data, maps, and analyses 
necessary to the understanding of the ocean eco-
system, and from which to draw information for the 
establishment of national policies and priorities re-
lated to the conservation, use, and management of 
United States ocean waters and the marine re-
sources therein. 
(2) 
INCLUDED
INFORMATION.—Information 
maintained in each regional ocean ecosystem re-
source information system may include— 
(A) relevant historic or social science infor-
mation that may aid in the understanding of 
ocean ecosystems or their management; and 
(B) published and unpublished research, 
data, and scientifically peer-reviewed analysis, 
developed by State agencies, academic or sci-
entific institutions, fishermen’s collaborative re-
search programs, and other reliable and rel-
evant information sources. 
(3) REVIEW OF INCLUDED ANALYSES AND IN-
TERPRETATIONS.—Each draft analysis and interpre-
tation of data to explain ecosystem relationships that 
is included in a regional ocean ecosystem resource 
information system shall be reviewed by qualified ex-
perts before being broadly disseminated through the 
system to the public. 
(4) CONTRACTS AND OTHER AGREEMENTS.—
(A) AUTHORITY.—The Administrator, sub-
ject to the availability of appropriations, may 
enter into contracts and other agreements with 
other Federal agencies, State agencies, non-gov-
ernmental organizations, universities, and pri-
vate academic institutions for development of 
portions of each regional ocean ecosystem re-
source information system. 
(B) OPEN-SOURCE
SOFTWARE
AND
THE 
END-PRODUCT
LICENSES.—The Administrator 
shall include in such agreements appropriate 
provisions requiring use of general public li-
cense open-source software and licensing of 
end-products to the Administration or to any 
joint authority considered appropriate by the 
Administrator for efficient regional operations. 
(5) ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—The Adminis-
trator shall ensure that information in each regional 
ocean ecosystem resource information system estab-
lished under this section shall be readily accessible 
at no cost, or at nominal cost, to the Congress, all 
Federal agencies, States, academic and scientific in-
stitutions, and the public through the Internet, li-
braries, and such other mediums as may be appro-
priate and practical.
(c) INCLUDED REGIONS AND WATERS; SCHEDULE.— 
(1) OCEAN REGIONS.—The Administrator shall 
establish by not later than January 1, 2010, a re-
gional ocean ecosystem resource information system 
for each ocean region. 
(2) OTHER
WATERS.—The Administrator, in 
cooperation with the affected States, shall establish 
by not later than January 1, 2015, a regional ocean 
ecosystem resource information system for each of 
the following bodies of water: 
(A) The United States territorial waters of 
each of the Great Lakes. 
(B) Long Island Sound. 
(C) The Gulf of Maine. 
(D) Chesapeake Bay. 
(E) The Mississippi River Delta. 
(F) San Francisco Bay and Delta. 
(G) The United States territorial waters of 
Puget Sound. 
(3) MODIFICATION
OF
REGIONS
AND
WA-
TERS.—The Administrator, with respect to the es-
tablishment of regional ocean ecosystem resource in-
formation systems, and for purposes of administra-
tive convenience and to ensure the timely completion 
of such systems, may divide the regions and waters
referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) or include 
other waters not listed in those paragraphs. 
(d) COORDINATION .— 
(1) OBTAINING INFORMATION.—In establishing 
regional ocean ecosystem resource information sys-
tems, the Administrator— 
(A) shall cooperate and coordinate with the 
United States Geological Survey, the United 
States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Minerals 
Management Service, the Environmental Pro-
tection Agency, the Coast Guard, and the Navy, 
and all Administration offices, including the 
National Marine Sanctuaries program and Re-
gional Fishery Management Councils, in order 
to obtain from such agencies and offices and 
use all unclassified information necessary for 
the development and operation of the systems; 
and 
(B) may seek to enter into cooperative 
agreements with States, local governments, uni-
versities, or private academic institutions in 
order to obtain access to information necessary 
or useful for the development and operation of 
the systems.
(2) AVOIDANCE
OF
DUPLICATION.—To avoid 
duplication, in establishing regional ocean ecosystem 
resource information systems the Administrator 
shall coordinate with other ocean data acquisition 
and distribution systems, including the National 
Geospatial Data Clearinghouse and the Sanctuary 
Integrated Monitoring Network program of the Ad-
ministration. 
(3) INTEGRATION OF WATERSHED, BAY, AND 
ESTUARINE INFORMATION SYSTEMS.—The Adminis-
trator, in recognition of the effects of land-based and 
watershed uses on ocean ecosystems, shall facilitate 
to the extent practical the integration of watershed, 
bay, and estuarine information systems with the ap-
propriate regional ocean ecosystem resource informa-
tion system. 
(4) INTERNATIONAL
AGREEMENTS.—The Ad-
ministrator may, in consultation with the Secretary 
of State, enter into agreements with the Govern-
ments of Canada, Mexico, and the Russian Federa-
tion with respect to establishment of regional a 
ocean ecosystem resource information system for 
United States coastal waters that abut the territorial 
waters of any or those countries, for purposes of in-
clusion in such a system of any information or data
that may be necessary or useful in the development 
and operation of such system. 
(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For de-
velopment and implementation of the ocean ecosystem re-
source information systems under this section, there is au-
thorized to be appropriated to the Administrator 
$12,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2007 through 
2011. 
SEC. 408. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Admin-
istrator for carrying out this title, including development, 
implementation, and monitoring of approved Regional 
Ocean Strategic Plans, $25,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2007 through 2011. 
TITLE V—OCEAN SCIENCE, EX-
PLORATION, AND RESEARCH 
COORDINATION 
SEC. 501. COMMITTEE ON OCEAN SCIENCE, EDUCATION, 
AND OPERATIONS. 
(a) COMMITTEE.—The Chair of the Committee on 
Ocean Policy created under subtitle B of title III shall es-
tablish a Committee on Ocean Science, Education, and 
Operations.