shall be appointed by the Secretary. The General 
Counsel shall be paid at the rate of basic pay for 
level V of the Executive Schedule. 
(2) FUNCTIONS.—The General Counsel shall— 
(A) serve as the chief legal officer of the 
Administration for all legal matters that arise 
in connection with the conduct of the functions 
of the Administration; and 
(B) perform such other functions and exer-
cise such powers as the Administrator may pre-
scribe. 
(g) CONTINUATION
OF SERVICE.—Any individual 
serving on the effective date of this Act in a position pro-
vided for in this Act may continue to serve in that position 
until a successor is appointed under this Act. Nothing in 
this Act shall be construed to require the appointment of 
a successor under this Act sooner than would have been 
required under law as in effect before the effective date 
of this Act. 
SEC. 203. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall maintain 
within the Administration the National Weather Service. 
(b) MISSION.—The mission of the National Weather 
Service is to provide weather, water, climate, tsunami, and 
space weather forecasts and warnings for the United 
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States, its territories, adjacent waters, and ocean areas for 
the protection of life and property and the enhancement 
of the national economy. In carrying out the mission of 
the National Weather Service, the Administrator shall en-
sure that the National Weather Service— 
(1) provides timely and accurate weather, 
water, climate, tsunami, and space weather fore-
casts; and 
(2) provides timely and accurate warnings of 
natural hazards related to weather, water, climate, 
and tsunamis, and of space weather hazards. 
(c) FUNCTIONS.—To accomplish the mission de-
scribed in section 201(b), and in addition to the functions 
described in section 201(c), the functions of the National 
Weather Service shall include— 
(1) maintaining a network of local weather fore-
cast offices; 
(2) maintaining a network of observation sys-
tems to collect weather and climate data; 
(3) operating national centers to deliver guid-
ance, forecasts, warnings, and analysis about weath-
er, water, climate, tsunami, and space weather phe-
nomena for the Administration and the public; 
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(4) providing information to Federal agencies 
and other organizations responsible for emergency 
preparedness and response as required by law; 
(5) conducting and supporting applied research 
to facilitate the rapid incorporation of weather and 
climate science advances into operational tools; and 
(6) other functions to serve the mission of the 
National Weather Service described in subsection 
(b). 
SEC. 204. RESOURCE MANAGEMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall maintain 
within the Administration programs to protect, maintain 
and restore the health and sustainability of coastal, ocean, 
and Great Lakes resources through ecosystem-based man-
agement. 
(b) FUNCTIONS.—To accomplish the mission de-
scribed in section 201(b), and in addition to the functions 
described in section 201(c), the resource management as-
pects of the Administration shall take an ecosystem-based 
approach to fulfilling its responsibilities with respect to— 
(1) management of domestic and international 
fisheries for increased sustainability; 
(2) conservation of marine mammals, protected 
species, coral reefs, and other living marine re-
sources; 
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(3) protection and management of ocean and 
coastal areas, including areas designated under the 
National Marine Sanctuary, National Estuarine Re-
search Reserve, and National Monument systems, 
other managed areas, areas considered essential fish 
habitat, and other important ecological areas as ap-
propriate; 
(4) management of coastal zones and water-
sheds; 
(5) response to, mitigation of, and adequate 
compensation for pollution events, including oil and 
other hazardous waste spills; 
(6) restoration of degraded coastal and ocean 
areas, including through a community-based ap-
proach; 
(7) partnerships with other Federal agencies 
and with States and communities to address the 
issues of land-based activities and their impact on 
the ocean environment; 
(8) mitigation of the impacts of natural and 
manmade hazards; 
(9) control and minimization of invasive species 
proliferation and marine debris; 
(10) assessment, monitoring, and promotion of 
the long-term health, productivity, and diversity of 
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the coasts, oceans, and Great Lakes, and their nat-
ural resources; and 
(11) such other ecosystem-based resource man-
agement functions to serve the mission of the Ad-
ministration as the Administrator may prescribe. 
SEC. 205. OPERATIONS AND SERVICES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall maintain 
within the Administration programs to support efforts, on 
a continuing basis, to collect data and provide information 
and products regarding satellites, observations, and coast-
al, ocean and Great Lakes information. 
(b) FUNCTIONS.—To accomplish the mission de-
scribed in section 201(b), and in addition to the functions 
described in section 201(c), the operations and service 
functions of the Administration include— 
(1) acquiring, managing, and operating coastal, 
ocean, and Great Lakes observing systems; 
(2) contributing to the operation of a global 
Earth-observing system; 
(3) integrating Administration remote sensing 
and in situ assets that provide critical data needed 
to support the mission of the Administration, and 
providing that data to decision-makers and the pub-
lic; 
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(4) developing, acquiring, and managing oper-
ational environmental satellite programs and associ-
ated ground control and data acquisition and deliv-
ery facilities to support the mission of the Adminis-
tration; 
(5) managing and distributing atmospheric, 
geophysical, and marine data and data products for 
the Administration through national environmental 
data centers; 
(6) providing for long-term stewardship of envi-
ronmental data, products, and information via data 
processing, storage, reanalysis, reprocessing, and ar-
chive facilities; 
(7) issuing licenses for private remote sensing 
space systems under the Land Remote Sensing Pol-
icy Act of 1992; 
(8) administering a national water level obser-
vation network, which shall include monitoring of 
the Great Lakes; 
(9) providing charts and other information for 
safe navigation of the oceans and inland waters, as 
provided by law; 
(10) maintaining a fleet of ships and aircraft to 
support the mission of the Administration; and 
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(11) such other operations and services func-
tions to serve the mission of the Administration as 
the Administrator may prescribe. 
SEC. 206. RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall maintain 
within the Administration programs to conduct and sup-
port research and the development of technologies relating 
to weather, climate, and the coasts, oceans, and Great 
Lakes. 
(b) FUNCTIONS.—To accomplish the mission de-
scribed in section 201(b), and in addition to the functions 
described in section 201(c), the research and development 
functions of the Administration shall include— 
(1) conducting and supporting research and 
technology development to improve the Administra-
tion’s capabilities to collect, through observation and 
otherwise, communicate, analyze, process, and dis-
seminate comprehensive scientific data and informa-
tion about weather, climate, and the coasts, oceans, 
and Great Lakes; 
(2) improving ecological prediction and manage-
ment capabilities through ecosystem-based research 
and technology development; 
(3) contributing information on the Earth’s cli-
mate and related systems, obtained through research 
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and observation, that addresses questions con-
fronting policymakers, resources managers, and 
other users; 
(4) reducing uncertainty in projections of how 
the Earth’s climate and related systems may change 
in the future; 
(5) conducting and supporting research and de-
velopment of technology for exploration of the 
oceans; 
(6) maintaining a system of laboratories to per-
form the functions described in this subsection; 
(7) supporting extramural peer-reviewed com-
petitive grant programs to assist the Administration 
in performing the functions described in this sub-
section; and 
(8) such other research and technology develop-
ment functions to serve the mission of the Adminis-
tration as the Administrator may prescribe. 
SEC. 207. EDUCATION AND OUTREACH. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall maintain 
within the Administration the Office of Education. 
(b) MISSION.—The mission of the Office of Edu-
cation is to conduct and support education programs and 
outreach activities related to oceans and atmosphere, and 
to provide interagency and intra-agency coordination of 
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such programs and activities on the national, regional, 
State, and local levels. 
(c) FUNCTIONS.—To accomplish the mission de-
scribed in section 201(b), and in addition to the functions 
described in section 201(c), the education and outreach 
functions of the Administration, through the Office of 
Education, shall include— 
(1) fostering the public’s ability to understand 
and integrate scientific information into consider-
ations of national environmental issues through edu-
cation and public outreach activities; 
(2) informing the public about how the Earth’s 
climate and related systems may change in the fu-
ture, based on the best available science; 
(3) supporting and partnering with educational 
institutions to foster ocean literacy and promote the 
ocean workforce, especially minority-serving institu-
tions; 
(4) support professional development and a pro-
gram for certification of individuals engaged in com-
mercial uses of ocean waters; 
(5) create and implement effective approaches 
to disseminate agency products and ocean informa-
tion to the general public, including improving ac-
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cess to the Administration’s educational resources; 
and 
(6) such other education and outreach functions 
to serve the mission of the Administration as the 
Administrator may prescribe. 
SEC. 208. SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—There shall be within the Admin-
istration a Science Advisory Board, which shall provide 
such scientific advice as may be requested by the Adminis-
trator, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans-
portation of the Senate, or the Committee on Science or 
on Resources of the House of Representatives. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Science Advisory 
Board is to advise the Administrator and Congress on 
long-range and short-range strategies for research, edu-
cation, and the application of science to coastal, ocean, 
and Great Lakes resource management and environmental 
assessment and prediction. 
(c) MEMBERS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Science Advisory board 
shall be composed of at least 15 members appointed 
by the administrator. Each member of the board 
shall— 
(A) be qualified by education, training, and 
experience to evaluate scientific and technical 
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information on matters referred to the Board 
under this section; and 
(B) collectively represent a balanced group 
of experts reflecting the full breadth of the Ad-
ministration’s areas of responsibility. 
(2) TERMS OF SERVICE.—Members shall be ap-
pointed for 3-year terms, renewable once, and shall 
serve at the discretion of the Administrator. An indi-
vidual serving a term as a member of the Science 
Advisory Board on the date of enactment of this Act 
may complete that term, and may be reappointed 
once for another term of 3 years unless the term 
being served on such date of enactment is the second 
term served by that individual. Vacancy appoint-
ments shall be for the remainder of the unexpired 
term of the vacancy, and an individual so appointed 
may subsequently be appointed for 2 full 3-year 
terms if the remainder of the unexpired term is less 
than one year. 
(3) CHAIRPERSON.—The Administrator shall 
designate a chairperson from among the members of 
the Board. 
(4) APPOINTMENT.—Members of the Science 
Advisory Board shall be appointed as special Gov-
ernment employees, within the meaning given such 
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