H. R. 7776—1579 
‘‘SEC. 12004. EDUCATION, WORKFORCE TRAINING, AND OUTREACH. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration shall— 
‘‘(1) conduct education and outreach efforts in order to 
broadly disseminate information to the public on the discoveries 
made by the program under section 12002; 
‘‘(2) to the extent possible, coordinate the efforts described 
in paragraph (1) with the outreach strategies of other domestic 
or international ocean mapping, exploration, and characteriza-
tion initiatives; and 
‘‘(3) establish a fellowship program at the National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration to provide year-long fellow-
ships to undergraduate students from institutions described 
in section 371(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965. 
‘‘(b) EDUCATION
AND OUTREACH EFFORTS.—Efforts described 
in subsection (a)(1) may include— 
‘‘(1) education of the general public, teachers, students, 
and ocean and coastal resource managers; and 
‘‘(2) workforce training, reskilling, and opportunities to 
encourage development of ocean-related science, technology, 
engineering, and mathematics technical training programs 
involving secondary schools, community colleges, and univer-
sities, including institutions described in section 371(a) of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965. 
‘‘(c) OUTREACH STRATEGY.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of the National Ocean Exploration Act, the 
Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-
tion shall develop an outreach strategy to broadly disseminate 
information on the discoveries made by the program under section 
12002.’’. 
(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents in section 
1(b) of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 
(Public Law 111–11; 123 Stat. 991) is amended by striking 
the item relating to section 12004 and inserting the following: 
‘‘Sec. 12004. Education, workforce training, and outreach.’’. 
(f) OCEAN EXPLORATION ADVISORY BOARD.— 
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Section 12005(a) of such Act (33 
U.S.C. 3505(a)) is amended— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘, including representatives from aca-
demic, commercial, nonprofit, philanthropic, policy, and 
Tribal entities’’ after ‘‘relevant fields’’; 
(B) by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows: 
‘‘(1) to advise the Administrator on priority areas for 
survey, discovery, and opportunities for extramural collabora-
tion and partnerships;’’; 
(C) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (6); 
and 
(D) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following: 
‘‘(4) to identify market barriers to development or commer-
cialization of novel ocean mapping, exploration, and character-
ization products, processes, and tools; 
‘‘(5) to identify best practices to improve data management, 
processing, storage, and archiving standards; and’’. 
(2) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 12005(c) of such Act 
(33 U.S.C. 3505(c)) is amended by inserting ‘‘this’’ before ‘‘part’’.
H. R. 7776—1580 
(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 12006 of such 
Act (33 U.S.C. 3406) is amended by striking ‘‘this part’’ and all 
that follows and inserting ‘‘this part $60,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2023 through 2028’’. 
(h) DEFINITIONS.—Such Act is further amended by inserting 
after section 12006 the following: 
‘‘SEC. 12007. DEFINITIONS. 
‘‘In this part: 
‘‘(1) 
CHARACTERIZATION.—The 
terms 
‘characterization’, 
‘characterize’, and ‘characterizing’ mean activities that provide 
comprehensive data and interpretations for a specific area of 
interest of the sea floor, sub-bottom, water column, or hydrologic 
features, such as water masses and currents, in direct support 
of specific research, environmental protection, resource manage-
ment, policymaking, or applied mission objectives. 
‘‘(2) EXPLORATION.—The term ‘exploration’, ‘explore’, and 
‘exploring’ means activities that provide— 
‘‘(A) a multidisciplinary view of an unknown or poorly 
understood area of the sea floor, sub-bottom, or water 
column; and 
‘‘(B) an initial assessment of the physical, chemical, 
geological, biological, archaeological, or other characteris-
tics of such an area. 
‘‘(3) MAPPING.—The terms ‘map’ and ‘mapping’ mean activi-
ties that provide comprehensive data and information needed 
to understand sea floor characteristics, including depth, topog-
raphy, bottom type, sediment composition and distribution, 
underlying geologic structure, and benthic flora and fauna.’’. 
(i) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents in section 
1(b) of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (Public 
Law 111–11; 123 Stat. 991) is amended by inserting after the 
item relating to section 12006 the following: 
‘‘Sec. 12007. Definitions.’’. 
SEC. 10306. REPEAL. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The NOAA Undersea Research Program Act 
of 2009 (part II of subtitle A of title XII of Public Law 111– 
11; 33 U.S.C. 3421 et seq.) is repealed. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents in section 
1(b) of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (Public 
Law 111–11; 123 Stat. 991) is amended by striking the items 
relating to part II of subtitle A of title XII of such Act. 
SEC. 10307. MODIFICATIONS TO OCEAN AND COASTAL MAPPING PRO-
GRAM OF THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC 
ADMINISTRATION. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 12202(a) of the Ocean and Coastal 
Mapping Integration Act (33 U.S.C. 3501(a)) is amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘establish a program to develop a coordi-
nated and’’ and inserting ‘‘establish and maintain a pro-
gram to coordinate’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘plan’’ and inserting ‘‘efforts’’; and 
(C) by striking ‘‘that enhances’’ and all that follows 
and inserting ‘‘that—
H. R. 7776—1581 
‘‘(1) enhances ecosystem approaches in decisionmaking for 
natural resource and habitat management restoration and con-
servation, emergency response, and coastal resilience and 
adaptation; 
‘‘(2) establishes research and mapping priorities; 
‘‘(3) supports the siting of research and other platforms; 
and 
‘‘(4) advances ocean and coastal science.’’. 
(2) MEMBERSHIP.—Section 12202 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 
3501) is amended by striking subsection (b) and redesignating 
subsection (c) as subsection (b). 
(3) PROGRAM PARAMETERS.—Subsection (b) of section 12202 
of such Act (33 U.S.C. 3501), as redesignated by paragraph 
(2), is amended— 
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking 
‘‘developing’’ and inserting ‘‘maintaining’’; 
(B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘and for leveraging 
existing Federal geospatial services capacities and contract 
vehicles for efficiencies’’ after ‘‘coastal mapping’’; 
(C) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘with coastal state 
and local government programs’’ and inserting ‘‘with map-
ping programs, in conjunction with Federal and State agen-
cies, Tribal governments, private industry, academia, and 
nongovernmental organizations’’; 
(D) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘of real-time tide 
data and the development’’ and inserting ‘‘of tide data 
and water-level data and the development and dissemina-
tion’’; 
(E) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting 
a semicolon; 
(F) in paragraph (10), by striking the period at the 
end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(G) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(11) support— 
‘‘(A) the Ocean Science and Technology Subcommittee 
of the Ocean Policy Committee established under section 
8932(c) of title 10, United States Code; and 
‘‘(B) the National Ocean Mapping, Exploration, and 
Characterization Council established under section 5405 
of the National Ocean Exploration Act.’’. 
(b) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP ON OCEAN AND COASTAL 
MAPPING.— 
(1) NAME
CHANGE.—The Ocean and Coastal Mapping 
Integration Act (33 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) is amended— 
(A) in section 12202 (33 U.S.C. 3501)— 
(i) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘Interagency Com-
mittee on Ocean and Coastal Mapping’’ and inserting 
‘‘Interagency Working Group on Ocean and Coastal 
Mapping under section 12203’’; and 
(ii) in subsection (b), as redesignated by subsection 
(a)(2), by striking ‘‘Committee’’ and inserting ‘‘Working 
Group’’; 
(B) in section 12203 (33 U.S.C. 3502)— 
(i) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘COMMITTEE’’ 
and inserting ‘‘WORKING GROUP’’; 
(ii) in subsection (b), in the first sentence, by 
striking ‘‘committee’’ and inserting ‘‘Working Group’’;
H. R. 7776—1582 
(iii) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘committee’’ and 
inserting ‘‘Working Group’’; and 
(iv) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘committee’’ and 
inserting ‘‘Working Group’’; and 
(C) in section 12208 (33 U.S.C. 3507), by amending 
paragraph (3) to read as follows: 
‘‘(3) WORKING GROUP.—The term ‘Working Group’ means 
the Interagency Working Group on Ocean and Coastal Mapping 
under section 12203.’’. 
(2) IN GENERAL.—Section 12203(a) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 
3502(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘within 30 days’’ and all that 
follows and inserting ‘‘not later than 30 days after the date 
of the enactment of the National Ocean Exploration Act, shall 
use the Interagency Working Group on Ocean and Coastal 
Mapping in existence as of the date of the enactment of such 
Act to implement section 12202.’’. 
(3) MEMBERSHIP.—Section 12203(b) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 
3502(b)) is amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘senior’’ both places it appears and 
inserting ‘‘senior-level’’; 
(B) by striking the second sentence; 
(C) by striking ‘‘the Minerals Management Service’’ 
and inserting ‘‘the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 
of the Department of the Interior, the Office of the Assist-
ant Secretary, Fish and Wildlife and Parks of the Depart-
ment of the Interior’’; and 
(D) by striking ‘‘the Chief of Naval Operations’’ and 
inserting ‘‘the Department of the Navy’’. 
(4) CO-CHAIRS.—Section 12203(c) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 
3502(c)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(c) CO-CHAIRS.—The Working Group shall be co-chaired by 
one representative from each of the following: 
‘‘(1) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 
‘‘(2) The Department of the Interior.’’. 
(5) SUBORDINATE GROUPS.—Section 12203(d) of such Act 
(33 U.S.C. 3502(d)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(d) SUBORDINATE GROUPS.—The co-chairs may establish such 
permanent or temporary subordinate groups as determined appro-
priate by the Working Group.’’. 
(6) MEETINGS.—Section 12203(e) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 
3502(e)) is amended by striking ‘‘each subcommittee and each 
working group’’ and inserting ‘‘each subordinate group’’. 
(7) COORDINATION.—Section 12203(f) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 
3502(f)) is amended by striking paragraphs (1) through (5) 
and inserting the following: 
‘‘(1) other Federal efforts; 
‘‘(2) international mapping activities; 
‘‘(3) coastal States; 
‘‘(4) coastal Indian Tribes; 
‘‘(5) data acquisition and user groups through workshops, 
partnerships, and other appropriate mechanisms; and 
‘‘(6) representatives of nongovernmental entities.’’. 
(8) ADVISORY PANEL.—Section 12203 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 
3502) is amended by striking subsection (g). 
(9) FUNCTIONS.—Section 12203 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 
3502), as amended by paragraph (8), is further amended by 
adding at the end the following:
H. R. 7776—1583 
‘‘(g) SUPPORT FUNCTIONS.—The Working Group shall support 
the National Ocean Mapping, Exploration, and Characterization 
Council established under section 5405 of the National Ocean Explo-
ration Act and the Ocean Science and Technology Subcommittee 
of the Ocean Policy Committee established under section 8932(c) 
of title 10, United States Code, on ocean mapping activities and 
associated technology development across the Federal Government, 
State governments, coastal Indian Tribes, private industry, non-
governmental organizations, and academia.’’. 
(10) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents in sec-
tion 1(b) of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 
2009 (Public Law 111–11; 123 Stat. 991) is amended by striking 
the item relating to section 12203 and inserting the following: 
‘‘Sec. 12203. Interagency working group on ocean and coastal mapping.’’. 
(c) BIENNIAL REPORTS.—Section 12204 of the Ocean and Coastal 
Mapping Integration Act (33 U.S.C. 3503) is amended— 
(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘No 
later’’ and all that follows through ‘‘House of Representatives’’ 
and inserting ‘‘Not later than 18 months after the date of 
the enactment of the National Ocean Exploration Act, and 
biennially thereafter until 2040, the co-chairs of the Working 
Group, in coordination with the National Ocean Mapping, 
Exploration, and Characterization Council established under 
section 5405 of such Act, shall submit to the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee 
on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate, and the Com-
mittee on Natural Resources and the Committee on Science, 
Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives,’’; 
(2) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, including the data 
maintained by the National Centers for Environmental 
Information of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis-
tration,’’ after ‘‘mapping data’’; 
(3) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘, including a plan to 
map the coasts of the United States on a requirements-based 
cycle, with mapping agencies and partners coordinating on 
a unified approach that factors in recent related studies, meets 
multiple user requirements, and identifies gaps’’ after ‘‘accom-
plished’’; 
(4) by striking paragraph (10) and redesignating para-
graphs (11), (12), and (13) as paragraphs (10), (11), and (12), 
respectively; 
(5) in paragraph (10), as so redesignated, by striking ‘‘with 
coastal State and local government programs’’ and inserting 
‘‘with international, coastal State, and local government and 
nongovernmental mapping programs’’; 
(6) in paragraph (11), as redesignated by paragraph (4)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘increase’’ and inserting ‘‘streamline 
and expand’’; 
(B) by inserting ‘‘for the purpose of fulfilling Federal 
mapping and charting responsibilities, plans, and strate-
gies’’ after ‘‘entities’’; and 
(C) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 
(7) in paragraph (12), as redesignated by paragraph (4), 
by striking the period at the end and inserting a semicolon; 
and 
(8) by adding at the end the following:
H. R. 7776—1584 
‘‘(13) a progress report on the development of new and 
innovative technologies and applications through research and 
development, including cooperative or other agreements with 
joint or cooperative research institutes and centers and other 
nongovernmental entities; 
‘‘(14) a description of best practices in data processing 
and distribution and leveraging opportunities among agencies 
represented on the Working Group and with coastal States, 
coastal Indian Tribes, and nongovernmental entities; 
‘‘(15) an identification of any training, technology, or other 
requirements for enabling Federal mapping programs, vessels, 
and aircraft to support a coordinated ocean and coastal mapping 
program; and 
‘‘(16) a timetable for implementation and completion of 
the plan described in paragraph (3), including recommendations 
for integrating new approaches into the program.’’. 
(d) NOAA JOINT OCEAN AND COASTAL MAPPING CENTERS.— 
(1) CENTERS.—Section 12205(c) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 
3504(c)) is amended— 
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking 
‘‘3’’ and inserting ‘‘three’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘and uncrewed’’ after 
‘‘sensing’’. 
(2) PLAN.—Section 12205 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 3504) 
is amended— 
(A) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘PLAN’’ and 
inserting ‘‘NOAA JOINT OCEAN AND COASTAL MAPPING CEN-
TERS’’; 
(B) by striking subsections (a), (b), and (d); and 
(C) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘(c) NOAA JOINT 
OCEAN AND COASTAL MAPPING CENTERS.—’’. 
(3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents in section 
1(b) of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 
(Public Law 111–11; 123 Stat. 991) is amended by striking 
the item relating to section 12205 and inserting the following: 
‘‘Sec. 12205. NOAA joint ocean and coastal mapping centers.’’. 
(e) OCEAN AND COASTAL MAPPING FEDERAL FUNDING OPPOR-
TUNITY.—The Ocean and Coastal Mapping Integration Act (33 
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating sections 12206, 12207, and 12208 as 
sections 12208, 12209, and 12210, respectively; and 
(2) by inserting after section 12205 the following: 
‘‘SEC. 12206. OCEAN AND COASTAL MAPPING FEDERAL FUNDING 
OPPORTUNITY. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the date of 
the enactment of the National Ocean Exploration Act, the Adminis-
trator shall develop an integrated ocean and coastal mapping Fed-
eral funding match opportunity, to be known as the ‘Brennan Ocean 
Mapping Fund’ in memory of Rear Admiral Richard T. Brennan, 
within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with 
Federal, State, Tribal, local, nonprofit, private industry, or academic 
partners in order to increase the coordinated acquisition, processing, 
stewardship, and archival of new ocean and coastal mapping data 
in United States waters. 
‘‘(b) RULES.—The Administrator shall develop administrative 
and procedural rules for the ocean and coastal mapping Federal
H. R. 7776—1585 
funding match opportunity developed under subsection (a), to 
include— 
‘‘(1) specific and detailed criteria that must be addressed 
by an applicant, such as geographic overlap with preestablished 
priorities, number and type of project partners, benefit to the 
applicant, coordination with other funding opportunities, and 
benefit to the public; 
‘‘(2) determination of the appropriate funding match 
amounts and mechanisms to use, such as grants, agreements, 
or contracts; and 
‘‘(3) other funding award criteria as are necessary or appro-
priate to ensure that evaluations of proposals and decisions 
to award funding under this section are based on objective 
standards applied fairly and equitably to those proposals. 
‘‘(c) GEOSPATIAL
SERVICES
AND
CONTRACT
VEHICLES.—The 
ocean and coastal mapping Federal funding match opportunity 
developed under subsection (a) shall leverage Federal expertise 
and capacities for geospatial services and Federal geospatial con-
tract vehicles using the private sector for acquisition efficiencies. 
‘‘SEC. 12207. AGREEMENTS AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE. 
‘‘(a) AGREEMENTS.—Subject to the availability of appropriations 
for such purpose, the head of a Federal agency that is represented 
on the Interagency Committee on Ocean and Coastal Mapping 
may enter into agreements with any other agency that is so rep-
resented to provide, on a reimbursable or nonreimbursable basis, 
facilities, equipment, services, personnel, and other support services 
to carry out the purposes of this subtitle. 
‘‘(b) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—The Administrator may make 
financial assistance awards (grants of cooperative agreements) to 
any State or subdivision thereof or any public or private organiza-
tion or individual to carry out the purposes of this subtitle.’’. 
(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 12209 of such 
Act, as redesignated by subsection (e)(1), is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘this subtitle’’ and all 
that follows and inserting ‘‘this subtitle $45,000,000 for each 
of fiscal years 2023 through 2028.’’; 
(2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘this subtitle’’ and all 
that follows and inserting ‘‘this subtitle $15,000,000 for each 
of fiscal years 2023 through 2028.’’; 
(3) by striking subsection (c); and 
(4) by inserting after subsection (b) the following: 
‘‘(c) OCEAN AND COASTAL MAPPING FEDERAL FUNDING OPPOR-
TUNITY.—Of amounts authorized pursuant to subsection (a), 
$20,000,000 is authorized to carry out section 12206.’’. 
(g) DEFINITIONS.— 
(1) OCEAN AND COASTAL MAPPING.—Paragraph (5) of section 
12210 of such Act, as redesignated by subsection (e)(1), is 
amended by striking ‘‘processing, and management’’ and 
inserting ‘‘processing, management, maintenance, interpreta-
tion, certification, and dissemination’’. 
(2) COASTAL
INDIAN
TRIBE.—Section 12210 of such Act, 
as redesignated by subsection (e)(1), is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘(9) COASTAL
INDIAN
TRIBE.—The term ‘coastal Indian 
Tribe’ means an ‘Indian Tribe’, as defined in section 4 of the
H. R. 7776—1586 
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 
U.S.C. 5304), the land of which is located in a coastal State.’’. 
(h) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of contents in section 
1(b) of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (Public 
Law 111–11; 123 Stat. 991) is amended by striking the items 
relating to sections 12206 through 12208 and inserting the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘Sec. 12206. Ocean and coastal mapping Federal funding opportunity. 
‘‘Sec. 12207. Cooperative agreements, contracts, and grants. 
‘‘Sec. 12208. Effect on other laws. 
‘‘Sec. 12209. Authorization of appropriations. 
‘‘Sec. 12210. Definitions.’’. 
SEC. 10308. MODIFICATIONS TO HYDROGRAPHIC SERVICES IMPROVE-
MENT ACT OF 1998. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 302(4)(A) of the Hydrographic Serv-
ices Improvement Act of 1998 (33 U.S.C. 892(4)(A)) is amended 
by inserting ‘‘hydrodynamic forecast and datum transformation 
models,’’ after ‘‘nautical information databases,’’. 
(b) FUNCTIONS OF THE ADMINISTRATOR.—Section 303(b) of such 
Act (33 U.S.C. 892a(b)) is amended— 
(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by inserting 
‘‘precision navigation,’’ after ‘‘promote’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (2)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘and hydrodynamic forecast models’’ 
after ‘‘monitoring systems’’; 
(B) by inserting ‘‘and provide foundational information 
and services required to support coastal resilience planning 
for coastal transportation and other infrastructure, coastal 
protection and restoration projects, and related activities’’ 
after ‘‘efficiency’’; and 
(C) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting a semicolon. 
(c) QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAM.—Section 304(a) of such Act 
(33 U.S.C. 892b(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘product produced’’ 
and inserting ‘‘product or service produced or disseminated’’. 
(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 306(a) of such 
Act (33 U.S.C. 892d(a)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘$70,814,000 for each 
of fiscal years 2019 through 2023’’ and inserting ‘‘$71,000,000 
for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2028’’; 
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘$25,000,000 for each 
of fiscal years 2019 through 2023’’ and inserting ‘‘$34,000,000 
for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2028’’; 
(3) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘$29,932,000 for each 
of fiscal years 2019 through 2023’’ and inserting ‘‘$38,000,000 
for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2028’’; 
(4) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘$26,800,000 for each 
of fiscal years 2019 through 2023’’ and inserting ‘‘$45,000,000 
for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2028’’; and 
(5) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘$30,564,000 for each 
of fiscal years 2019 through 2023’’ and inserting ‘‘$35,000,000 
for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2028’’.
H. R. 7776—1587 
TITLE CIV—MARINE MAMMAL 
RESEARCH AND RESPONSE 
SEC. 10401. DATA COLLECTION AND DISSEMINATION. 
Section 402 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 
(16 U.S.C. 1421a) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting ‘‘or entangled’’ 
after ‘‘stranded’’; 
(B) in paragraph (3)— 
(i) 
by 
striking 
‘‘strandings,’’ 
and 
inserting 
‘‘strandings and entanglements, including unusual 
mortality events,’’; 
(ii) by inserting ‘‘stranding’’ before ‘‘region’’; and 
(iii) by striking ‘‘marine mammals; and’’ and 
inserting ‘‘marine mammals and entangled marine 
mammals to allow comparison of the causes of illness 
and deaths in stranded marine mammals and entan-
gled marine mammals with physical, chemical, and 
biological environmental parameters; and’’; and 
(C) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘analyses, that would 
allow comparison of the causes of illness and deaths in 
stranded marine mammals with physical, chemical, and 
biological environmental parameters.’’ and inserting ‘‘anal-
yses.’’; and 
(2) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(c) INFORMATION REQUIRED TO BE SUBMITTED
AND COL-
LECTED.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—After each response to a stranding or 
entanglement event, the Secretary shall collect (including from 
any staff of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-
tion that respond directly to such an event), and shall require 
each stranding network participant who responds to that 
stranding or entanglement to submit to the Administrator of 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or the 
Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service— 
‘‘(A) data on the stranding event, including NOAA 
Form 89–864 (OMB #0648–0178), NOAA Form 89–878 
(OMB #0648–0178), similar successor forms, or similar 
information in an appropriate format required by the 
United States Fish and Wildlife Service for species under 
its management authority; 
‘‘(B) supplemental data to the data described in 
subparagraph (A), which may include, as available, rel-
evant information about— 
‘‘(i) weather and tide conditions; 
‘‘(ii) offshore human, predator, or prey activity; 
‘‘(iii) morphometrics; 
‘‘(iv) behavior; 
‘‘(v) health assessments; 
‘‘(vi) life history samples; or 
‘‘(vii) stomach and intestinal contents; and 
‘‘(C) data and results from laboratory analysis of tis-
sues, which may include, as appropriate and available— 
‘‘(i) histopathology; 
‘‘(ii) toxicology;
H. R. 7776—1588 
‘‘(iii) microbiology; 
‘‘(iv) virology; or 
‘‘(v) parasitology. 
‘‘(2) TIMELINE.—A stranding network participant shall 
submit— 
‘‘(A) the data described in paragraph (1)(A) not later 
than 30 days after the date of a response to a stranding 
or entanglement event; 
‘‘(B) the compiled data described in paragraph (1)(B) 
not later than 30 days after the date on which the data 
is available to the stranding network participant; and 
‘‘(C) the compiled data described in paragraph (1)(C) 
not later than 30 days after the date on which the labora-
tory analysis has been reported to the stranding network 
participant. 
‘‘(3) ONLINE DATA INPUT SYSTEM.—The Secretary, acting 
through the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and 
Atmosphere, in consultation with the stranding network and 
the Office of Evaluation Sciences of the General Services 
Administration, shall establish an online system for the pur-
poses of efficient and timely submission of data described in 
paragraph (1). 
‘‘(d) AVAILABILITY OF DATA.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop a program 
to make information, including any data and metadata collected 
under paragraph (3) or (4) of subsection (b) or subsection (c), 
available to researchers, stranding network participants, and 
the public— 
‘‘(A) to improve real-time coordination of response to 
stranding and entanglement events across geographic areas 
and between stranding coordinators; 
‘‘(B) to identify and quickly disseminate information 
on potential public health risks; 
‘‘(C) to facilitate integrated interdisciplinary research; 
‘‘(D) to facilitate peer-reviewed publications; 
‘‘(E) to archive regional data into 1 national database 
for future analyses; and 
‘‘(F) for education and outreach activities. 
‘‘(2) ACCESS
TO
DATA.—The Secretary shall ensure that 
any data or metadata collected under subsection (c)— 
‘‘(A) by staff of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration or the United States Fish and Wildlife 
Service that responded directly to a stranding or entangle-
ment event is available to the public through the Health 
MAP and the Observation System not later than 30 days 
after that data or metadata is collected by, available to, 
or reported to the Secretary; and 
‘‘(B) by a stranding network participant that responded 
directly to a stranding or entanglement event is made 
available to the public through the Health MAP and the 
Observation System 2 years after the date on which that 
data are submitted to the Secretary under subsection (c). 
‘‘(3) EXCEPTIONS.— 
‘‘(A) WRITTEN
RELEASE.—Notwithstanding paragraph 
(2)(B), the Secretary may make data described in paragraph 
(2)(B) publicly available earlier than 2 years after the date 
on which that data are submitted to the Secretary under
H. R. 7776—1589 
subsection (c), if the stranding network participant has 
completed a written release stating that such data may 
be made publicly available. 
‘‘(B) LAW ENFORCEMENT.—Notwithstanding paragraph 
(2), the Secretary may withhold data for a longer period 
than the period of time described in paragraph (2) in the 
event of a law enforcement action or legal action that 
may be related to that data. 
‘‘(e) STANDARDS.—The Secretary, in consultation with the 
marine mammal stranding community, shall— 
‘‘(1) make publicly available guidance about uniform data 
and metadata standards to ensure that data collected in accord-
ance with this section can be archived in a form that is readily 
accessible and understandable to the public through the Health 
MAP and the Observation System; and 
‘‘(2) periodically update such guidance. 
‘‘(f) MANAGEMENT POLICY.—In collaboration with the regional 
stranding networks, the Secretary shall develop, and periodically 
update, a data management and public outreach collaboration policy 
for stranding or entanglement events. 
‘‘(g) 
AUTHORSHIP
AGREEMENTS
AND
ACKNOWLEDGMENT 
POLICY.—The Secretary, acting through the Under Secretary of 
Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, shall include authorship 
agreements or other acknowledgment considerations for use of data 
by the public, as determined by the Secretary. 
‘‘(h) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—The Secretary shall not require submis-
sion of research data that are not described in subsection (c).’’. 
SEC. 10402. STRANDING OR ENTANGLEMENT RESPONSE AGREEMENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 403 of the Marine Mammal Protection 
Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1421b) is amended— 
(1) in the section heading by inserting ‘‘OR ENTANGLEMENT’’ 
before ‘‘RESPONSE’’; 
(2) in subsection (a), by striking the period at the end 
and inserting ‘‘or entanglement.’’; and 
(3) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semi-
colon; 
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the 
end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) include a description of the data management and 
public outreach policy established under section 402(f).’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
in the first section of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 
(Public Law 92–522; 86 Stat. 1027) is amended by striking the 
item related to section 403 and inserting the following: 
‘‘Sec. 403. Stranding or entanglement response agreements.’’. 
SEC. 10403. UNUSUAL MORTALITY EVENT ACTIVITY FUNDING. 
Section 405(b) the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 
(16 U.S.C. 1421d(b)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(b) USES.—Amounts in the Fund shall be available only for 
use by the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of the 
Interior, and dispersed among claimants based on budgets approved 
by the Secretary prior to expenditure—
H. R. 7776—1590 
‘‘(1) to make advance, partial, or progress payments under 
contracts or other funding mechanisms for property, supplies, 
salaries, services, and travel costs incurred in acting in accord-
ance with the contingency plan issued under section 404(b) 
or under the direction of an Onsite Coordinator for an unusual 
mortality event designated under section 404(a)(2)(B)(iii); 
‘‘(2) for reimbursing any stranding network participant for 
costs incurred in the collection, preparation, analysis, and 
transportation of marine mammal tissues and samples collected 
with respect to an unusual mortality event for the Tissue 
Bank; and 
‘‘(3) for the care and maintenance of a marine mammal 
seized under section 104(c)(2)(D); and’’. 
SEC. 10404. LIABILITY. 
Section 406(a) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 
(16 U.S.C. 1421e(a)) is amended, in the matter preceding paragraph 
(1)— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘or entanglement’’ after ‘‘to a stranding’’; 
and 
(2) by striking ‘‘government’’ and inserting ‘‘Government’’. 
SEC. 10405. NATIONAL MARINE MAMMAL TISSUE BANK AND TISSUE 
ANALYSIS. 
Section 407 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 
(16 U.S.C. 1421f) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (c)(2)(A), by striking ‘‘the health of marine 
mammals and’’ and inserting ‘‘marine mammal health and mor-
tality and the health of’’; and 
(2) in subsection (d), in the matter preceding paragraph 
(1), by inserting ‘‘public’’ before ‘‘access’’. 
SEC. 10406. MARINE MAMMAL RESCUE AND RESPONSE GRANT PRO-
GRAM AND RAPID RESPONSE FUND. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 408 of the Marine Mammal Protection 
Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1421f–1) is amended— 
(1) by striking the section heading and inserting ‘‘MARINE 
MAMMAL RESCUE AND RESPONSE GRANT PROGRAM AND RAPID 
RESPONSE FUND’’; 
(2) by striking subsections (a) through (d) and subsections 
(f) through (h); 
(3) by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (f); and 
(4) by inserting before subsection (f), as redesignated by 
paragraph (3), the following: 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘emergency assistance’ 
means— 
‘‘(i) financial assistance provided to respond to, 
or that results from, a stranding event or entanglement 
event that— 
‘‘(I) causes an immediate increase in the cost 
of a response, recovery, or rehabilitation that is 
greater than the usual cost of a response, recovery, 
or rehabilitation; 
‘‘(II) is cyclical or endemic; or
H. R. 7776—1591 
‘‘(III) involves a marine mammal that is out 
of the normal range for that marine mammal; 
or 
‘‘(ii) financial assistance provided to respond to, 
or that results from, a stranding event or an entangle-
ment event that— 
‘‘(I) the applicable Secretary considers to be 
an emergency; or 
‘‘(II) with the concurrence of the applicable 
Secretary, a State, territorial, or Tribal Govern-
ment considers to be an emergency. 
‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘emergency assistance’ 
does not include financial assistance to respond to an 
unusual mortality event. 
‘‘(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ has the meaning 
given that term in section 3(12)(A). 
‘‘(3) STRANDING
REGION.—The term ‘stranding region’ 
means a geographic region designated by the applicable Sec-
retary for purposes of administration of this title. 
‘‘(b) JOHN
H. PRESCOTT
MARINE
MAMMAL
RESCUE
AND 
RESPONSE GRANT PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The applicable Secretary shall carry out 
a grant program, to be known as the ‘John H. Prescott Marine 
Mammal Rescue and Response Grant Program’ (referred to 
in this section as the ‘grant program’), to award grants to 
eligible stranding network participants or stranding network 
collaborators, as described in this subsection. 
‘‘(2) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the grant program are 
to provide for— 
‘‘(A) the recovery, care, or treatment of sick, injured, 
or entangled marine mammals; 
‘‘(B) responses to marine mammal stranding events 
that require emergency assistance; 
‘‘(C) the collection of data and samples from living 
or dead stranded marine mammals for scientific research 
or assessments regarding marine mammal health; 
‘‘(D) facility operating costs that are directly related 
to activities described in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C); 
and 
‘‘(E) development of stranding network capacity, 
including training for emergency response, where facilities 
do not exist or are sparse. 
‘‘(3) CONTRACT, GRANT, AND
COOPERATIVE
AGREEMENT 
AUTHORITY.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The applicable Secretary may enter 
into a contract, grant, or cooperative agreement with any 
eligible stranding network participant or stranding network 
collaborator, as the Secretary determines to be appropriate, 
for the purposes described in paragraph (2). 
‘‘(B) EMERGENCY
AWARD
FLEXIBILITY.—Following a 
request for emergency award flexibility and analysis of 
the merits of and necessity for such a request, the 
applicable Secretary may— 
‘‘(i) amend any contract, grant, or cooperative 
agreement 
entered 
into 
under 
this 
paragraph, 
including provisions concerning the period of perform-
ance; or
H. R. 7776—1592 
‘‘(ii) waive the requirements under subsection (f) 
for grant applications submitted during the provision 
of emergency assistance. 
‘‘(4) EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ensure, to the 
extent practicable, that funds awarded under the grant 
program are distributed equitably among the stranding 
regions. 
‘‘(B) 
CONSIDERATIONS.—In 
determining 
priorities 
among the stranding regions under this paragraph, the 
Secretary may consider— 
‘‘(i) equitable distribution within the stranding 
regions, including the subregions (including, but not 
limited to, the Gulf of Mexico); 
‘‘(ii) any episodic stranding, entanglement, or mor-
tality events, except for unusual mortality events, that 
occurred in any stranding region in the preceding year; 
‘‘(iii) any data with respect to average annual 
stranding, entanglements, and mortality events per 
stranding region; 
‘‘(iv) the size of the marine mammal populations 
inhabiting a stranding region; 
‘‘(v) the importance of the region’s marine mammal 
populations to the well-being of indigenous commu-
nities; and 
‘‘(vi) the conservation of protected, depleted, threat-
ened, or endangered marine mammal species. 
‘‘(C) STRANDINGS.—For the purposes of this program, 
priority is to be given to applications focusing on marine 
mammal strandings. 
‘‘(5) APPLICATION.—To be eligible for a grant under the 
grant program, a stranding network participant shall— 
‘‘(A) submit an application in such form and manner 
as the applicable Secretary prescribes; and 
‘‘(B) be in compliance with the data reporting require-
ments under section 402(d) and any applicable reporting 
requirements of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 
for species under its management jurisdiction. 
‘‘(6) GRANT CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall, in consultation 
with the Marine Mammal Commission, a representative from 
each of the stranding regions, and other individuals who rep-
resent public and private organizations that are actively 
involved in rescue, rehabilitation, release, scientific research, 
marine conservation, and forensic science with respect to 
stranded marine mammals under that Department’s jurisdic-
tion, develop criteria for awarding grants under their respective 
grant programs. 
‘‘(7) MAXIMUM GRANT AMOUNT.—No grant made under the 
grant program for a single award may exceed $150,000 in 
any 12-month period. 
‘‘(8) ADMINISTRATIVE
COSTS
AND
EXPENSES.—The Sec-
retary’s administrative costs and expenses related to reviewing 
and awarding grants under the grant program, in any fiscal 
year may not exceed the greater of— 
‘‘(A) 6 percent of the amounts made available each 
fiscal year to carry out the grant program; or 
‘‘(B) $80,000.
H. R. 7776—1593 
‘‘(9) TRANSPARENCY.—The Secretary shall make publicly 
available a list of grant proposals for the upcoming fiscal year, 
funded grants, and requests for grant flexibility under this 
subsection. 
‘‘(c) JOSEPH R. GERACI MARINE MAMMAL RESCUE AND RAPID 
RESPONSE FUND.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the Treasury 
of the United States an interest-bearing fund, to be known 
as the ‘Joseph R. Geraci Marine Mammal Rescue and Rapid 
Response Fund’ (referred to in this section as the ‘Rapid 
Response Fund’). 
‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts in the Rapid Response Fund 
shall be available only for use by the Secretary to provide 
emergency assistance. 
‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(A) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to carry out the grant pro-
gram $7,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2028, 
to remain available until expended, of which for each fiscal 
year— 
‘‘(i) $6,000,000 shall be made available to the Sec-
retary of Commerce; and 
‘‘(ii) $1,000,000 shall be made available to the Sec-
retary of the Interior. 
‘‘(B) DERIVATION OF FUNDS.—Funds to carry out the 
activities under this section shall be derived from amounts 
authorized to be appropriated pursuant to subparagraph 
(A) that are enacted after the date of enactment of the 
James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for 
Fiscal Year 2023. 
‘‘(2) JOSEPH R. GERACI MARINE MAMMAL RESCUE AND RAPID 
RESPONSE FUND.—There is authorized to be appropriated to 
the Rapid Response Fund $500,000 for each of fiscal years 
2023 through 2028. 
‘‘(e) ACCEPTANCE OF DONATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of carrying out this 
section, the Secretary may solicit, accept, receive, hold, admin-
ister, and use gifts, devises, and bequests without any further 
approval or administrative action. 
‘‘(2) MONETARY DONATIONS.—A monetary gift, devise, or 
bequest accepted by the Secretary under paragraph (1) shall 
be credited as discretionary offsetting collections to the cur-
rently applicable appropriation, account, or fund of the Depart-
ment of Commerce and shall be made available for such pur-
poses only to the extent and in the amounts provided in advance 
in appropriations Acts.’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL EDITS.—Section 408 of the Marine Mammal 
Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1421f–1), as amended by sub-
section (a), is further amended in subsection (f), as redesignated 
by subsection (a)(3)— 
(1) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘the costs of an activity conducted with 
a grant under this section shall be’’ and inserting ‘‘a project 
conducted with funds awarded under the grant program 
under this section shall be not less than’’; and
H. R. 7776—1594 
(B) by striking ‘‘such costs’’ and inserting ‘‘such 
project’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (2)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘an activity’’ and inserting ‘‘a project’’; 
and 
(B) by striking ‘‘the activity’’ and inserting ‘‘the project’’. 
(c) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
in the first section of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 
(Public Law 92–522; 86 Stat. 1027) (as amended by section 5503(b)) 
is amended by striking the item related to section 408 and inserting 
the following: 
‘‘Sec. 408. Marine Mammal Rescue and Response Grant Program and Rapid Re-
sponse Fund.’’. 
SEC. 10407. HEALTH MAP. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of the Marine Mammal Protection 
Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1421 et seq.) is amended by inserting 
after section 408 the following: 
‘‘SEC. 408A. MARINE MAMMAL HEALTH MONITORING AND ANALYSIS 
PLATFORM (HEALTH MAP). 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization 
Act for Fiscal Year 2023, the Secretary, acting through the Adminis-
trator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 
in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior and the Marine 
Mammal Commission, shall— 
‘‘(1) establish a marine mammal health monitoring and 
analysis platform (referred to in this Act as the ‘Health MAP’); 
‘‘(2) incorporate the Health MAP into the Observation 
System; and 
‘‘(3) make the Health MAP— 
‘‘(A) publicly accessible through the web portal of the 
Observation System; and 
‘‘(B) interoperable with other national data systems 
or other data systems for management or research pur-
poses, as practicable. 
‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Health MAP are— 
‘‘(1) to promote— 
‘‘(A) interdisciplinary research among individuals with 
knowledge and experience in marine mammal science, 
marine mammal veterinary and husbandry practices, med-
ical science, and oceanography, and with other marine sci-
entists; 
‘‘(B) timely and sustained dissemination and avail-
ability of marine mammal health, stranding, entanglement, 
and mortality data; 
‘‘(C) identification of spatial and temporal patterns of 
marine mammal mortality, disease, and stranding; 
‘‘(D) evaluation of marine mammal health in terms 
of mortality, as well as sublethal marine mammal health 
impacts; 
‘‘(E) improved collaboration and forecasting of marine 
mammal and larger ecosystem health events; 
‘‘(F) 
rapid 
communication 
and 
dissemination 
of 
information regarding marine mammal strandings that 
may have implications for human health, such as those 
caused by harmful algal blooms; and
H. R. 7776—1595 
‘‘(G) increased accessibility of data in a user friendly 
visual interface for public education and outreach; and 
‘‘(2) to contribute to an ocean health index that incorporates 
marine mammal health data. 
‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS.—The Health MAP shall— 
‘‘(1) integrate in situ, remote, and other marine mammal 
health, stranding, and mortality data, including visualizations 
and metadata, collected by marine mammal stranding net-
works, Federal, State, local, and Tribal governments, private 
partners, and academia; and 
‘‘(2) be designed— 
‘‘(A) to enhance data and information availability, 
including data sharing among stranding network partici-
pants, scientists, and the public within and across 
stranding network regions; 
‘‘(B) to facilitate data and information access across 
scientific disciplines, scientists, and managers; 
‘‘(C) to facilitate public access to national and regional 
marine mammal health, stranding, entanglement, and mor-
tality data, including visualizations and metadata, through 
the national and regional data portals of the Observation 
System; and 
‘‘(D) in collaboration with, and with input from, States 
and stranding network participants. 
‘‘(d) PROCEDURES AND GUIDELINES.—The Secretary shall estab-
lish and implement policies, protocols, and standards for— 
‘‘(1) reporting marine mammal health data collected by 
stranding networks consistent with subsections (c) and (d) of 
section 402; 
‘‘(2) promptly transmitting health data from the stranding 
networks and other appropriate data providers to the Health 
MAP; 
‘‘(3) disseminating and making publicly available data on 
marine mammal health, stranding, entanglement, and mor-
tality data in a timely and sustained manner; and 
‘‘(4) 
integrating 
additional 
marine 
mammal 
health, 
stranding, or other relevant data as the Secretary determines 
appropriate. 
‘‘(e) CONSULTATION.—The Administrator of the National Oce-
anic and Atmospheric Administration shall maintain and update 
the Health MAP in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior 
and the Marine Mammal Commission. 
‘‘(f) ACCEPTANCE OF DONATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of carrying out this 
section, the Secretary may solicit, accept, receive, hold, admin-
ister, and use gifts, devises, and bequests without any further 
approval or administrative action. 
‘‘(2) MONETARY DONATIONS.—A monetary gift, devise, or 
bequest accepted by the Secretary under paragraph (1) shall 
be credited as discretionary offsetting collections to the cur-
rently applicable appropriation, account, or fund of the Depart-
ment of Commerce and shall be made available for such pur-
poses only to the extent and in the amounts provided in advance 
in appropriations Acts.’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
in the first section of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 
(Public Law 92–522; 86 Stat. 1027) (as amended by section 5507(b))
H. R. 7776—1596 
is amended by inserting after the item related to section 408 the 
following: 
‘‘Sec. 408A. Marine Mammal Health Monitoring and Analysis Platform (Health 
MAP).’’. 
SEC. 10408. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of the Marine Mammal Protection 
Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1421 et seq.) (as amended by section 5508(a)) 
is amended by inserting after section 408A the following: 
‘‘SEC. 408B. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS.— 
In this section, the term ‘appropriate committees of Congress’ 
means— 
‘‘(1) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor-
tation of the Senate; 
‘‘(2) the Committee on Environment and Public Works of 
the Senate; 
‘‘(3) the Committee on Natural Resources of the House 
of Representatives; and 
‘‘(4) the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of 
the House of Representatives. 
‘‘(b) HEALTH MAP STATUS REPORT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the date 
of enactment of the James M. Inhofe National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, the Administrator of 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in con-
sultation with the Marine Mammal Commission, the Secretary 
of the Interior, and the National Ocean Research Leadership 
Council, shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress 
a report describing the status of the Health MAP. 
‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The report under paragraph (1) shall 
include— 
‘‘(A) a detailed evaluation of the data made publicly 
available through the Health MAP; 
‘‘(B) a detailed list of any gaps in data collected pursu-
ant to the Health MAP, a description of the reasons for 
those gaps, and recommended actions to close those gaps; 
‘‘(C) an analysis of the effectiveness of using the 
website of the Observation System as the platform to col-
lect, organize, visualize, archive, and disseminate marine 
mammal stranding and health data; 
‘‘(D) a list of publications, presentations, or other rel-
evant work product resulting from, or produced in 
collaboration with, the Health MAP; 
‘‘(E) a description of emerging marine mammal health 
concerns and the applicability of those concerns to human 
health; 
‘‘(F) an analysis of the feasibility of the Observation 
System being used as an alert system during stranding 
events, entanglement events, and unusual mortality events 
for the stranding network, Observation System partners, 
Health MAP partners, Federal and State agencies, and 
local and Tribal governments; 
‘‘(G) an evaluation of the use of Health MAP data 
to predict broader ecosystem events and changes that may 
impact marine mammal or human health and specific
H. R. 7776—1597 
examples of proven or potential uses of Observation System 
data for those purposes; and 
‘‘(H) recommendations for the Health MAP with respect 
to— 
‘‘(i) filling any identified data gaps; 
‘‘(ii) standards that could be used to improve data 
quality, accessibility, transmission, interoperability, 
and sharing; 
‘‘(iii) any other strategies that would contribute 
to the effectiveness and usefulness of the Health MAP; 
and 
‘‘(iv) the funding levels needed to maintain and 
improve the Health MAP. 
‘‘(c) DATA GAP ANALYSIS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 years after the date 
on which the report required under subsection (b)(1) is sub-
mitted, and every 10 years thereafter, the Administrator of 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in con-
sultation with the Marine Mammal Commission and the 
Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, shall— 
‘‘(A) make publicly available a report on the data gap 
analysis described in paragraph (2); and 
‘‘(B) provide a briefing to the appropriate committees 
of Congress concerning that data gap analysis. 
‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The data gap analysis under para-
graph (1) shall include— 
‘‘(A) an overview of existing participants within a 
marine mammal stranding network; 
‘‘(B) an identification of coverage needs and participant 
gaps within a network; 
‘‘(C) an identification of data and reporting gaps from 
members of a network; and 
‘‘(D) an analysis of how stranding and health data 
are shared and made available to scientists, academics, 
State, local, and Tribal governments, and the public. 
‘‘(d) MARINE MAMMAL RESPONSE CAPABILITIES IN THE ARCTIC.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the date 
of enactment of the James M. Inhofe National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, the Administrator of 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the 
Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and 
the Director of the United States Geologic Survey, in consulta-
tion with the Marine Mammal Commission, shall— 
‘‘(A) make publicly available a report describing the 
response capabilities for sick and injured marine mammals 
in the Arctic regions of the United States; and 
‘‘(B) provide a briefing to the appropriate committees 
of Congress on that report. 
‘‘(2) ARCTIC.—The term ‘Arctic’ has the meaning given the 
term in section 112 of the Arctic Research and Policy Act 
of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 4111). 
‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—The report under paragraph (1) shall 
include— 
‘‘(A) a description, developed in consultation with the 
Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior, 
of all marine mammal stranding agreements in place for 
the Arctic region of the United States, including species