113 S272 IS: Arctic Research, Monitoring, and Observing Act of 2013
U.S. Senate
2013-02-11
text/xml
EN
Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
1.This Act may be cited as the
Arctic Research, Monitoring, and
Observing Act of 2013
.
2.
(a)Congress makes the following
findings:
(1)The United States
is an Arctic Nation with—
(A)an approximately
700-mile border with the Arctic Ocean;
(B)more than
100,000,000 acres of land above the Arctic Circle; and
(C)an even broader
area defined as Arctic by temperature, which includes the Bering Sea and
Aleutian Islands.
(2)The Arctic region
of the United States is home to an indigenous population that has subsisted for
millennia on the abundance in marine mammals, fish, and wildlife, many of which
are unique to the region.
(3)Temperatures in
the United States Arctic region have warmed by 3 to 4 degrees Celsius over the
past half-century, a rate of increase that is twice the global average.
(4)The Arctic ice
pack is rapidly diminishing and thinning, and the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration estimates the Arctic Ocean may be ice free during
summer months in as few as 30 years.
(5)Such changes to
the Arctic region are having a significant impact on the indigenous people of
the Arctic, their communities and ecosystems, as well as the marine mammals,
fish, and wildlife upon which they depend.
(6)Such changes are
opening new portions of the United States Arctic continental shelf to possible
development for offshore oil and gas, commercial fishing, marine shipping, and
tourism.
(7)Existing Federal
research and science advisory programs focused on the environmental and
socioeconomic impacts of a changing Arctic lack a cohesive, coordinated, and
integrated approach and are not adequately coordinated with State, local,
academic, and private-sector Arctic research programs.
(8)The lack of
research integration and synthesis of findings of Arctic research has impeded
the progress of the United States and international community in understanding
climate change impacts and feedback mechanisms in the Arctic Ocean.
(9)An improved
scientific understanding of the changing Arctic is critical to the development
of appropriate and effective regional, national, and global climate change
adaptation strategies.
(b)The purpose of this Act is to establish a
permanent program to conduct research, monitoring, and observation activities
in the Arctic—
(1)to promote and
sustain a productive and resilient marine, coastal, and estuarine ecosystem in
the Arctic and the human uses of its natural resources through greater
understanding of how the ecosystem works and monitoring and observation of its
vital signs; and
(2)to track and
evaluate the effectiveness of natural resource management in the Arctic in
order to facilitate improved performance and adaptive management.
3.Arctic Research
Commission
(a)Duties of the
Arctic Research CommissionSection 104(a) of the Arctic Research
and Policy Act of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 4103(a)) is amended—
(1)in paragraph (2),
by striking assist in establishing
and inserting
establish
;
(2)by redesignating
paragraphs (3) through (10) as paragraphs (4) through (11), respectively;
and
(3)by inserting
after paragraph (2) the following:
(3)award—
(A)grants to
Federal, State, local, or tribal governments and academic and private
organizations to conduct research on or related to the Arctic, including to the
marine environment of the Arctic Ocean, its adjacent seas or associated lesser
bodies of water; and
(B)such grants on
the basis of merit in accordance with such national Arctic research program
plan;
.
(b)Administration
of the CommissionSection 106 of the Arctic Research and Policy
Act of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 4105) is amended—
(1)in paragraph (4),
by striking and
at the end;
(2)in paragraph (5),
by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and
;
and
(3)by adding at the
end the following:
(6)enter into
agreements with appropriate agencies or organizations to administer grants made
pursuant to this title for Arctic research including reimbursement from funds
of the Commission to administer such
grants.
.
(c)Compensation of
Commission membersSection 103(d)(1) of the Arctic Research and
Policy Act of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 4102(d)(1)) is amended by striking for
compensation
in the second sentence and inserting by the Federal
Government or any State or local government
.
(d)
(1)Arctic Research
CommissionSection 103 of the Arctic Research and Policy Act of
1984 (15 U.S.C. 4102) is amended by adding at the end the following:
(e)The Commission shall adopt conflict of interest and
recusal provisions that apply to any decision by the Commission and to all
members of the Commission as if each member of the Commission is an
affected individual
within the meaning of section 302(j) of the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1852(j)),
except that in addition to the disclosure requirements of paragraph (2) of such
section 302(j), each member of the Commission shall disclose any financial
interest or relationship in an organization or with an individual that is
applying for funding from the Commission held by the member of the Commission,
including an interest as an officer, director, trustee, partner, employee,
contractor, agent, or other
representative.
.
(2)North Pacific
Research BoardSubsection (e) of section 401 of the Department of
the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998 (43 U.S.C. 1474d) is
amended—
(A)in paragraph
(4)(B), by striking 15 percent
and inserting 20
percent
; and
(B)by striking
paragraph (5) and inserting the following:
(5)The Board shall
adopt conflict of interest and recusal provisions that apply to any decision by
the Board and to all members of the Board as if each member of the Board is an
affected individual
within the meaning of section 302(j) of the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1852(j)),
except that in addition to the disclosure requirements of paragraph (2) of such
section 302(j), each member of the Board shall disclose any financial interest
or relationship in an organization or with an individual that is applying for
funding from the Board, including an interest as an officer, director, trustee,
partner, employee, contractor, agent, or other
representative.
.
4.Environmental
Improvement and Restoration Fund
(a)Transfer and
availability of amounts earnedSubsection (c) of section 401 of
the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998
(43 U.S.C. 1474d) is amended—
(1)in paragraph (1),
by striking To the extent provided in the subsequent appropriations
Acts, 80 percent of such amounts shall be made available
and inserting
40 percent of such amounts shall be made available without further
appropriations
;
(2)in paragraph (2),
by striking 20 percent
and inserting 25 percent
;
and
(3)by adding at the
end the following:
(3)25 percent of
such amounts shall be made without further appropriation to the United States
Arctic Research Commission for the purposes of carrying out research and
monitoring in the Arctic as provided in subsection (f).
(4)10 percent of
such amounts shall be made available without further appropriations to the
Secretary of Commerce to fund the Alaska Ocean Observing Program as provided in
subsection
(g).
.
(b)Authority To
accept non-Federal funds for use by North Pacific Research
BoardSubsection (e) of such section is amended by adding at the
end the following:
(6)Acceptance of
non-Federal fundsThe Secretary of Commerce may accept funds from
a source other than the Government of the United States to be used by the Board
to carry out this
subsection.
.
(c)Such section is further amended by adding at the end the
following:
(f)United States
Arctic Research Commission
(1)Funds available under subsection (c)(3) shall be used by
the Arctic Research Commission established by section 103 of the Arctic
Research and Policy Act of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 4102) to award grants under
subsection (a)(3) of such section.
(2)Not
more than 20 percent of funds available under subsection (c)(3) may be used for
costs associated with administering the awarding of grants under section
103(a)(3) of the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 (15 U.S.C.
4102(a)(3)).
(g)Alaska Ocean
Observing SystemFunds available under subsection (c)(4) shall be
used to support the Alaska Ocean Observing System in a manner consistent with
the Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3601
et seq.), for the purpose of establishing long-term ocean observing systems and
monitoring programs in waters of the United States in the North Pacific, Bering
Sea, and Arctic Ocean. Not more than 20 percent of the funds made available
pursuant to subsection (c)(4) may be used to provide administrative support
under this subsection.
(h)Duplication of
effort; reportPrograms and grants funded pursuant to paragraphs
(2), (3), and (4) of subsection (c) shall seek to avoid duplicating other
research activities. The North Pacific Research Board, the Arctic Research
Commission, and the Alaska Ocean Observing System shall—
(1)meet not less
than once annually to promote coordination among research programs and
projects; and
(2)submit to
Congress and the President an annual report on the status of research conducted
pursuant to this title.
(i)In this section, the term Arctic has the
meaning given that term in section 112 of the Arctic Research and Policy Act of
1984 (15 U.S.C.
4111).
.