[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 906 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 906

    To promote and coordinate global change research, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 7, 2007

 Mr. Udall of Colorado (for himself and Mr. Inglis of South Carolina) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
  Science and Technology, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
   each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To promote and coordinate global change research, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Global Change Research and Data 
Management Act of 2007''.

                    TITLE I--GLOBAL CHANGE RESEARCH

SEC. 101. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Industrial, agricultural, and other human activities, 
        coupled with an expanding world population, are contributing to 
        processes of global change that are significantly altering the 
        Earth habitat.
            (2) Such human-induced changes, in conjunction with natural 
        fluctuations, may lead to significant alterations of world 
        climate patterns. Over the next century, these changes could 
        adversely effect world agricultural and marine production, 
        coastal habitability, biological diversity, human health, 
        global social and political stability, and global economic 
        activity.
            (3) Developments in interdisciplinary Earth sciences, 
        global observing systems, and satellite and computing 
        technologies make possible significant scientific understanding 
        of global changes and their effects, and have resulted in the 
        significant expansion of environmental data and information.
            (4) Development of effective policies to prevent, mitigate, 
        and adapt to global change will rely on improvement in 
        scientific understanding of global environmental processes and 
        on development of information that is of use to decisionmakers 
        at the local, regional, and national levels.
            (5) Although the United States Global Change Research 
        Program has made significant contributions to understanding 
        Earth's climate and the anthropogenic influences on Earth's 
        climate and its ecosystems, that Program has not produced 
        sufficient information to meet the expressed needs of 
        decisionmakers.
            (6) Predictions of future climate conditions for specific 
        regions have considerable uncertainty and are unlikely to be 
        confirmed in a time period necessary to inform decisions on 
        land, water, and resource management. However, improved 
        understanding of global change should be used to assist 
        decisionmakers in the development of policies to ensure that 
        ecological, social, and economic systems are resilient under a 
        variety of plausible climate futures.
            (7) In order to most effectively meet the needs of 
        decisionmakers, both the research agenda of the United States 
        Global Change Research Program and its implementation must be 
        informed by continuous feedback from documented users of 
        information generated by the Program.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this title is to provide for the 
continuation and coordination of a comprehensive and integrated United 
States observation and research program which will assist the Nation 
and the world to understand, assess, predict, and respond to the 
effects of human-induced and natural processes of global change.

SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this title--
            (1) the term ``global change'' means human-induced or 
        natural changes in the global environment (including 
        alterations in climate, land productivity, oceans or other 
        water resources, atmospheric chemistry, biodiversity, and 
        ecological systems) that may alter the capacity of the Earth to 
        sustain life;
            (2) the term ``global change research'' means study, 
        monitoring, assessment, prediction, and information management 
        activities to describe and understand--
                    (A) the interactive physical, chemical, and 
                biological processes that regulate the total Earth 
                system;
                    (B) the unique environment that the Earth provides 
                for life;
                    (C) changes that are occurring in the Earth system; 
                and
                    (D) the manner in which such system, environment, 
                and changes are influenced by human actions;
            (3) the term ``interagency committee'' means the 
        interagency committee established under section 103;
            (4) the term ``Plan'' means the National Global Change 
        Research Plan developed under section 105; and
            (5) the term ``Program'' means the United States Global 
        Change Research Program established under section 104.

SEC. 103. INTERAGENCY COOPERATION AND COORDINATION.

    (a) Establishment.--The President shall establish an interagency 
committee to ensure cooperation and coordination of all Federal 
research activities pertaining to processes of global change for the 
purpose of increasing the overall effectiveness and productivity of 
Federal global change research efforts. The interagency committee shall 
include representatives of both agencies conducting global change 
research and agencies with authority over resources likely to be 
affected by global change.
    (b) Functions of the Interagency Committee.--The interagency 
committee shall--
            (1) serve as the forum for developing the Plan and for 
        overseeing its implementation;
            (2) serve as the forum for developing the vulnerability 
        assessment under section 107;
            (3) ensure cooperation among Federal agencies with respect 
        to global change research activities;
            (4) work with academic, State, industry, and other groups 
        conducting global change research, to provide for periodic 
        public and peer review of the Program;
            (5) cooperate with the Secretary of State in--
                    (A) providing representation at international 
                meetings and conferences on global change research in 
                which the United States participates; and
                    (B) coordinating the Federal activities of the 
                United States with programs of other nations and with 
                international global change research activities;
            (6) work with appropriate Federal, State, regional, and 
        local authorities to ensure that the Program is designed to 
        produce information needed to develop policies to reduce the 
        vulnerability of the United States and other regions to global 
        change; and
            (7) identify additional decisionmaking groups that may use 
        information generated through the Program.

SEC. 104. UNITED STATES GLOBAL CHANGE RESEARCH PROGRAM.

    The President shall establish an interagency United States Global 
Change Research Program to improve understanding of global change, to 
respond to the information needs of communities and decisionmakers, and 
to provide periodic assessments of the vulnerability of the United 
States and other regions to global change. The Program shall be 
implemented in accordance with the Plan.

SEC. 105. NATIONAL GLOBAL CHANGE RESEARCH PLAN.

    (a) In General.--The President shall develop a National Global 
Change Research Plan for implementation of the Program. The Plan shall 
contain recommendations for global change research. The President shall 
submit the Plan to the Congress within 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, and shall submit a revised Plan at least once 
every 4 years thereafter. In the development of each Plan, the 
President shall conduct a formal assessment process to determine the 
needs of appropriate Federal, State, regional, and local authorities 
and other interested parties regarding the types of information needed 
by them in developing policies to reduce society's vulnerability to 
global change and shall utilize these assessments in developing the 
Plan.
    (b) Contents of the Plan.--The Plan shall--
            (1) establish, for the 10-year period beginning in the year 
        the Plan is submitted, the goals and priorities for Federal 
        global change research which most effectively advance 
        scientific understanding of global change and provide 
        information of use to Federal, State, regional, and local 
        authorities in the development of policies relating to global 
        change;
            (2) describe specific activities, including efforts to 
        determine user information needs, research activities, data 
        collection and data analysis requirements, assessment of model 
        predictability, participation in international research 
        efforts, and information management, required to achieve such 
        goals and priorities;
            (3) identify relevant programs and activities of the 
        Federal agencies that contribute to the Program directly and 
        indirectly;
            (4) set forth the role of each Federal agency in 
        implementing the Plan;
            (5) consider and utilize, as appropriate, reports and 
        studies conducted by Federal agencies, the National Research 
        Council, or other entities;
            (6) make recommendations for the coordination of the global 
        change research activities of the United States with such 
        activities of other nations and international organizations, 
        including--
                    (A) a description of the extent and nature of 
                international cooperative activities;
                    (B) bilateral and multilateral efforts to provide 
                worldwide access to scientific data and information; 
                and
                    (C) improving participation by developing nations 
                in international global change research and 
                environmental data collection;
            (7) detail budget requirements for Federal global change 
        research activities to be conducted under the Plan;
            (8) catalog the type of information identified by 
        appropriate Federal, State, regional, and local decisionmakers 
        needed to develop policies to reduce society's vulnerability to 
        global change and indicate how the planned research will meet 
        these decisionmakers' information needs; and
            (9) identify the observing systems currently employed in 
        collecting data relevant to global change research and 
        prioritize additional observation systems that may be needed to 
        ensure adequate data collection and monitoring of global 
        change.
    (c) Research Elements.--The Plan shall include at a minimum the 
following research elements:
            (1) Global measurements, establishing worldwide to regional 
        scale observations prioritized to understand global change and 
        to meet the information needs of decisionmakers on all relevant 
        spatial and time scales.
            (2) Information on economic and demographic trends that 
        contribute to changes in the Earth system and that influence 
        society's vulnerability to global change.
            (3) Development of indicators and baseline databases to 
        document global change, including changes in species 
        distribution and behavior, extent of glaciations, and changes 
        in sea level.
            (4) Studies of historical changes in the Earth system, 
        using evidence from the geological and fossil record.
            (5) Assessments of predictability using quantitative models 
        of the Earth system to simulate global and regional 
        environmental processes and trends.
            (6) Focused research initiatives to understand the nature 
        of and interaction among physical, chemical, biological, and 
        social processes related to global change.
            (7) Focused research initiatives to determine and then meet 
        the information needs of appropriate Federal, State, and 
        regional decisionmakers.
    (d) Information Management.--The Plan shall incorporate, to the 
extent practicable, the recommendations relating to data acquisition, 
management, and archiving made by the interagency climate and other 
global change data management working group established under section 
203.
    (e) National Academy of Sciences Evaluation.--The President shall 
enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences under 
which the Academy shall--
            (1) evaluate the scientific content of the Plan; and
            (2) recommend priorities for future global change research.
    (f) National Governors Association Evaluation.--The President shall 
seek to enter into an agreement with the National Governors Association 
Center for Best Practices under which that Center shall--
            (1) evaluate the utility to State, local, and regional 
        decisionmakers of each Plan and of the anticipated and actual 
        information outputs of the Program for development of policies 
        to reduce vulnerability to global change; and
            (2) recommend priorities for future global change research.
    (g) Public Participation.--In developing the Plan, the President 
shall consult with academic, State, industry, and environmental groups 
and representatives. Not later than 90 days before the President 
submits the Plan, or any revision thereof, to the Congress, a summary 
of the proposed Plan shall be published in the Federal Register for a 
public comment period of not less than 60 days.

SEC. 106. BUDGET COORDINATION.

    (a) In General.--The President shall provide general guidance to 
each Federal agency participating in the Program with respect to the 
preparation of requests for appropriations for activities related to 
the Program.
    (b) Consideration in President's Budget.--The President shall 
submit, at the time of his annual budget request to Congress, a 
description of those items in each agency's annual budget which are 
elements of the Program.

SEC. 107. VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT.

    Within 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and at least 
once every 4 years thereafter, the President shall submit to the 
Congress an assessment which--
            (1) integrates, evaluates, and interprets the findings of 
        the Program and discusses the scientific uncertainties 
        associated with such findings;
            (2) based on indicators and baselines developed under 
        section 105(c)(3), as well as other measurements, analyzes 
        changes to the natural environment, land and water resources, 
        and biological diversity in--
                    (A) major geographic regions of the United States; 
                and
                    (B) other continents;
            (3) analyzes the effects of global change, including the 
        changes described in paragraph (2), on agriculture, energy 
        production and use, transportation, human health and welfare, 
        and human social and economic systems, including providing 
        information about the differential impacts on specific 
        geographic regions within the United States, on people of 
        different income levels within those regions, and for rural and 
        urban areas within those regions;
            (4) analyzes the vulnerability of different geographic 
        regions of the world to global change, including analyses of 
        the implications of global change for international assistance, 
        population displacement, and national security; and
            (5) analyzes the adoption rates of policies and 
        technologies available to reduce the vulnerability of society 
        to global change with an evaluation of the market and policy 
        barriers suppressing their adoption in the United States.

SEC. 108. POLICY ASSESSMENT.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and 
at least once every 3 years thereafter, the President shall submit to 
the Congress a policy assessment which--
            (1) documents current policy options being utilized by 
        Federal, State, and local governments to mitigate or adapt to 
        the effects of global change;
            (2) evaluates the realized and anticipated effectiveness of 
        those current policy options in addressing global change; and
            (3) identifies and evaluates additional policy options for 
        mitigating or adapting to the effects of global change.

SEC. 109. ANNUAL REPORT.

    Each year at the time of submission to the Congress of the 
President's budget request, the President shall submit to the Congress 
a report on the activities conducted pursuant to this title, 
including--
            (1) a summary of the achievements of the Program during the 
        period covered by the report;
            (2) an analysis of the progress made toward achieving the 
        goals of the Plan; and
            (3) a list of the State, local, and regional decisionmakers 
        identified as potential users of the information generated 
        through the Program and a description of the consultations with 
        this community coordinated through the work of the interagency 
        committee.

SEC. 110. RELATION TO OTHER AUTHORITIES.

    The President shall ensure that relevant research activities of the 
National Climate Program, established by the National Climate Program 
Act (15 U.S.C. 2901 et seq.), are considered in developing national 
global change research efforts.

SEC. 111. REPEAL.

    The Global Change Research Act of 1990 (15 U.S.C. 2921 et seq.) is 
repealed.

       TITLE II--CLIMATE AND OTHER GLOBAL CHANGE DATA MANAGEMENT

SEC. 201. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Federal agencies have a primary mission to manage and 
        archive climate and other global change data obtained through 
        their research, development, or operational activities.
            (2) Maintenance of climate and global change data records 
        is essential to present and future studies of the Earth's 
        atmosphere, biogeochemical cycles, and climate.
            (3) Federal capabilities for the management and archiving 
        of these data have not kept pace with advances in satellite and 
        other observational technologies that have vastly expanded the 
        type and amount of information that can be collected.
            (4) Proposals and plans for expansion of global observing 
        networks should include plans for the management of data to be 
        collected and budgets reflecting the cost of support for 
        management and archiving of data.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this title are to establish climate 
and other global change data management and archiving as Federal agency 
missions, and to establish Federal policies for managing and archiving 
climate and other global change data.

SEC. 202. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this title--
            (1) the term ``metadata'' means information describing the 
        content, quality, condition, and other characteristics of 
        climate and other global change data, compiled, to the maximum 
        extent possible, consistent with the requirements of the 
        ``Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata'' (FGDC-STD-
        001-1998) issued by the Federal Geographic Data Committee, or 
        any successor standard approved by the working group; and
            (2) the term ``working group'' means the interagency 
        climate and other global change data management working group 
        established under section 203.

SEC. 203. INTERAGENCY CLIMATE AND OTHER GLOBAL CHANGE DATA MANAGEMENT 
              WORKING GROUP.

    (a) Establishment.--The President shall establish an interagency 
climate and other global change data management working group to make 
recommendations for coordinating Federal climate and other global 
change data management and archiving activities.
    (b) Membership.--The working group shall include the Administrator 
of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Administrator 
of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Secretary 
of Energy, the Secretary of Defense, the Director of the National 
Science Foundation, the Director of the United States Geological 
Survey, the Archivist of the United States, the Administrator of the 
Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of the Smithsonian 
Institution, or their designees, and representatives of any other 
Federal agencies the President considers appropriate.
    (c) Reports.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the working group shall transmit a report to the Congress 
containing the elements described in subsection (d). Not later than 3 
years after the initial report under this subsection, and not later 
than once every 4 years subsequent to that, the working group shall 
transmit reports updating the previous report. In preparing reports 
under this subsection, the working group shall consult with expected 
users of the data collected and archived by the Program.
    (d) Contents.--The reports and updates required under subsection 
(c) shall--
            (1) include recommendations for the establishment, 
        maintenance, and accessibility of a catalog identifying all 
        available climate and other global change data sets;
            (2) identify climate and other global change data 
        collections in danger of being lost and recommend actions to 
        prevent such loss;
            (3) identify gaps in climate and other global change data 
        and recommend actions to fill those gaps;
            (4) identify effective and compatible procedures for 
        climate and other global change data collection, management, 
        and retention and make recommendations for ensuring their use 
        by Federal agencies and other appropriate entities;
            (5) develop and propose a coordinated strategy for funding 
        and allocating responsibilities among Federal agencies for 
        climate and other global change data collection, management, 
        and retention;
            (6) make recommendations for ensuring that particular 
        attention is paid to the collection, management, and archiving 
        of metadata;
            (7) make recommendations for ensuring a unified and 
        coordinated Federal capital investment strategy with respect to 
        climate and other global change data collection, management, 
        and archiving;
            (8) evaluate the data record from each observing system and 
        make recommendations to ensure that delivered data are free 
        from time-dependent biases and random errors before they are 
        transferred to long-term archives; and
            (9) evaluate optimal design of observation system 
        components to ensure a cost-effective, adequate set of 
        observations detecting and tracking global change.

     TITLE III--INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN GLOBAL CHANGE RESEARCH

SEC. 301. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Pooling of international resources and scientific 
        capabilities will be essential to a successful international 
        global change program.
            (2) While international scientific planning is already 
        underway, there is currently no comprehensive intergovernmental 
        mechanism for planning, coordinating, or implementing research 
        to understand global change and to mitigate possible adverse 
        effects.
            (3) An international global change research program will be 
        important in building future consensus on methods for reducing 
        global environmental degradation.
            (4) The United States, as a world leader in environmental 
        and Earth sciences, should help provide leadership in 
        developing and implementing an international global change 
        research program.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this title are to--
            (1) promote international, intergovernmental cooperation on 
        global change research;
            (2) involve scientists and policymakers from developing 
        nations in such cooperative global change research programs; 
        and
            (3) promote international efforts to provide technical and 
        other assistance to developing nations which will facilitate 
        improvements in their domestic standard of living while 
        minimizing damage to the global or regional environment.

SEC. 302. INTERNATIONAL DISCUSSIONS.

    (a) Global Change Research.--The President shall direct the 
Secretary of State to initiate discussions with other nations leading 
toward international protocols and other agreements to coordinate 
global change research activities. Such discussions should include the 
following issues:
            (1) Allocation of costs in global change research programs, 
        especially with respect to major capital projects.
            (2) Coordination of global change research plans with those 
        developed by international organizations such as the 
        International Council on Scientific Unions, the World 
        Meteorological Organization, and the United Nations Environment 
        Program.
            (3) Establishment of global change research centers and 
        training programs for scientists, especially those from 
        developing nations.
            (4) Development of innovative methods for management of 
        international global change research, including the use of new 
        or existing intergovernmental organizations for the 
        coordination or funding of global change research.
            (5) Establishment of international offices to disseminate 
        information useful in identifying, preventing, mitigating, or 
        adapting to the possible effects of global change.
    (b) Energy Research.--The President shall direct the Secretary of 
State (in cooperation with the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of 
Commerce, the United States Trade Representative, and other appropriate 
Federal agents) to initiate discussions with other nations leading 
toward an international research protocol for cooperation on the 
development of energy technologies which have minimally adverse effects 
on the environment. Such discussions should include the following 
issues:
            (1) Creation of an international cooperative program to 
        fund research related to energy efficiency and conservation, 
        solar and other renewable energy sources, and passively safe 
        and diversion-resistant nuclear reactors.
            (2) Creation of an international cooperative program to 
        develop low-cost energy technologies which are appropriate to 
        the environmental, economic, and social needs of developing 
        nations.
            (3) Exchange of information concerning environmentally safe 
        energy technologies and practices, including those described in 
        paragraphs (1) and (2).

SEC. 303. GLOBAL CHANGE RESEARCH INFORMATION OFFICE.

    The President shall establish an Office of Global Change Research 
Information to disseminate to foreign governments, businesses, and 
institutions, as well as the citizens of foreign countries, scientific 
research and other information available in the United States which 
would be useful in preventing, mitigating, or adapting to the effects 
of global change.
                                 <all>