[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2693 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2693

  To amend title VII of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 3, 2009

Ms. Woolsey (for herself and Mr. Baird) introduced the following bill; 
     which was referred to the Committee on Science and Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title VII of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, 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 ``Federal Oil Spill Research Program 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FEDERAL OIL SPILL RESEARCH COMMITTEE.

    Title VII of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2761) is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating section 7002 as section 7007; and
            (2) by amending section 7001 to read as follows:

``SEC. 7001. FEDERAL OIL SPILL RESEARCH COMMITTEE.

    ``(a) Establishment.--
            ``(1) In general.--The President shall establish an 
        interagency committee to be known as the Federal oil spill 
        research committee (in this title referred to as the 
        `Committee').
            ``(2) Chair.--The President shall designate a 
        representative of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
        Administration to serve as chairperson.
    ``(b) Composition.--The members of the Committee shall include 
representatives from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration, the United States Coast Guard, the Environmental 
Protection Agency, and such other Federal agencies as the President may 
designate.
    ``(c) Function of the Committee.--The Committee shall--
            ``(1) coordinate a comprehensive Federal oil spill research 
        program (in this title referred to as the `program') in 
        accordance with section 7002 to coordinate oil pollution 
        research, technology development, and demonstration among the 
        Federal agencies, in cooperation and coordination with 
        industry, institutions of higher education, research 
        institutions, State and tribal governments, and other relevant 
        stakeholders;
            ``(2) complete a research assessment (in this title 
        referred to as the `assessment') on the status of the oil spill 
        prevention and response capabilities in accordance with section 
        7003; and
            ``(3) develop a Federal oil spill research plan (in this 
        title referred to as the `plan') in accordance with section 
        7004.''.

SEC. 3. FEDERAL OIL SPILL RESEARCH PROGRAM.

    Title VII of such Act (33 U.S.C. 2761) is further amended by 
inserting after section 7001 (as amended by section 2 of this Act) the 
following new section:

``SEC. 7002. FEDERAL OIL SPILL RESEARCH PROGRAM.

    ``(a) In General.--The Committee shall establish a program for 
conducting oil pollution research, development, and demonstration.
    ``(b) Program Elements.--The program established under subsection 
(a) shall provide for research, development, and demonstration 
technologies, practices, and procedures that provide for effective and 
direct response to prevent, detect, recover, or mitigate oil discharges 
and include--
            ``(1) new technologies to detect accidental or intentional 
        overboard oil discharges;
            ``(2) transport and fate of oil, including trajectory and 
        behavior predictions due to location, weather patterns, 
        hydrographic data, and water conditions;
            ``(3) response capabilities, such as improved booms, oil 
        skimmers, and storage capacity;
            ``(4) research and training, in coordination with the 
        National Response Team, to improve the removal of oil discharge 
        quickly and effectively;
            ``(5) decision support systems for contingency planning and 
        response; and
            ``(6) improvement of options for oily/oiled waste 
        dispersal.''.

SEC. 4. FEDERAL RESEARCH ASSESSMENT.

    Title VII of such Act (33 U.S.C. 2761) is further amended by 
inserting after section 7002 (as added by section 3 of this Act) the 
following new section:

``SEC. 7003. FEDERAL RESEARCH ASSESSMENT.

    ``Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 
section, the Committee shall submit to Congress an assessment of the 
status of oil spill prevention and response capabilities that--
            ``(1) identifies research programs conducted and 
        technologies developed by governments, institutions of higher 
        education, and industry;
            ``(2) assesses the status of knowledge on oil pollution 
        prevention, response, and mitigation technologies;
            ``(3) identifies regional oil pollution research needs and 
        priorities for a coordinated program of research at the 
        regional level developed in consultation with State, local, and 
        tribal governments;
            ``(4) assesses the status of spill response equipment and 
        determines areas in need of improvement, including amount, age, 
        quality, effectiveness, or necessary technological 
        improvements;
            ``(5) assesses the status of real-time data available to 
        mariners, researchers, and responders, including weather, 
        hydrographic data, and water conditions, and the impact of 
        incomplete and inaccessible data on preventing, detecting, or 
        mitigating oil discharges; and
            ``(6) is subject to a 90-day public comment period and 
        shall address suggestions received and incorporate public input 
        received, as appropriate.''.

SEC. 5. FEDERAL RESEARCH INTERAGENCY PLAN.

    Title VII of such Act (33 U.S.C. 2761) is further amended by 
inserting after section 7003 (as added by section 4 of this Act) the 
following new section:

``SEC. 7004. FEDERAL RESEARCH INTERAGENCY PLAN.

    ``(a) In General.--
            ``(1) Plan.--Not later than 1 year after the submission of 
        the assessment required under section 7003, the Committee shall 
        submit to Congress the plan that shall establish the priorities 
        for Federal oil spill research and development.
            ``(2) Recommendations.--In the development of the plan, the 
        Committee shall consider and utilize recommendations by the 
        National Academy of Sciences and information from State, local, 
        and tribal governments.
    ``(b) Plan Requirements.--The plan shall--
            ``(1) suggest changes to the program to improve the rates 
        of oil recovery and spill mitigation;
            ``(2) make recommendations to improve technologies, 
        practices, and procedures to provide for effective and direct 
        response to oil spills;
            ``(3) make recommendations to improve the quality of real-
        time data available to mariners, researchers, and responders; 
        and
            ``(4) be subject to a 90-day public comment period and 
        address suggestions received and incorporate public input 
        received, as appropriate.''.

SEC. 6. EXTRAMURAL GRANTS.

    Title VII of such Act (33 U.S.C. 2761) is further amended by 
inserting after section 7004 (as added by section 5 of this Act) the 
following new section:

``SEC. 7005. EXTRAMURAL GRANTS.

    ``In the execution of the program, the Secretary of Commerce, 
acting through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration, shall--
            ``(1) award competitive grants to institutions of higher 
        education or other research institutions to carry out projects 
        to advance research and development and to demonstrate 
        technologies for preventing, detecting, or mitigating oil 
        discharges that are relevant to the goals and priorities of the 
        plan; and
            ``(2) incorporate a competitive, merit-based process for 
        awarding grants that may be conducted jointly with other 
        participating agencies.''.

SEC. 7. ANNUAL REPORT.

    Title VII of such Act (33 U.S.C. 2761) is further amended by 
inserting after section 7005 (as added by section 6 of this Act) the 
following new section:

``SEC. 7006. ANNUAL REPORT.

    ``Concurrent with the annual submission of the President's budget 
to Congress, the Committee shall submit an annual report to Congress 
that describes the activities and results of the program during the 
previous fiscal year and outlines the objectives for the next fiscal 
year.''.

SEC. 8. NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCE PARTICIPATION.

    The Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Administrator of the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shall contract with 
the National Academy of Sciences to--
            (1) assess and evaluate, not later than 1 year after the 
        date of enactment of this Act, the status of Federal oil spill 
        research and development as of the day before the date of 
        enactment of this Act;
            (2) submit a report to the Federal oil spill research 
        committee established under section 7001(a)(1) of the Oil 
        Pollution Act of 1990 and to Congress evaluating the 
        conclusions and recommendations from the Federal research 
        assessment under section 7003 of such Act to be utilized in the 
        creation of the Federal oil spill research plan under section 
        7004 of such Act; and
            (3) submit a report to Congress, not later than 1 year 
        after the Federal oil spill research committee's submission of 
        such plan, evaluating the plan required by section 7004 of such 
        Act.

SEC. 9. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING CHANGES.

    (a) Use of Funds.--Section 1012(a)(5) of the Oil Pollution Act of 
1990 (33 U.S.C. 2712(a)(5)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by adding ``and'' after the 
        semicolon; and
            (2) by striking subparagraph (C).
    (b) National Academy.--Section 5001(c) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 
2731(c)) is amended by striking paragraph (4).
    (c) Table of Contents.--Section 2 of such Act is amended by 
striking the items in the table of contents related to sections 7001 
and 7002 and inserting the following:

Sec. 7001. Federal oil spill research committee.
Sec. 7002. Federal oil spill research program.
Sec. 7003. Federal research assessment.
Sec. 7004. Federal research interagency plan.
Sec. 7005. Extramural grants.
Sec. 7006. Annual report.
Sec. 7007. Submerged oil program.
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