119 S4822 : Saving the OOI Act of 2026 U.S. Senate 2026-06-17 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.

II119th CONGRESS2d SessionS. 4822IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATESJune 17, 2026Ms. Murkowski (for herself, Mr. Sullivan, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Merkley, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Reed, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Markey, and Ms. Warren) introduced the following bill; which was read twice, considered, read the third time and passedA BILLTo prohibit the National Science Foundation from using Federal funds to descope or decommission the Ocean Observatories Initiative instruments.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Saving the OOI Act of 2026.

2.

No NSF funding to descope or decommission the Ocean Observatories Initiative instruments; restoration

(a)

In general

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the National Science Foundation shall not use any Federal funds to decommission or descope the Ocean Observatories Initiative instruments anchored off the States of Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and North Carolina, and in the Irminger Sea, until the National Science Foundation conducts a thorough review of the initiative, and the national assets that it provides, with robust stakeholder engagement from the scientific and coastal communities. (b)

Maintenance of operations

The Director of the National Science Foundation shall maintain the Ocean Observatories Initiative with full and consistent operations, including monitoring in all States that had instruments decommissioned, until the full review described in subsection (a) has been completed