[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 33 (Thursday, March 1, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1199-S1200]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BEGICH:
  S. 2147. A bill to provide for research, monitoring, and observation 
of the Arctic Ocean and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
  Mr. BEGICH. Mr. President, I wish to speak about legislation I am 
introducing today aimed at providing a better understanding of the 
Arctic Ocean and its resources.
  A changing climate is radically reshaping this part of the world. 
This change brings challenges and opportunities. As you may recall, 
nearly 3 years ago, I delivered my first speech to this body on the 
changing Arctic and what our Nation needs to do in order to prepare for 
it. That work continues today.
  Retreating sea ice is leading to dramatic increases in shipping 
traffic of both goods and tourists. Our Nation's energy needs demand we 
investigate and responsibly produce the massive amounts of oil and gas 
found in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. These resources are now 
available due to retreating sea ice, the state of technology and the 
price of oil. Meanwhile, Native Alaskans have depended on and thrived 
for thousands of years because of the living resources of the Arctic 
Ocean.
  In order to manage this change, we need a better understanding of the 
Arctic Ocean, and the legislation I am introducing today provides a 
firm foundation for that work. It establishes a new coherent research 
strategy to gather baseline information and to provide a holistic look 
at the Arctic Ocean.
  Importantly, it doesn't create any new bureaucracy. It assigns this 
task to the North Pacific Research Board, a well regarded institution, 
and requires a high degree of coordination with other existing 
entities, including the Arctic Research Commission whose job it is to 
establish Arctic research priorities and coordinate the massive federal 
investment in this area across many agencies.
  I would argue that most people are unaware of just how much Arctic 
science and research is underway. For most people in the lower 48 
States, it is out-of-sight and out-of-mind. The Bureau of Ocean Energy 
Management has spent about half of its total research budget on the 
Arctic for the past 6 years, approximately $60 million. The National 
Science Foundation has spent more.
  However, the Arctic Ocean Research, Monitoring, and Observing Act 
will be important to provide funds not tied to particular projects. 
This legislation is intended to provide a firm foundation in our 
understanding of the basic science of the Arctic Ocean that can 
underlie all of our decision-making in the Arctic.
  I am always happy to inform my colleagues about how we do things 
right in Alaska. We're a natural resource development state. Because 
our economy is so dependent on that development, we bear the 
responsibility of doing it right. That is making sure that nonrenewable 
resource development doesn't harm the renewable resources of our great 
state.
  I am confident we can continue to do that as we explore and develop 
the approximately 26 billion barrels of oil and 100 trillion cubic feet 
of natural gas in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. However, we have to 
make prudent investments in order to meet that goal, and that is what I 
am suggesting we do today.
  With companion legislation I will be introducing in the next few 
days, I also have a plan to create an endowment to fund this critical 
research program. Baseline science and monitoring requires steady, 
dependable funding in order to have the long term data sets that can 
help us make good decisions. I look forward to working with my 
colleagues and the administration on this important need.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 2147

       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 ``Arctic Ocean Research, 
     Monitoring, and Observing Act of 2012''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

       (a) Findings.--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.

[[Page S1200]]

       (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 Ocean lack a cohesive, coordinated, and 
     integrated approach and are not adequately coordinated with 
     State, local, academic, and private-sector Arctic Ocean 
     research programs.
       (8) The lack of research integration and synthesis of 
     findings of Arctic Ocean 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 Ocean is critical to the development of appropriate 
     and effective regional, national, and global climate change 
     adaptation strategies.
       (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to establish a 
     permanent environmental sentinel program to conduct research, 
     monitoring, and observation activities in the Arctic Ocean--
       (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.

     SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Board.--The term ``Board'' means the North Pacific 
     Research Board established under section 401(e) of the 
     Department of the Interior and Related Agencies 
     Appropriations Act, 1998 (Public Law 105 1608).
       (2) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Arctic 
     Research Commission established under the Arctic Research and 
     Policy Act of 1984 (Public Law 98 373; 15 U.S.C. 4102).
       (3) Program.--The term ``Program'' means the Arctic Ocean 
     Research, Monitoring, and Observation Program established by 
     section 4(a).

     SEC. 4. ARCTIC OCEAN RESEARCH, MONITORING, AND OBSERVATION 
                   PROGRAM.

       (a) Establishment.--There is established an Arctic Ocean 
     Research, Monitoring, and Observation Program to be 
     administered by the Board with input and assistance from the 
     Commission.
       (b) Research, Monitoring, and Observation Activities.--The 
     Program shall be an integrated, long-term scientific 
     research, monitoring, and observation program consisting of--
       (1) marine, coastal, and estuarine research, including--
       (A) fisheries research;
       (B) research on the structure and function of the ecosystem 
     and its food webs; and
       (C) research on the spatial distributions and status of 
     fish, wildlife, and other populations in the Arctic;
       (2) marine, coastal, and estuarine ecosystem monitoring and 
     observation, including expansion of the Alaska Ocean 
     Observing System in the Arctic; and
       (3) marine, coastal, and estuarine research, monitoring, 
     observation, and modeling that supports planning, 
     environmental review, decisionmaking, evaluation, impact and 
     natural resources damage assessment, and adaptive management 
     with respect to industrial and other human activities, such 
     as shipping, in the Arctic, environmental change, and their 
     interactive and cumulative effects in the Arctic.
       (c) Initial Projects.--In initiating the Program, the Board 
     shall make grants under subsection (e)--
       (1) to support research and monitoring of Arctic fisheries, 
     including on the distributions and ecology of Arctic cod and 
     other forage fishes, for a period of not less than 3 years;
       (2) to support research and monitoring of Arctic marine 
     mammals, including their responses to loss of sea ice 
     habitats and reactions to disturbance, for a period of not 
     less than 3 years; and
       (3) to establish the Alaska Ocean Observing System in the 
     Arctic Ocean such that it has sufficient capacity to provide 
     comprehensive data, nowcasts and forecasts, and information 
     products in real time and near real time on physical, 
     chemical, and biological conditions and environmental change.
       (d) Arctic Ocean Science Plan.--
       (1) Requirement.--The Board and the Commission shall 
     jointly prepare a comprehensive, integrated Arctic Ocean 
     science plan.
       (2) Recognition and coordination with other science.--The 
     content of the plan required by paragraph (1) shall be 
     developed with recognition of and in coordination with other 
     science plans and activities in the Arctic.
       (3) Informed by synthesis of existing knowledge.--
     Development of the plan required by paragraph (1) shall be 
     informed by a synthesis of existing knowledge about the 
     Arctic ecosystem, including information about how the 
     ecosystem functions, individual and cumulative sources of 
     ecosystem stress, how the ecosystem is changing, and other 
     relevant information.
       (4) Review.--
       (A) Initial review by national research council.--The Board 
     shall submit the initial plan required by paragraph (1) to 
     the National Research Council for review.
       (B) Periodic review and updates.--Not less frequently than 
     once every 5 years thereafter, the Board and the Commission 
     shall, in consultation with the National Research Council, 
     review the plan required by paragraph (1) and update it as 
     the Board and the Commission consider necessary.
       (5) Use.--The Board shall use the plan required by 
     paragraph (1) as a basis for setting priorities and awarding 
     grants under subsection (e).
       (e) Grants.--
       (1) Authority.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 
     Board shall, under the Program, award grants to carry out 
     research, monitoring, and observation activities described in 
     subsections (b) and (c).
       (2) Limitation.--The North Pacific Research Board may not 
     award any grants under paragraph (1) until the Board has 
     prepared the plan required by subsection (d)(1).
       (3) Conditions, considerations, and priorities.--When 
     making grants to carry out the research, monitoring, and 
     observation activities described in subsections (b) and (c), 
     the Board shall--
       (A) consider institutions located in the Arctic and 
     subarctic;
       (B) place a priority on cooperative, integrated long-term 
     projects, designed to address current or anticipated marine 
     ecosystem or fishery or wildlife management information 
     needs;
       (C) give priority to fully establishing and operating the 
     Alaska Ocean Observing System in the Arctic Ocean, which may 
     include future support for cabled ocean observatories;
       (D) recognize the value of local and traditional ecological 
     knowledge, and, where appropriate, place a priority on 
     research, monitoring, and observation projects that 
     incorporate local and traditional ecological knowledge;
       (E) ensure that research, monitoring, and observation data 
     collected by grantees of the Program are made available to 
     the public in a timely fashion, pursuant to national and 
     international protocols; and
       (F) give due consideration to the annual recommendations 
     and review of the Commission carried out under subsection 
     (f).
       (f) Annual Recommendations and Review by Arctic Research 
     Commission.--Each year, the Commission shall--
       (1) recommend ongoing and future research, monitoring, and 
     observation priorities and strategies to be carried out 
     pursuant to subsections (b) and (c);
       (2) undertake a written review of ongoing and recently 
     concluded research, monitoring, and observation activities 
     undertaken pursuant to such subsections; and
       (3) submit to the Board the recommendations required by 
     paragraph (1) and the review required by paragraph (2).
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