[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 124 (Tuesday, July 24, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S5279]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 3454. Mr. WHITEHOUSE (for himself, Ms. Murkowski, and Mr. Murphy) 
submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 3399 
proposed by Mr. Shelby to the bill H.R. 6147, making appropriations for 
the Department of the Interior, environment, and related agencies for 
the fiscal year ending September 30, 2019, and for other purposes; 
which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the appropriate place in division C, insert the 
     following:


                     research on ocean agriculture

       Sec. ___.  (a) The Secretary of Agriculture, in 
     coordination with the Administrator of the National Oceanic 
     and Atmospheric Administration, shall establish a working 
     group (referred to in this section as the ``working 
     group'')--
       (1) to study how mangroves, kelp forests, tidal marshes, 
     and seagrass meadows could help deacidify the oceans;
       (2) to study emerging ocean farming practices that use kelp 
     and seagrass to deacidify the oceans while providing 
     feedstock for agriculture and other commercial and industrial 
     inputs; and
       (3) to coordinate and conduct research to develop and 
     enhance pilot-scale research for farming of kelp and seagrass 
     in order--
       (A) to deacidify ocean environments;
       (B) to produce a feedstock for agriculture; and
       (C) to develop other scalable commercial applications for 
     kelp, seagrass, or products derived from kelp or seagrass.
       (b) The working group shall include--
       (1) the Secretary of Agriculture;
       (2) the Administrator of the National Oceanic and 
     Atmospheric Administration;
       (3) representatives of any relevant offices within the 
     National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and
       (4) the Assistant Secretary of Energy for Energy Efficiency 
     and Renewable Energy.
       (c) Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of 
     this Act, the working group shall submit to Congress a report 
     that includes--
       (1) the findings of the research described in subsection 
     (a);
       (2) the results of the pilot-scale research described in 
     subsection (a)(3); and
       (3) any policy recommendations based on those findings and 
     results.
                                 ______