S.Amdt. 1867

SA 1867. Mr. WHITEHOUSE (for himself and Ms. Murkowski) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 1502 proposed by Mr.
Schumer to the bill S. 1260, to establish a new Directorate for
Technology and Innovation in the National Science Foundation, to
establish a regional technology hub program, to require a strategy and
report on economic security, science, research, innovation,
manufacturing, and job creation, to establish a critical supply chain
resiliency program, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on
the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place, insert the following:

TITLE_--BOLSTERING LONG-TERM UNDERSTANDING AND EXPLORATION OF
THE GREAT LAKES, OCEANS, BAYS, AND ESTUARIES

SEC. _01. SHORT TITLE.

This title may be cited as the ``Bolstering Long-term
Understanding and Exploration of the Great Lakes, Oceans,
Bays, and Estuaries Act'' or the ``BLUE GLOBE Act''.

SEC. _02. PURPOSE.

The purpose of this title is to promote and support--
(1) the monitoring, understanding, and exploration of the
Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts; and
(2) the collection, analysis, synthesis, and sharing of
data related to the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, and
coasts to facilitate science and operational decision making.

SEC. _03. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

It is the sense of Congress that Federal agencies should
optimize data collection, management, and dissemination, to
the extent practicable, to maximize their impact for
research, conservation, commercial, regulatory, and
educational benefits and to foster innovation, scientific
discoveries, the development of commercial products, and the
development of sound policy with respect to the Great Lakes,
oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts.

SEC. _04. DEFINITIONS.

In this title:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere in the
Under Secretary's capacity as Administrator of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
(2) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian Tribe'' has the
meaning given that term in section 4 of the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304).

SEC. _05. WORKFORCE STUDY.

(a) In General.--Section 303(a) of the America COMPETES
Reauthorization Act of 2010 (33 U.S.C. 893c(a)) is amended--
(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking
``Secretary of Commerce'' and inserting ``Under Secretary of
Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere'';
(2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``, skillsets, or
credentials'' after ``degrees'';
(3) in paragraph (3), by inserting ``or highly qualified
technical professionals and tradespeople'' after
``atmospheric scientists'';
(4) in paragraph (4), by inserting ``, skillsets, or
credentials'' after ``degrees'';
(5) in paragraph (5)--
(A) by striking ``scientist''; and
(B) by striking ``; and'' and inserting ``, observations,
and monitoring;''
(6) in paragraph (6), by striking ``into Federal'' and all
that follows and inserting ``, technical professionals, and
tradespeople into Federal career positions;''
(7) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (6) as
paragraphs (3) through (7), respectively;
(8) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
``(2) whether there is a shortage in the number of
individuals with technical or trade-based skillsets or
credentials suited to a career in oceanic and atmospheric
data collection, processing, satellite production, or
satellite operations;''; and
(9) by adding at the end the following:
``(8) workforce diversity and actions the Federal
Government can take to increase diversity in the scientific
workforce; and
``(9) actions the Federal Government can take to shorten
the hiring backlog for such workforce.''.
(b) Coordination.--Section 303(b) of such Act (33 U.S.C.
893c(b)) is amended by striking ``Secretary of Commerce'' and
inserting ``Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and
Atmosphere''.
(c) Report.--Section 303(c) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 893c(c))
is amended--

[[Page S3288]]

(1) by striking ``the date of enactment of this Act'' and
inserting ``the date of the enactment of the Bolstering Long-
term Understanding and Exploration of the Great Lakes,
Oceans, Bays, and Estuaries Act'';
(2) by striking ``Secretary of Commerce'' and inserting
``Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere'';
and
(3) by striking ``to each committee'' and all that follows
through ``section 302 of this Act'' and inserting ``to the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the
Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources and the
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of
Representatives''.
(d) Program and Plan.--Section 303(d) of such Act (33
U.S.C. 893c(d)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``Administrator of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration'' and inserting ``Under Secretary
of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere''; and
(2) by striking ``academic partners'' and all that follows
and inserting ``academic partners.''.

SEC. _06. ACCELERATING INNOVATION AT COOPERATIVE INSTITUTES.

(a) Focus on Emerging Technologies.--The Administrator
shall consider evaluating the goals of one or more
Cooperative Institutes of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration to include focusing on advancing
or applying emerging technologies, which may include--
(1) applied uses and development of real-time and other
advanced genetic technologies and applications, including
such technologies and applications that derive genetic
material directly from environmental samples without any
obvious signs of biological source material;
(2) deployment of, and improvements to, the durability,
maintenance, and other lifecycle concerns of advanced
unmanned vehicles, regional small research vessels, and other
research vessels that support and launch unmanned vehicles
and sensors; and
(3) supercomputing and big data management, including data
collected through model outputs, electronic monitoring, and
remote sensing.
(b) Coordination With Other Programs.--If appropriate, the
Cooperative Institutes shall work with the Interagency Ocean
Observation Committee, the regional associations of the
Integrated Ocean Observing System, and other ocean observing
programs to coordinate technology needs and the transition of
new technologies from research to operations.

SEC. _07. ELECTRONIC MONITORING INNOVATION PRIZE.

Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of
this Act, and under the authority provided by section 24 of
the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15
U.S.C. 3719), the Administrator, in consultation with the
heads of relevant Federal agencies and nongovernmental
partners, as appropriate, shall establish an Electronic
Monitoring Innovation Prize, which may be awarded for the
development of advanced electronic fisheries monitoring
equipment and data analysis tools, including improved fish
species recognition software.

SEC. _08. BLUE ECONOMY VALUATION.

(a) Measurement of Blue Economy Industries.--The
Administrator, in consultation with the heads of other
relevant Federal agencies, shall establish a program to
improve the collection, aggregation, and analysis of data to
measure the value and impact of industries related to the
Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts on the
economy of the United States, including living resources,
marine construction, marine transportation, offshore energy
development and siting including for renewable energy,
offshore mineral production, ship and boat building, tourism,
recreation, subsistence, commercial, recreational, and
charter fishing, seafood processing, and other fishery-
related businesses, aquaculture such as kelp and shellfish,
and other industries the Administrator considers appropriate
(known as ``Blue Economy'' industries).
(b) Collaboration.--In carrying out subsection (a), the
Administrator shall--
(1) work with the Director of the Bureau of Economic
Analysis and the heads of other relevant Federal agencies to
develop a Coastal and Ocean Economy Satellite Account that
includes national, Tribal, and State-level statistics to
measure the contribution of the Great Lakes, oceans, bays,
estuaries, and coasts to the overall economy of the United
States; and
(2) collaborate with national and international
organizations and governments to promote consistency of
methods, measurements, and definitions to ensure
comparability of results between countries.
(c) Report.--Not less frequently than once every 2 years
until the date that is 20 years after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in consultation
with the heads of other relevant Federal agencies, shall
publish a report that--
(1) defines the Blue Economy, in coordination with Indian
Tribes, academia, the private sector, nongovernmental
organizations, and other relevant experts;
(2) makes recommendations for updating North American
Industry Classification System (NAICS) reporting codes to
reflect the Blue Economy; and
(3) provides a comprehensive estimate of the value and
impact of the Blue Economy with respect to each State and
territory of the United States, including--
(A) the value and impact of--
(i) economic activities that are dependent upon the
resources of the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, and
coasts;
(ii) the population and demographic characteristics of the
population along the coasts;
(iii) port and shoreline infrastructure;
(iv) the volume and value of cargo shipped by sea or across
the Great Lakes; and
(v) data collected from the Great Lakes, oceans, bays,
estuaries, and coasts, including such data collected by
businesses that purchase and commodify the data, including
weather prediction and seasonal agricultural forecasting; and
(B) to the extent possible, the qualified value and impact
of the natural capital of the Great Lakes, oceans, bays,
estuaries, and coasts with respect to tourism, recreation,
natural resources, and cultural heritage, including other
indirect values.

SEC. _09. ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY-OCEANS.

(a) Agreement.--Not later than 45 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall seek to
enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences
to conduct the comprehensive assessment under subsection (b).
(b) Comprehensive Assessment.--
(1) In general.--Under an agreement between the
Administrator and the National Academy of Sciences under this
section, the National Academy of Sciences shall conduct a
comprehensive assessment to evaluate--
(A) whether there is a need for an Advanced Research
Projects Agency-Oceans (ARPA-O) that operates within the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in
coordination with, but not duplicative of, existing Federal
research programs relating to oceanic, coastal, Great Lakes,
estuarine, and related systems, including programs of the
Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and
(B) if there is such a need, the feasibility of
establishing such an ARPA-O.
(2) Elements.--The comprehensive assessment conducted under
paragraph (1) shall include--
(A) an assessment of how an ARPA-O may help overcome the
long-term and high-risk technological barriers in the
development of ocean technologies, with the goal of enhancing
the economic, ecological, and national security of the United
States through the rapid development of technologies that
result in--
(i) improved data collection, monitoring, and prediction of
the ocean environment, including sea ice conditions;
(ii) overcoming barriers to the application of new and
improved technologies, such as high costs and scale of
operational missions;
(iii) improved technology for fishery stock assessments and
surveys; and
(iv) ensuring that the United States maintains a
technological lead in developing and deploying advanced ocean
technologies;
(B) an evaluation of the organizational structures under
which an ARPA-O could be organized, which takes into
account--
(i) best practices for new research programs;
(ii) metrics and approaches for periodic program
evaluation;
(iii) capacity to fund and manage external research awards;
and
(iv) options for oversight of the activity through the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;
(C) an estimation of the scale of investment necessary to
pursue high priority ocean technology projects; and
(D) in a case in which an ARPA-O is not recommended as an
independent office, recommendations to improve the Office of
Oceanic and Atmospheric Research of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration to achieve the goals described in
subparagraph (A).
(c) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 18 months after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to
the appropriate committees of Congress a report on the
comprehensive assessment conducted under subsection (b).
(2) Definition of appropriate committees of congress.--In
this section, the term ``appropriate committees of Congress''
means--
(A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
of the Senate;
(B) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;
(C) the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of
Representatives;
(D) the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the
House of Representatives; and
(E) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives.

SEC. _10. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED.

No additional funds are to be authorized to carry out this
title.
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