H.R. 7896

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7896 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7896

To establish within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
a research program comprising global ocean monitoring and observing, 
and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

March 12, 2026

Mr. Amo (for himself and Mr. Scott Franklin of Florida) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, 
and Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To establish within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
a research program comprising global ocean monitoring and observing, 
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 ``NOAA Global Ocean Monitoring and 
Observing Research Act''.

SEC. 2. NOAA GLOBAL OCEAN MONITORING AND OBSERVING RESEARCH PROGRAM.

(a) In General.--The Secretary of Commerce, acting through the 
Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
(referred to in this section as the ``Administrator''), shall establish 
within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration a research 
program comprising global ocean monitoring and observing (in this 
section referred to as the ``program'').
(b) Purpose.--The program shall provide high quality global ocean 
environmental data and information to improve scientific understanding 
and knowledge to advance capabilities and services for climate, 
weather, and ocean needs that support the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration's mission to monitor and observe the global 
environment in order to protect lives and property from extreme weather 
and other natural phenomena by carrying out the following:
(1) Developing and improving sustained global in-situ ocean 
monitoring and observing systems capable of systematically 
collecting ocean environmental data to support ocean research, 
weather research, and climate research, including by leading 
the development of the global One-Argo system.
(2) Supporting basic and applied research, including the 
utilization of public and private partnerships to test and 
evaluate innovative and improved ocean observation technologies 
to address emerging research needs and support the scientific 
understanding of ocean health and ocean economy, and the 
weather and environment.
(3) Improving the findability, accessibility, 
interoperability, quality, usability, and reusability of 
environmental and observational data and research products to 
carry out the following:
(A) Collecting critical baseline ocean 
measurements.
(B) Strengthening public understanding of marine 
and ocean research.
(C) Meeting the national needs for the research 
community.
(4) Undertaking interdisciplinary earth-system research, 
and coordinated interagency activities to improve understanding 
of the physical, chemical, and marine ecological features of 
the ocean, including the following:
(A) Ocean heat content and temperature.
(B) Arctic ocean changes, including sea ice and 
marine ecosystem monitoring and prediction.
(C) Ocean carbon and biogeochemistry.
(D) Any other research the Administrator determines 
appropriate.
(5) In collaboration with the U.S. Integrated Ocean 
Observing System, the National Data Buoy Center, and the 
National Oceanographic Partnership Program, ensuring 
coordination of ocean observing research and relevant 
activities with other appropriate Federal departments and 
agencies, State and local governments, regional partners, 
academic institutions, nongovernmental organizations, private 
sector entities, and international ocean science and observing 
bodies, including the Global Ocean Observing System.
(6) Accelerating development and enhancement of ocean 
observing technologies for forecasting improvements of 
hurricane intensity, atmospheric rivers, and other extreme 
weather events.
(7) Building research capacity and increasing the use of 
autonomous observing systems to fill gaps in the coverage of 
observations in critical areas of the ocean.
(8) Integrating artificial intelligence and cloud 
technologies to optimize data use, as practical.
(9) Developing best practices for interactions with the 
ocean-coastal monitoring and observing science community, 
including strategies to foster competition and avoid sole 
sources for critical components and data.
(c) Framework and Review.--
(1) Framework.--Not later than one year after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall develop a 
framework for prioritized monitoring and observational 
activities for research and metrics to measure progress in data 
quantity, quality, and management. In developing such 
framework, the Administrator shall identify and consult with 
users of the program's environmental data.
(2) Review.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall implement a 
process for an annual review of activities carried out by the 
program. Such reviews shall include assessments of the quality 
and efficiency of the systems and data developed under the 
program.
(d) Financial Assistance.--
(1) In general.--The program may provide to academic 
institutions, cooperative institutions, private sector 
entities, and other entities the Administrator determines 
appropriate financial assistance in the form of contracts, 
grants, or cooperative agreements for research projects to 
carry out the purposes described in subsection (b).
(2) Requirements.--Financial assistance under paragraph (1) 
shall be awarded on a competitive, merit-based process.
(e) Definition.--In this section, the term ``artificial 
intelligence''--
(1) has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the 
National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 
U.S.C. 9401); and
(2) includes machine learning, neural networks, and natural 
language processing.
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