WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation yesterday approved the Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act (S. 950), which is co-sponsored by Vice Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii).  Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) introduced this legislation on March 21, 2007.  The bill addresses the need for a sustained, national, and integrated system for coastal and ocean observation.  This system would promote accurate weather and climate forecasts, safe maritime operations, sustainable fisheries management, and also be used to support cutting-edge marine research. The bill now awaits consideration by the full Senate.

 

 

S. 950 would direct the President, through the National Ocean Research Leadership Council (NORLC), to create and maintain an integrated coastal and ocean observation system.  The purpose of this system is to provide long-term, continuous, and quality-controlled observations of the nation’s coasts, oceans, and Great Lakes.  It would integrate federal observing capabilities and federally-certified regional associations to collect data on key variables, disseminate information, and apply results to national priorities.  The NORLC would serve as the oversight body for the design and coordination of this observation system.

 

The bill would also establish an Interagency Ocean Observing Committee (IOOC) to coordinate program planning and implementation.  The IOOC would be a working group under the National Ocean Research Leadership Council.  To assist with the daily operations of the program, the bill would establish an Interagency Program Coordinating Office within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

 

NOAA and other organizations require long-term data sets to effectively monitor cyclical changes in the environment (such as El Nino events) and global climate change.  The National Ocean Research Leadership Council, which consists of leaders from the U.S. Navy, NOAA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and National Science Foundation (NSF), among others, has called for the full implementation of an integrated and sustained ocean-observing system by 2010.

 

In June 2006, the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative responded to a request from Congressional leaders asking for the nation’s top ten ocean policy priorities.  Number six on its list was to “enact legislation to authorize and fund the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS).”  The United States Commission on Ocean Policy has also endorsed the establishment of the IOOS.

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