33 U.S.C. § 3602 — Definitions

Page 983 TITLE 33—NAVIGATION AND NAVIGABLE WATERS § 3602 1 See References in Text note below. frastructure to detect changes and ensure de- livery of reliable and timely information; and (4) to authorize activities— (A) to promote basic and applied research to develop, test, and deploy innovations and improvements in coastal and ocean observa- tion technologies, including advanced ob- serving technologies such as unmanned mar- itime systems needed to address critical data gaps, modeling systems, other sci- entific and technological capabilities to im- prove the understanding of weather and cli- mate, ocean-atmosphere dynamics, global climate change, and the physical, chemical, and biological dynamics of the ocean, coast- al, and Great Lakes environments; and (B) to conserve healthy and restore de- graded coastal ecosystems. (Pub. L. 111–11, title XII, § 12302, Mar. 30, 2009, 123 Stat. 1427; Pub. L. 116–271, title I, § 101, Dec. 31, 2020, 134 Stat. 3331.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2020—Pub. L. 116–271 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section set out the purposes of this chapter. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries SHORT TITLE OF 2020 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 116–271, § 1(a), Dec. 31, 2020, 134 Stat. 3331, pro- vided that: ‘‘This Act [enacting section 10371 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, amending this section, sections 3602 to 3604, 3606, 3607, 3610, 3611, and 3703 to 3706 of this title, and section 4057 of Title 42, repealing section 3608 of this title, and enacting provisions set out as a note under section 3704 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Coordinated Ocean Observations and Re- search Act of 2020’.’’ SHORT TITLE Pub. L. 111–11, title XII, § 12301, Mar. 30, 2009, 123 Stat. 1427, provided that: ‘‘This subtitle [subtitle C (§§ 12301–12312) of title XII of Pub. L. 111–11, enacting this chapter] may be cited as the ‘Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act of 2009’.’’ § 3602. Definitions In this chapter: (1) Administrator The term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmos- phere in the Under Secretary’s capacity as Ad- ministrator of the National Oceanic and At- mospheric Administration. (2) Council The term ‘‘Council’’ means the National Ocean Research Leadership Council estab- lished by section 8932 of title 10.1 (3) Federal assets The term ‘‘Federal assets’’ means all rel- evant non-classified civilian coastal and ocean observations, technologies, and related mod- eling, research, data management, basic and applied technology research and development, and public education and outreach programs, that are managed by member agencies of the Council. (4) Interagency Ocean Observation Committee The term ‘‘Interagency Ocean Observation Committee’’ means the committee established under section 3603(c)(2) of this title. (5) Non-Federal assets The term ‘‘non-Federal assets’’ means all relevant coastal and ocean observation tech- nologies, related basic and applied technology research and development, and public edu- cation and outreach programs that are man- aged through States, regional organizations, universities, nongovernmental organizations, or the private sector and integrated into the System by a regional coastal observing sys- tem, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or the agencies participating in the Interagency Ocean Observation Com- mittee. (6) Regional coastal observing system The term ‘‘regional coastal observing sys- tem’’ means an organizational body that is certified or established by contract or memo- randum by the lead Federal agency designated in section 3603(c)(3) of this title and coordi- nates State, Federal, local, tribal, and private interests at a regional level with the responsi- bility of engaging the private and public sec- tors in designing, operating, and improving re- gional coastal observing systems in order to ensure the provision of data and information that meet the needs of user groups from the respective regions. (7) Secretary The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Adminis- trator. (8) System The term ‘‘System’’ means the National In- tegrated Coastal and Ocean Observation Sys- tem established under section 3603 of this title. (9) System Plan The term ‘‘System Plan’’ means the plan contained in the document entitled ‘‘Ocean. US Publication No. 9, The First Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) Development Plan’’, as updated by the Council under this chapter. (Pub. L. 111–11, title XII, § 12303, Mar. 30, 2009, 123 Stat. 1428; Pub. L. 116–271, title I, § 102, Dec. 31, 2020, 134 Stat. 3333.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The reference to the National Ocean Research Lead- ership Council established by section 8932 of title 10, re- ferred to in par. (2), is no longer accurate insofar as sec- tion 8932 of title 10 was amended by Pub. L. 116–283 so as to instead refer to the Ocean Policy Committee. AMENDMENTS 2020—Par. (2). Pub. L. 116–271, § 102(1), substituted ‘‘section 8932’’ for ‘‘section 7902’’. Par. (5). Pub. L. 116–271, § 102(2), substituted ‘‘man- aged through States, regional organizations, univer- Page 984 TITLE 33—NAVIGATION AND NAVIGABLE WATERS § 3603 sities, nongovernmental organizations, or the private sector and integrated into the System by a regional coastal observing system, the National Oceanic and At- mospheric Administration, or the agencies partici- pating in the Interagency Ocean Observation Com- mittee’’ for ‘‘integrated into the System and are man- aged through States, regional organizations, univer- sities, nongovernmental organizations, or the private sector’’. Par. (6). Pub. L. 116–271, § 102(3), amended par. (6) gen- erally. Prior to amendment, par. (6) related to regional information coordination entities. Par. (7). Pub. L. 116–271, § 102(4), substituted ‘‘Admin- istrator’’ for ‘‘National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad- ministration’’. § 3603. Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observing System (a) Establishment The President, acting through the Council, shall establish a National Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System to fulfill the pur- poses set forth in section 3601 of this title and the System Plan and to fulfill the Nation’s international obligations to contribute to the Global Earth Observation System of Systems and the Global Ocean Observing System. (b) System elements (1) In general In order to fulfill the purposes of this chap- ter, the System shall be national in scope and consist of— (A) Federal assets to fulfill national and international observation missions and pri- orities; (B) non-Federal assets, including a net- work of regional coastal observing systems identified under subsection (c)(4), to fulfill regional and national observation missions and priorities; (C) observing, modeling, data manage- ment, and communication systems for the timely integration and dissemination of data and information products from the Sys- tem, including reviews of data collection procedures across regions and programs to make recommendations for data collection standards across the System to meet na- tional ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes ob- servation, applied research, and weather forecasting needs; (D) a product development system to transform observations into products in a format that may be readily used and under- stood; and (E) a research and development program conducted under the guidance of the Coun- cil, consisting of— (i) basic and applied research and tech- nology development— (I) to improve understanding of coastal and ocean systems and their relation- ships to human activities; and (II) to ensure improvement of oper- ational assets and products, including re- lated infrastructure, observing tech- nologies such as unmanned maritime systems, and information and data proc- essing and management technologies; (ii) an advanced observing technology development program to fill gaps in tech- nology; (iii) large scale computing resources and research to advance modeling of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes processes; (iv) models to improve regional weather forecasting capabilities and regional weather forecasting products; and (v) reviews of data collection procedures across regions and programs to make rec- ommendations for data collection stand- ards across the System to meet national ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes observa- tion, applied research, and weather fore- casting needs. (2) Enhancing administration and management The head of each Federal agency that has administrative jurisdiction over a Federal asset shall support the purposes of this chap- ter and may take appropriate actions to en- hance internal agency administration and management to better support, integrate, fi- nance, and utilize observation data, products, and services developed under this section to further its own agency mission and respon- sibilities. (3) Availability of data The head of each Federal agency that has administrative jurisdiction over a Federal asset shall make available data that are pro- duced by that asset and that are not otherwise restricted for integration, management, and dissemination by the System for research and for use in the development of products to ad- dress societal needs. (4) Non-Federal assets Non-Federal assets shall be coordinated, as appropriate, by the Interagency Ocean Observ- ing Committee or by regional coastal observ- ing systems. (c) Policy oversight, administration, and regional coordination (1) Council functions The Council shall serve as the policy and co- ordination oversight body for all aspects of the System. In carrying out its responsibil- ities under this chapter, the Council shall— (A) approve and adopt comprehensive Sys- tem budgets developed and maintained by the Interagency Ocean Observation Com- mittee to support System operations, in- cluding operations of both Federal and non- Federal assets; (B) ensure coordination of the System with other domestic and international earth observing activities including the Global Ocean Observing System and the Global Earth Observing System of Systems, and provide, as appropriate, support for and rep- resentation on United States delegations to international meetings on coastal and ocean observing programs; and (C) encourage coordinated intramural and extramural research and technology devel- opment, and a process to transition devel- oping technology and methods into oper- ations of the System. (2) Interagency Ocean Observation Committee (A) Establishment The Council shall establish or designate a committee, which shall be known as the