S. 1894 · 117th Congress
Regional Ocean Partnership Act
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Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 117th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.
R
WickerSponsor1 cosponsor · 1 D
0 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.
This bill allows the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to designate and support Regional Ocean Partnerships between coastal states that share a common ocean or coastal area or border the Great Lakes.
What it does: CRS summary · Reported to Senate · Dec 17, 2021
Regional Ocean Partnership Act
This bill allows the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to designate and support Regional Ocean Partnerships between coastal states that share a common ocean or coastal area or border the Great Lakes. It also allows partnerships between coastal states and non-coastal states that share a common watershed or would contribute to the priorities of the partnership.
Specifically, NOAA may designate a partnership as a Regional Ocean Partnership if it (1) is established to coordinate the management of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources among state governments and Indian tribes; (2) focuses on the environmental issues affecting the ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes areas of the coastal states participating in the partnership; (3) complements existing coastal and ocean management efforts of states and Indian tribes on an interstate scale, focusing on shared regional priorities; (4) does not have a regulatory function; and (5) is not duplicative of an existing Regional Ocean Partnership.
The bill designates the following entities as Regional Ocean Partnerships:
- the Gulf of Mexico Alliance,
- the Northeast Regional Ocean Council,
- the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean, and
- the West Coast Ocean Alliance.
Each partnership must maintain mechanisms for coordination, consultation and engagement with the federal government, Indian tribes, nongovernmental entities, and other federally mandated regional entities.
A partnership may use provided federal funds to award grants and enter into contracts for certain purposes, including to monitor the water quality and living resources of multistate ocean and coastal ecosystems.
Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov
About this bill and sources
Official title: Regional Ocean Partnership Act
Latest action (Feb 15, 2022): By Senator Cantwell from Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation filed written report. Report No. 117-78.
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources · Origin: Senate · Introduced: May 27, 2021
Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)
No recorded floor vote found.