Sponsors (3)
The bill channels significant federal research, monitoring, and standardization toward marine carbon dioxide removal—strengthening scientific capacity, community safeguards, and market clarity while increasing taxpayer costs, carrying ecological risks from experimental deployments, and leaving open questions about enforcement, resource trade‑offs, and market distortions.
Scientists, universities, and federal researchers gain sustained, coordinated funding and interagency support (NOAA, NSF, NASA, DOE, NIST) to accelerate mCDR research, monitoring, and modeling.
Coastal communities, fisheries, and the public receive stronger monitoring, measurement tools, and program safeguards that improve detection of ecological impacts and reduce some risks from mCDR field trials.
Project developers, registries, and market participants get clearer statutory definitions and a voluntary carbon-credit framework for marine carbon removal, reducing regulatory uncertainty and supporting private investment.
Taxpayers face increased federal spending from multi‑agency authorizations and unspecified "such sums as may be necessary" appropriations for FY2027–FY2031 to support mCDR research, monitoring, and program administration.
Coastal communities, fisheries, and marine ecosystems risk harm from experimental or accelerated mCDR deployments because field trials and early commercial activity could create ecological impacts despite safeguards.
Developers, small firms, and market participants may see market distortions and winner‑taking if voluntary credits, international standards, or early benchmarks favor particular technologies or firms, locking in advantages.
Based on analysis of 8 sections of legislative text.
Establishes coordinated federal programs and grants to research, test, monitor, and standardize marine carbon dioxide removal, with community and tribal engagement and agency coordination.
Introduced February 24, 2026 by Suzanne Bonamici · Last progress February 24, 2026
Creates a coordinated federal effort to study, test, monitor, and standardize marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR). The bill directs NOAA/Commerce, NSF, NASA, NIST, and other agencies to run or fund research programs, field trials, measurement tools, and standards; requires community and tribal engagement; and authorizes multi‑year funding for certain agency activities.