Sponsors (26)
The bill secures predictable federal funding and clearer governance to strengthen coastal observation and data sharing, improving monitoring and coordination for coastal stakeholders while imposing modest federal costs and potential administrative and implementation burdens on partner agencies and researchers.
Scientists, state and local coastal agencies will get predictable federal funding ($47.5M/year for 2026–2030) to support the Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System, enabling sustained monitoring, research, and operations.
Regional coastal observing systems and coastal communities will have clearer federal collaboration and data‑sharing requirements, improving local coastal monitoring, forecasting, and response capabilities.
Federal interagency coordination may be streamlined through renaming and organizational updates (e.g., an 'Ocean Policy Committee'), clarifying governance and potentially improving program management.
All taxpayers face higher federal spending commitments of $47.5M per year, which could raise concerns about budget trade‑offs or deficit impacts.
Regional offices, federally funded projects, and research partners may incur additional administrative burden to comply with new collaboration and data‑sharing requirements.
Unspecified or vague language in the updates could create uncertainty about implementation details and potential compliance costs for state and local partners and researchers.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Amends the Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act to update terminology and organizational text, rename the National Ocean Research Leadership Council to the Ocean Policy Committee, and add a new requirement for regional coordination and data sharing between federal projects and regional coastal observing systems. It also authorizes $47,500,000 annually for fiscal years 2026–2030 to support the observation system.
Introduced March 24, 2025 by Mike Ezell · Last progress March 17, 2026