Ocean Policy Roundup
March 15-22, 2024
All eyes remain on federal funding and the race towards tonight’s midnight deadline for Congress to pass the remaining fiscal year 2024 appropriations bills and avoid a partial government shutdown. The $1.2 trillion package—which includes bills that fund the U.S. Coast Guard and many initiatives related to fisheries management, blue technology, and other ocean priorities—passed the House this morning in a 286-134 vote. The bills are now in the Senate’s hands.
Both chambers are scheduled to be in recess for the next two weeks.
News highlights:
Reps. Derek Kilmer (D-WA-06) and Dan Newhouse (R-WA-04) introduced the Blue Ocean Energy Innovation Act (H.R.7722), which would establish an Integrated Blue Economy and Blue Energy Technologies Program at DOE, as well as a Blue Economy Center of Excellence, to support research and development of blue energy technologies.
Reps. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ-07), Jared Huffman (D-CA-02), and Melanie Stansbury (D-NM-01) sent a letter requesting documents related to a whistleblower’s account of human rights abuses in the fishing industry.
DOI announced a proposal for a second offshore wind energy auction in the Gulf of Mexico. The proposed lease sale includes four areas offshore Louisiana and Texas, totaling 410,060 acres.
Important Dates and Deadlines
Check out our public Google calendar and printable PDF to keep track of the 2024 congressional schedule.
March 22, 2024: funding deadline for the remaining appropriations bills (Defense, Financial Services, Homeland Security, Labor-HHS-Education, Legislative Branch, and State and Foreign Operations)
Upcoming Relevant Congressional Hearings
There are no relevant hearings scheduled during next week’s planned recess.
Introductions
Reps. Derek Kilmer (D-WA-06) and Dan Newhouse (R-WA-04) introduced the Blue Ocean Energy Innovation Act (H.R.7722), which would establish an Integrated Blue Economy and Blue Energy Technologies Program at DOE, as well as a Blue Economy Center of Excellence, to support research and development of blue energy technologies.
Reps. Mary Peltola (D-AK-At Large), James Baird (R-IN-04), Mark Amodei (R-NV-2), and Rick Larsen (D-WA-02) introduced the Arctic Diplomacy Act (H.R.7727), which would require any administration to have an official Ambassador-At Large for the Arctic Region to monitor international relations.
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA-01) and 18 Republican cosponsors introduced the Congressional Oversight of the Antiquities Act (H.R.5499), which would amend the Antiquities Act to increase congressional oversight with respect to the designation of national monuments. Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT), Jim Risch (R-ID), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Mike Crapo (R-ID), and Mitt Romney (R-UT) introduced this same legislation in the Senate in September 2023.
Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL-11) and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) reintroduced the bicameral American Innovation Act (H.R.7745/S.3997), which would provide annual budget increases of five percent, plus inflation, for research at five federal research agencies: the NSF; the DOE Office of Science; DOD Science and Technology Programs; NIST Scientific and Technical Research and Services; and the NASA Science Directorate.
Sen. Martin Herinrich (D-NM) and 12 bipartisan cosponsors introduced legislation (S.4048) to reauthorize the North American Wetlands Conservation Act.
Updates
The Ocean Shipping Reform Implementation Act (H.R.1836), which expands the Federal Maritime Commission's authority to regulate technology and anticompetitive practices within the international ocean transportation system, passed the House.
The Creating Confidence in Clean Water Permitting Act (H.R.7023) passed the House. The act, which comprises five standalone bills, modifies several requirements under the Clean Water Act, including the meaning of “waters of the United States,” and certain water quality criteria. The bill also makes changes to the EPA and U.S. Corps of Engineers program to regulate the discharge of dredged or fill material into U.S. waters, preventing EPA from vetoing a permit before an application has been filed or after a permit has already been issued by the Corps.
The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure advanced the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2024 (H.R.7659), which would provide investments and authorities to maintain the Coast Guard’s missions.
The House Natural Resources Committee advanced the South Pacific Tuna Treaty Act (H.R.1792), which would revise federal requirements for U.S. commercial fishing vessels operating in the South Pacific.
The House Committee on Foreign Affairs advanced the United States Foundation for International Conservation Act of 2023 (S.618/H.R.6727), which would create a U.S. Foundation for International Conservation. This bill was introduced in December 2023 by Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX-10) and 11 bipartisan cosponsors following the March 2023 introduction of the same bill in the Senate by Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) and five bipartisan cosponsors.
Fisheries and Ecosystems
In honor of World Water Day, President Biden wrote a letter sharing the administration’s clean water priorities. The White House also released a fact sheet detailing new clean water initiatives, which include a Wetland and Water Protection Resource Guide, a $60 million investment for fish hatcheries in the Columbia River Basin, and an Army Corps of Engineers memorandum outlining how the agency will support the protection, restoration, and enhancement of waters and wetlands that are more vulnerable following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Sackett decision.
House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ-07); Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries Subcommittee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-CA-02); and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Melanie Stansbury (D-NM-01) sent a letter requesting documents related to a whistleblower’s account of human rights abuses at one of India’s largest shrimp exporters. The account was recently reported as part of the Outlaw Ocean Project’s extensive investigation into forced labor and human rights abuses across the global fishing industry.
Reps. Raúl Grijalva, Katie Porter (D-CA-47), and Mike Levin (D-CA-49) authored an op-ed regarding a new Government Accountability Office report that found many oil and gas companies to be neglecting responsibilities to decommission offshore infrastructure in a timely manner.
A new report released by USFWS determined that—as of 2019—wetlands covered less than six percent of the lower 48 states. This represents half the area covered by wetlands in the 1780s. The report also identified that wetland loss rates have increased by 50 percent since 2009.
DOI announced a nearly $11 million investment in 29 locally led, landscape-scale restoration projects across 18 states and the District of Columbia.
EPA announced 10 partner communities as part of the Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities program. EPA will work with local stakeholders to expand existing efforts that advance clean air, clean water, equitable development, and other local goals.
Ocean Data and Technology
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy announced the winners of its Year of Open Science Recognition Challenge. The challenge engaged researchers, community scientists, educators, innovators, and the broader public to highlight efforts that expand access to research.
NOAA announced $3.72 million in funding to support research on Great Lakes water level forecasts.
DOE’s Wind Energy Technologies Office announced plans to invest $5.1 million to advance modeling for next-generation offshore wind turbine blades.
Offshore Wind and Energy
BOEM will initiate an environmental review of Vineyard Northeast’s proposed wind energy project off the coast of Massachusetts.
DOI announced a proposal for a second offshore wind energy auction in the Gulf of Mexico. The proposed lease sale includes four areas offshore Louisiana and Texas, totaling 410,060 acres.
BOEM published an update on Dominion Energy’s vessel Charybdis, which is slated to be the first U.S.-built and Jones Act-qualified offshore wind installation vessel.
DOE released findings from the Atlantic Offshore Wind Transmission Study, a two-year study evaluating transmission options to support offshore wind energy deployment along the U.S. Atlantic Coast.
Image: Erik Christensen
Mysterious divots in Germany’s seafloor might have an unexpectedly cute cause. Though they’re not entirely sure, scientists think hungry harbor porpoises might be responsible for digging thousands of holes in the floor of the North Sea.