# National Ocean Exploration Act

This bill establishes a new federal program dedicated to exploring and studying the ocean. The government would create an organized effort to map the seafloor, study marine life, and investigate underwater geological features that we currently know very little about. Think of it as a systematic mission to understand what's happening in the parts of the ocean we rarely explore—the deep sea, underwater mountains, trenches, and the creatures living there.

The bill would fund research expeditions, purchase or upgrade ships and submarines used for ocean exploration, and support scientists who study marine environments. It also creates partnerships between government agencies, universities, and private research institutions to share data and resources. The program would prioritize exploring areas that haven't been well-studied yet and would make the information they discover available to the public, other researchers, and industries that depend on ocean resources.

Who this affects depends on your interests and profession. Fishing communities could benefit from better understanding of fish populations and ocean conditions. Coastal communities might gain valuable information about ocean health and potential hazards. Scientists and students get funding and opportunities for research. The bill could also support industries like shipping and energy production by providing better maps and data about the ocean floor. For most everyday Americans, the main impact would be indirect—better ocean knowledge could lead to improved environmental protection, more sustainable fishing practices, and better predictions of ocean-related weather events.

National Ocean Exploration Act

Wicker, Roger F.

National Ocean Exploration Act This bill provides statutory authority for the National Ocean Mapping, Exploration, and Characterization Council and revises several programs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that support ocean and coastal mapping, hydrographic surveys, and spatial data collection. The bill revises the national ocean exploration program to require NOAA to provide guidance to federal and state agencies, and others, on data standards, protocols for accepting data, and coordination of data collection, compilation, processing, archiving, and dissemination for data relating to ocean exploration and characterization. It also directs NOAA to conduct education and outreach efforts to disseminate information to the public on the discoveries made by the ocean exploration program and coordinate with the outreach strategies of other domestic or international ocean mapping, exploration, and characterization initiatives. Additionally, the bill repeals the undersea research program of NOAA. It also modifies NOAA's ocean and coastal mapping program to include ecosystem approaches in decision-making for natural resource and habitat restoration, emergency response, and coastal resilience and adaptation. NOAA must develop an integrated ocean and coastal mapping federal funding match opportunity to increase the coordinated acquisition, processing, stewardship, and archival of new ocean and coastal mapping data in U.S. waters. The bill also revises and reauthorizes through FY2030 the hydrographic services program of NOAA.