United States S 3245: Blue Carbon for Our Planet Act

Bill Text

II
117TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION S. 3245
To establish the Interagency Working Group on Coastal Blue Carbon, and
for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
NOVEMBER 18, 2021
Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself and Mr. WHITEHOUSE) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
A BILL
To establish the Interagency Working Group on Coastal Blue
Carbon, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Blue Carbon for Our 4
Planet Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6
In this Act: 7
(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-8
trator’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce for 9
Oceans and Atmosphere in the Under Secretary’s 10
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capacity as the Administrator of the National Oce-1
anic and Atmospheric Administration. 2
(2) COASTAL BLUE CARBON ECOSYSTEMS.— 3
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘coastal blue 4
carbon ecosystems’’ means vegetated coastal 5
habitats, including mangroves, tidal marshes, 6
seagrasses, kelp forests, and other tidal, fresh-7
water, or salt-water wetlands, that have the 8
ability to sequester carbon from the atmos-9
phere, accumulate carbon in biomass for years 10
to decades, and store carbon in soils for cen-11
turies to millennia. 12
(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘coastal blue 13
carbon ecosystems’’ includes autochthonous car-14
bon and allochthonous carbon. 15
(3) COASTAL CARBON DATA CLEARINGHOUSE.— 16
The term ‘‘Coastal Carbon Data Clearinghouse’’ 17
means the Coastal Carbon Data Clearinghouse oper-18
ated by the Smithsonian Environmental Research 19
Center. 20
(4) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP.—The term 21
‘‘Interagency Working Group’’ means the Inter-22
agency Working Group on Coastal Blue Carbon es-23
tablished under section 3(a). 24
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(5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each 1
State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 2
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American 3
Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern 4
Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands of the United 5
States, and any other territory or possession of the 6
United States. 7
SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP ON COASTAL BLUE 8
CARBON. 9
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Subcommittee on Ocean 10
Science and Technology of the National Science and Tech-11
nology Council shall establish an interagency working 12
group, to be known as the ‘‘Interagency Working Group 13
on Coastal Blue Carbon’’. 14
(b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Interagency Working Group 15
shall be comprised of senior representatives from— 16
(1) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-17
ministration; 18
(2) the Environmental Protection Agency; 19
(3) the National Science Foundation; 20
(4) the National Aeronautics and Space Admin-21
istration; 22
(5) the United States Geological Survey; 23
(6) the United States Fish and Wildlife Service; 24
(7) the National Park Service; 25
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(8) the Bureau of Indian Affairs; 1
(9) the Smithsonian Institution; 2
(10) the Army Corps of Engineers; 3
(11) the Department of Agriculture; 4
(12) the Department of Energy; 5
(13) the Department of Defense; 6
(14) the Department of State; 7
(15) the Department of Transportation; 8
(16) the Federal Emergency Management 9
Agency; and 10
(17) the Council on Environmental Quality. 11
(c) CHAIRPERSON.—The Interagency Working Group 12
shall be chaired by the Administrator. 13
(d) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Interagency Working 14
Group shall— 15
(1) oversee the development, updates, and 16
maintenance of a national map and inventory of 17
coastal blue carbon ecosystems, including habitat 18
types, with a regional focus in analysis that is usable 19
for local-level conservation, planning, and restora-20
tion; 21
(2) develop a strategic assessment of the bio-22
physical, chemical, social, statutory, regulatory, and 23
economic impediments to conservation and restora-24
tion of coastal blue carbon ecosystems, including the 25
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vulnerability of coastal blue carbon ecosystems to cli-1
mate impacts, such as sea-level rise and ocean and 2
coastal acidification, and other environmental and 3
human stressors; 4
(3) develop a national strategy for foundational 5
science necessary to study, synthesize, and evaluate 6
the effects of climate change and environmental and 7
human stressors on seques