§1447b Regional Marine Research Boards

Summary

Create a Regional Marine Research Board for each of nine ocean and island areas: Gulf of Maine (waters off Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts north of Cape Cod); greater New York bight (waters off Massachusetts south of Cape Cod, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey from Cape Cod to Cape May); mid-Atlantic (waters off New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina from Cape May to Cape Fear); South Atlantic (waters off North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida from Cape Fear to the Florida Keys, and the waters off Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands); Gulf of Mexico (waters off Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas along the Gulf from the Keys to the Mexican border); California (waters off California from Point Reyes to the Mexican border); North Pacific (waters off California, Oregon, and Washington from Point Reyes to Canada); Alaska (waters off Alaska); and insular Pacific (waters off Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands). The Great Lakes research office handles Great Lakes research as the counterpart. Each board must have 11 members: 3 picked by NOAA (one is a Sea Grant Program Director from the region who will chair the board), 2 by the EPA, and 6 by the governors of states in the region. Members must have relevant expertise, and most must be trained in marine or aquatic science and be active in research or research management. Members serve 4-year terms, and replacements are appointed the same way for the rest of the term. Boards must write and send a regional marine research plan to NOAA and EPA (per section 1447c), coordinate and review research with users and groups, keep research quality high, and send periodic reports to Congress (per section 1447e). Boards may work with governments and nonprofits, make contracts and grants, publish results, hold conferences, run international projects with the State Department, use federal facilities, accept outside funds, and acquire patents or licenses. Each board sets its own rules, can form committees, and hire staff. Members may be paid travel and per diem under section 5703 of title 5. Each board ends on October 1, 1999, unless Congress extends it.