§6411 Coral Reef Research

Summary

The Administrator must set up two reef research coordination institutes, one for the Atlantic and one for the Pacific. Each institute must be housed inside a single coral reef research center chosen by the Administrator. The institutes must run federal research to fill national and regional knowledge gaps, help respond to threats to U.S. coral reefs following the National Coral Reef Resilience Strategy, and support monitoring to check how conservation and restoration projects paid for under this law are working. The institutes must work with States, certain Native entities, reef managers, nonprofits, and other research centers. They must help create and carry out the National Coral Reef Resilience Strategy and coral reef action plans, help non-federal agencies use research for management and restoration, and teach policymakers, managers, and the public about reefs, best practices, their value, and threats. The Administrator must also accept applications and name qualifying coral reef research centers in the states covered by the law. A qualifying center must be run by a college or nonprofit marine research group, run national or regional reef programs, be able to coordinate with government and other groups, and have strong local community outreach.