H.R. 4047 — Coastal Communities Ocean Acidification Act of 2025

This section revises definitions in the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3702) as follows: (1) strikes paragraph (4); (2) redesignates paragraphs (2), (3), and (5) as paragraphs (4), (5), and (6), respectively; (3) inserts after paragraph (1) definitions of Indian tribe (using the meaning in 25 U.S.C. 5304) and Native Hawaiian organization (using the meaning in 25 U.S.C. 4352); (4) inserts "an increase of" before "carbon dioxide" in the ocean acidification definition (redesignated paragraph (4)); and (5) adds definitions of Subcommittee (i.e., the National Science and Technology Council Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology) and United States (i.e., the States, collectively).

This section amends the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009 (33 U.S.C. 3703 et seq.) to improve collaboration on ocean acidification research, monitoring, and adaptation. (As background, the Act coordinates federal efforts by NOAA and other agencies to address ocean acidification, which increases seawater acidity from excess atmospheric CO2 absorption, harming shellfish, corals, and fisheries that support coastal economies and food security.) Specifically, the section (1) requires the Ocean Acidification Advisory Board to maintain an ongoing engagement mechanism (e.g., liaison, meetings, or online platform) with affected industry, coastal stakeholders, community acidification networks, fishery councils, Indigenous groups, non-federal managers, and independent experts for input on management-relevant research and data (new 33 U.S.C. 3703(c)(2)(D)); (2) adds two representatives from Indian Tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, Tribal organizations, and Tribal consortia to the Advisory Board and reduces representatives from one prior category from six to four (amending 3703(c)(3)); (3) expands appointee sourcing to include Indigenous representatives alongside state and local ones (3703(c)(4)(C)); (4) directs the Advisory Board to develop, within one year of establishment and after Tribal consultation, a policy for engaging Indian Tribes affected by ocean acidification (replacing 3703(c)(9)); (5) requires strategic research plans to identify NOAA collaboration with state/local governments, Indian Tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations on vulnerability assessments and research planning (adding 3703(e)(4)(A)(ix)); and (6) standardizes stakeholder engagement language throughout to consistently include "affected industry members, coastal stakeholders, community acidification networks, fishery management councils and commissions, Indigenous groups, non-Federal resource managers, and scientific experts not employed by the Federal Government," while directing NOAA to "take into consideration" (rather than "maximize") certain stakeholder priorities and adding Indigenous input channels (various amendments to 3704(b), 3705(a)-(d)).

This section makes technical and grammatical corrections to the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009, including (1) in section 12402 (33 U.S.C. 3701), adding commas and revising phrasing in paragraphs (1) and (4); (2) in section 12404 (33 U.S.C. 3703), replacing a semicolon with a period in subsection (b)(5), updating cross-references from subsection (d) to (e) in subsection (c)(2)(A), changing "this section" to "this subsection" in subsection (d)(3), and making minor word changes in subsection (e)(2)(B) and (3); and (3) in section 12406(d)(2) (33 U.S.C. 3705(d)(2)), adding a comma after "Secretary".