S. 1391 — Coastal Communities Ocean Acidification Act of 2025

This section amends the definitions in the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009 by (1) striking paragraph (4); (2) redesignating paragraphs (2), (3), and (5) as paragraphs (4), (5), and (6), respectively; (3) inserting after paragraph (1) definitions of "Indian Tribe" (as defined in 25 U.S.C. 5304) and "Native Hawaiian organization" (as defined in 25 U.S.C. 4352); (4) inserting "an increase of" before "carbon dioxide" in redesignated paragraph (4); and (5) adding 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 (i.e., coordinates federal research, monitoring, and assessment of ocean acidification, which harms shell-forming marine organisms, ecosystems, fisheries, and coastal economies) to enhance collaboration with Indian Tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, Indigenous knowledge groups, and other stakeholders, as follows: (1) requires the Ocean Acidification Advisory Board to maintain an ongoing input mechanism (e.g., liaison, standing meetings, or online platform) from affected industry members, coastal stakeholders, community acidification networks, fishery management councils and commissions, Indigenous knowledge groups, non-Federal resource managers, and non-federal scientific experts on research, data, and monitoring needs; (2) revises Advisory Board membership to add two representatives from Indian Tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, Tribal organizations, and Tribal consortia and reduce representatives in one category to four (from six); (3) expands appointment criteria for Board members to include representatives from State, local, and Indigenous governments; (4) requires the Board, not later than one year after establishment, to develop and maintain—through consultation with affected Indian Tribes—a policy for engagement and coordination with such Tribes; and (5) updates multiple provisions on vulnerability assessments, strategic research plans, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) activities to identify collaboration with State/local governments, Indian Tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations; consistently reference specified stakeholders; and require NOAA to take stakeholder input on ocean acidification research, data, and monitoring into consideration.

This section makes technical corrections to the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009, including (1) in section 12402, adding commas for clarity and rephrasing a definition of program purposes; (2) in section 12404, adjusting punctuation, correcting cross-references from subsection (d) to (e), changing "this section" to "this subsection," striking "interagency," and reordering words in a termination provision; and (3) in section 12406, adjusting punctuation.