Coastal and Ocean Acidification Stressors and Threats Research Act of 2019

Floor Speech

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Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairwoman Johnson for yielding time, also for her leadership on the committee, and I thank Chairwoman Johnson and Ranking Member Lucas for their support of this legislation.

I rise today in support of the Coastal and Ocean Acidification Stressors and Threats, or COAST, Research Act, my bipartisan bill to expand scientific research and monitoring of ocean and coastal acidification.

According to the Fourth National Climate Assessment, catastrophic carbon dioxide concentrations are now higher than at any time in the last 3 million years. Approximately one-third of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere dissolves into our oceans and estuaries, causing them to become more acidic.

In addition to atmospheric carbon dioxide, our oceans, estuaries, and coastal waterways are absorbing chemical inputs and excess nutrient runoff from land and coastal pollution.

Our understanding of the long-term consequences of changes in water chemistry on our marine ecosystem is still limited, but we do know that ocean and coastal acidification make it difficult for marine organisms to build their shells and skeletal structures. Some finfish, including endangered salmon in the Pacific Northwest, lose their sense of smell that they use for identifying prey, reproducing, and navigating their habitats.

Ocean acidification events are only projected to become more intense, longer, and increasingly common, especially on the Pacific Coast.

The COAST Research Act would improve scientific research on ocean and coastal acidification in the context of other environmental stressors and direct Federal agencies to assess adaptation and mitigation strategies. Importantly, the bill also expands the definition of ocean acidification to include estuaries and to recognize mechanisms that cause changes in coastal chemistry.

As chair of the Interagency Working Group on Ocean Acidification, NOAA is already leading interdisciplinary efforts to expand our understanding of changing ocean conditions. This bill would designate NOAA as the lead Federal agency responsible for implementing the Federal response to ocean and coastal acidification. This is a pragmatic response to calls for an interdependent national ocean acidification program office and recommendations from a September 2014 Government Accountability Office report.

Ocean acidification research is still in its infancy, and the best way to mitigate its effects is through regionally coordinated scientific research. The COAST Research Act directs NOAA to maintain a data archive system to process, store, archive, and provide access to data on ocean and coastal acidification from federally funded research, including existing global or national datasets and research from State and local agencies, Tribes, academic scientists, citizen scientists, and industry organizations.

Additionally, the COAST Research Act would increase our understanding of the socioeconomic effects of ocean and coastal acidification and engage stakeholders. The bill creates an advisory board comprised of representatives of the shellfish and crab industry; finfish industry; seafood processors; recreational fishing; academia; nongovernmental organizations; State, local, and Tribal governments; and regional coastal acidification networks. This regionally balanced group will advise the interagency working group on ocean and coastal acidification research and monitoring activities.

Our oceans and estuaries are facing the brunt of our inaction to reduce anthropogenic carbon emissions. We know that even if carbon dioxide emissions are halted today, many of the effects for our oceans will continue to occur over the course of the next few decades.

The COAST Research Act will support vulnerable communities, industries, and coastal and ocean managers by strengthening research on how they can best prepare and, when possible, adapt to ocean and coastal acidification. Oregon's shellfish industry and researchers at Oregon State University have collaborated on ocean acidification mitigation strategies that have helped the shellfish industry survive. Their research demonstrates what is possible when we invest in science and research to help coastal communities adapt to climate change.

Our oceans and estuaries are resilient, and we can help them heal, but we cannot afford to wait any longer. This is National Ocean Month and Capitol Hill Ocean Week, a good time to act to help protect the oceans and our planet.

Mr. Speaker, I want to close by thanking, again, my colleagues, Representative Young, Representative Posey, and Representative Pingree, for their leadership on this issue. I truly appreciate the support from my fellow House Oceans Caucus and Congressional Estuary Caucus co- chairs. I also want to, again, thank Chairwoman Johnson and Ranking Member Lucas for their support.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record letters from the Oregon Coordinating Council on Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia and Oregon State University in support of the COAST Research Act. The Oregon Coordinating Council on Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia, March 8, 2019. Re Coastal and Ocean Acidification Stressors and Threats (COAST) Research Act. Hon. Suzanne Bonamici, Washington, DC.

Dear Representative Bonamici: As the Co-Chairs of the State legislatively mandated, Oregon Coordinating Council on Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia (or ``Oregon OAH Council''), we appreciate the opportunity to provide you with a letter of strong support for the Coastal and Ocean Acidification Stressors and Threats (COAST) Research Act. Addressing intensifying ocean acidification (OA) conditions here in Oregon, as well as across the United States, is critical to our Nations understanding of larger impacts from CO2 emissions.

Oregon is among the first places in the world to observe direct impacts of ocean acidification and hypoxia (OAH), due to our unique geographic and oceanographic context, putting our fragile marine ecosystem at risk. Our coastal economies rely on our vibrant marine ecosystem. Our nearshore waters are home to sport and commercial fisheries, all of the State's mariculture operations, and contain critical nursery grounds for economically important species including rockfish, oysters, salmon, pink shrimp, and Dungeness crab. Oregon is not alone in experiencing the impacts from OA or hypoxia. Through actions such as those in the COAST Research Act we must act together as Americans to develop solutions for our coastal communities, economies, and ecosystems to prepare for future conditions.

In the coming years, the Oregon OAH Council will continue to take a thoughtful, collaborative, science-based approach to developing recommendations to address OAH in our state and beyond. Through further investments and initiatives, Oregon and the United States will benefit from adaptation and mitigation measures and will model to the world how to develop actionable solutions for OA adaptation and mitigation. the oregon oah council has identified three urgently needed strategic actions, which directly align with objectives within the coast research act.

(1) Monitoring of key oceanographic and biological indicators of impacts from OAH.

At the same time that OA has been impacting our coasts, oxygen-depletion is on the rise; Oregon and much of the West coast has seen several seasons in a row with extended periods of hypoxia in our coastal waters. The Oregon OAH Council is encouraged that the COAST Research Act identifies the need to strengthen investments in OA research and monitoring in the context of other environmental stressors. Ocean acidification and hypoxia are compounding stressors for a wide range of marine animals, and as such must continue to be studied together. Through the COAST Research Acts reauthorization of funding of NOAA, NSF, and NASA, much needed resources will be made available to researchers across the United States to continue to expand our knowledge of OAH. The Oregon OAH Council also supports the initiative of the COAST Research Act to create data processing, storage, and archive facilities to provide for the long-term stewardship and standardization of data. By creating a central repository for OAH data it provides governments, scientists, and industry better access to the information need to inform their mitigation and adaption planning. Only by maximizing our current data and filling our knowledge gaps of OAH, can we as a Nation begin to be able to piece together for solutions for our coastal communities.

(2) Projects or programs that promote coastal economic and ecosystem resilience to OAH.

Fisheries and aquaculture are central to our history, are enjoyed by Americans across the nation year-round, and remain key to many of Oregon's coastal economies today. Yet, the future sustainability of these marine resources and communities' ability to rely on them, are uncertain in the face of significant ocean changes, including OAH, and uncertain in the face of our current state of preparation to adapt to those changes over time. This is why the Oregon OAH Council supports activities and initiatives that promote resilience to increased OAH conditions, for both human communities and ecosystems. The COAST Research Act also stresses the importance of increasing our understanding of the socioeconomic effects of OA by expanding federal research to assess adaptation and mitigation strategies. There will be costs of inaction relative to CO2 mitigation and the United States has an obligation to relieve these costs wherever possible for our citizens.

(3) Tools and strategies to increase awareness of OAH science, impacts and solutions.

As the impacts of OA intensify, it is going to be vitally important for our Nation to identify and advance opportunities to raise awareness of and communicate OAH science, impacts, and mitigation solutions. This is why the Oregon OAH Council is encouraged by the fact that the COAST Research Act recognizes the need to address the effects of OA on estuaries and integrate research, monitoring, and adaptation strategies. By integrating OA causes and effects, it better demonstrates the complexity of this climate issue, and provides a clearer message to communities. The Oregon OAH Council also supports the COAST Research Act establishment of an Advisory Board to increase coordination among stakeholders, including members of industry, to work with State and Federal governments to improve coordination. Recognizing the importance of a broad membership, our Oregon OAH Council includes members from industry, academia and state government agencies. For the benefit of our marine ecosystem and the human communities that rely on a healthy marine ecosystem, the Nation's adaptation and mitigation approaches to OA should include successful communication of new science, monitoring, and adaptation strategies.

As Co-Chairs of the Oregon OAH Council, we appreciate the opportunity to provide you with a letter of strong support for the COAST Research Act. The strategic investment and coordination opportunities outlined in this act are meaningful and will make a difference in our understanding of OAH science, impacts, and solutions. Through passage of this Act and the subsequent investment in science, adaptation and communications, the United States will demonstrate meaningful action in fighting OA and the global challenges of climate change, and preparing our citizens and economies for the changes ahead.

Thank you for your consideration of these comments. Sincerely, John Barth, Ph.D.,

Co-Chair, Oregon OAH Council, Executive Director, Marine Studies Initiative, Oregon State University. Caren Braby, Ph.D.,

Co-Chair, Oregon OAH Council, Marine Resources Program Manager, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. ____ Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, March 8, 2019. Re H.R. 1237--The COAST Research Act of 2019. Hon. Suzanne Bonamici, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Representative Bonamici: We write to offer Oregon State University's strong support for H.R. 1237, the COAST Research Act of 2019.

As marine habitats face new and daunting pressures threatening their sustainability, the COAST Research Act identifies the growing need for strategic and robust investments in ocean acidification (OA) research, monitoring and stakeholder collaboration.

Oregon State University is committed to interdisciplinary approaches to address the national and global challenges facing our oceans and coast communities. OSU has a deep history of global leadership in oceanography and engages in nationally ranked oceanographic monitoring programs and world-leading OA research. Further, the university recognizes that Oregon's estuaries and coastal regions are home to some of the world's most productive ecosystems and economically vital shellfish farms.

The university is encouraged that the COAST Research Act expands the definition of OA to include coastal and estuarine systems, and identifies OA as being affected by a combination of factors, including hypoxia. The university believes that by expanding federal definitions of OA and by increasing funding opportunities, researchers and managers will be able to best utilize resources to find solutions to address OA.

The university also is encouraged that this legislation recognizes the need for federal engagement to continue important investments. Doing so will enhance the integration of OA research, monitoring and adaptation strategies across principal federal research agencies, including the National Science Foundation, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Oregon State University understands that effective and collaborative partnerships and communication are essential for our state and nation to find adaptive and mitigation solutions to address OA. For example, the proposal to establish an Ocean Acidification Advisory Board will be essential for facilitating the important work still to be done.

The world's ocean belongs to everyone, and ocean health is critical to our future. In the coming decades, it will be essential for the nation and its universities to work collaboratively to improve and sustain the health of our oceans. Doing so, we will assure human wellness, environmental health and economic prosperity for future generations.

In closing, Oregon State University believes that the COAST Research Act proposes new strategic tools to expand understanding and address the problems facing our oceans and coastal communities. Sincerely, Edward Feser,

Provost and Executive Vice President. Irem Tumer,

Interim Vice President for Research.

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Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill.

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