1. (a) Establishment The Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall appoint an Ocean Exploration Advisory Board composed of experts in relevant fields, including representatives from academic, commercial, nonprofit, philanthropic, policy, and Tribal entities—

   1. (1) to advise the Administrator on priority areas for survey, discovery, and opportunities for extramural collaboration and partnerships;
   2. (2) to assist the program in the development of a 5-year strategic plan for the fields of ocean, marine, and Great Lakes science, exploration, and discovery;
   3. (3) to annually review the quality and effectiveness of the proposal review process established under section 3403(a)(4) of this title; and ¹
   4. (4) to identify market barriers to development or commercialization of novel ocean mapping, exploration, and characterization products, processes, and tools;
   5. (5) to identify best practices to improve data management, processing, storage, and archiving standards; and
   6. (6) to provide other assistance and advice as requested by the Administrator.
2. (b) Chapter 10 of title 5 Section 1013 of title 5 shall not apply to the Board appointed under subsection (a).
3. (c) Application with Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act Nothing in this subchapter supersedes, or limits the authority of the Secretary of the Interior under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.).

(Pub. L. 111–11, title XII, § 12005, Mar. 30, 2009, 123 Stat. 1418; Pub. L. 117–263, div. J, title CIII, § 10305(f), Dec. 23, 2022, 136 Stat. 3973; Pub. L. 117–286, § 4(a)(208), Dec. 27, 2022, 136 Stat. 4329.)

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, referred to in subsec. (c), is act Aug. 7, 1953, ch. 345, 67 Stat. 462, which is classified generally to subchapter III (§ 1331 et seq.) of chapter 29 of Title 43, Public Lands. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 1301 of Title 43 and Tables.

Amendments

2022—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 117–263, § 10305(f)(1)(A), inserted “, including representatives from academic, commercial, nonprofit, philanthropic, policy, and Tribal entities” after “relevant fields” in introductory provisions.

Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 117–263, § 10305(f)(1)(B), amended par. (1) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (1) read as follows: “to advise the Administrator on priority areas for survey and discovery;”.

Subsec. (a)(4) to (6). Pub. L. 117–263, § 10305(f)(1)(C), (D), added pars. (4) and (5) and redesignated former par. (4) as (6).

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 117–286 substituted “Chapter 10 of title 5” for “Federal Advisory Committee Act” in heading and “Section 1013 of title 5” for “Section 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.)” in text.

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 117–263, § 10305(f)(2), inserted “this” before “subchapter”.

¹ So in original. The word “and” probably should not appear.