S. 4822: Saving the OOI Act of 2026

119th Congress · introduced 2026-06-17 · Science, Technology, Communications · Latest: Held at the desk.

federal

Official title

Saving the OOI Act of 2026

Plain summary

Saving the OOI Act of 2026 This bill prohibits the National Science Foundation (NSF) from using federal funds to decommission or descope Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) instruments until a thorough review of OOI is completed. OOI measures and observes ocean conditions using a series of in-water instruments that gather physical, chemical, geological, and biological data. On May 21, 2026, NSF announced that it would remove all in-water infrastructure from four of the five active OOI arrays. Under the bill, NSF must conduct a thorough review of OOI with engagement from the scientific and coastal communities before decommissioning or descoping specified OOI instruments. This includes OOI instruments anchored off of Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and North Carolina, as well as instruments anchored in the Irminger Sea. NSF is required to maintain full and consistent OOI operations, including monitoring in states where instruments have already been decommissioned, until the review is complete.

Congressional Research Service summary (Passed Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

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A “Yea” vote

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A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Saving the OOI Act of 2026

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Passed Senate)

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Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Murkowski, Lisa [R-AK] · 11 cosponsors

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Words on this page, explained (1)

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Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Passed Senate)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-119s4822.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/119/s>

Record fed-us-cong119-s4822 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong119 · updated 2026-11-03 by psicol fed-bills