American Samoa delegate welcomes passage of ocean monitoring bill
- Admin
- 1 minute ago
- 2 min read
By Pacific Island Times News Staff
As an economy driven by maritime industries, American Samoa stands to benefit from the reauthorization of the ocean monitoring system for another five years, according to Rep. Uifa’atali Amata Radewagen, the territory's delegate to the U.S. Congress.
The U.S. House of Representatives this week passed the Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act authorizing a public-private partnership for collecting maritime data with an annual funding of $56 million.
“Well-situated ocean observations provide data that can save lives and improve maritime decisions, as well as considerations for fisheries and coastal areas and strengthen tsunami response and environmental health,” said Radewagen, co-sponsor of H.R. 2294.
The bill, which is headed to the U.S. Senate, sailed through Congress as American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Marianas brace for the federal government's plan to develop dee-sea mining in federal waters surrounding the U.S. territories.
“American Samoa and many other communities on the U.S. coast benefit from these ocean monitoring services that help our scientists know our ocean better," Radewagen said.
She added that maintaining the ocean observation system would facilitate informed decision-making involving the nation’s extensive coasts and marine waters.
“In American Samoa, we have a buoy that gathers ocean information that is named in honor of our longtime Port Director Chris King,” Radewagen said.
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“Data gathered here can help planners elsewhere, and in turn data on the other side of the Pacific can prove beneficial far away through integrated analysis," she added.
Radewagen said the legislation would improve the program’s effectiveness by clarifying the type of data it provides as operational oceanographic information; updating statutory references to reflect current law, including replacing the National Ocean Research Leadership Council with the Ocean Policy Committee; and enhancing the role of the Interagency Ocean Observation Committee to ensure the program is used to its full capacity as an integrated system.
Besides Radewagen, other sponsors of the bill are Rep. Mike Ezell (R-MS), with Congresswoman Amata (American Samoa), Rep. Bonamici (D-OR), Rep. Weber (R-TX), Rep. Dingell (D-MI), and Rep. Davis (D-IL).
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