II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 1392
To establish Ocean Innovation Clusters to strengthen the coastal communities
and ocean economy of the United States through technological research
and development, job training, and cross-sector partnerships, and for
other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
APRIL9, 2025
Ms. M
URKOWSKI(for herself, Ms. CANTWELL, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. WHITE-
HOUSE, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. KING, and Mr. SULLIVAN) in-
troduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com-
mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
A BILL
To establish Ocean Innovation Clusters to strengthen the
coastal communities and ocean economy of the United
States through technological research and development,
job training, and cross-sector partnerships, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ocean Regional Oppor-4
tunity and Innovation Act of 2025’’. 5
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SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1
In this Act: 2
(1) B
LUE ECONOMY.—The term ‘‘Blue Econ-3
omy’’ means the value and impact of sustainable in-4
dustries related to the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, es-5
tuaries, and coasts on the economy of the United 6
States, including living resources, marine construc-7
tion, marine transportation, offshore energy develop-8
ment and siting including for renewable energy, off-9
shore mineral production, ship and boat building, 10
tourism, recreation, subsistence, commercial, rec-11
reational, and charter fishing, seafood processing, 12
and other fishery-related businesses, kelp and shell-13
fish aquaculture, coastal resilience, and other indus-14
tries the Secretary of Commerce considers appro-15
priate. 16
(2) D
IRECTOR OF SEA GRANT .—The term ‘‘Di-17
rector of Sea Grant’’ means the Director of the Na-18
tional Sea Grant College Program appointed under 19
section 204(d)(1) of the National Sea Grant College 20
Program Act (33 U.S.C. 1123(d)(1)). 21
(3) I
NDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 22
has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 23
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 24
Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 25
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(4) NATIVE HAWAIIAN ORGANIZATION .—The 1
term ‘‘Native Hawaiian organization’’ has the mean-2
ing given the term in section 6207 of the Native Ha-3
waiian Education Act (20 U.S.C. 7517). 4
(5) O
CEAN INNOVATION CENTER FOR CROSS - 5
SECTOR COLLABORATION .—The term ‘‘Ocean Inno-6
vation Center for Cross-Sector Collaboration’’ means 7
a physical space for collaboration developed and 8
managed in accordance with section 3(i). 9
(6) O
CEAN INNOVATION CLUSTER .—The term 10
‘‘Ocean Innovation Cluster’’ means an eligible entity 11
designated by the Secretary of Commerce under sec-12
tion 3. 13
SEC. 3. OCEAN INNOVATION CLUSTERS. 14
(a) D
ESIGNATION.—Not later than 1 year after the 15
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Com-16
merce, in consultation with the Director of Sea Grant, the 17
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmos-18
phere, and the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Eco-19
nomic Development, shall designate not fewer than 7 eligi-20
ble entities as Ocean Innovation Clusters. 21
(b) E
LIGIBLEENTITIES.—For purposes of this sec-22
tion, an eligible entity is an entity— 23
(1) that is composed, in a concentrated geo-24
graphic region, of 1 or more— 25
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(A) business organizations; 1
(B) academic institutions, including 2
minority- and Tribal-serving institutions; 3
(C) not-for-profit organizations; 4
(D) Federal, State, or local governmental 5
entities, agencies, or instrumentalities; 6
(E) Indian Tribes; or 7
(F) Native Hawaiian organizations; 8
(2) that is led by a not-for-profit organization; 9
and 10
(3) that works to deliver services in the con-11
centrated geographic region where the entity is lo-12
cated, enhance collaboration, promote innovation, 13
and contribute to the equitable and sustainable 14
growth of the Blue Economy across all sectors. 15
(c) P
RIORITY.—In designating entities as Ocean In-16
novation Clusters under subsection (a), the Secretary of 17
Commerce shall prioritize entities with a history of sup-18
porting cross-sector growth and development of the Blue 19
Economy. 20
(d) G
EOGRAPHICDIVERSITY.—The Secretary of 21
Commerce shall designate not fewer than 1 Ocean Innova-22
tion Cluster under subsection (a) in— 23
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(1) each of the regions covered by the 5 re-1
gional offices of the National Marine Fisheries Serv-2
ice; 3
(2) the Great Lakes region; and 4
(3) the Gulf of Mexico region. 5
(e) C
ONSIDERATIONS.—In designating an eligible en-6
tity as an Ocean Innovation Cluster under subsection (a), 7
the Secretary of Commerce shall consider the following: 8
(1) The economic development potential of the 9
coastal community or region in which the entity is 10
located. 11
(2) The ability of the entity to incorporate and 12
bring growth and opportunity to broad geographic 13
areas, including urban, rural, and underserved areas. 14
(3) Whether the entity serves a diverse, 15
multigenerational, ocean-dependent population con-16
sisting of groups with different socioeconomic and 17
educational attainment levels, industries, and Indian 18
Tribes. 19
(4) The ability of the entity to cultivate and le-20
verage partnerships with private industry, academia, 21
nongovernmental organizations, Federal, State, and 22
local governments, and Indian Tribes to collaborate 23
on shared outcomes. 24
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(5) The relative potential for the designation of 1
the entity as an Ocean Innovation Cluster to reverse 2
a decline, or accelerate growth, in ocean sector jobs. 3
(6) The ability of the entity to carry out 4
projects that support economic and climate resilience 5
through economic diversification and long-term re-6
covery from natural disasters. 7
(7) The extent, rural and underserved nature, 8
and economic underutilization of the coastline and 9
ocean area that projects carried out by the entity 10
could affect. 11
(f) P
ARTNERSHIPMANAGEMENT.— 12
(1) P
ARTNERSHIP LIAISONS.— 13
(A) D
ESIGNATION.—The Director of Sea 14
Grant, the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for 15
Oceans and Atmosphere, and the Assistant Sec-16
retary of Commerce for Economic Development 17
shall each designate 1 partnership manager 18
from within their respective agencies to serve as 19
a partnership liaison between each Ocean Inno-20
vation Cluster and Sea Grant, the National 21
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and 22
the Economic Development Administration, re-23
spectively. 24
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(B) FUNCTION.—Each partnership liaison 1
designated under subparagraph (A) shall ensure 2
that Ocean Innovation Clusters— 3
(i) have direct communication with 4
the agency of the liaison; and 5
(ii) allow for collaboration and align-6
ment with Federal objectives in each re-7
gion regarding the Blue Economy. 8
(2) I
NTERAGENCY COORDINATION .— 9
(A) S
ECRETARY OF COMMERCE .—The Sec-10
retary of Commerce shall coordinate with the 11
Director of Sea Grant, the Assistant Secretary 12
of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, the 13
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic 14
Development, the Department of Energy, the 15
Maritime Administration of the Department of 16
Transportation, the Environmental Protection 17
Agency, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Manage-18
ment of the Department of the Interior, the De-19
partment of Agriculture, the Coast Guard, and 20
such other Federal agencies, including bureaus 21
of the Department of Commerce, as the Sec-22
retary of Commerce considers appropriate to in-23
crease technical knowledge exchange and oppor-24
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tunities for cross-sector collaboration with those 1
agencies. 2
(B) S
ECRETARY OF ENERGY .—With re-3
spect to matters relating to the nexus of the 4
Blue Economy and the responsibilities and ex-5
pertise of the Department of Energy, the Sec-6
retary of Energy— 7
(i) shall provide advice and rec-8
ommendations to the Secretary of Com-9
merce in order to increase technical knowl-10
edge exchange and opportunities for cross- 11
sector collaboration; and 12
(ii) may provide such advice and rec-13
ommendations without any formal request 14
from the Department of Commerce. 15
(g) D
EVELOPMENT OF ECONOMICIMPACTMETRICS 16
OFOCEANINNOVATIONCLUSTERS.—The Administrator 17
of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 18
the Director of the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the 19
Department of Commerce, and the heads of other relevant 20
Federal agencies shall use and refine the Marine Economy 21
Satellite Account to measure the value to and impact of 22
Ocean Innovation Clusters on the Blue Economy. 23
(h) A
REAS OFFOCUS.—The Director of Sea Grant, 24
the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and At-25
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mosphere, and the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for 1
Economic Development shall coordinate with each Ocean 2
Innovation Cluster in the following areas of focus: 3
(1) Increasing pathways for new entrants into 4
the Blue Economy for individuals and entities. 5
(2) Intellectual property management. 6
(3) Enhancing the sustainability of seafood sup-7
ply chains, including with respect to food, transpor-8
tation, processing, health and beauty products, ani-9
mal feed, medical biotechnology, bioplastics, biofuels, 10
and other value-added products, to strive for full use 11
of harvested natural resources. 12
(4) Providing significant and sustainable eco-13
nomic opportunity through advanced research, cross- 14
sector science, and technology development. 15
(5) Contributing new knowledge, processes, 16
technology, and support for stakeholders in the Blue 17
Economy, especially to advance sustainability in spe-18
cific sectors. 19
(6) Working with Federal, State, local, and 20
Tribal agencies to clearly communicate laws, regula-21
tions, and agency practices affecting industry needs, 22
planning, or growth opportunities. 23
(7) Creating investable opportunities through 24
the development of economies of scale to enhance 25
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growth opportunities, job creation, sustainability, 1
and expansion for small businesses within the Blue 2
Economy. 3
(8) Workforce development and training, busi-4
ness planning, identifying existing and needed tech-5
nology and economic infrastructure, and coordinated 6
research and development among small businesses, 7
government, and industry. 8
(9) Research, development, and implementation 9
of ocean energy, bioprospecting, and other innovative 10
and sustainable ocean resource development endeav-11
ors. 12
(i) O
CEANINNOVATIONCENTERS FORCROSS-SEC-13
TORCOLLABORATION.— 14
(1) I
N GENERAL.—In order to foster collabora-15
tion and innovation and strengthen regional ocean 16
sector economies while creating employment oppor-17
tunities, the Director of Sea Grant, the Assistant 18
Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, 19
and the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Eco-20
nomic Development shall collaborate with cross-sec-21
tor partners to jointly develop or designate at least 22
1 physical space for collaboration as an Ocean Inno-23
vation Center for Cross-Sector Collaboration within 24
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each of the 7 regions with an Ocean Innovation 1
Cluster. 2
(2) M
ANAGEMENT.—An Ocean Innovation Clus-3
ter or a group of Ocean Innovation Clusters shall 4
manage the Ocean Innovation Center for Cross-Sec-5
tor Collaboration of the region in which the Cluster 6
or Clusters is located. 7
(3) F
UNCTIONS.—Each Ocean Innovation Cen-8
ter for Cross-Sector Collaboration shall— 9
(A) serve as a hub for partners within 10
Ocean Innovation Clusters to work toward the 11
areas of focus in described in subsection (h); 12
(B) support a community of entrepreneurs 13
focused on strengthening vibrant marine-de-14
pendent communities and the Blue Economy; 15
(C) create workspaces and laboratories de-16
signed to promote collaboration, including 17
through shared meeting rooms, access to tech-18
nology, common spaces, and offices; 19
(D) strengthen relationships among indus-20
try sectors through shared scientific, staffing, 21
and business resources; 22
(E) develop the critical networks with 23
cross-sector partners that entrepreneurs need to 24
grow effectively; and 25
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(F) develop the next generation of Blue 1
Economy workers by providing internships, ap-2
prenticeships, or training, as appropriate, in-3
cluding for underrepresented and Tribal com-4
munities and local trade schools. 5
SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR OCEAN INNOVATION CLUSTERS. 6
The Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 7
1980 (15 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.) is amended by adding at 8
the end the following: 9
‘‘SEC. 31. GRANTS FOR OCEAN INNOVATION CLUSTERS. 10
‘‘(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 11
with the Director of Sea Grant, the Assistant Secretary 12
of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, and the Assist-13
ant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development, 14
may award grants, on a competitive basis, to Ocean Inno-15
vation Clusters for the purposes described in subsection 16
(b). 17
‘‘(b) P
URPOSES.—The Secretary may award grants 18
under subsection (a) for the operation and administration 19
of one or more Ocean Innovation Clusters under the Ocean 20
Regional Opportunity and Innovation Act of 2025, with 21
the goal that Ocean Innovation Clusters will become mem-22
bership-based, self-sustaining entities. 23
‘‘(c) I
NPUT.—In awarding a grant under subsection 24
(a), the Secretary shall provide an opportunity for input 25
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from the Director of Sea Grant, the Assistant Secretary 1
of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, and the Assist-2
ant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development. 3
‘‘(d) T
ERM OFGRANTS.— 4
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—The term of a grant award-5
ed under subsection (a) shall be 2 years. 6
‘‘(2) R
ENEWAL.—The Secretary may renew a 7
grant awarded under subsection (a) for additional 8
periods of such duration as the Secretary determines 9
to be appropriate and necessary for the Ocean Inno-10
vation Cluster that received the grant to provide re-11
gional economic benefits. 12
‘‘(e) L
IMITATIONS ONGRANTAMOUNTS.—A grant 13
awarded under subsection (a) may not exceed 14
$10,000,000. 15
‘‘(f) A
UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 16
is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to award 17
grants under subsection (a) $10,000,000 for each of fiscal 18
years 2026 through 2030. 19
‘‘(g) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section: 20
‘‘(1) D
IRECTOR OF SEA GRANT .—The term ‘Di-21
rector of Sea Grant’ means the Director of the Na-22
tional Sea Grant College Program appointed under 23
section 204(d)(1) of the National Sea Grant College 24
Program Act (33 U.S.C. 1123(d)(1)). 25
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‘‘(2) OCEAN INNOVATION CLUSTER .—The term 1
‘Ocean Innovation Cluster’ has the meaning given 2
that term in section 2 of the Ocean Regional Oppor-3
tunity and Innovation Act of 2025.’’. 4
Æ
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