An Act To prohibit the National Science Foundation from using Federal funds to descope or decommission the Ocean Observatories Initiative instruments.

S. 4822 is legislation introduced in the Senate that stops the National Science Foundation (NSF) from using federal funds to decommission or descope (reduce or scale back) Ocean Observatories Initiative instruments. Sec. 2(a) blocks NSF from cutting instruments anchored off Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and North Carolina, and in the Irminger Sea, until NSF completes a thorough review with robust stakeholder engagement from scientific and coastal communities. Sec. 2(b) also requires the NSF Director to keep the Ocean Observatories Initiative running with full and consistent operations, including monitoring in all states that had instruments decommissioned, until that review ends. This matters to everyday people because it affects federal ocean monitoring, which can support science, coastal planning, and understanding ocean conditions.