Install
Saving the OOI Act of 2026
A bill to prohibit the National Science Foundation from using Federal funds to descope or decommission the Ocean Observatories Initiative instruments.
- Introduced
- Committee
- Passed Senate
- Passed House
- To President
- Became law
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.
Summary by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.
Actions
- Jun 18, 2026 Held at the desk.
- Jun 18, 2026 Received in the House.
- Jun 18, 2026 Message on Senate action sent to the House.
- Jun 17, 2026 Introduced in the Senate, read twice, considered, read the third time, and passed without amendment by Voice Vote. (consideration: CR S2885-2886; text: CR S2885-2886)
- Jun 17, 2026 Passed/agreed to in Senate: Introduced in the Senate, read twice, considered, read the third time, and passed without amendment by Voice Vote.
- Jun 17, 2026 Introduced in Senate
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