123STA T . 1 4 2 9PUBLIC LA W 111 – 11 —M A R .3 0, 2009 andi n form a t ion t h atm e et the need s of u ser g rou p s from the respe c ti v e regions .(B)CERTAIN IN CLUD EDA S S O CIATIONS. —T he term ‘ ‘regiona l information coordination entit y’ ’ includes regional associations descri b ed in the S ystem P lan. ( 7 ) SECRETAR Y .—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of Commerce , acting through the N ational O ceanic and A tmospheric Administration. ( 8 ) SYSTE M .—The term ‘‘System’’ means the National I ntegrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System established under section 12304 . ( 9 ) SYSTEM P LAN.—The term ‘‘System Plan’’ means the plan contained in the document entitled ‘‘Ocean. U S Publication No. 9, The F irst Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) D evelopment Plan’’, as updated by the Council under this sub - title. SEC.12304 . INT E GRA TE D C O ASTA L AND OCEAN O B SER V ING S Y STE M . (a) E STA B LIS H MENT.—The President, acting through the Council, shall establish a National Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System to fulfill the purposes set forth in section 12302 of this subtitle and the System Plan and to fulfill the Nation’s international obligations to contribute to the G lobal Earth Observa- tion System of Systems and the Global Ocean Observing System. (b) SYSTEM ELEMENTS.— (1) IN G ENERAL.—In order to fulfill the purposes of this subtitle, the System shall be national in scope and consist of— (A) Federal assets to fulfill national and international observation missions and priorities
(B) non-Federal assets, including a net w or k of regional information coordination entities identified under sub- section (c)(4), to fulfill regional observation missions and priorities; (C) data management, communication, and modeling systems for the timely integration and dissemination of data and information products from the System; (D) a research and development program conducted under the guidance of the Council, consisting of— (i) basic and applied research and technology development to improve understanding of coastal and ocean systems and their relationships to human activi- ties and to ensure improvement of operational assets and products, including related infrastructure, observing technologies, and information and data proc- essing and management technologies; and (ii) large scale computing resources and research to advance modeling of coastal and ocean processes. (2) ENHANCING ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT.—The head of each Federal agency that has administrative j urisdic- tion over a Federal asset shall support the purposes of this subtitle and may take appropriate actions to enhance internal agency administration and management to better support, integrate, finance, and utili z e observation data, products, and services developed under this section to further its own agency mission and responsibilities. Presid e nt.3 3 USC 3 60 3.
