H.R. 9647: To prohibit the National Science Foundation from obligating or expending Federal funds to descope or decommission the Ocean Observatories Initiative instruments, and for other purposes.

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. However, on June 18, 2026, NSF announced that it would not proceed with this decommissioning and would instead continue OOI operations and solicit input from stakeholders on the future of NSF's ocean observation efforts. NSF also indicated that it would redeploy one array that was removed from the water.

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.

Written by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.