United States 119th Congress Status: Passed Senate Bipartisan · 10 D · 2 R cosponsors

S 4822 — Saving the OOI Act of 2026

Last action — Held at the desk.

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed Senate
  4. 4
    Passed House
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has passed the Senate. Introduced June 17, 2026. It now moves to the second chamber.

Next likely step: consideration and a floor vote in the House.

Odds of enactment

Moderate chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a moderate chance of becoming law.

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A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Advancing 54% · moderate confidence

  • Passed Senate

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 12 sponsors

    1 primary, 11 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Bipartisan support

    Sponsored across 2 parties (10 D · 2 R) — cross-party backing.

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

In plain language

The bill relates to the management and funding of specific oceanic observation initiatives.

This legislation addresses the ongoing management and funding for ocean observation efforts. It aims to enhance maritime data collection and research.

Summary

Saving the OOI Act of 2026This 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.

Bill Text

What changed in the latest version

10 added · 12 removed

Plain-language change summary

The updated version of the bill includes additional lines that specify the continued monitoring operations in all states with decommissioned instruments until a full review is completed. The lines removed indicate the legislative process details, including the names of sponsors and the procedural steps taken prior to passing the bill. This change clarifies the focus on ongoing monitoring as part of the bill's implementation.

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Previous
Latest
4822 Considered and Passed Senate (CPS)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session S.
4822 Engrossed in Senate (ES)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session S.
4822 To prohibit the National Science Foundation from using Federal funds to descope or decommission the Ocean Observatories Initiative instruments.
4822 _______________________________________________________________________ AN ACT To prohibit the National Science Foundation from using Federal funds to descope or decommission the Ocean Observatories Initiative instruments.
_______________________________________________________________________ IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES June 17, 2026 Ms.
Murkowski (for herself, Mr.
Sullivan, Ms.
Cantwell, Mr.
Wyden, Mr.
Merkley, Mrs.
Murray, Mr.
Whitehouse, Mr.
Reed, Ms.
Baldwin, Mr.
Van Hollen, Mr.
Markey, and Ms.
Warren) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice, considered, read the third time and passed _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To prohibit the National Science Foundation from using Federal funds to descope or decommission the Ocean Observatories Initiative instruments.
(b) Maintenance of Operations.--The Director of the National Science Foundation shall maintain the Ocean Observatories Initiative with full and consistent operations, including monitoring in all States that had instruments decommissioned, until the full review described in subsection (a) has been completed <all>
(b) Maintenance of Operations.--The Director of the National Science Foundation shall maintain the Ocean Observatories Initiative with full and consistent operations, including monitoring in all States that had instruments decommissioned, until the full review described in subsection (a) has been completed.
Passed the Senate June 17, 2026.
Attest:
Secretary.
119th CONGRESS 2d Session S.
4822 _______________________________________________________________________ AN ACT To prohibit the National Science Foundation from using Federal funds to descope or decommission the Ocean Observatories Initiative instruments.
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Action History

  1. Introduced in Senate

  2. Passed/agreed to in Senate: Introduced in the Senate, read twice, considered, read the third time, and passed without amendment by Voice Vote.

  3. 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)

  4. Message on Senate action sent to the House.

  5. Received in the House.

  6. Held at the desk.

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 11 co-sponsors · 535 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (11)

Not signed on (535)

535 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 535 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

technology
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does S 4822 do?
Saving the OOI Act of 2026This 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.
Who sponsors S 4822?
S 4822 is sponsored by Murkowski, Lisa (Republican), Sullivan, Dan (Republican), Cantwell, Maria (Democratic), Wyden, Ron (Democratic), Merkley, Jeff (Democratic), Murray, Patty (Democratic), Whitehouse, Sheldon (Democratic), Reed, Jack (Democratic), Baldwin, Tammy (Democratic), Van Hollen, Chris (Democratic), Markey, Edward J. (Democratic), and Warren, Elizabeth (Democratic).
What is the current status of S 4822?
This bill has passed the Senate. Introduced June 17, 2026. It now moves to the second chamber.
Where can I track S 4822?
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Last checked for changes 2 months ago · updated continuously

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