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S. 4822

U.S. Senate•Engrossed

Summary

S. 4822, the Saving the OOI Act of 2026, was introduced in the Senate on Jun 17, 2026 by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) with 11 co-sponsors. It last saw action on Jun 18, 2026: Held at the desk.

Record

Text

S. 4822 has 11 co-sponsors.

sb4822/considered-and-passed-senate.txt
119 S4822 : Saving the OOI Act of 2026
 U.S. Senate
 2026-06-17
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 II  119th CONGRESS  2d Session  S. 4822  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.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Saving the OOI Act of 2026  .
2.
No NSF funding to descope or decommission the Ocean Observatories Initiative instruments; restoration
(a)
In general
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the National Science Foundation shall not use any Federal funds to decommission or descope the Ocean Observatories Initiative instruments anchored off the States of Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and North Carolina, and in the Irminger Sea, until the National Science Foundation conducts a thorough review of the initiative, and the national assets that it provides, with robust stakeholder engagement from the scientific and coastal communities.
(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

Tracker

The tracker indicates the progress of this legislation as it moves through the legislative process.

  1. Introduced2026-06-17
  2. Passed Senate2026-06-17
  3. Passed House
  4. Conference
  5. To President
  6. Became Law

CRS Summary

The summaries are the Congressional Research Service’s, one per stage. Read them in full.

Passed Senate Jun 17, 2026

sb4822/passed-senate.md

Shown Here:
Passed Senate (06/17/2026)

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.

Sponsors

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) sponsors S. 4822, and 11 members have co-sponsored it, all of them from the day it was introduced.

Actions

S. 4822 has taken 6 actions since Jun 17, 2026, the latest on Jun 18, 2026.

ChamberAction
Jun 18, 2026
Senate
Message on Senate action sent to the House.
Jun 18, 202610:02
House
Received in the House.
Jun 18, 202610:12
House
Held at the desk.
Jun 17, 2026
Senate
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.

Votes

S. 4822 has not gone to a roll call.

1 bill is related to S. 4822.

Titles

S. 4822 goes by 3 titles, 1 of them short titles.

  • Saving the OOI Act of 2026 — Display Title
  • Saving the OOI Act of 2026 — Short Title(s) as Passed Senate
  • A bill to prohibit the National Science Foundation from using Federal funds to descope or decommission the Ocean Observatories Initiative instruments. — Official Title as Introduced

Lobbying

1 client hired 1 firm and 3 registered lobbyists who named S. 4822 in 3 quarterly filings, 2025 to 2026. Reported under the Lobbying Disclosure Act; a filing’s income covers everything its registrant worked that quarter, so the amounts below are the filings’, not this bill’s.

Filed under Budget/Appropriations, Government Issues.

Clients

Who paid to be heard, by how many filings named the bill.

ClientBusinessStateFirmsFilingsReported
COMMON CAUSE—District of Columbia13—

Firms

Registrants who filed on the bill, by filings.

RegistrantClientsFilingsReported
COMMON CAUSE13—

Lobbyists

Named on the filings that cite the bill.

LobbyistFirmsClientsFilings
OMAR NOURELDIN113
VIRGINIA KASE SOLOMON113
PRESTON MITCHUM112

Filings

The documents themselves, on the Senate’s Lobbying Disclosure site, largest reported first.

ClientRegistrantPeriodReportedDocument
COMMON CAUSECOMMON CAUSE2026 second_quarter$30K2nd Quarter - Report
COMMON CAUSECOMMON CAUSE2026 first_quarter$30K1st Quarter - Report
COMMON CAUSECOMMON CAUSE2025 fourth_quarter$30K4th Quarter - Report

Classification

The Congressional Research Service files S. 4822 under Science, Technology, Communications, one of its 31 policy areas, and gives it 7 legislative subjects.

CRS Subjects

CRS assigns every bill one policy area from its 31; S. 4822’s is Science, Technology, Communications.

s4822/policy-areas.txt
Science, Technology, CommunicationsAgriculture and FoodAnimalsArmed Forces and National SecurityArts, Culture, ReligionCivil Rights and Liberties, Minority IssuesCommerceCongressCrime and Law EnforcementEconomics and Public FinanceEducationEmergency ManagementEnergyEnvironmental ProtectionFamiliesFinance and Financial SectorForeign Trade and International FinanceGovernment Operations and PoliticsHealthHousing and Community DevelopmentImmigrationInternational AffairsLabor and EmploymentLawNative AmericansPublic Lands and Natural ResourcesSocial WelfareSports and RecreationTaxationTransportation and Public WorksWater Resources Development

Legislative Subjects

S. 4822 carries 7 of CRS’s legislative subjects, from Arctic Ocean to Research administration and funding.

s4822/subjects.txt
Arctic OceanAtlantic OceanEarth sciencesEnvironmental assessment, monitoring, researchNational Science FoundationPacific OceanResearch administration and funding

Source: congress.gov · legiscan.com