119-s318

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 318 Engrossed in Senate

    (ES) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 318

_______________________________________________________________________

 AN ACT

 To require a plan to improve the cybersecurity and telecommunications 
 of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Accelerating Networking, 
Cyberinfrastructure, and Hardware for Oceanic Research Act'' or the 
``ANCHOR Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

 In this Act:

    (1) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
 the National Science Foundation.

    (2) Oceanographic research vessel.--The term 
 ``oceanographic research vessel'' has the meaning given the 
 term in 

section 2101 of title 46, United States Code.

    (3) U.S. academic research fleet.--The term ``U.S. Academic 
 Research Fleet'' means the United States flagged vessels that--
        (A) have been accepted into, and are active 
 participants administered within, the University-
 National Oceanographic Laboratory System;
        (B) are operated as oceanographic research vessels 
 by research universities and laboratories;
            (C) receive funding from the National Science 
 Foundation; and
            (D) have achieved designation as a member vessel of 
 the fleet through a standard evaluation process.

SEC. 3. PLAN TO IMPROVE CYBERSECURITY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS OF U.S. 
 ACADEMIC RESEARCH FLEET.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Director shall, in consultation with the head of any 
Federal agency, university, or laboratory that owns or operates a 
vessel of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, submit to the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee 
on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a 
plan to improve the cybersecurity and telecommunications of the U.S. 
Academic Research Fleet.

    (b) Elements.--The plan required by subsection

    (a) shall include--

    (1) an assessment of the telecommunications and networking 
 needs of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, consistent with the 
 typical scientific missions of the vessels of such fleet;

    (2) in consultation with the Cybersecurity and 
 Infrastructure Security Agency and the National Institute of 
 Standards and Technology, an assessment of cybersecurity needs 
 appropriate for--
        (A) the ownership of vessels within the U.S. 
 Academic Research Fleet; and
        (B) the scientific missions of such vessels;

    (3) an assessment of the costs necessary to meet the needs 
 described in paragraphs

    (1) and

    (2) , including--
        (A) any necessary equipment, such as satellite 
 communications equipment, software, high-performance 
 computing clusters shipboard and shoreside, or 
 enterprise hardware; and
        (B) estimated personnel costs in excess of current 
 expenditures, including any necessary training, 
 support, or logistics;

    (4) an assessment of the time required to implement any 
 upgrades required to meet the needs described in paragraphs

    (1) and

    (2) under varying budgets and funding scenarios;

    (5) the adoption of common solutions or consortial 
 licensing agreements, or by centralizing elements of fleet 
 cybersecurity, telecommunications, or data management at a 
 single facility; and

    (6) in consultation with any non-Federal owners of a vessel 
 of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, a spending plan for the 
 National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, non-
 Federal owners of vessels of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, 
 users of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, or any combination 
 thereof, to provide funding to cover the costs described in 
 paragraph

    (3) .
            (c) Considerations.--The Director shall, in preparing the plan 
required by subsection

    (a) , consider--

    (1) the network capabilities, including speed and bandwidth 
 targets, necessary to meet the scientific mission needs of each 
 class of vessels of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet for such 
 purposes as--
        (A) executing the critical functions and 
 communications of the vessels;
        (B) providing network access to conduct medical 
 care via telemedicine or related crisis response care;
            (C) as necessary to meet operations, uploading any 
 scientific data to a shoreside server, including the 
 copying of data off ship for disaster recovery or risk 
 mitigation purposes;
            (D) as appropriate, conducting real-time streaming 
 to enable shore-based observers to participate in ship-
 based maintenance or research activities; and
        (E) real-time coordinated viewing of--
            (i) scientific instrumentation so that it 
 is possible to conduct scientific surveys and 
 seafloor mapping with fully remote subject-
 matter experts; and
            (ii) critical operational technology by 
 manufacturers and vendors so that it is 
 possible to carry out maintenance and repairs 
 to systems with limited expertise on the 
 vessel, with fully remote subject-matter 
 experts advising; and

    (2) in consultation with the Director of the Cybersecurity 
 and Infrastructure Security Agency, the Director of the 
 National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the heads 
 of other Federal agencies, as appropriate--
        (A) the cybersecurity recommendations in the report 
 of the private scientific advisory group known as JASON 
 entitled ``Cybersecurity at NSF Major Facilities'' 
 (JSR-21-10E) and dated October 2021 as applied to the 
 U.S. Academic Research Fleet;
        (B) standards and guidance for information 
 security, including the use of encryption for sensitive 
 information, the detection and handling of security 
 incidents, and other areas determined relevant by the 
 Director;
            (C) facilitating access to cybersecurity personnel 
 and training of research and support personnel; and
            (D) the requirements for controlled unclassified or 
 classified information.

 Passed the Senate October 8, 2025.

 Attest:

 Secretary.
119th CONGRESS

 1st Session

 S. 318

_______________________________________________________________________

 AN ACT

 To require a plan to improve the cybersecurity and telecommunications 
 of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, and for other purposes.