Ocean partnerships lose federal funding for environmental rule-making
S. 3791 — Regional Ocean Partnerships Reauthorization Act · Filed by Roger Wicker (R-MS) · 13 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 5, 2026 · Reported out
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What it does
This bill reauthorizes the Regional Ocean Partnerships program through fiscal year 2031, extending federal funding and clarifying the program's scope. It increases annual appropriations from roughly $10.6 million to $10.9 million over the five-year period, modifies geographic references (replacing 'Mexico' with 'America' and removing Vermont from a list), and adds a new restriction: Regional Ocean Partnerships may no longer use federal funds to develop regulatory proposals, model regulations, or compliance programs.
Why we flagged it
While nominally a reauthorization and funding extension, the bill's operative mechanism is a new restriction: partnerships funded under the program may no longer develop regulatory proposals or compliance programs using federal money. This is a functional deregulatory constraint embedded in what appears to be routine reauthorization language.
What the text implies
- The prohibition on developing 'regulatory proposals, model regulations, or compliance programs' may prevent Regional Ocean Partnerships from proactively addressing emerging coastal environmental threats (e.g., climate-driven sea-level rise, harmful algal blooms, marine ecosystem shifts) by constraining their ability to draft science-based regulatory frameworks.
- The removal of Vermont from a geographic reference and replacement of 'Mexico' with 'America' suggest a narrowing of the program's scope or a shift in partnership composition, but the full context of the original provision is not visible in this text.
- The five-year reauthorization (2026–2031) is shorter than typical multi-year authorizations, potentially requiring another legislative cycle sooner and creating uncertainty for long-term coastal management planning.
- The restriction applies to 'any Regional Coastal Partnership or Regional Great Lakes Partnership,' indicating the constraint affects both ocean and freshwater regional bodies, broadening the regulatory limitation beyond coastal zones.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill extends funding for regional ocean partnerships, which coordinate coastal management and environmental protection across states—a public benefit. However, the new prohibition on using federal funds to develop regulatory proposals or compliance programs may weaken these partnerships' capacity to address emerging coastal and Great Lakes environmental challenges, potentially reducing citizen input into regulatory development.
Named in the bill
Regional Ocean Partnerships, Regional Coastal Partnerships, Regional Great Lakes Partnerships, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023
Where it stands
13 cosponsors: 8 Democrats, 5 Republicans.
- Feb 5, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Feb 5, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation”
- Apr 14, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $6,600 in lobbying spend. A filing names 5 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Roger Wicker, the sponsor, reported $116,200 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Marine Fish Conservation Network — $6,600 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 17, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,888 characters) on Jul 9, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 17, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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