S. 759 (119th)Bill Overview

Modernizing Access to Our Public Oceans Act

Public Lands and Natural Resources|Geography and mappingGovernment information and archives
Sponsor
Cosponsors
Support
Republican
Introduced
Feb 26, 2025
Discussions
Bill Text
Current stageIntroduced

Held at the desk.

Introduced
Committee
Floor
President
Law
Congressional Activities
01 · The brief
Plain-English summaryWhat this bill actually does

The bill requires the Secretary of Commerce to develop standards and publish geospatial GIS data about recreational use and fishing restrictions in the U.S. exclusive economic zone. It mandates a publicly accessible website with navigation, bathymetry, fishing-closure boundaries, protected-area rules, and update/notification features, while exempting Tribal waters and certain sensitive information.

Why people may split

Liberals emphasize public access, safety, and conservation benefits

Watch point

Technocratic, low-salience directive with limited controversy; potential House friction only from budget/resource questions.

The bill requires the Secretary of Commerce to develop standards and publish geospatial GIS data about recreational use and fishing restrictions in the U.S. exclusive economic zone.

It mandates a publicly accessible website with navigation, bathymetry, fishing-closure boundaries, protected-area rules, and update/notification features, while exempting Tribal waters and certain sensitive information.

The Secretary is authorized to coordinate with federal, state, Tribal, private, and nonprofit partners and must update specified data at least semiannually or in real time as stated.

Passage75/100

Narrow, administrative modernization with stakeholder carve-outs and few ideological flashpoints; main obstacle is resourcing and interagency execution.

CredibilityPartial

How solid the drafting looks.

Contention55/100

Liberals emphasize public access, safety, and conservation benefits

02 · What it does

Who stands to gain, and who may push back.

Likely benefits vs burdens50% / 50%
Likely helpedLikely burdened

These are examples from the analysis, not a ranked list of the most-affected groups.

Likely helped
  • Potential benefitImproved safety for recreational boaters through accessible maps of closures, hazards, and restrictions.
  • Potential benefitEasier compliance and enforcement due to clear, standardized GIS boundaries for fishing restrictions.
  • Potential benefitPotential economic benefits from increased recreational use and tourism driven by clearer access information.
Likely burdened
  • Potential burdenCosts to develop, host, and update GIS datasets and website could increase NOAA program expenses.
  • Potential burdenCybersecurity risks and potential misuse of geospatial data could threaten sensitive locations or operations.
  • Potential burdenPublic data might be misconstrued as legally definitive, prompting enforcement or jurisdictional disputes.
03 · Why people split

Why the argument around this bill splits.

Liberals emphasize public access, safety, and conservation benefits
Progressive90%

Likely broadly supportive: the bill advances public access, transparency, recreation safety, and conservation information.

Supporters would view standardized, interoperable data as helpful for enforcement, environmental monitoring, and equitable access to public waters.

Leans supportive
Centrist75%

Pragmatic support with caution: the bill solves a practical data-access problem and improves safety, but success depends on realistic costs, clear governance, and interagency coordination.

Would want measurable implementation milestones and fiscal clarity.

Leans supportive
Conservative35%

Skeptical: views likely focus on expanded federal data bureaucracy, ongoing costs, and potential use of mapped data to justify additional fishing restrictions.

Some support possible for improved navigation and recreational access, but concerns about federal overreach predominate.

Likely resistant
04 · Can it pass?

The path through Congress.

Introduced

Reached or meaningfully advanced

Committee

Still ahead

Floor

Still ahead

President

Still ahead

Law

Still ahead

Passage likelihood75/100

Narrow, administrative modernization with stakeholder carve-outs and few ideological flashpoints; main obstacle is resourcing and interagency execution.

Scope and complexity
52%
Scopemoderate
52%
Complexitymedium
Why this could stall
  • No explicit authorization of appropriations or estimated fiscal cost included
  • Operational feasibility of 4-year delivery and update frequencies
05 · Recent votes

Recent votes on the bill.

No vote history yet

The bill has not accumulated any surfaced votes yet.

06 · Go deeper

Go deeper than the headline read.

Included on this page

Liberals emphasize public access, safety, and conservation benefits

Narrow, administrative modernization with stakeholder carve-outs and few ideological flashpoints; main obstacle is resourcing and interagen…

Unlocked analysis

Pro readers get the full perspective split, passage barriers, legislative design review, stakeholder impact map, and lens-based policy tradeoff analysis for Modernizing Access to Our Public Oceans Act.

Go beyond the headline summary with full stakeholder mapping, legislative design analysis, passage barriers, and lens-by-lens tradeoff breakdowns.

Perspective breakdownsPassage barriersLegislative design reviewStakeholder impact map
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