since 2011. President Donald Trump nominated Andrew Lawler to be Assistant Secretary of the bureau of September 8., but the Senate returned the nomination to the President at the close of the 116th Congress and he was not re-nominated. President Joe Biden has nominated Monica Medina for the role; if confirmed she would be the first Assistant Secretary since Kerri-Ann Jones resigned in April 2014. History The Department of State Appropriations Authorization Act became law in October 1973, which led to the establishment of the bureau in 1974. The new bureau assumed responsibility for the negotiation of international environmental and natural resource agreements and treaties with other states. The bureau was created by consolidating the duties of several offices. the Office of International Scientific and Technological Affairs; the Office of Special Assistant to the Secretary of Fisheries and Wildlife, and Coordinator of Ocean Affairs; the Office of the Special Assistant to the Secretary for Population Matters; and the Special Assistant to the Secretary for Environmental Affairs. The bureau has been led by distinguished foreign service officers like Career Ambassador Thomas Pickering and Ambassador Judy Garber, as well as public servants like Ambassador (retired) John Negroponte. Diplomatic highlights The bureau played a major role negotiating 14 multilateral fisheries treaties since the 1980s and the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and its annexes. It played a leading role in the creation of the Arctic Council and facilitated its meetings until a permanent secretariat was established in. It helped organize the Our Ocean conference in June 2014 that continues to be held annually and helped bring the Agreement on Port State Measures into force into 2016. OES has negotiated more than 30 bilateral and multilateral science and technology agreements that promote sustainable development, women in science, and global security. OES and NASA worked together to negotiate intergovernmental agreements that govern the ownership and use of the International Space Station. References External links OES Fisheries agencies Law of the sea Oceanography United States United States and the Antarctic Arctic research Health policy in the United States Environmental policy in the United States Science and technology in the United States Space policy of the United States