I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1383 

To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to direct the Secretary 

of Commerce to establish a climate impact management plan for the 

conservation of certain marine mammal species, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 7, 2023 

Ms. BROWNLEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to 

direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish a climate 

impact management plan for the conservation of certain 

marine mammal species, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Marine Mammal Cli5 mate Change Protection Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CONSERVATION OF MARINE MAMMALS ADVERSELY 

2 AFFECTED BY CLIMATE CHANGE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Marine Mammal Protection 

4 Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) is amended by in5 serting after section 120 the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 121. CONSERVATION OF MARINE MAMMALS AD7 VERSELY AFFECTED BY CLIMATE CHANGE. 

8 ‘‘(a) CLIMATE IMPACT MANAGEMENT PLANS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) Within 24 months after the date of enact10 ment of this section, the Secretary, in consultation 

11 with the Marine Mammal Commission, shall publish 

12 in the Federal Register, after notice and opportunity 

13 for public comment, a list of those marine mammal 

14 species and population stocks in waters under the 

15 jurisdiction of the United States for which climate 

16 change, alone or in combination or interaction with 

17 other factors, is more likely than not to result in a 

18 decline in population abundance, of impeding popu19 lation recovery, or of reducing carrying capacity. 

20 The list shall identify— 

21 ‘‘(A) any species or population stock for 

22 which such impacts are likely to occur within 

23 20 years; and 

24 ‘‘(B) any species or population stock listed 

25 as a threatened species or endangered species 

26 under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 


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1 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) for which such impacts 

2 have more than a remote possibility of occur3 ring within 100 years. 

4 ‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary, in consultation with the 

5 Marine Mammal Commission, shall review the list 

6 adopted pursuant to paragraph (1) at least once 

7 every 5 years, or more frequently if significant new 

8 information becomes available, and, after notice and 

9 opportunity for public comment, shall publish a re10 vised list in the Federal Register. 

11 ‘‘(B) Within 12 months after receiving the peti12 tion of an interested person under section 553(e) of 

13 title 5, United States Code, to add a marine mam14 mal species or population stock to the list published 

15 under paragraph (1), the Secretary, in consultation 

16 with the Marine Mammal Commission and after no17 tice and opportunity for public comment, shall pub18 lish in the Federal Register its finding of whether 

19 the petitioned action is warranted. If the petitioned 

20 action is deemed warranted, the Secretary shall pub21 lish at the same time the revision adding such spe22 cies or population stock. 

23 ‘‘(3) The list published under paragraph (1), 

24 and any revisions thereto made in accordance with 

25 paragraph (2), shall include a determination of 


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1 whether a climate impact management plan will pro2 mote the conservation of species or stocks listed pur3 suant to paragraph (1). 

4 ‘‘(4)(A)(i) The Secretary shall publish in the 

5 Federal Register a draft climate impact management 

6 plan for each marine mammal species or population 

7 stock— 

8 ‘‘(I) listed under paragraph (1)(A), within 

9 18 months after the listing; and 

10 ‘‘(II) listed under paragraph (1)(B), within 

11 30 months after the listing. 

12 ‘‘(ii) Each draft climate impact management 

13 plan shall be developed in consultation with the Ma14 rine Mammal Commission and, as appropriate, other 

15 Federal agencies, and shall be made available for 

16 public review and comment for a period not to ex17 ceed 90 days. 

18 ‘‘(iii) No later than 120 days after the close of 

19 the comment period required under clause (ii), the 

20 Secretary shall issue a final climate impact manage21 ment plan and implementing regulations that are 

22 consistent with the other provisions of this section 

23 and, to the full extent available under the Sec24 retary’s authorities under this Act and other statVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:00 Mar 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1383.IH H1383

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1 utes, implement the conservation and management 

2 measures identified in the plan. 

3 ‘‘(B) Each climate impact management plan 

4 under subparagraph (A) shall include a comprehen5 sive strategy for conserving and recovering of such 

6 marine mammal stocks and species given the antici7 pated direct and indirect effects of climate change 

8 and increasing resiliency in the species or population 

9 stock, and shall identify conservation and manage10 ment measures to— 

11 ‘‘(i) conserve and recover such species and 

12 population stocks given the anticipated adverse 

13 effects of climate change on such species and 

14 population stocks and their prey; 

15 ‘‘(ii) monitor, reduce, and prevent inter16 actions with fisheries and other human activi17 ties that may occur as a result of changes in 

18 marine mammal distribution or other indirect 

19 effects of climate change; 

20 ‘‘(iii) increase resiliency by materially re21 ducing other human impacts on such species 

22 and population stocks, including but not limited 

23 to the reduction of incidental taking of marine 

24 mammals and of the degradation of the habitat 

25 of such species and population stocks, and by 


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1 managing prey species to improve the avail2 ability of prey to such species and population 

3 stocks; and 

4 ‘‘(iv) take any other action as may be nec5 essary to implement the strategy set forth in 

6 the climate impact management plan. 

7 ‘‘(C) Each climate impact management plan 

8 under subparagraph (A) shall include objective, 

9 measurable criteria for evaluating the effectiveness 

10 and sufficiency of such measures to meet the pur11 poses of this Act. 

12 ‘‘(D)(i) All other Federal agencies shall, in con13 sultation with and with the assistance of the Sec14 retary, utilize their authorities in furtherance of the 

15 strategy and conservation and management meas16 ures set forth in climate impact management plans 

17 developed under this subsection and ensure that 

18 their actions do not conflict or interfere with the ob19 jectives of such climate impact management plans. 

20 The Secretary shall consult with the Marine Mam21 mal Commission and, as may be warranted, other 

22 agencies in the implementation of such climate im23 pact management plans. 

24 ‘‘(ii) With respect to any Federal agency action 

25 authorized, funded, or undertaken by such agency 


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1 that, in the view of the Secretary or of the agency, 

2 may conflict or interfere with the objectives of such 

3 climate impact management plans, such agency 

4 shall, in consultation with the Secretary, ensure that 

5 such action is consistent with the climate impact 

6 management plan. To the extent that it is impossible 

7 for such action to be consistent with the climate im8 pact management plan, the Secretary shall require 

9 measures to minimize any such conflicts, in addition 

10 to any other measures required by law, and the 

11 agency shall adopt such measures required by the 

12 Secretary. 

13 ‘‘(E) When appropriate, the Secretary may, and 

14 is encouraged to, integrate climate impact manage15 ment plans into conservation plans adopted under 

16 section 115(b) or recovery plans adopted under sec17 tion 4(f) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 

18 U.S.C. 1533(f)). 

19 ‘‘(F) The Secretary shall review climate impact 

20 management plans and implementing regulations at 

21 least once every 5 years, and shall revise and amend 

22 them as necessary to meet the goals and require23 ments of this section. Any changes shall be subject 

24 to the procedures and requirements applicable to the 


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1 adoption of the initial climate impact management 

2 plans and regulations. 

3 ‘‘(5) The Secretary shall report to Congress 4 

4 years after the date of enactment of this section, 

5 and every 2 years thereafter, on— 

6 ‘‘(A) actions taken to implement this sec7 tion; 

8 ‘‘(B) any backlog in meeting the schedule 

9 set forth in this subsection for adopting, review10 ing, and implementing climate impact manage11 ment plans, or additional resources necessary to 

12 address any such backlog; and 

13 ‘‘(C) the effectiveness of implementation 

14 and sufficiency of the measures adopted in cli15 mate impact management plans, and any rec16 ommendations for improving the process or the 

17 applicable legislation. 

18 ‘‘(b) MONITORING OF CLIMATE IMPACTS.—The Sec19 retary shall establish a program within the National Oce20 anic and Atmospheric Administration to monitor the ad21 verse impacts of climate change on marine mammals. The 

22 purposes of the monitoring program shall be to— 

23 ‘‘(1) improve models of projected future 

24 changes in marine mammal distribution and den25 sities resulting from climate change; 


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1 ‘‘(2) identify and monitor interactions with fish2 eries and other human activities that may occur as 

3 a result of changes in marine mammal distribution 

4 or other effects of climate change; 

5 ‘‘(3) monitor the abundance of species and pop6 ulation stocks, to an extent sufficient to detect a 20 

7 percent population decline over 20 years; 

8 ‘‘(4) improve understanding of the impacts of 

9 climate change on marine mammal species and pop10 ulation stocks; and 

11 ‘‘(5) assess the direct and indirect contributions 

12 of marine mammals to carbon reduction, including 

13 through carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling. 

14 ‘‘(c) PROMULGATION OF REGULATIONS FOR LISTING

15 MARINE MAMMALS ADVERSELY IMPACTED BY CLIMATE

16 CHANGE.—The Secretary shall, within 120 days after the 

17 date of the enactment of this section— 

18 ‘‘(1) publish in the Federal Register for public 

19 comment, for a period of not less than 60 days, reg20 ulations for listing marine mammal species and pop21 ulation stocks adversely impacted by climate change, 

22 alone or in combination or interaction with other 

23 factors, as described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of 

24 subsection (a), taking into account both quantitative 

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1 mate change and human activities on such species 

2 and stocks, including— 

3 ‘‘(A) direct and indirect mortality and seri4 ous injury; 

5 ‘‘(B) loss or degradation of habitat; 

6 ‘‘(C) changes in the distribution or avail7 ability of prey; 

8 ‘‘(D) changes in the distribution of marine 

9 mammal species and population stocks; 

10 ‘‘(E) decreased genetic diversity or repro11 ductive success; 

12 ‘‘(F) increased susceptibility to pathogens; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(G) increased likelihood of interactions 

15 with fisheries and other human activities; and 

16 ‘‘(2) not later than 90 days after the close of 

17 the period for such public comment, publish in the 

18 Federal Register final regulations for listing marine 

19 mammals as required by paragraphs (1) and (2) of 

20 subsection (a), to be reviewed at least once every 

21 three years. 

22 ‘‘(d) LACK OF QUANTITATIVE INFORMATION.—The 

23 lack of quantitative information shall not be a basis for 

24 a determination that a species or population stock is not 

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1 bination or interaction with other factors, as described in 

2 paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a). 

3 ‘‘(e) ESTIMATION OF POTENTIAL BIOLOGICAL RE4 MOVAL.— 

5 ‘‘(1) The Secretary, in estimating the potential 

6 biological removal level in stock assessments pre7 pared in accordance with section 117, shall consider 

8 the adverse impacts of climate change in deter9 mining the recovery factor applied to each stock. 

10 ‘‘(2) The Secretary, in preparing stock assess11 ments in accordance with section 117, shall reexam12 ine the stock definition and geographic range of ma13 rine mammal species and population stocks to iden14 tify climate-related changes in spatial distribution 

15 and stock definition and to identify how such 

16 changes may affect human impacts to the species. 

17 ‘‘(f) AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO AGREEMENTS.— 

18 The Secretary shall— 

19 ‘‘(1) periodically review the status of agree20 ments with foreign governments under section 

21 108(a) concerning the management of transbound22 ary marine mammal species and population stocks, 

23 and their prey species, that are or may be affected 

24 by climate change; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) through the Secretary of State, initiate the 

2 amendment of any such agreement, or negotiations 

3 for the development of bilateral or multinational 

4 agreements, consistent with the goals and policies of 

5 this section. 

6 ‘‘(g) CONSTRUCTION.—This section shall not be con7 strued to limit or restrict any other responsibility of the 

8 Secretary or of any other person under this Act or any 

9 other statute. 

10 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) There is authorized to be appropriated to 

12 the Administrator of the National Oceanic and At13 mospheric Administration to carry out this section 

14 $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 

15 2028. 

16 ‘‘(2) There is authorized to be appropriated to 

17 the Secretary of the Interior to carry out this section 

18 $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 

19 2028. 

20 ‘‘(3) There is authorized to be appropriated to 

21 the Marine Mammal Commission to carry out this 

22 section $1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 

23 through 2028.’’. 


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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

2 in the first section of such Act is amended by inserting 

3 after the item relating to section 120 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 121. Conservation of marine mammals adversely affected by climate 

change.’’. 

Æ 


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