II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4948 

To require the Secretary of Commerce to establish a grant program to 

foster enhanced coexistence between ocean users and North Atlantic 

right whales and other large cetacean species. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 1, 2024 

Mr. MANCHIN (for himself and Mr. GRAHAM) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Commerce to establish a grant 

program to foster enhanced coexistence between ocean 

users and North Atlantic right whales and other large 

cetacean species. 

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

3 SECTION 1. NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALES AND REGU4 LATIONS. 

5 For the period beginning on the date of the enact6 ment of this Act and ending on December 31, 2030, the 

7 North Atlantic right whale vessel strike reduction rule 

8 contained in section 224.105 of title 50, Code of Federal 


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1 Regulations, as in effect during fiscal year 2022, may not 

2 be amended, updated, modified, or replaced. 

3 SEC. 2. NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE AND OTHER 

4 LARGE CETACEAN SPECIES GRANT PRO5 GRAM. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

7 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es8 tablish a competitive grant program to award amounts, 

9 on an annual basis, to eligible entities for the eligible uses 

10 described in subsection (e). 

11 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary shall enter 

12 into a cooperative agreement with the Foundation pursu13 ant to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Estab14 lishment Act (16 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.) for the Foundation 

15 to manage and administer the Program. 

16 (c) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for a grant under 

17 the Program, an eligible entity shall submit to the Foun18 dation an application in such form, at such time, and con19 taining such information as the Foundation determines 

20 appropriate. 

21 (d) FUNDING.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—After the Secretary enters 

23 into a cooperative agreement with the Foundation 

24 under subsection (b)— 


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1 (A) the Secretary shall provide to the 

2 Foundation the amounts made available under 

3 this section to carry out the Program in an ad4 vance payment of the entire amount on October 

5 1, or as soon as practicable thereafter, for each 

6 fiscal year; and 

7 (B) the Foundation shall invest and rein8 vest excess such amounts for the benefit of the 

9 Program. 

10 (2) APPLICATION OF NATIONAL FISH AND

11 WILDLIFE FOUNDATION ESTABLISHMENT ACT.— 

12 Amounts received by the Foundation under this sec13 tion to carry out the Program shall be subject to the 

14 National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Establish15 ment Act (16 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.), except for sec16 tion 10(a) of that Act (16 U.S.C. 3709(a)). 

17 (e) ELIGIBLE USES.—An eligible entity that is 

18 awarded a grant under the Program may use such grant 

19 to develop, assess, and carry out activities that reduce le20 thal and sub-lethal interactions between ocean users and 

21 North Atlantic right whales and other large cetacean spe22 cies, including— 

23 (1) funding research to identify, deploy, or test 

24 innovative avoidance technologies that reduce or 

25 eliminate harmful interactions between ocean users 


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1 and North Atlantic right whales and other large ce2 tacean species; 

3 (2) efforts to enhance awareness of existing 

4 North Atlantic right whale management measures 

5 and rules; 

6 (3) developing on-the-water approaches to sup7 port the coexistence of ocean users and North Atlan8 tic right whales and other large cetacean species; 

9 (4) funding the expansion of infrastructure and 

10 capacity to disseminate management and other rel11 evant information that reduces harmful interactions 

12 between ocean users and North Atlantic right whales 

13 and other large cetacean species, especially such 

14 interactions that can lead to lethal or sub-lethal in15 jury; and 

16 (5) other uses the Foundation, in consultation 

17 with the Secretary and relevant eligible entities, de18 termines appropriate. 

19 (f) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under the Pro20 gram, the Foundation shall give priority to applications— 

21 (1) with a substantial likelihood of reducing le22 thal and sub-lethal interactions between ocean users 

23 and North Atlantic right whales and other large ce24 tacean species; 


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1 (2) that include cooperation among ocean users; 

2 and 

3 (3) that demonstrate, or have the potential to 

4 provide, economic benefits to small businesses reliant 

5 upon fishing, tourism, and maritime-related activi6 ties based in the United States. 

7 (g) PROHIBITED USES.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para9 graph (2), an eligible entity that is awarded a grant 

10 under the Program may not use such grant to dis11 tribute resources to an entity or individual that is 

12 not a United States person. 

13 (2) EXCEPTION.—An eligible entity that is 

14 awarded a grant under the Program may use such 

15 grant to distribute resources to a partnership that 

16 includes an entity or individual that is not a United 

17 States person if the resources are distributed di18 rectly to a partner in the partnership that is a 

19 United States person. 

20 (h) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

21 of the enactment of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter, 

22 the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Natural 

23 Resources and the Committee on Transportation and In24 frastructure of the House of Representatives and the Com25 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 


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1 Senate a report regarding the results and effectiveness 

2 of— 

3 (1) projects carried out with a grant awarded 

4 under the Program; and 

5 (2) work carried out pursuant to— 

6 (A) section 201 of division JJ of the Con7 solidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (16 U.S.C. 

8 1393); and 

9 (B) section 11303 of the James M. Inhofe 

10 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 

11 Year 2023 (16 U.S.C. 1391). 

12 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

14 appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this sec15 tion $10,000,000, to remain available until ex16 pended. 

17 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Each fiscal 

18 year, of the amounts made available to carry out 

19 this section under paragraph (1), the Foundation 

20 may use not more than 5 percent or $80,000, which21 ever is greater, of such amounts for the administra22 tive expenses of the Program. 

23 (j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

24 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti25 ty’’ means— 


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1 (A) a State, regional, local, or Tribal gov2 ernment; 

3 (B) a nonprofit organization or research 

4 institution with expertise in on-the-water tech5 nology for the monitoring or detection of North 

6 Atlantic right whales and other large cetacean 

7 species; 

8 (C) any individual or entity the Secretary 

9 and the Foundation jointly determine appro10 priate, including ocean users in the fishing, 

11 tourism, fishing tackle manufacturing, boating, 

12 shipping, marine electronics, ship piloting, ves13 sel towing, and other maritime sectors; or 

14 (D) a consortium of 2 or more entities de15 scribed in any of subparagraphs (A) through 

16 (C). 

17 (2) FOUNDATION.—The term ‘‘Foundation’’ 

18 means the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. 

19 (3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 

20 the program established under subsection (a). 

21 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

22 the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the 

23 Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and At24 mosphere. 


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1 (5) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

2 ‘‘United States person’’ has the meaning given the 

3 term in section 7701(a)(30) of the Internal Revenue 

4 Code of 1986. 

Æ 


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