I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1568 

To assist in the conservation of the North Atlantic right whale by supporting 

and providing financial resources for North Atlantic right whale conservation programs and projects of persons with expertise required for the 

conservation of North Atlantic right whales, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 6, 2019 

Mr. MOULTON (for himself, Mr. RUTHERFORD, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. POSEY, 

and Mr. KEATING) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee 

on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To assist in the conservation of the North Atlantic right 

whale by supporting and providing financial resources 

for North Atlantic right whale conservation programs 

and projects of persons with expertise required for the 

conservation of North Atlantic right whales, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Scientific Assistance 

3 for Very Endangered North Atlantic Right Whales Act of 

4 2019’’ or the ‘‘SAVE Right Whales Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

7 (1) North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena 

8 glacialis) are critically endangered, with no more 

9 than 425 whales remaining at the time of the intro10 duction of this Act; 

11 (2) historically, the North Atlantic right whale 

12 population was decimated by the whaling industry; 

13 (3) despite protection from whaling beginning 

14 in the 1930s, the North Atlantic right whale is one 

15 of the most endangered whales in the world and has 

16 experienced a significant decline since 2010; 

17 (4) the North Atlantic right whale has been 

18 listed as an endangered species under the Endan19 gered Species Conservation Act of 1969 (Public Law 

20 89–669; 80 Stat. 926) and its successor the Endan21 gered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) 

22 since 1970 and is designated as depleted under the 

23 Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 

24 1361 et seq.); 

25 (5) because North Atlantic right whales are 

26 long-lived and highly migratory, and at present rates 


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1 females give birth to a single calf only once every 4 

2 to 10 years, they are highly vulnerable to the im3 pacts of human activity and habitat degradation; 

4 (6) North Atlantic right whales frequently cross 

5 paths with major shipping lanes and fishing 

6 grounds, leaving the whales particularly vulnerable 

7 to vessel collisions and fishing gear entanglements, 

8 the 2 leading causes of injury and death to the spe9 cies; 

10 (7) even when North Atlantic right whales do 

11 not die as a result of fishing gear entanglement, 

12 those whales can still experience significant sub-le13 thal effects such as chronic stress and reproductive 

14 failure; 

15 (8) in August 2017, the National Marine Fish16 eries Service announced an Unusual Mortality Event 

17 involving North Atlantic right whales in 2017, with 

18 17 known whale deaths that year alone; 

19 (9) an Unusual Mortality Event involves a sig20 nificant die-off of a population and, according to the 

21 Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 

22 1361 et seq.), demands an immediate response; 

23 (10) based on the current rate of mortality of 

24 North Atlantic right whales, and because of the 

25 small number of breeding females in the population 


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1 and low birth rates, recent analysis suggests the spe2 cies will lose its ability to recover in merely a few 

3 decades if human-caused mortality is not reduced 

4 immediately; 

5 (11) under the Marine Mammal Protection Act 

6 of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.), United States 

7 fishermen in certain locations have been required to 

8 modify their fishing gear and behavior to minimize 

9 the likelihood of entanglements, including by using 

10 sinking groundlines, having weak links in buoy lines, 

11 using multiple traps per buoy, appropriately mark12 ing fishing gear, and complying with area closures 

13 during North Atlantic right whale migrations; 

14 (12) vessels in United States waters that are 65 

15 feet or more in length have been required to comply 

16 with a 10-knot speed limit in certain locations dur17 ing North Atlantic right whale migrations to reduce 

18 the threat of vessel collisions; and 

19 (13) North Atlantic right whales are now mi20 grating farther north into Canadian waters and in 

21 2017 there were at least 12 North Atlantic right 

22 whale deaths in Canada’s Gulf of St. Lawrence, in 

23 addition to the 8 documented deaths in United 

24 States waters in 2017 and 2018. 


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1 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con2 gress that— 

3 (1) the Governments of the United States and 

4 Canada must work together to reduce lethal and 

5 sub-lethal effects of human activities on North At6 lantic right whales; and 

7 (2) effectively addressing the threats to the 

8 long-term viability of the North Atlantic right 

9 whales will require a joint commitment and effort 

10 from government entities, local communities, marine 

11 scientists and conservationists, fishermen, owners 

12 and operators of passenger vessels and others in the 

13 shipping industry, and other stakeholders. 

14 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

15 The purposes of this Act are the following: 

16 (1) To rebuild healthy populations of the North 

17 Atlantic right whale. 

18 (2) To assist in the conservation and protection 

19 of North Atlantic right whales by supporting North 

20 Atlantic right whale conservation programs that 

21 minimize conflicts between North Atlantic right 

22 whales and human activities. 

23 (3) To provide financial resources for those pro24 grams. 


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1 TITLE I—NORTH ATLANTIC 

2 RIGHT WHALE CONSERVATION 

3 SEC. 101. NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE CONSERVATION 

4 ASSISTANCE. 

5 (a) ASSISTANCE.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of 

7 funds and in consultation with other Federal offi8 cials, the Secretary of Commerce (in this title re9 ferred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall provide competi10 tive financial assistance, including multiyear grants, 

11 for projects for the conservation of North Atlantic 

12 right whales for which project proposals are ap13 proved by the Secretary in accordance with this sec14 tion. 

15 (2) USE OF EXISTING AUTHORITIES.—Assist16 ance provided under this section shall be carried out 

17 in a manner consistent with authorities available to 

18 the Secretary under the Endangered Species Act of 

19 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and the Marine 

20 Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1361 et 

21 seq.). 

22 (b) PROJECT PROPOSALS.— 

23 (1) ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.—A project proposal 

24 may be submitted to the Secretary under this section 

25 by— 


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1 (A) relevant State and tribal agencies, re2 search institutions, and nonprofit organizations 

3 with expertise required for the conservation of 

4 North Atlantic right whales; and 

5 (B) any other individual or entity, as de6 termined appropriate by the Secretary, with the 

7 expertise required for the conservation of North 

8 Atlantic right whales, including large whale 

9 disentanglement teams approved by the Na10 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

11 and members in good standing of the National 

12 Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Re13 sponse Program, sectors of the shipping and 

14 fishing industries, fishing gear manufacturers, 

15 and rope manufacturers. 

16 (2) FEDERAL PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES.— 

17 A Federal agency may not be a lead entity or receive 

18 funding for a project under this section, but may be 

19 included as a partner or collaborator on a project 

20 that receives such funding. 

21 (3) REQUIRED ELEMENTS.—A project proposal 

22 shall include— 

23 (A) a statement of the purposes of the 

24 project; 


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1 (B) the name of the entity or individual 

2 with overall responsibility for the project; 

3 (C) a description of the qualifications of 

4 the entity or individuals that will conduct the 

5 project; 

6 (D) a description of— 

7 (i) methods for project implementa8 tion and outcome assessment; 

9 (ii) staffing and stakeholder engage10 ment for the project; 

11 (iii) the logistics of the project; 

12 (iv) an estimated timeline for the 

13 project; and 

14 (v) anticipated outcomes of the 

15 project; 

16 (E) a proposed budget for the funds and 

17 time required to complete the project; 

18 (F) information regarding the source and 

19 amount of matching funding available for the 

20 project; 

21 (G) information that demonstrates the 

22 clear potential of the project to contribute to 

23 the conservation of North Atlantic right whales; 

24 and 


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1 (H) any other information that the Sec2 retary considers to be necessary for evaluating 

3 the eligibility of the project for funding under 

4 this Act. 

5 (c) ANNUAL GRANT PROJECT PROPOSAL SOLICITA6 TION, REVIEW, AND APPROVAL.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall annu8 ally— 

9 (A) solicit project proposals for grants 

10 under this section; 

11 (B) provide to other Federal officials, as 

12 appropriate, copies of each proposal submitted 

13 in response to the solicitation; and 

14 (C) review each such proposal on a time15 line that recognizes the urgency of the declining 

16 North Atlantic right whale population to deter17 mine whether the proposal meets the criteria 

18 specified in subsection (d). 

19 (2) CONSULTATION; APPROVAL OR DIS20 APPROVAL.—Subject to the availability of funds, the 

21 Secretary shall, with respect to each project proposal 

22 submitted under this section, and after consulting 

23 with other Federal officials, as appropriate— 


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1 (A) consult with respect to the proposal 

2 with the government of each State and foreign 

3 country in which the project is to be conducted; 

4 (B) after taking into consideration any 

5 comments resulting from the consultation and 

6 any potential losses that could be incurred to 

7 the fishing industry as a result of the proposal, 

8 approve or disapprove the proposal; and 

9 (C) provide written notification of the ap10 proval or disapproval to the individual or entity 

11 that submitted the proposal, other Federal offi12 cials, and each State and foreign country de13 scribed in subparagraph (A). 

14 (d) CRITERIA FOR APPROVAL.—The Secretary may 

15 approve a project proposal under this section if the project 

16 shows promise for contributing to recovering and sus17 taining a viable population of North Atlantic right whales 

18 in the wild by assisting efforts to— 

19 (1) implement conservation programs; 

20 (2) address the unintentional conflicts between 

21 humans and North Atlantic right whales through de22 velopment, testing, and use of innovative technology 

23 or other methods to reduce the lethal and sub-lethal 

24 effects on North Atlantic right whales from vessel 

25 collisions and fishing gear entanglements; 


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1 (3) promote cooperative projects on such topics 

2 with foreign governments; or 

3 (4) promote cooperative projects on such topics 

4 with affected local communities, small businesses 

5 such as fishermen, others in the private sector, or 

6 nongovernmental organizations. 

7 (e) PRIORITY.—To the extent practicable, in deter8 mining whether to approve project proposals under this 

9 section, the Secretary shall prioritize projects that are de10 signed to reduce the lethal and sub-lethal effects of human 

11 activities on North Atlantic right whales. In prioritizing 

12 such projects, the Secretary shall prioritize, among such 

13 projects, projects that are cooperative in nature and in14 clude fishing or shipping sector participants. 

15 (f) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para17 graph (3), the non-Federal share of the costs of an 

18 activity conducted with financial assistance under 

19 this section shall be 25 percent of such costs. 

20 (2) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—The Secretary 

21 may apply to the non-Federal share of an activity 

22 conducted with financial assistance under this sec23 tion the amount of funds, and the fair market value 

24 of property and services, provided by non-Federal 

25 sources and used for the activity. 


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1 (3) WAIVER OF REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec2 retary may waive the application of paragraph (1) if 

3 the Secretary finds that such waiver is necessary to 

4 support a conservation project that the Secretary 

5 has identified as of high priority. 

6 (g) PROJECT REPORTING.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each individual or entity 

8 that receives assistance under this section for a 

9 project shall submit to the Secretary periodic reports 

10 (at such intervals as the Secretary may require) that 

11 include all information that the Secretary, after con12 sultation with other government officials, determines 

13 is necessary to evaluate the progress and success of 

14 the project for the purposes of ensuring positive re15 sults, assessing problems, and fostering improve16 ments. 

17 (2) AVAILABILITY TO THE PUBLIC.—Reports 

18 under paragraph (1), and any other documents re19 lating to projects for which financial assistance is 

20 provided under this Act, shall be made available to 

21 the public in a timely manner. 

22 SEC. 102. NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE INTERAGENCY 

23 BUDGET. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of 

25 Management and Budget shall include, in the budget of 


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1 the President submitted to Congress under section 

2 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, for fiscal year 

3 2021 and each fiscal year thereafter, an interagency budg4 et that displays for each Federal agency that engages in 

5 North Atlantic right whale activities— 

6 (1) the amount of appropriations and expendi7 tures for the preceding fiscal year for such activities 

8 and a description of such activities; 

9 (2) the estimated amount to be expended dur10 ing the current fiscal year for such activities and a 

11 description of such activities; and 

12 (3) the amount estimated to be necessary for 

13 the next fiscal year for such activities and a descrip14 tion of such activities. 

15 (b) NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE ACTIVITIES

16 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘North Atlantic 

17 right whale activities’’ means any activity of a Federal 

18 agency to study, observe, monitor, manage, protect, con19 serve, or restore the North Atlantic right whale population 

20 through direct or indirect means, including through the 

21 provision of competitive financial assistance to non-Fed22 eral entities. 

23 SEC. 103. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

24 Not later than 2 years after the date of the enact25 ment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary 


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1 shall submit to Congress a report on the results and effec2 tiveness of projects receiving assistance provided under 

3 this title, including recommendations concerning how this 

4 title might be improved and whether funding for this title 

5 should be continued in the future. 

6 SEC. 104. FUNDING. 

7 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

8 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—There is authorized to 

9 be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this 

10 title $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 

11 through 2029. 

12 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of the 

13 amounts authorized to be appropriated under this 

14 subsection for a fiscal year, the Secretary may ex15 pend not more than 5 percent, or up to $80,000, 

16 whichever is greater, to pay the administrative ex17 penses necessary to carry out this Act. 

18 (3) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—The 

19 amount authorized to be appropriated by paragraph 

20 (1) shall supplement and not supplant other 

21 amounts available to the Secretary. 

22 (b) ACCEPTANCE AND USE OF DONATIONS.—The 

23 Secretary may accept, receive, solicit, hold, administer, 

24 and use any gift, devise, or bequest to provide assistance 

25 under section 5. 


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1 TITLE II—CONTINUOUS 

2 PLANKTON RECORDER 

3 SEC. 201. SURVEY. 

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

5 date of the enactment of this Act, and on an ongoing basis 

6 thereafter, the Secretary of Commerce shall conduct a con7 tinuous plankton recorder survey. 

8 (b) REQUIRED ELEMENTS.—For the purpose of con9 ducting the survey required under subsection (a), the 

10 Northeast Fisheries Science Center shall— 

11 (1) to the extent possible, utilize the resources 

12 of and partner with, on a volunteer basis, research 

13 institutions, nonprofit organizations, commercial ves14 sels, and other Federal agencies; 

15 (2) in as short a time as possible, ensure rel16 evant survey samples and results are analyzed, 

17 stored, archived, and made publicly available; 

18 (3) prioritize the collection of plankton samples 

19 and data that inform the conservation of North At20 lantic right whales; and 

21 (4) to the extent practicable, coordinate with 

22 the Government of Canada to develop a transbound23 ary understanding of plankton abundance and dis24 tribution. 


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1 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

2 out this section there is authorized to be appropriated to 

3 the Secretary of Commerce $300,000 for each of fiscal 

4 years 2019 through 2029. 

Æ 


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