IB 

Union Calendar No. 605 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6008 

[Report No. 118–716] 

To prohibit the implementation of certain documents until the Assistant 

Administrator for Fisheries of the National Marine Fisheries Service 

issues documents relating to the Rice’s whale. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 20, 2023 

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana (for himself, Mr. EZELL, Mr. CARL, and Mr. HUNT) 

introduced the following bill 

OCTOBER 25, 2023 

Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

OCTOBER 25, 2024 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House 

on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on October 20, 2023] 


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A BILL 

To prohibit the implementation of certain documents until 

the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries of the National 

Marine Fisheries Service issues documents relating to 

the Rice’s whale. 


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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 ‘‘Requiring Integrity in 

5 Conservation Efforts Act’’ or as the ‘‘R.I.C.E.’s Whale Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON IMPLEMENTATION OF CERTAIN 

7 ACTIONS UNTIL ISSUANCE OF DOCUMENTS 

8 RELATING TO RICE’S WHALE. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

10 (1) COMPLIANCE WITH BIOLOGICAL OPINION.— 

11 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, with re12 spect to current and future federally regulated oil and 

13 gas program activities in the Gulf of Mexico, compli14 ance with the Biological Opinion shall serve to fully 

15 satisfy the requirements of applicable Federal envi16 ronmental laws, including the Endangered Species 

17 Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and the Marine Mammal 

18 Protection Act (16 U.S.C.1371 et seq.). 

19 (2) BOEM ACTIONS.—The Assistant Adminis20 trator and the Director may not implement, admin21 ister, or enforce the BOEM Actions until the Assistant 

22 Administrator issues a revised Biological Opinion as 

23 a result of reinitiated consultation with the Director 

24 under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 


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1 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536) and in accordance with this 

2 section. 

3 (b) REINITIATED CONSULTATION ON BIOLOGICAL

4 OPINION.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Administrator 

6 and the Director may not request, commence, carry 

7 out, or complete reinitiated consultation on the Bio8 logical Opinion under this section until— 

9 (A) the Assistant Administrator issues a 

10 final rule designating critical habitat for the 

11 Rice’s whale (Balaenoptera ricei) that is con12 sistent with— 

13 (i) the results of the study conducted 

14 pursuant to subsection (c); 

15 (ii) the requirements of the rulemaking 

16 process pursuant to subchapter II of chapter 

17 5, and chapter 7, of title 5, United States 

18 Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Adminis19 trative Procedure Act’’); 

20 (iii) the requirement to conduct an eco21 nomic impact analysis pursuant to Execu22 tive Order 12866 (5 U.S.C. 601 note; relat23 ing to regulatory planning and review); 

24 (iv) section 307 of the Coastal Zone 

25 Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1456); 


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1 (v) the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

2 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.); and 

3 (vi) chapter 6 of title 5, United States 

4 Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Regulatory 

5 Flexibility Act’’); and 

6 (B) the Assistant Administrator revises and 

7 finalizes the proposed rule titled ‘‘Taking and 

8 Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine 

9 Mammals Incidental to Geophysical Surveys in 

10 the Gulf of Mexico’’ (88 Fed. Reg. 916; January 

11 5, 2023) to include a correction of the erroneous 

12 estimates of incidental take of marine mammals 

13 anticipated from the activities analyzed in the 

14 final rule titled ‘‘Taking and Importing Marine 

15 Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental 

16 to Geophysical Surveys Related to Oil and Gas 

17 Activities in the Gulf of Mexico’’ (86 Fed. Reg. 

18 5322; January 19, 2021). 

19 (2) COOPERATION WITH STATES.—In carrying 

20 out this section, the Assistant Administrator and the 

21 Director shall cooperate with each State to resolve 

22 issues that threaten to impair the exploration, devel23 opment, production, transportation, servicing, or 

24 processing of offshore energy resources and related ac25 tivities. 


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1 (3) PUBLICATION AND REVIEW.—In carrying out 

2 any consultation or reinitiated consultation on the 

3 Biological Opinion under this section, the Assistant 

4 Administrator and the Director shall take steps to en5 sure— 

6 (A) that any scientific evidence considered 

7 and relied upon as a part of the consultation or 

8 reinitiation of consultation is— 

9 (i) made publicly available; and 

10 (ii) peer reviewed by the National 

11 Academies of Science, Engineering, and 

12 Medicine to ensure scientific rigor and inde13 pendence; and 

14 (B) that any party directly impacted by the 

15 BOEM Actions shall— 

16 (i) have routine and continuing oppor17 tunities to discuss and submit information 

18 to the action agency for consideration dur19 ing the development of any biological assess20 ment or proposed action; 

21 (ii) be informed by the action agency 

22 of the schedule for preparation of a biologi23 cal assessment or proposed action; 

24 (iii) receive a copy of any proposed ac25 tion and have the opportunity to review 


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1 that document and provide comment to the 

2 action agency (which shall be afforded due 

3 consideration during development); 

4 (iv) be informed by the consulting 

5 agencies, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Man6 agement, or the National Marine Fisheries 

7 Service, of the schedule for preparation of 

8 the biological opinion when the biological 

9 assessment is submitted to the consulting 

10 agency by the action agency; 

11 (v) receive a copy of any draft biologi12 cal opinion and have the opportunity to re13 view that document and provide comment 

14 to the action agency (which shall be afforded 

15 due consideration during development); 

16 (vi) have the opportunity to confer 

17 with the action agency regarding reasonable 

18 and prudent alternatives prior to the action 

19 agency identifying 1 or more reasonable 

20 and prudent alternatives for consideration 

21 by the consulting agency; and 

22 (vii) where the action agency proposes 

23 a proposed action or a consulting agency 

24 suggests a reasonable and prudent alter25 native, be informed of— 


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1 (I) how each component of such 

2 proposed action or alternative will con3 tribute to avoiding jeopardy or adverse 

4 modification of critical habitat and the 

5 scientific data or information that 

6 supports each component of the pro7 posed action or alternative; and 

8 (II) why other proposed alter9 native actions that would have fewer 

10 impairments to the supply of offshore 

11 energy and economic impacts are inad12 equate to avoid jeopardy or adverse 

13 modification of critical habitat. 

14 (4) MEETINGS.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—During any consultation 

16 or reinitiated consultation on the Biological 

17 Opinion carried out under this section, the As18 sistant Administrator and the Director shall, on 

19 a quarterly basis, hold stakeholder meetings to 

20 provide updates on the development of a new or 

21 revised biological assessment or biological opin22 ion. 

23 (B) PARTICIPANTS.—Each stakeholder meet24 ing held under subparagraph (A) shall— 


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1 (i) be open to stakeholders identified by 

2 the Assistant Administrator and the Direc3 tor; and 

4 (ii) include stakeholders that— 

5 (I) represent a broad range of in6 terests, including environmental, rec7 reational and commercial fishing, con8 ventional and renewable energy, ports, 

9 and other regional interests; and 

10 (II) are not State or local agen11 cies. 

12 (5) CLARIFICATION.—The Assistant Adminis13 trator and the Director may not use stakeholder meet14 ings held under paragraph (3) to fulfill the require15 ments of paragraph (2). 

16 (c) RICE’S WHALE STUDY.—The Assistant Adminis17 trator shall enter into an agreement with the National 

18 Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine to con19 duct a study to determine the occurrence and range of the 

20 Rice’s whale (Balaenoptera ricei) in the Central, Eastern, 

21 and Western Gulf of Mexico Planning Areas. 

22 (d) LEASING ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary of the Inte23 rior may not rely on or implement the BOEM Actions in 

24 carrying out offshore oil and gas leasing activities under 


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1 the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et 

2 seq.). 

3 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘As5 sistant Administrator’’ means the Assistant Adminis6 trator for Fisheries of the National Marine Fisheries 

7 Service. 

8 (2) BIOLOGICAL OPINION.—The term ‘‘Biological 

9 Opinion’’ means the document titled ‘‘Biological 

10 Opinion on the Federally Regulated Oil and Gas Pro11 gram Activities in the Gulf of Mexico’’ (OPR–2017– 

12 00002; March 13, 2020). 

13 (3) BOEM ACTIONS.—The term ‘‘BOEM Ac14 tions’’ means— 

15 (A) the exclusion from leasing in the Gulf 

16 of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas 

17 Lease Sale 261 of acreage between the 100 meter 

18 and 400 meter isobaths across the northern Gulf 

19 of Mexico, as identified in the document titled 

20 ‘‘Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Oil and 

21 Gas Lease Sale 261’’ (88 Fed. Reg. 58300; pub22 lished August 25, 2023); 

23 (B) the imposition in the Gulf of Mexico 

24 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Lease Sale 

25 261 of lease stipulations that limit vessel operVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Oct 25, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H6008.RH H6008

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1 ation pursuant to section IV(4) of such docu2 ment; and 

3 (C) the Notice to Lessees. 

4 (4) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means the 

5 Director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. 

6 (5) NOTICE TO LESSEES.—The term ‘‘Notice to 

7 Lessees’’ means the document titled ‘‘Notice to Lessees 

8 and Operators of Federal Oil and Gas, and Sulphur 

9 Leases in the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf; 

10 Expanded Rice’s Whale Protection Efforts During Re11 initiated Consultation with NMFS’’ (BOEM NTL No. 

12 2023–G01; August 17, 2023), or a substantially simi13 lar document. 

14 (6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the 

15 States of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and 

16 Texas. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to prohibit the 

implementation of certain actions until the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries of the National Marine Fisheries Service issues documents relating to the Rice’s 

whale.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 605 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6008 

[Report No. 118–716] 

A BILL 

To prohibit the implementation of certain docuissues documents relating to the Rice’s whale. eries of the National Marine Fisheries Service ments until the Assistant Administrator for FishOCTOBER 25, 2024 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee 

dered to be printed of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and orVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Oct 25, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H6008.RH H6008

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