I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5270 

To abolish the Marine Mammal Commission and transfer its functions to 

the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 17, 2016 

Mr. RUSSELL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To abolish the Marine Mammal Commission and transfer 

its functions to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. 

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 ‘‘Efficient Marine Mam5 mal Protection Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ABOLISHMENT OF MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION; 

7 TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS. 

8 (a) ABOLISHMENT OF DEPARTMENT.—The Marine 

9 Mammal Commission is abolished. 


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1 (b) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.—All functions that 

2 immediately before the effective date of this section are 

3 authorized to be performed by the Commission, by any 

4 officer or employee of the Commission acting in that ca5 pacity, or by any agency or office of the Commission, are 

6 transferred to the Director of the United States Fish and 

7 Wildlife Service. 

8 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AND CLERICAL AMENDMENTS. 

9 (a) MARINE MAMMAL PROTECTION ACT OF 1972.— 

10 The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 is amend11 ed— 

12 (1) in section (3) (16 U.S.C. 1362), by adding 

13 at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(30) The term ‘Director’ means the Director 

15 of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.’’; 

16 (2) by striking ‘‘Marine Mammal Commission’’ 

17 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Director of the 

18 United States Fish and Wildlife Service’’; 

19 (3) by striking ‘‘Commission’’ each place it ap20 pears in reference to the Marine Mammal Commis21 sion and inserting ‘‘Director’’; 

22 (4) by striking ‘‘Chairman of the Marine Mam23 mal Commission’’ each place it appears and insert24 ing ‘‘Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife 

25 Service’’; 


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1 (5) by striking ‘‘Chairman of the Commission’’ 

2 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Director of the 

3 United States Fish and Wildlife Service’’; 

4 (6) by striking ‘‘Chairman’’ each place it ap5 pears in reference to the Chairman of the Marine 

6 Mammal Commission and inserting ‘‘Director’’; 

7 (7) in section 104(l)(2) (16 U.S.C. 

8 1383a(l)(2)), by striking ‘‘Chairman’s’’ and insert9 ing ‘‘Director’s’’; 

10 (8) in the heading for title II, by striking 

11 ‘‘MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION’’ and 

12 inserting ‘‘UNITED STATES FISH AND 

13 WILDLIFE SERVICE’’; 

14 (9) by striking section 201 (16 U.S.C. 1401); 

15 (10) in the heading for section 202 (16 U.S.C. 

16 1402), by striking ‘‘COMMISSION’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE’’; 

18 (11) in the heading for section 206 (16 U.S.C. 

19 1402), by striking ‘‘ADMINISTRATION OF COMMIS20 SION’’ and inserting ‘‘AUTHORITIES OF DIRECTOR OF

21 UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE’’; and 

22 (12) in the table of contents in the first sec23 tion— 


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1 (A) by striking the item relating to the 

2 title enumerator and heading for title II and in3 serting the following: 

‘‘TITLE II—UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE’’; 

4 (B) by striking the item relating to section 

5 201; 

6 (C) by striking the item relating to section 

7 202 and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 202. Duties of United States Fish and Wildlife Service.’’; 

8 and 

9 (D) by striking the item relating to section 

10 206 and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 206. Authorities of Director of United States Fish and Wildlife Service.’’. 

11 (b) TITLE 10, U.S.C.—Section 7524(a) of title 10, 

12 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Marine 

13 Mammal Commission’’ and inserting ‘‘Director of the 

14 United States Fish and Wildlife Service’’. 

15 (c) WHALE CONSERVATION AND PROTECTION STUDY

16 ACT.—Section 3 of the Whale Conservation and Protec17 tion Study Act (16 U.S.C. 917a) is amended by striking 

18 ‘‘Marine Mammal Commission’’ and inserting ‘‘Director 

19 of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service’’. 

20 (d) NATIONAL FISH AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION

21 ESTABLISHMENT ACT.—Section 4(g) of the National Fish 

22 and Wildlife Foundation Establishment Act (16 U.S.C. 

23 3703(g)) is amended by striking ‘‘Marine Mammal ComVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:09 May 18, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5270.IH H5270

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1 mission’’ and inserting ‘‘Director of the United States 

2 Fish and Wildlife Service’’. 

3 SEC. 4. REFERENCES. 

4 Any reference in any other Federal law, Executive 

5 order, rule, regulation, or delegation of authority, or any 

6 document of or pertaining to the Marine Mammal Com7 mission to such Commission or an official of such Commis8 sion is deemed to refer to the Director of the United 

9 States Fish and Wildlife Service. 

10 SEC. 5. EXERCISE OF AUTHORITIES. 

11 Except as otherwise provided by law, the Director of 

12 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service may, for pur13 poses of performing a function is transferred by this Act, 

14 exercise all authorities under any other provision of law 

15 that were available with respect to the performance of that 

16 function to the Marine Mammal Commission. 

17 SEC. 6. SAVINGS PROVISIONS. 

18 (a) LEGAL DOCUMENTS.—All orders, determinations, 

19 rules, regulations, permits, grants, loans, contracts, agree20 ments, certificates, licenses, and privileges— 

21 (1) that have been issued, made, granted, or al22 lowed to become effective by the President, the Ma23 rine Mammal Commission, any officer or employee 

24 of any office such Commission, or any other Govern25 ment official, or by a court of competent jurisdicVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:09 May 18, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5270.IH H5270

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1 tion, in the performance of any function that is 

2 transferred by this Act, and 

3 (2) that are in effect on the effective date of 

4 such transfer (or become effective after such date 

5 pursuant to their terms as in effect on such effective 

6 date), 

7 shall continue in effect according to their terms until 

8 modified, terminated, superseded, set aside, or revoked in 

9 accordance with law by the President, any other author10 ized official, a court of competent jurisdiction, or operation 

11 of law. 

12 (b) PROCEEDINGS.—This Act shall not affect any 

13 proceedings or any application for any benefits, service, 

14 license, permit, certificate, or financial assistance pending 

15 on the date of the enactment of this Act before the Marine 

16 Mammal Commission, but such proceedings and applica17 tions shall be continued. Orders shall be issued in such 

18 proceedings, appeals shall be taken therefrom, and pay19 ments shall be made pursuant to such orders, as if this 

20 Act had not been enacted, and orders issued in any such 

21 proceeding shall continue in effect until modified, termi22 nated, superseded, or revoked by a duly authorized official, 

23 by a court of competent jurisdiction, or by operation of 

24 law. Nothing in this subsection shall be considered to pro25 hibit the discontinuance or modification of any such proVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:09 May 18, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5270.IH H5270

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1 ceeding under the same terms and conditions and to the 

2 same extent that such proceeding could have been discon3 tinued or modified if this Act had not been enacted. 

4 (c) SUITS.—This Act shall not affect suits com5 menced before the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

6 in all such suits, proceeding shall be had, appeals taken, 

7 and judgments rendered in the same manner and with the 

8 same effect as if this Act had not been enacted. 

9 (d) NONABATEMENT OF ACTIONS.—No suit, action, 

10 or other proceeding commenced by or against the Marine 

11 Mammal Commission, or by or against any individual in 

12 the official capacity of such individual as an officer or em13 ployee of such Commission, shall abate by reason of the 

14 enactment of this Act. 

15 (e) CONTINUANCE OF SUITS.—If any Government of16 ficer in the official capacity of such officer is party to a 

17 suit with respect to a function of the officer, and under 

18 this Act such function is transferred to any other officer 

19 or office, then such suit shall be continued with the other 

20 officer or the head of such other office, as applicable, sub21 stituted or added as a party. 

22 (f) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE AND JUDICIAL RE23 VIEW.—Except as otherwise provided by this Act, any 

24 statutory requirements relating to notice, hearings, action 

25 upon the record, or administrative or judicial review that 


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1 apply to any function transferred by this Act shall apply 

2 to the exercise of such function by the head of the Federal 

3 agency, and other officers of the agency, to which such 

4 function is transferred by this Act. 

5 SEC. 7. TRANSFER OF ASSETS. 

6 Except as otherwise provided in this Act, so much 

7 of the property, records, and unexpended balances of ap8 propriations, allocations, and other funds employed, used, 

9 held, available, or to be made available in connection with 

10 a function transferred to an official or agency by this Act 

11 shall be available to the official or the head of that agency, 

12 respectively, at such time or times as the Director of the 

13 Office of Management and Budget directs for use in con14 nection with the functions transferred. 

15 SEC. 8. DELEGATION AND ASSIGNMENT. 

16 Except as otherwise expressly prohibited by law or 

17 otherwise provided in this Act, an official to whom func18 tions are transferred under this Act (including the head 

19 of any office to which functions are transferred under this 

20 Act) may delegate any of the functions so transferred to 

21 such officers and employees of the office of the official as 

22 the official may designate, and may authorize successive 

23 redelegations of such functions as may be necessary or ap24 propriate. No delegation of functions under this section 

25 or under any other provision of this Act shall relieve the 


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1 official to whom a function is transferred under this Act 

2 of responsibility for the administration of the function. 

3 SEC. 9. AUTHORITY OF DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF MAN4 AGEMENT AND BUDGET WITH RESPECT TO 

5 FUNCTIONS TRANSFERRED. 

6 (a) DETERMINATIONS.—If necessary, the Director of 

7 the Office of Management and Budget shall make any de8 termination of the functions that are transferred under 

9 this Act. 

10 (b) INCIDENTAL TRANSFERS.—The Director of the 

11 Office of Management and Budget, at such time or times 

12 as the Director shall provide, may make such determina13 tions as may be necessary with regard to the functions 

14 transferred by this Act, and to make such additional inci15 dental dispositions of personnel, assets, liabilities, grants, 

16 contracts, property, records, and unexpended balances of 

17 appropriations, authorizations, allocations, and other 

18 funds held, used, arising from, available to, or to be made 

19 available in connection with such functions, as may be nec20 essary to carry out the provisions of this Act. The Director 

21 of the Office of Management and Budget shall provide for 

22 the termination of the affairs of all entities terminated by 

23 this Act and for such further measures and dispositions 

24 as may be necessary to effectuate the purposes of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 10. AVAILABILITY OF EXISTING FUNDS. 

2 Existing appropriations and funds available for the 

3 performance of functions, programs, and activities termi4 nated pursuant to this Act shall remain available, for the 

5 duration of their period of availability, for necessary ex6 penses in connection with the termination and resolution 

7 of such functions, programs, and activities. 

8 SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS. 

9 For purposes of this Act— 

10 (1) the term ‘‘function’’ includes any duty, obli11 gation, power, authority, responsibility, right, privi12 lege, activity, or program; and 

13 (2) the term ‘‘office’’ includes any office, ad14 ministration, agency, bureau, institute, council, unit, 

15 organizational entity, or component thereof. 

Æ 


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