II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2453 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 

Mr. BOOKER (for himself, Mr. ISAKSON, and Mr. CARPER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 for Very Endangered North Atlantic Right Whales Act of 

6 2019’’ or the ‘‘SAVE Right Whales Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

3 (1) North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena 

4 glacialis) are critically endangered, with approxi5 mately 400 whales remaining at the time of the in6 troduction of this Act; 

7 (2) historically, the North Atlantic right whale 

8 population was decimated by the whaling industry, 

9 although the whale population received protections 

10 from such industry in the 1930s; 

11 (3) despite a modest recovery prior to 2010, the 

12 North Atlantic right whale is one of the most endan13 gered whales in the world and has experienced a sig14 nificant decline since 2010; 

15 (4) the North Atlantic right whale has been 

16 listed as an endangered species under the Endan17 gered Species Conservation Act of 1969 (Public Law 

18 89–669; 80 Stat. 926) and its successor the Endan19 gered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) 

20 since 1970 and is designated as depleted under the 

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

22 1361 et seq.); 

23 (5) because North Atlantic right whales are 

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

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


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1 to 10 years, they are highly vulnerable to the im2 pacts of human activity and habitat degradation; 

3 (6) North Atlantic right whales frequently cross 

4 paths with major shipping lanes and fishing 

5 grounds, leaving the whales particularly vulnerable 

6 to vessel collisions and fishing gear entanglements, 

7 the 2 leading causes of injury and death to the spe8 cies; 

9 (7) even when North Atlantic right whales do 

10 not die as a result of fishing gear entanglement, 

11 those whales can still experience significant sub-le12 thal effects such as chronic stress and reproductive 

13 failure; 

14 (8) in August 2017, the National Marine Fish15 eries Service announced an unusual mortality event 

16 involving North Atlantic right whales in 2017, with 

17 17 known whale deaths that year alone; 

18 (9) as of August 2019, such ongoing unusual 

19 mortality event includes the loss of at least 28 

20 whales, a significant die-off of a population and, 

21 under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 

22 (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.), demands an immediate re23 sponse; 

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

25 North Atlantic right whales, and because of the 


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1 small number of breeding females in the population 

2 and low birth rates, recent analysis suggests the spe3 cies will lose its ability to recover in merely a few 

4 decades if human-caused mortality is not reduced 

5 immediately; 

6 (11) under the Marine Mammal Protection Act 

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

8 fishermen in certain locations have been required to 

9 modify their fishing gear and behavior to minimize 

10 the likelihood of entanglements, including by using 

11 sinking groundlines, having weak links in buoy lines, 

12 using multiple traps per buoy, appropriately mark13 ing fishing gear, and complying with seasonal area14 specific closures in North Atlantic right whale habi15 tats; 

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

17 feet or more in length have been required to comply 

18 with a seasonal 10-knot speed limit in certain loca19 tions to reduce the threat of vessel collisions; and 

20 (13) North Atlantic right whales are now mi21 grating farther north into Canadian waters and 

22 there have been at least 20 North Atlantic right 

23 whale deaths in Canada’s Gulf of St. Lawrence be24 tween 2017 and 2019, as well as 8 documented 


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1 deaths of such whales in the United States waters 

2 in 2017 and 2018. 

3 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con4 gress that— 

5 (1) the Governments of the United States and 

6 Canada must work together to reduce lethal and 

7 sub-lethal effects of human activities on North At8 lantic right whales; and 

9 (2) effectively addressing the threats to the 

10 long-term viability of the North Atlantic right 

11 whales will require a joint commitment and effort 

12 from government entities, local communities, marine 

13 scientists and conservationists, fishermen, owners 

14 and operators of passenger vessels and others in the 

15 shipping industry, and other stakeholders. 

16 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

17 The purposes of this Act are the following: 

18 (1) To rebuild healthy populations of the North 

19 Atlantic right whale. 

20 (2) To assist in the conservation and protection 

21 of North Atlantic right whales by supporting North 

22 Atlantic right whale conservation programs that 

23 minimize conflicts between North Atlantic right 

24 whales and human activities. 


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1 (3) To provide financial resources for those pro2 grams. 

3 TITLE I—NORTH ATLANTIC 

4 RIGHT WHALE CONSERVATION 

5 SEC. 101. NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE CONSERVATION 

6 ASSISTANCE. 

7 (a) ASSISTANCE.— 

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

9 funds and in consultation with other Federal offi10 cials, the Secretary of Commerce (in this title re11 ferred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall provide competi12 tive financial assistance, including multiyear grants, 

13 for projects for the conservation of North Atlantic 

14 right whales for which project proposals are ap15 proved by the Secretary in accordance with this sec16 tion. 

17 (2) USE OF EXISTING AUTHORITIES.—Assist18 ance provided under this section shall be carried out 

19 in a manner consistent with authorities available to 

20 the Secretary under the Endangered Species Act of 

21 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and the Marine 

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

23 seq.). 

24 (b) PROJECT PROPOSALS.— 


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1 (1) ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.—A project proposal 

2 may be submitted to the Secretary under this section 

3 by— 

4 (A) relevant State and tribal agencies, re5 search institutions, and nonprofit organizations 

6 with expertise required for the conservation of 

7 North Atlantic right whales; and 

8 (B) any other individual or entity, as de9 termined appropriate by the Secretary, with the 

10 expertise required for the conservation of North 

11 Atlantic right whales, including large whale 

12 disentanglement teams approved by the Na13 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

14 and members in good standing of the National 

15 Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Re16 sponse Program, sectors of the shipping and 

17 fishing industries, fishing gear manufacturers, 

18 and rope manufacturers. 

19 (2) FEDERAL PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES.— 

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

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

22 included as a partner or collaborator on a project 

23 that receives such funding. 

24 (3) REQUIRED ELEMENTS.—A project proposal 

25 shall include— 


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1 (A) a statement of the purposes of the 

2 project; 

3 (B) the name of the entity or individual 

4 with overall responsibility for the project; 

5 (C) a description of the qualifications of 

6 the entity or individuals that will conduct the 

7 project; 

8 (D) a description of— 

9 (i) methods for project implementa10 tion and outcome assessment; 

11 (ii) staffing and stakeholder engage12 ment for the project; 

13 (iii) the logistics of the project; 

14 (iv) an estimated timeline for the 

15 project; and 

16 (v) anticipated outcomes of the 

17 project; 

18 (E) a proposed budget for the funds and 

19 time required to complete the project; 

20 (F) information regarding the source and 

21 amount of matching funding available for the 

22 project; 

23 (G) information that demonstrates the 

24 clear potential of the project to contribute to 


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1 the conservation of North Atlantic right whales; 

2 and 

3 (H) any other information that the Sec4 retary considers to be necessary for evaluating 

5 the eligibility of the project for funding under 

6 this Act. 

7 (c) ANNUAL GRANT PROJECT PROPOSAL SOLICITA8 TION, REVIEW, AND APPROVAL.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall annu10 ally— 

11 (A) solicit project proposals for grants 

12 under this section; 

13 (B) provide to other Federal officials, as 

14 appropriate, copies of each proposal submitted 

15 in response to the solicitation; and 

16 (C) review each such proposal on a time17 line that recognizes the urgency of the declining 

18 North Atlantic right whale population to deter19 mine whether the proposal meets the criteria 

20 specified in subsection (d). 

21 (2) CONSULTATION; APPROVAL OR DIS22 APPROVAL.—Subject to the availability of funds, the 

23 Secretary shall, with respect to each project proposal 

24 submitted under this section, and after consulting 

25 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 102. 


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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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