I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3692 

To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to direct the Secretary 

of Commerce to establish a climate impact management plan for the 

conservation of certain marine mammal species, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 4, 2021 

Ms. BROWNLEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to 

direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish a climate 

impact management plan for the conservation of certain 

marine mammal species, 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 ‘‘Marine Mammal Cli5 mate Change Protection Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CONSERVATION OF MARINE MAMMALS ADVERSELY 

2 AFFECTED BY CLIMATE CHANGE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Marine Mammal Protection 

4 Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) is amended by in5 serting after section 120 the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 121. CONSERVATION OF MARINE MAMMALS AD7 VERSELY AFFECTED BY CLIMATE CHANGE. 

8 ‘‘(a) CLIMATE IMPACT MANAGEMENT PLANS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) Within 24 months after the date of enact10 ment of this section, the Secretary, in consultation 

11 with the Marine Mammal Commission, shall publish 

12 in the Federal Register, after notice and opportunity 

13 for public comment, a list of those marine mammal 

14 species and population stocks in waters under the 

15 jurisdiction of the United States for which climate 

16 change, alone or in combination or interaction with 

17 other factors, is more likely than not to result in a 

18 decline in population abundance, of impeding popu19 lation recovery, or of reducing carrying capacity. 

20 The list shall identify— 

21 ‘‘(A) any species or population stock for 

22 which such impacts are likely to occur within 

23 20 years; and 

24 ‘‘(B) any species or population stock listed 

25 as a threatened species or endangered species 

26 under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 


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1 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) for which such impacts 

2 have more than a remote possibility of occur3 ring within 100 years. 

4 ‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary, in consultation with the 

5 Marine Mammal Commission, shall review the list 

6 adopted pursuant to paragraph (1) at least once 

7 every 5 years, or more frequently if significant new 

8 information becomes available, and, after notice and 

9 opportunity for public comment, shall publish a re10 vised list in the Federal Register. 

11 ‘‘(B) Within 12 months after receiving the peti12 tion of an interested person under section 553(e) of 

13 title 5, United States Code, to add a marine mam14 mal species or population stock to the list published 

15 under paragraph (1), the Secretary, in consultation 

16 with the Marine Mammal Commission and after no17 tice and opportunity for public comment, shall pub18 lish in the Federal Register its finding of whether 

19 the petitioned action is warranted. If the petitioned 

20 action is deemed warranted, the Secretary shall pub21 lish at the same time the revision adding such spe22 cies or population stock. 

23 ‘‘(3) The list published under paragraph (1), 

24 and any revisions thereto made in accordance with 

25 paragraph (2), shall include a determination of 


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1 whether a climate impact management plan will pro2 mote the conservation of species or stocks listed pur3 suant to paragraph (1)(C). 

4 ‘‘(4)(A)(i) The Secretary shall publish in the 

5 Federal Register a draft climate impact management 

6 plan for each marine mammal species or population 

7 stock— 

8 ‘‘(I) listed under paragraph (1)(A), within 

9 18 months after the listing; and 

10 ‘‘(II) listed under paragraph (1)(B), within 

11 30 months after the listing. 

12 ‘‘(ii) Each draft climate impact management 

13 plan shall be developed in consultation with the Ma14 rine Mammal Commission and, as appropriate, other 

15 Federal agencies, and shall be made available for 

16 public review and comment for a period not to ex17 ceed 90 days. 

18 ‘‘(iii) No later than 120 days after the close of 

19 the comment period required under clause (ii), the 

20 Secretary shall issue a final climate impact manage21 ment plan and implementing regulations that are 

22 consistent with the other provisions of this section 

23 and, to the full extent available under the Sec24 retary’s authorities under this Act and other statVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:17 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3692.IH H3692

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1 utes, implement the conservation and management 

2 measures identified in the plan. 

3 ‘‘(B) Each management plan under subpara4 graph (A) shall include a comprehensive strategy for 

5 conserving and recovering of such marine mammal 

6 stocks and species given the anticipated direct and 

7 indirect effects of climate change and increasing re8 siliency in the species or population stock, and shall 

9 identify conservation and management measures 

10 to— 

11 ‘‘(i) conserve and recover such species and 

12 population stocks given the anticipated adverse 

13 effects of climate change on such species and 

14 population stocks and their prey; 

15 ‘‘(ii) monitor, reduce, and prevent inter16 actions with fisheries and other human activi17 ties that may occur as a result of changes in 

18 marine mammal distribution or other indirect 

19 effects of climate change; 

20 ‘‘(iii) increase resiliency by materially re21 ducing other human impacts on such species 

22 and population stocks, including but not limited 

23 to the reduction of incidental taking of marine 

24 mammals and of the degradation of the habitat 

25 of such species and population stocks, and by 


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1 managing prey species to improve the avail2 ability of prey to such species and population 

3 stocks; and 

4 ‘‘(iv) take any other action as may be nec5 essary to implement the strategy set forth in 

6 the plan. 

7 ‘‘(C) Each management plan under subpara8 graph (A) shall include objective, measurable criteria 

9 for evaluating the effectiveness and sufficiency of 

10 such measures to meet the purposes of this Act. 

11 ‘‘(D)(i) All other Federal agencies shall, in con12 sultation with and with the assistance of the Sec13 retary, utilize their authorities in furtherance of the 

14 strategy and conservation and management meas15 ures set forth in climate impact management plans 

16 developed under this subsection and ensure that 

17 their actions do not conflict or interfere with the ob18 jectives of such management plans. The Secretary 

19 shall consult with the Marine Mammal Commission 

20 and, as may be warranted, other agencies in the im21 plementation of such plans. 

22 ‘‘(ii) With respect to any Federal agency action 

23 authorized, funded, or undertaken by such agency 

24 that, in the view of the Secretary or of the agency, 

25 may conflict or interfere with the objectives of such 


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1 management plans, such agency shall, in consulta2 tion with the Secretary, ensure that such action is 

3 consistent with the management plans. To the extent 

4 that it is impossible for such action to be consistent 

5 with the management plan, the Secretary shall re6 quire measures to minimize any such conflicts, in 

7 addition to any other measures required by law, and 

8 the agency shall adopt such measures required by 

9 the Secretary. 

10 ‘‘(E) When appropriate, the Secretary may, and 

11 is encouraged to, integrate climate impact manage12 ment plans into conservation plans adopted under 

13 section 115(b) or recovery plans adopted under sec14 tion 4(f) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 

15 U.S.C. 1533(f)). 

16 ‘‘(F) The Secretary shall review climate impact 

17 management plans and implementing regulations at 

18 least once every 5 years, and shall revise and amend 

19 them as necessary to meet the goals and require20 ments of this section. Any changes shall be subject 

21 to the procedures and requirements applicable to the 

22 adoption of the initial plans and regulations. 

23 ‘‘(5) The Secretary shall report to Congress 4 

24 years after the date of enactment of this section, 

25 and every 2 years thereafter, on— 


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1 ‘‘(A) actions taken to implement this sec2 tion; 

3 ‘‘(B) any backlog in meeting the schedule 

4 set forth in this subsection for adopting, review5 ing, and implementing climate impact manage6 ment plans, or additional resources necessary to 

7 address any such backlog; and 

8 ‘‘(C) the effectiveness of implementation 

9 and sufficiency of the measures adopted in cli10 mate impact management plans, and any rec11 ommendations for improving the process or the 

12 applicable legislation. 

13 ‘‘(b) MONITORING OF CLIMATE IMPACTS.—The Sec14 retary shall establish a program within the National Oce15 anic and Atmospheric Administration to monitor the ad16 verse impacts of climate change on marine mammals. The 

17 purposes of the monitoring program shall be to— 

18 ‘‘(1) improve models of projected future 

19 changes in marine mammal distribution and den20 sities resulting from climate change; 

21 ‘‘(2) identify and monitor interactions with fish22 eries and other human activities that may occur as 

23 a result of changes in marine mammal distribution 

24 or other effects of climate change; 


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1 ‘‘(3) monitor the abundance of species and pop2 ulation stocks, to an extent sufficient to detect a 20 

3 percent population decline over 20 years; 

4 ‘‘(4) improve understanding of the impacts of 

5 climate change on marine mammal species and pop6 ulation stocks; and 

7 ‘‘(5) assess the direct and indirect contributions 

8 of marine mammals to carbon reduction, including 

9 through carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling. 

10 ‘‘(c) PROMULGATION OF REGULATIONS FOR LISTING

11 MARINE MAMMALS ADVERSELY IMPACTED BY CLIMATE

12 CHANGE.—The Secretary shall, within 120 days after the 

13 date of the enactment of this section— 

14 ‘‘(1) publish in the Federal Register for public 

15 comment, for a period of not less than 60 days, reg16 ulations for listing marine mammal species and pop17 ulation stocks adversely impacted by climate change, 

18 alone or in combination or interaction with other 

19 factors, as described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of 

20 subsection (a), taking into account both quantitative 

21 and qualitative indicators of adverse impacts of cli22 mate change and human activities on such species 

23 and stocks, including— 

24 ‘‘(A) direct and indirect mortality and seri25 ous injury; 


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1 ‘‘(B) loss or degradation of habitat; 

2 ‘‘(C) changes in the distribution or avail3 ability of prey; 

4 ‘‘(D) changes in the distribution of marine 

5 mammal species and population stocks; 

6 ‘‘(E) decreased genetic diversity or repro7 ductive success; 

8 ‘‘(F) increased susceptibility to pathogens; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(G) increased likelihood of interactions 

11 with fisheries and other human activities; and 

12 ‘‘(2) no later than 90 days after the close of the 

13 period for such public comment, publish in the Fed14 eral Register final regulations for listing marine 

15 mammals as required by paragraph (a), to be re16 viewed at least once every three years. 

17 ‘‘(d) LACK OF QUANTITATIVE INFORMATION.—The 

18 lack of quantitative information shall not be a basis for 

19 a determination under subsection (c) that a species or pop20 ulation stock is not adversely impacted by climate change, 

21 alone or in combination or interaction with other factors, 

22 as described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a). 

23 ‘‘(e) ESTIMATION OF POTENTIAL BIOLOGICAL RE24 MOVAL.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) The Secretary, in estimating the potential 

2 biological removal level in stock assessments pre3 pared in accordance with section 117, shall consider 

4 the adverse impacts of climate change in deter5 mining the recovery factor applied to each stock. 

6 ‘‘(2) The Secretary, in preparing stock assess7 ments in accordance with section 117, shall reexam8 ine the stock definition and geographic range of ma9 rine mammal species and population stocks to iden10 tify climate-related changes in spatial distribution 

11 and stock definition and to identify how such 

12 changes may affect human impacts to the species. 

13 ‘‘(f) AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO AGREEMENTS.— 

14 The Secretary shall— 

15 ‘‘(1) periodically review the status of agree16 ments with foreign governments under section 

17 108(a) concerning the management of transbound18 ary marine mammal species and population stocks, 

19 and their prey species, that are or may be affected 

20 by climate change; and 

21 ‘‘(2) through the Secretary of State, initiate the 

22 amendment of any such agreement, or negotiations 

23 for the development of bilateral or multinational 

24 agreements, consistent with the goals and policies of 

25 this section. 


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1 ‘‘(g) CONSTRUCTION.—This section shall not be con2 strued to limit or restrict any other responsibility of the 

3 Secretary or of any other person under this Act or any 

4 other statute. 

5 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) There is authorized to be appropriated to 

7 the Administrator carry out this section, $3,000,000 

8 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026. 

9 ‘‘(2) There is authorized to be appropriated to 

10 the Secretary of the Interior to carry out this sec11 tion, $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 

12 through 2026. 

13 ‘‘(3) There is authorized to be appropriated to 

14 the Marine Mammal Commission to carry out this 

15 section, $1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 

16 through 2026.’’. 

17 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

18 in the first section of such Act is amended by inserting 

19 after the item relating to section 120 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 121. Conservation of marine mammals adversely affected by climate 

change.’’. 

Æ 


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