I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6987 
To establish programs to reduce the impacts of vessel traffic and underwater 
noise on marine mammals, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 8, 2022 
Mr. LARSEN of Washington (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. BROWNLEY, 
Ms. STRICKLAND, and Ms. DELBENE) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addi-
tion to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Armed 
Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To establish programs to reduce the impacts of vessel traffic 
and underwater noise on marine mammals, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. MONITORING OCEAN SOUNDSCAPES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall maintain 
and expand an ocean soundscape development program 
that includes the Ocean Noise Reference Station Network 
of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
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and the National Park Service, using and coordinating 
with the Integrated Ocean Observing System, and may co-
ordinate as appropriate with Regional Ocean Partner-
ships, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Department 
of Defense to— 
(1) provide grants to expand the deployment of 
Federal and non-Federal observing and data man-
agement systems capable of collecting measurements 
of underwater sound in high-priority ocean and 
coastal locations for purposes of monitoring and 
analyzing baselines and trends in the underwater 
soundscape to protect and manage marine life; 
(2) continue to develop and apply standardized 
forms of measurements to assess sounds produced 
by marine animals, physical processes, and anthro-
pogenic activities; and 
(3) after coordinating with the Department of 
Defense, coordinate and make accessible to the pub-
lic the datasets, modeling and analysis, and user- 
driven products and tools, resulting from observa-
tions of underwater sound funded through grants 
authorized by this section. 
(b) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec-
tion, the Administrator shall consider the geographic di-
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versity of the recipients of such grants as much as prac-
ticable. 
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$1,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026. 
(d) ADMINISTRATOR DEFINED.—In this section, the 
term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Secretary of Commerce, 
acting through the Administrator of the National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration. 
SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR SEAPORTS TO ESTABLISH PROGRAMS 
TO REDUCE THE IMPACTS OF VESSEL TRAF-
FIC AND PORT OPERATIONS ON MARINE 
MAMMALS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in 
coordination with the Secretary of the department in 
which the Coast Guard is operating, shall establish a grant 
program to provide assistance to seaports to develop and 
implement mitigation measures that will lead to a quan-
tifiable reduction in impacts to marine mammals from ves-
sel traffic, including shipping activities and port oper-
ations. 
(b) ELIGIBLE USES.—A grant under this section may 
be used to develop, assess, and carry out activities that 
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