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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Marine Mammal Cli-
mate Change Protection Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. CONSERVATION OF MARINE MAMMALS ADVERSELY 
AFFECTED BY CLIMATE CHANGE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Marine Mammal Protection 
Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) is amended by in-
serting after section 120 the following: 
‘‘SEC. 121. CONSERVATION OF MARINE MAMMALS AD-
VERSELY AFFECTED BY CLIMATE CHANGE. 
‘‘(a) CLIMATE IMPACT MANAGEMENT PLANS.— 
‘‘(1) Within 24 months after the date of enact-
ment of this section, the Secretary, in consultation 
with the Marine Mammal Commission, shall publish 
in the Federal Register, after notice and opportunity 
for public comment, a list of those marine mammal 
species and population stocks in waters under the 
jurisdiction of the United States for which climate 
change, alone or in combination or interaction with 
other factors, is more likely than not to result in a 
decline in population abundance, of impeding popu-
lation recovery, or of reducing carrying capacity. 
The list shall identify— 
‘‘(A) any species or population stock for 
which such impacts are likely to occur within 
20 years; and 
‘‘(B) any species or population stock listed 
as a threatened species or endangered species 
under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 
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U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) for which such impacts 
have more than a remote possibility of occur-
ring within 100 years. 
‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary, in consultation with the 
Marine Mammal Commission, shall review the list 
adopted pursuant to paragraph (1) at least once 
every 5 years, or more frequently if significant new 
information becomes available, and, after notice and 
opportunity for public comment, shall publish a re-
vised list in the Federal Register. 
‘‘(B) Within 12 months after receiving the peti-
tion of an interested person under section 553(e) of 
title 5, United States Code, to add a marine mam-
mal species or population stock to the list published 
under paragraph (1), the Secretary, in consultation 
with the Marine Mammal Commission and after no-
tice and opportunity for public comment, shall pub-
lish in the Federal Register its finding of whether 
the petitioned action is warranted. If the petitioned 
action is deemed warranted, the Secretary shall pub-
lish at the same time the revision adding such spe-
cies or population stock. 
‘‘(3) The list published under paragraph (1), 
and any revisions thereto made in accordance with 
paragraph (2), shall include a determination of 
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managing prey species to improve the avail-
ability of prey to such species and population 
stocks; and 
‘‘(iv) take any other action as may be nec-
essary to implement the strategy set forth in 
the plan. 
‘‘(C) Each management plan under subpara-
graph (A) shall include objective, measurable criteria 
for evaluating the effectiveness and sufficiency of 
such measures to meet the purposes of this Act. 
‘‘(D)(i) All other Federal agencies shall, in con-
sultation with and with the assistance of the Sec-
retary, utilize their authorities in furtherance of the 
strategy and conservation and management meas-
ures set forth in climate impact management plans 
developed under this subsection and ensure that 
their actions do not conflict or interfere with the ob-
jectives of such management plans. The Secretary 
shall consult with the Marine Mammal Commission 
and, as may be warranted, other agencies in the im-
plementation of such plans. 
‘‘(ii) With respect to any Federal agency action 
authorized, funded, or undertaken by such agency 
that, in the view of the Secretary or of the agency, 
may conflict or interfere with the objectives of such 
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management plans, such agency shall, in consulta-
tion with the Secretary, ensure that such action is 
consistent with the management plans. To the extent 
that it is impossible for such action to be consistent 
with the management plan, the Secretary shall re-
quire measures to minimize any such conflicts, in 
addition to any other measures required by law, and 
the agency shall adopt such measures required by 
the Secretary. 
‘‘(E) When appropriate, the Secretary may, and 
is encouraged to, integrate climate impact manage-
ment plans into conservation plans adopted under 
section 115(b) or recovery plans adopted under sec-
tion 4(f) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 
U.S.C. 1533(f)). 
‘‘(F) The Secretary shall review climate impact 
management plans and implementing regulations at 
least once every 5 years, and shall revise and amend 
them as necessary to meet the goals and require-
ments of this section. Any changes shall be subject 
to the procedures and requirements applicable to the 
adoption of the initial plans and regulations. 
‘‘(5) The Secretary shall report to Congress 4 
years after the date of enactment of this section, 
and every 2 years thereafter, on— 
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‘‘(A) actions taken to implement this sec-
tion; 
‘‘(B) any backlog in meeting the schedule 
set forth in this subsection for adopting, review-
ing, and implementing climate impact manage-
ment plans, or additional resources necessary to 
address any such backlog; and 
‘‘(C) the effectiveness of implementation 
and sufficiency of the measures adopted in cli-
mate impact management plans, and any rec-
ommendations for improving the process or the 
applicable legislation. 
‘‘(b) MONITORING OF CLIMATE IMPACTS.—The Sec-
retary shall establish a program within the National Oce-
anic and Atmospheric Administration to monitor the ad-
verse impacts of climate change on marine mammals. The 
purposes of the monitoring program shall be to— 
‘‘(1) improve models of projected future 
changes in marine mammal distribution and den-
sities resulting from climate change; 
‘‘(2) identify and monitor interactions with fish-
eries and other human activities that may occur as 
a result of changes in marine mammal distribution 
or other effects of climate change; 
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‘‘(3) monitor the abundance of species and pop-
ulation stocks, to an extent sufficient to detect a 20 
percent population decline over 20 years; 
‘‘(4) improve understanding of the impacts of 
climate change on marine mammal species and pop-
ulation stocks; and 
‘‘(5) assess the direct and indirect contributions 
of marine mammals to carbon reduction, including 
through carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling. 
‘‘(c) PROMULGATION OF REGULATIONS FOR LISTING 
MARINE MAMMALS ADVERSELY IMPACTED BY CLIMATE 
CHANGE.—The Secretary shall, within 120 days after the 
date of the enactment of this section— 
‘‘(1) publish in the Federal Register for public 
comment, for a period of not less than 60 days, reg-
ulations for listing marine mammal species and pop-
ulation stocks adversely impacted by climate change, 
alone or in combination or interaction with other 
factors, as described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of 
subsection (a), taking into account both quantitative 
and qualitative indicators of adverse impacts of cli-
mate change and human activities on such species 
and stocks, including— 
‘‘(A) direct and indirect mortality and seri-
ous injury; 
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‘‘(B) loss or degradation of habitat; 
‘‘(C) changes in the distribution or avail-
ability of prey; 
‘‘(D) changes in the distribution of marine 
mammal species and population stocks; 
‘‘(E) decreased genetic diversity or repro-
ductive success; 
‘‘(F) increased susceptibility to pathogens; 
and 
‘‘(G) increased likelihood of interactions 
with fisheries and other human activities; and 
‘‘(2) no later than 90 days after the close of the 
period for such public comment, publish in the Fed-
eral Register final regulations for listing marine 
mammals as required by paragraph (a), to be re-
viewed at least once every three years. 
‘‘(d) LACK OF QUANTITATIVE INFORMATION.—The 
lack of quantitative information shall not be a basis for 
a determination under subsection (c) that a species or pop-
ulation stock is not adversely impacted by climate change, 
alone or in combination or interaction with other factors, 
as described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a). 
‘‘(e) ESTIMATION OF POTENTIAL BIOLOGICAL RE-
MOVAL.— 
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‘‘(1) The Secretary, in estimating the potential 
biological removal level in stock assessments pre-
pared in accordance with section 117, shall consider 
the adverse impacts of climate change in deter-
mining the recovery factor applied to each stock. 
‘‘(2) The Secretary, in preparing stock assess-
ments in accordance with section 117, shall reexam-
ine the stock definition and geographic range of ma-
rine mammal species and population stocks to iden-
tify climate-related changes in spatial distribution 
and stock definition and to identify how such 
changes may affect human impacts to the species. 
‘‘(f) AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO AGREEMENTS.— 
The Secretary shall— 
‘‘(1) periodically review the status of agree-
ments with foreign governments under section 
108(a) concerning the management of transbound-
ary marine mammal species and population stocks, 
and their prey species, that are or may be affected 
by climate change; and 
‘‘(2) through the Secretary of State, initiate the 
amendment of any such agreement, or negotiations 
for the development of bilateral or multinational 
agreements, consistent with the goals and policies of 
this section. 
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