I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8795 
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 
NOVEMBER 20, 2020 
Ms. BROWNLEY of California 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 1972 (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 18 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, has more than a remote possibility of 
resulting in a decline in population abundance, of 
impeding population recovery, or of reducing car-
rying capacity. The list shall identify— 
‘‘(A) any species or population stock for 
which such impacts are likely to occur within 
20 years; 
‘‘(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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‘‘(3) The list published under paragraph (1), 
and any revisions made in accordance with para-
graph (2), shall include a determination of whether 
a climate impact management plan will promote the 
conservation of species or stocks listed pursuant to 
paragraph (1)(C). 
‘‘(4)(A)(i) The Secretary shall publish in the 
Federal Register a draft climate impact management 
plan, and proposed regulations implementing the 
plan, for each marine mammal species or population 
stock— 
‘‘(I) listed under paragraph (1)(A), within 
18 months after the listing; 
‘‘(II) listed under paragraph (1)(B), within 
30 months after the listing; and 
‘‘(III) listed under paragraph (1)(C) of 
this subsection, within 5 years after the listing 
if the Secretary determines that such a plan 
will promote the conservation of the species or 
stock. 
‘‘(ii) Each draft climate impact management 
plan shall be developed in consultation with the Ma-
rine Mammal Commission and, as appropriate, other 
Federal agencies, and shall be made available for 
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public review and comment for a period not to ex-
ceed 90 days. 
‘‘(iii) No later than 120 days after the close of 
the comment period required under clause (ii), the 
Secretary shall issue a final climate impact manage-
ment plan and implementing regulations that are 
consistent with the other provisions of this section 
and, to the full extent available under the Sec-
retary’s authorities under this Act and other stat-
utes, implement the conservation and management 
measures identified in the plan. 
‘‘(B) Each management plan under subpara-
graph (A) shall include a comprehensive strategy for 
mitigating the direct and indirect effects of climate 
change and increasing resiliency in the species or 
population stock, and shall identify conservation and 
management measures to— 
‘‘(i) mitigate to the extent possible the di-
rect adverse effects of climate change on such 
species and population stocks and their prey; 
‘‘(ii) monitor, reduce, and prevent inter-
actions with fisheries and other human activi-
ties that may occur as a result of changes in 
marine mammal distribution or other indirect 
effects of climate change; 
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‘‘(iii) increase resiliency by materially re-
ducing other human impacts on such species 
and population stocks, including but not limited 
to the reduction of incidental taking of marine 
mammals and of the degradation of the habitat 
of such species and population stocks, and by 
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) 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 
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and, as may be warranted, other agencies in the im-
plementation of such plans. 
‘‘(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— 
‘‘(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 
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‘‘(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 to monitor the adverse 
impacts of climate change on marine mammals. The pur-
poses 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; 
‘‘(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. 
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‘‘(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; 
‘‘(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 
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