I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 9972 
To implement the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 11, 2024 
Mr. HUFFMAN (for himself and Mr. FITZPATRICK) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in 
addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To implement the Agreement on the Conservation of 
Albatrosses and Petrels, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Albatross and Petrel Conservation Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Definitions. 
TITLE I—CONSERVATION MEASURES 
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Sec. 101. Reestablishment of species. 
Sec. 102. Management of nonnative species. 
Sec. 103. Habitat conservation and restoration. 
Sec. 104. Management of human activities. 
Sec. 105. Education and public awareness. 
TITLE II—PROHIBITED ACTS, PERMITS, AND EXEMPTIONS 
Sec. 201. Prohibited acts. 
Sec. 202. Authorization of take. 
Sec. 203. Exemption. 
TITLE III—PENALTIES AND ENFORCEMENT 
Sec. 301. Enforcement. 
TITLE IV—AGREEMENT AUTHORITY 
Sec. 401. Agreement authority. 
Sec. 402. Reporting. 
Sec. 403. General coordination. 
TITLE V—INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND ASSISTANCE 
Sec. 501. Cooperation among nations. 
TITLE VI—BYCATCH AND EQUIVALENT CONSERVATION 
Sec. 601. Protected living marine resources. 
TITLE VII—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 
Sec. 701. Regulatory authority. 
Sec. 702. Administration. 
Sec. 703. Effective date. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Advi-
sory Committee’’ means the Advisory Committee es-
tablished by Article IX of the Agreement. 
(2) AGREEMENT.—Each of the terms ‘‘Agree-
ment on the Conservation of Albatrosses and 
Petrels’’ and ‘‘Agreement’’ means the Agreement on 
the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, done at 
Cape Town, South Africa, on February 2, 2001. 
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(3) COVERED ALBATROSSES AND PETRELS.— 
The terms ‘‘covered albatrosses and petrels’’ and 
‘‘covered albatross or petrel’’ mean any species, sub-
species, population, or individual within the taxo-
nomic order Procellariiformes that is listed under 
Annex I of the Agreement, whether dead or alive, in-
cluding any part, egg, derivative nest, or product of 
such a species, subspecies, population, or individual. 
(4) 
ANTARCTICA.—The 
term 
‘‘Antarctica’’ 
means the area south of 60 degrees south latitude. 
(5) BREEDING SITE.—The term ‘‘breeding site’’ 
means— 
(A) a location in the wild at which any cov-
ered albatross or petrel eggs, tended by the par-
ent birds, have successfully hatched at any time 
in the previous 5 years; or 
(B) a location where reestablishment of 
breeding covered albatrosses and petrels is un-
derway. 
(6) CONSERVATION MEASURE.—The term ‘‘con-
servation measure’’ means any action taken for the 
purpose of achieving or maintaining the favorable 
conservation status of covered albatrosses and 
petrels. 
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(7) DISTURB AND DISTURBANCE.—Each of the 
terms ‘‘disturb’’ and ‘‘disturbance’’ means any act 
that interferes with the natural behavioral patterns 
of covered albatrosses and petrels, including migra-
tion, brooding, nesting, breeding, feeding, or shel-
tering, to a point at which such behavioral patterns 
are abandoned or significantly altered. 
(8) FAVORABLE CONSERVATION STATUS.—The 
term ‘‘favorable conservation status’’ has the mean-
ing given the term in Article I of the Agreement. 
(9) HABITAT.—The term ‘‘habitat’’ means any 
area within the range, that contains suitable living 
conditions for covered albatrosses and petrels, in-
cluding appropriate nesting and foraging areas. 
(10) MAGNUSON-STEVENS
ACT.—The term 
‘‘Magnuson-Stevens Act’’ means the Magnuson-Ste-
vens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 
U.S.C. 1801 et seq.). 
(11) PARTY.—The term ‘‘Party’’ means any 
country (including the United States) or regional 
economic integration organization that has ratified 
or acceded to the Agreement. 
(12) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means— 
(A) any individual (whether or not a cit-
izen or national of the United States); 
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(B) any corporation, partnership, associa-
tion, or other entity (whether or not existing 
under the laws of any State); and 
(C) any Federal, State, local, or foreign 
government or any entity of such a government. 
(13) RANGE.—The term ‘‘range’’ means— 
(A) all land or water that any covered 
albatrosses and petrels inhabit, stay in tempo-
rarily, cross, or over-fly, at any time during mi-
gration, breeding, feeding, or aggregating; and 
(B) any other areas that the Secretary or 
the Secretary of Commerce determines have 
been used for any of those purposes. 
(14) RANGE STATE.—The term ‘‘range state’’ 
means any country— 
(A) that exercises jurisdiction over any 
part of a range; or 
(B) the flagged vessels of which are en-
gaged outside of the jurisdictional limits of the 
country in take, or in an activity that has the 
potential to take. 
(15) REGIONAL FISHERY MANAGEMENT COUN-
CIL.—The term ‘‘Regional Fishery Management 
Council’’ means any Regional Fishery Management 
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Council established by section 302(a)(1) of the Mag-
nuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. 1852(a)(1)). 
(16) SECRETARIAT.—The term ‘‘Secretariat’’ 
means the Secretariat established by the Parties to 
the Agreement pursuant to paragraph 11 of Article 
VIII. 
(17) 
SECRETARY.—The 
term 
‘‘Secretary’’ 
means the Secretary of the Interior. 
(18) TAKE.—The term ‘‘take’’ means to harm-
fully interfere with, harass, pursue, hunt, shoot, 
wound, kill, trap, capture, destroy, possess, or col-
lect. 
(19) UNITED
STATES.—The term ‘‘United 
States’’ means— 
(A) each of the several States; 
(B) the District of Columbia; 
(C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 
(D) the United States Virgin Islands; 
(E) American Samoa; 
(F) Guam; 
(G) the Commonwealth of the Northern 
Mariana Islands; and 
(H) any other commonwealth, territory, or 
possession of the United States. 
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(20) WATERS SUBJECT TO THE JURISDICTION 
OF THE UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘waters subject 
to the jurisdiction of the United States’’ means— 
(A) the waters of the United States terri-
torial sea under Presidential Proclamation 
5928, dated December 27, 1988 (43 U.S.C. 
1331 note); 
(B) the exclusive economic zone (as defined 
in section 107 of title 46, United States Code); 
and 
(C) the areas referred to as ‘‘eastern spe-
cial areas’’ in Article 3(1) of the Agreement be-
tween the United States of America and the 
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Mar-
itime Boundary, signed at Washington, June 1, 
1990 (T. Doc. 101–22), including those areas 
east of the maritime boundary, as defined in 
that Agreement, that lie within 200 nautical 
miles of the baselines from which the breadth of 
the territorial sea of Russia is measured but be-
yond 200 nautical miles of the baselines from 
which the breadth of the territorial sea of the 
United States is measured. 
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TITLE I—CONSERVATION 
MEASURES 
SEC. 101. REESTABLISHMENT OF SPECIES. 
The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of 
Commerce, as appropriate, may carry out activities, based 
on the best available scientific information, to reestablish 
covered albatrosses and petrels within the range. 
SEC. 102. MANAGEMENT OF NONNATIVE SPECIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary or the Secretary of 
Commerce, as appropriate, in consultation with each other 
and with the heads of other relevant Federal agencies, and 
consistent with this Act and any other applicable law, may 
carry out activities to prevent the introduction of, eradi-
cate, or control invasive and nonnative species that have 
or may have an adverse effect on covered albatrosses and 
petrels. 
(b) INCLUDED ACTIVITIES.—The activities under 
subsection (a) may include— 
(1) implementation of management plans for 
such invasive or nonnative species; 
(2) research on and development of practical 
and effective techniques to eradicate or control 
invasive or nonnative species; 
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(3) development of regional assessments on es-
tablished and newly discovered populations of 
invasive or nonnative species; 
(4) development of decision-support tools to 
prevent the introduction or establishment of invasive 
or nonnative species; 
(5) development of rapid response approaches 
and techniques; 
(6) documentation of— 
(A) any invasive or nonnative species that 
coexist with humans; and 
(B) delineation of areas in which eradi-
cation or control of those species would be most 
effective and cost efficient; 
(7) eradication or control of established popu-
lations or individuals of invasive or nonnative spe-
cies; and 
(8) outreach and education related to— 
(A) the impacts of invasive or nonnative 
species on covered albatrosses and petrels; and 
(B) the techniques to eradicate or control 
those species. 
SEC. 103. HABITAT CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION. 
(a) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.— 
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(1) USE OF OTHER AUTHORITIES.—The Sec-
retary may use authority available under any other 
laws for the protection of wildlife to conserve, pro-
tect, 
and 
restore 
breeding 
sites 
of 
covered 
albatrosses and petrels, including authority under— 
(A) the Migratory Bird Conservation Act 
(16 U.S.C. 715 et seq.); 
(B) the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act 
(16 U.S.C. 661 et seq.); 
(C) the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 (16 
U.S.C. 742a, et seq.); and 
(D) any other cooperative or land-acquisi-
tion authority vested in the Secretary. 
(2) MANAGEMENT PLANS AND CONSERVATION 
MEASURES.—The Secretary, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Commerce, may develop and implement 
management plans and undertake measures for the 
conservation and protection of covered albatross and 
petrel habitat. 
(b) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OF COMMERCE.— 
The Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Sec-
retary, may— 
(1) develop and implement management plans 
and undertake conservation measures in marine 
habitats to ensure the sustainability of living marine 
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resources that provide food for such covered 
albatrosses and petrels; and 
(2) use authority under law to conserve and 
protect marine habitat important to the conservation 
of covered albatrosses and petrels, including such 
authority under— 
(A) the National Marine Sanctuaries Act 
(16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.); and 
(B) the Magnuson-Stevens Act. 
SEC. 104. MANAGEMENT OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES. 
(a) POLLUTANTS AND MARINE DEBRIS.— 
(1) RESEARCH.—The Secretary and the Sec-
retary of Commerce may undertake scientific re-
search to assess the effects of pollutants and marine 
debris on covered albatrosses and petrels. 
(2) MARINE DEBRIS.—The Secretary and the 
Secretary of Commerce may each develop and imple-
ment conservation measures to minimize the effects 
of, or threats posed by, marine debris on covered 
albatrosses and petrels. 
(b) PREVENTION, MINIMIZATION, OR MITIGATION OF 
TAKE AND DISTURBANCE.—The Secretary and the Sec-
retary of Commerce— 
(1) in consultation with each other and con-
sistent with the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 
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U.S.C. 703 et seq.) and any other authority, may 
develop and implement measures, including by 
issuing regulations, to prevent, minimize, or miti-
gate— 
(A) the take of covered albatrosses and 
petrels— 
(i) on lands or in waters subject to 
the jurisdiction of the United States; and 
(ii) by vessels and nationals of the 
United States located outside the jurisdic-
tion of the United States; and 
(B) the disturbance of covered albatrosses 
and petrels— 
(i) on lands or in waters subject to 
the jurisdiction of the United States; and 
(ii) by vessels and nationals of the 
United States located outside the jurisdic-
tion of the United States; and 
(2) shall— 
(A) notify the Secretary of the department 
in which the Coast Guard is operating of any 
actions taken under this subsection, to ensure a 
coordinated effort to prevent, minimize, or miti-
gate the taking of covered albatrosses and 
petrels; and 
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