IB 
Union Calendar No. 194 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1568 
[Report No. 116–244, Part I] 
To assist in the conservation of the North Atlantic right whale by supporting 
and providing financial resources for North Atlantic right whale conserva-
tion programs and projects of persons with expertise required for the 
conservation of North Atlantic right whales, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 6, 2019 
Mr. MOULTON (for himself, Mr. RUTHERFORD, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. POSEY, 
and Mr. KEATING) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee 
on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speak-
er, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the ju-
risdiction of the committee concerned 
OCTOBER 18, 2019 
Additional sponsors: Mr. MAST, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, 
Mr. SABLAN, Mr. CASTEN of Illinois, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. BUCHANAN, Ms. 
KUSTER of New Hampshire, Mr. COHEN, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. VAN DREW, 
Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. CASE, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. BEYER, Mr. SOTO, Mr. 
DEUTCH, 
Ms. 
CLARK
of 
Massachusetts, 
Mr. 
MCGOVERN, 
Mr. 
LOWENTHAL, Mr. JOHNSON
of Georgia, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. 
CUNNINGHAM, Mr. TRONE, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. PAPPAS, Ms. PRESSLEY, 
Ms. MUCARSEL-POWELL, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. NEAL, Mr. GRI-
JALVA, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. CRIST, 
Mr. SCHNEIDER, Ms. SLOTKIN, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. CASTOR 
of Florida, Mr. SUOZZI, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. TED LIEU of Cali-
fornia, Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. CARTER of Geor-
gia, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. HARDER of California, and Mr. SCHIFF 
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OCTOBER 18, 2019 
Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with an amendment 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
OCTOBER 18, 2019 
Committee on the Budget discharged; committed to the Committee of the 
Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 6, 2019] 
A BILL 
To assist in the conservation of the North Atlantic right 
whale by supporting and providing financial resources 
for North Atlantic right whale conservation programs 
and projects of persons with expertise required for the 
conservation of North Atlantic right whales, and for 
other purposes. 
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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 ‘‘Scientific Assistance for 
Very Endangered North Atlantic Right Whales Act of 2019’’ 
or the ‘‘SAVE Right Whales Act’’. 
TITLE I—NORTH ATLANTIC 
RIGHT WHALE CONSERVATION 
SEC. 101. NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE CONSERVATION 
ASSISTANCE. 
(a) ASSISTANCE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of 
funds and in consultation with other Federal officials, 
the Secretary of Commerce (in this title referred to as 
the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall provide competitive financial 
assistance, including multiyear grants, for projects for 
the conservation of North Atlantic right whales for 
which project proposals are approved by the Secretary 
in accordance with this section. 
(2) USE OF EXISTING AUTHORITIES.—Assistance 
provided under this section shall be carried out in a 
manner consistent with authorities available to the 
Secretary under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and the Marine Mammal 
Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.). 
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(b) PROJECT PROPOSALS.— 
(1) ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.—A project proposal 
may be submitted to the Secretary under this section 
by— 
(A) relevant State and tribal agencies, re-
search institutions, and nonprofit organizations 
with expertise required for the conservation of 
North Atlantic right whales; and 
(B) any other individual or entity, as deter-
mined appropriate by the Secretary, with the ex-
pertise required for the conservation of North At-
lantic right whales, including large whale 
disentanglement teams approved by the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and 
members in good standing of the National Ma-
rine Mammal Health and Stranding Response 
Program, sectors of the shipping and fishing in-
dustries, fishing gear manufacturers, and rope 
manufacturers. 
(2) FEDERAL PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES.—A 
Federal agency may not be a lead entity or receive 
funding for a project under this section, but may be 
included as a partner or collaborator on a project 
that receives such funding. 
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(3) REQUIRED ELEMENTS.—A project proposal 
shall include— 
(A) a statement of the purposes of the 
project; 
(B) the name of the entity or individual 
with overall responsibility for the project; 
(C) a description of the qualifications of the 
entity or individuals that will conduct the 
project; 
(D) a description of— 
(i) methods for project implementation 
and outcome assessment; 
(ii) staffing and stakeholder engage-
ment for the project; 
(iii) the logistics of the project; 
(iv) an estimated timeline for the 
project; and 
(v) anticipated outcomes of the project; 
(E) a proposed budget for the funds and 
time required to complete the project; 
(F) information regarding the source and 
amount of matching funding available for the 
project; 
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(G) information that demonstrates the clear 
potential of the project to contribute to the con-
servation of North Atlantic right whales; and 
(H) any other information that the Sec-
retary considers to be necessary for evaluating 
the eligibility of the project for funding under 
this Act. 
(c) ANNUAL GRANT PROJECT PROPOSAL SOLICITA-
TION, REVIEW, AND APPROVAL.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall annu-
ally— 
(A) solicit project proposals for grants 
under this section; 
(B) provide to other Federal officials, as ap-
propriate, copies of each proposal submitted in 
response to the solicitation; and 
(C) review each such proposal on a timeline 
that recognizes the urgency of the declining 
North Atlantic right whale population to deter-
mine whether the proposal meets the criteria 
specified in subsection (d). 
(2) 
CONSULTATION; 
APPROVAL
OR
DIS-
APPROVAL.—Subject to the availability of funds, the 
Secretary shall, with respect to each project proposal 
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submitted under this section, and after consulting 
with other Federal officials, as appropriate— 
(A) consult with respect to the proposal 
with the government of each State and foreign 
country in which the project is to be conducted; 
(B) after taking into consideration any 
comments resulting from the consultation and 
any potential losses that could be incurred to the 
fishing industry as a result of the proposal, ap-
prove or disapprove the proposal; and 
(C) provide written notification of the ap-
proval or disapproval to the individual or entity 
that submitted the proposal, other Federal offi-
cials, and each State and foreign country de-
scribed in subparagraph (A). 
(d) CRITERIA FOR APPROVAL.—The Secretary may 
approve a project proposal under this section if the project 
shows promise for contributing to recovering and sustaining 
a viable population of North Atlantic right whales in the 
wild by assisting efforts to— 
(1) implement conservation programs; 
(2) address the unintentional conflicts between 
humans and North Atlantic right whales through de-
velopment, testing, and use of innovative technology 
or other methods to reduce the lethal and sub-lethal ef-
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fects on North Atlantic right whales from vessel colli-
sions and fishing gear entanglements; 
(3) promote cooperative projects on such topics 
with foreign governments; or 
(4) promote cooperative projects on such topics 
with affected local communities, small businesses such 
as fishermen, others in the private sector, or non-
governmental organizations. 
(e) PRIORITY.—To the extent practicable, in deter-
mining whether to approve project proposals under this sec-
tion, the Secretary shall prioritize projects that are designed 
to reduce the lethal and sub-lethal effects of human activities 
on North Atlantic right whales. In prioritizing such 
projects, the Secretary shall prioritize, among such projects, 
projects that are cooperative in nature and include fishing 
or shipping sector participants. 
(f) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (3), the non-Federal share of the costs of an ac-
tivity conducted with financial assistance under this 
section shall be 25 percent of such costs. 
(2) IN-KIND
CONTRIBUTIONS.—The Secretary 
may apply to the non-Federal share of an activity 
conducted with financial assistance under this section 
the amount of funds, and the fair market value of 
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property and services, provided by non-Federal 
sources and used for the activity. 
(3) WAIVER OF REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary 
may waive the application of paragraph (1) if the 
Secretary finds that such waiver is necessary to sup-
port a conservation project that the Secretary has 
identified as of high priority. 
(g) PROJECT REPORTING.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Each individual or entity 
that receives assistance under this section for a project 
shall submit to the Secretary periodic reports (at such 
intervals as the Secretary may require) that include 
all information that the Secretary, after consultation 
with other government officials, determines is nec-
essary to evaluate the progress and success of the 
project for the purposes of ensuring positive results, 
assessing problems, and fostering improvements. 
(2) AVAILABILITY
TO
THE
PUBLIC.—Reports 
under paragraph (1), and any other documents relat-
ing to projects for which financial assistance is pro-
vided under this Act, shall be made available to the 
public in a timely manner. 
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SEC. 102. NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE INTERAGENCY 
BUDGET. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of Man-
agement and Budget shall include, in the budget of the 
President submitted to Congress under section 1105(a) of 
title 31, United States Code, for fiscal year 2021 and each 
fiscal year thereafter, an interagency budget that displays 
for each Federal agency that engages in North Atlantic 
right whale activities— 
(1) the amount of appropriations and expendi-
tures for the preceding fiscal year for such activities 
and a description of such activities; 
(2) the estimated amount to be expended during 
the current fiscal year for such activities and a de-
scription of such activities; and 
(3) the amount estimated to be necessary for the 
next fiscal year for such activities and a description 
of such activities. 
(b) NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE ACTIVITIES DE-
FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘North Atlantic right 
whale activities’’ means any activity of a Federal agency 
to study, observe, monitor, manage, protect, conserve, or re-
store the North Atlantic right whale population through di-
rect or indirect means, including through the provision of 
competitive financial assistance to non-Federal entities. 
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SEC. 103. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 
Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall sub-
mit to Congress a report on the results and effectiveness of 
projects receiving assistance provided under this title, in-
cluding recommendations concerning how this title might 
be improved and whether funding for this title should be 
continued in the future. 
SEC. 104. FUNDING. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
(1) AUTHORIZATION.—There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this title 
$5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2029. 
(2) 
ADMINISTRATIVE
EXPENSES.—Of 
the 
amounts authorized to be appropriated under this 
subsection for a fiscal year, the Secretary may expend 
not more than 5 percent, or up to $80,000, whichever 
is greater, to pay the administrative expenses nec-
essary to carry out this Act. 
(3) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—The amount 
authorized to be appropriated by paragraph (1) shall 
supplement and not supplant other amounts available 
to the Secretary. 
(b) ACCEPTANCE AND USE OF DONATIONS.—The Sec-
retary may accept, receive, solicit, hold, administer, and use 
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any gift, devise, or bequest to provide assistance under sec-
tion 5. 
TITLE II—CONTINUOUS 
PLANKTON RECORDER 
SEC. 201. SURVEY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, and on an ongoing basis 
thereafter, the Secretary of Commerce shall conduct a con-
tinuous plankton recorder survey. 
(b) REQUIRED ELEMENTS.—For the purpose of con-
ducting the survey required under subsection (a), the Sec-
retary of Commerce shall— 
(1) to the extent possible, utilize the resources of 
and partner with, on a volunteer basis, research insti-
tutions, nonprofit organizations, commercial vessels, 
and other Federal agencies; 
(2) in as short a time as possible, ensure relevant 
survey samples and results are analyzed, stored, 
archived, and made publicly available; 
(3) prioritize the collection of plankton samples 
and data that inform the conservation of North At-
lantic right whales; and 
(4) to the extent practicable, coordinate with the 
Government of Canada to develop a transboundary 
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understanding of plankton abundance and distribu-
tion. 
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 
out this section there is authorized to be appropriated to 
the Secretary of Commerce $300,000 for each of fiscal years 
2019 through 2029. 
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