Sponsors (2)
The bill encourages slower vessel speeds via voluntary, reputational incentives and stakeholder consultation to reduce air pollution and protect whales, but its voluntary design and lack of authorized funding may limit uptake, program administration, and impose uncompensated costs on operators.
Coastal residents and nearby communities: ships that slow to ≤10 knots reduce air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions, improving coastal air quality and lowering local health risks.
Whales and marine mammals (and communities that value them): slower vessel speeds lower the risk of fatal ship strikes and reduce harmful underwater noise, benefiting marine wildlife and coastal ecosystems.
Shipping companies and port communities: an award/logo and public labeling provide a reputational incentive for carriers to participate without requiring federal spending, encouraging voluntary adoption.
Carriers and the program's environmental goals: participation is voluntary and no financial incentives are authorized, so many carriers may decline to join and the emission and whale-protection benefits could be limited.
NOAA, program integrity, and oversight: no funding is authorized for the Program, which may limit NOAA's ability to verify compliance, track outcomes, and effectively run the award process.
Vessel operators and small businesses: ships that slow transit may face longer transit times and higher operational costs (time/fuel tradeoffs) without compensation, harming competitiveness or profitability for some operators.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a voluntary NOAA program to encourage vessel speed reductions in a designated area and awards compliant vessels to reduce whale strikes, noise, and emissions.
Creates a voluntary NOAA program called the Blue Whales and Blue Skies Program that encourages vessels to slow to 10 knots or less while transiting a designated Program area to reduce ship strikes on whales, cut underwater noise, and lower air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. The NOAA Under Secretary (working with the Coast Guard and EPA) must set up the program within 12 months, model the area, consult specified partners, issue an official logo for awardees, and annually give awards to vessels that verify compliance. Participation is fully voluntary, contains no new funding or financial incentives, must not interfere with navigation safety, and requires a report within four years on the feasibility of expanding the program to the entire Pacific coast shipping channels between Canada and Mexico.
Official title: To direct the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to establish a Blue Whales and Blue Skies Program to reduce air pollution and harmful underwater acoustic impacts and the risk of fatal vessel whale strikes by recognizing voluntary reductions in the speed of vessels transiting the western coast of the United States, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 8, 2026 by Salud Carbajal · Last progress June 8, 2026