Sponsors (7)
The bill directs new, funded planning and monitoring to protect marine mammals from climate threats—improving long-term conservation and coordination—at the cost of additional federal spending and potential regulatory, permitting, and compliance burdens for fishing communities, coastal projects, and agencies.
Coastal and rural communities (and the marine species they depend on): NOAA must identify marine mammal stocks most at risk from climate change and create risk-based conservation plans within 24 months with 5-year reviews, enabling targeted protection actions.
Marine mammals and fisheries managers: Climate impacts will be integrated into stock assessments and recovery planning, encouraging more precautionary limits on harmful interactions and improving prospects for long-term species recovery.
Federal agencies and resource managers: A new monitoring program will detect long-term population declines (e.g., 20% over 20 years), providing earlier warning signals and better evidence for management actions.
Fishing communities and related businesses: New precautionary limits and other regulatory measures to reduce fisheries interactions could impose additional costs, restrictions, or reduced fishing opportunities.
Federal agencies and staff: Tight deadlines and new procedural requirements (rapid rulemaking, short comment-to-final timeframes) may strain agency capacity, risking rushed rules or uneven coverage that leaves some species or areas insufficiently addressed.
Local governments, developers, and small businesses near coasts: Requirements that other agencies avoid conflicts with marine mammal plans could complicate permitting and infrastructure projects, causing delays or higher compliance costs for coastal development.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires NOAA to list marine mammal stocks at risk from climate change, make management plans with public comment and monitoring, and funds NOAA, Interior, and the Marine Mammal Commission.
Requires NOAA to identify marine mammal species and stocks in U.S. waters that are more likely than not to be harmed by climate change and to create, publish, and implement climate impact management plans for them. Sets deadlines for lists, reviews, drafts, and final plans; requires public notice-and-comment and interagency consultation; mandates monitoring and specific scientific criteria; and authorizes multi‑year funding for NOAA, the Department of the Interior, and the Marine Mammal Commission.
Introduced April 27, 2026 by Julia Brownley · Last progress April 27, 2026