Sponsors (8)
The bill creates targeted, funded mandates to identify and protect marine mammals from climate impacts—improving conservation and coordination—while increasing federal spending and imposing potential regulatory, permitting, and economic costs on fishing, development, and agencies under tight deadlines.
NOAA and related agencies will be required to identify marine mammal stocks at heightened risk from climate change and produce risk-based conservation plans within specified timelines, giving coastal and rural communities clearer, targeted protections for species they depend on.
Federal marine conservation and management agencies (NOAA, DOI, Marine Mammal Commission) will receive dedicated, multi-year funding ($10M/yr NOAA, $5M/yr DOI, $1M/yr Commission for FY2027–2031) to implement plans and monitoring, supporting agency work and jobs to carry out the law.
Fisheries managers and federal scientists get a new monitoring program to detect long-term population declines (e.g., 20% over 20 years), improving early warning and management of marine mammal losses.
Fishing communities and related businesses could face new regulatory measures or limits to reduce fisheries interactions with vulnerable marine mammals, imposing direct economic costs or reduced fishing opportunities.
Rapid timelines, required rulemaking, and tight deadlines may strain agency capacity, causing rushed rules, resource diversion, or uneven attention that could leave some species or areas insufficiently addressed.
The dedicated funding increases (about $16M/year total) add to federal spending and could increase costs for taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires NOAA to list marine mammal stocks harmed by climate change and to develop, publish, and implement climate impact management plans with timelines, monitoring, consultation, and funding.
Official title: 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.
Introduced April 27, 2026 by Julia Brownley · Last progress April 27, 2026
Requires NOAA to identify marine mammal species and stocks in U.S. waters that are likely to be harmed by climate change and to create, publish, and implement climate impact management plans for those species. The agency must follow set timelines for listing, planning, review, public notice-and-comment, interagency consultation, monitoring, and rulemaking; other federal agencies are directed to avoid actions that conflict with the plans. The bill authorizes multiyear funding for NOAA, the Department of the Interior, and the Marine Mammal Commission to carry out these duties.