Summary

Prohibits the Secretary of Commerce (acting through NOAA) from imposing new prohibitions or requiring separate authorization for installation, presence, operation, maintenance, repair, or recovery of undersea fiber‑optic cables inside a national marine sanctuary when a federal or state license, lease, or permit already authorizes those activities. It also authorizes the Secretary to direct NOAA to engage in interagency cooperation for federal actions involving such cable activities in sanctuaries. The change limits NOAA’s ability to add additional sanctuary-specific permitting or prohibitions for undersea fiber‑optic cable projects that already hold state or federal permits, and creates a mechanism for interagency coordination rather than duplicate sanctuary-level review. The text does not provide new funding or set an effective date.

• Prevents NOAA/the Secretary of Commerce from adding new prohibitions or separate permit requirements for undersea fiber‑optic cable activities inside national marine sanctuaries when a federal or state permit already authorizes those activities.
• Covers installation, presence, operation, maintenance, repair, and recovery of undersea fiber‑optic cables.
• Authorizes NOAA to use interagency coordination (under existing law) for federal actions involving these cable activities.
• Does not provide new funding or set an effective date in the text provided.
• Narrows sanctuary regulatory authority in situations where other federal or state permits are already in place.
• Affects telecommunications and submarine cable operators by reducing potential duplicative sanctuary review.
• May raise concerns from sanctuary managers, environmental groups, or researchers about limits on additional sanctuary protections.
• Applies only to undersea fiber‑optic cables—other sanctuary activities remain subject to existing sanctuary rules unless separately addressed.