Sponsors (26)
The bill directs federal funds to improve whale monitoring and reduce vessel strikes—benefiting researchers, coastal economies, and conservation—but requires taxpayer spending, may impose costs on maritime operators, and could strain agency capacity and international collaboration.
Coast Guard, commercial and recreational vessel operators, and coastal communities will get high-resolution whale distribution maps plus a near real-time monitoring subprogram to enable faster mitigation and reduce vessel-whale collisions.
Researchers and scientists will receive dedicated funding and grants to map, survey, and develop detection technologies for migratory whales and large cetaceans, expanding scientific knowledge and monitoring capacity.
Small businesses in fishing, tourism, and maritime sectors will be prioritized for grants that aim to reduce lethal and sub‑lethal whale interactions and provide economic benefits to local industries.
Taxpayers will fund multi‑year authorizations totaling several tens of millions of dollars for mapping, surveys, grants, and program operations, increasing federal spending.
Commercial vessel operators and other maritime businesses may face new compliance or operational costs if maps or monitoring lead to Coast Guard carriage requirements or mandated mitigation measures.
Mandates and tight timelines for mapping, surveys, and triennial reviews could strain NOAA capacity and force reprioritization of other agency projects and staff time.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Expands and reorganizes a program to require mapping, surveying, monitoring, detection technology development, and a near real-time mitigation subprogram for migratory whales and large cetaceans.
Creates and expands a federal program to map, survey, monitor, and mitigate risks to migratory whales and other large cetaceans. It reorganizes an existing statute to add mapping and surveying, requires improved data collection and detection technology development, and establishes a near real-time monitoring and mitigation subprogram aimed at reducing vessel strikes and other harms. Directs the Under Secretary (in coordination with other federal agencies) to design and deploy a cost-effective near real-time monitoring and mitigation Subprogram focused on threatened or endangered cetaceans, updates a pilot project to require a strategic plan for expanding monitoring to more species and important habitats, and renames/reorganizes related subsections and cross-references; no new funding timeline is specified in the text provided.
Introduced February 3, 2026 by Doris Matsui · Last progress February 3, 2026