Sponsors (26)
The bill improves whale detection, real‑time response, and funds innovation to reduce ship strikes and support coastal businesses, but does so at modest additional federal cost while adding administrative burdens and leaving some regions or stocks potentially underserved.
State and local governments and coastal small businesses (especially fishing and tourism operators) gain improved, high-accuracy predictive maps and a near-real-time monitoring-and-mitigation subprogram that make whale locations more predictable and enable faster responses to reduce ship strikes and entanglements.
Small businesses (e.g., technology providers, fishing and tourism businesses) benefit from competitive grants to develop detection technologies and coexistence approaches, creating economic opportunities and supporting innovation.
Taxpayers and Congress will get greater transparency through regular triennial reporting on progress, knowledge gaps, and grant outcomes, improving accountability for program spending and results.
All taxpayers face increased federal spending authorizations (up to about $18 million per year plus a $10 million grant fund), which could strain budget priorities or require offsets.
NOAA’s discretion in prioritizing stocks and regions could leave understudied whale stocks, tribal areas, or local regions without timely surveys or mapping, prolonging local risks to whales and communities.
Expanding the program’s scope, new reporting, and coordination requirements may increase NOAA workload and administrative burden, potentially diverting agency staff time from other priorities or slowing implementation.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Expands NOAA whale mapping, surveying, monitoring, mitigation, and technology grant programs; adds definitions, reporting, and authorizes funding for FY2026–2030.
Introduced February 3, 2026 by Doris Matsui · Last progress February 3, 2026
Expands and reorganizes federal programs to map, survey, monitor, and mitigate risks to migratory whales and other large cetaceans. It requires NOAA to produce high-accuracy distribution and predictive maps, conduct surveys of understudied stocks, and create a near real-time monitoring and mitigation subprogram for threatened or endangered cetaceans. The bill also establishes a competitive grant program (to be administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation) for detection technologies and related activities, sets multi-year authorized funding levels for specific activities, allows limited administrative funds for the Foundation, and requires triennial reports to Congress on progress and knowledge gaps.