Sponsors (26)
The bill boosts whale protection, monitoring, and innovation through mapping, near-real-time response, and grants, but requires modest new federal spending and creates administrative, participation, and prioritization trade-offs.
State and local governments, fishery managers, and shipping operators will get high-accuracy, predictive distribution maps for migratory whale stocks, improving routing and management to reduce ship strikes and entanglements.
State and local responders will have near real-time monitoring and mitigation capabilities for threatened and endangered cetaceans, enabling faster responses that can prevent lethal interactions.
Small businesses in fisheries and coastal tourism can access competitive grants to develop detection technologies and coexistence approaches, supporting innovation and new economic opportunities.
Taxpayers face increased federal spending (authorized up to $18M annually plus a $10M grant pot), which could require trade-offs with other budget priorities.
Grant restrictions (requirement for U.S.-person distribution) and Foundation administration fees (greater of 5% or $80,000) could exclude international collaborators and reduce the portion of funds reaching projects.
Expanding the program and adding reporting/coordination duties could increase NOAA workload and administrative burden, potentially diverting staff time from other priorities.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Expands and funds federal mapping, survey, monitoring, and a grant program to better detect and mitigate impacts to migratory whales and cetaceans.
Official title: To amend the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 to provide for a mapping, surveying, monitoring, and mitigation program for migratory whales and other large cetaceans.
Introduced February 3, 2026 by Doris Matsui · Last progress February 3, 2026
Creates and expands federal programs to map, survey, monitor, and mitigate impacts to migratory whales and other large cetaceans, and establishes a competitive grant program for detection and related technologies. Authorizes multiyear funding for mapping, surveys, a near real‑time monitoring/mitigation subprogram, and grants, and requires periodic reports to Congress on progress and knowledge gaps.