H.R. 10776: To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to change certain requirements regarding certain allowed take of marine mammals, and for other purposes.

This bill would change how the federal government applies the Marine Mammal Protection Act when it decides whether certain activities can affect marine mammals such as whales, dolphins, seals, and other marine mammals.

What it would change

• Raises the threshold for some protections: The bill changes several parts of the law so that actions are more likely to be regulated only when they actually injure or actually disturb marine mammals, rather than when they merely have the potential to do so.
• Changes the meaning of “negligible impact”: It defines “negligible impact” as an impact that is not reasonably likely to significantly and adversely affect a species or stock through an effect on its annual survival rate.
• Revises rules for permits and authorizations: For activities that may involve taking marine mammals, the bill removes some references to limiting harm to “small numbers” and to the “least practicable adverse impact” standard, and replaces them with language focused on conditions that are practical and economically feasible and designed to minimize impacts.
• Limits how much conditions can change an activity: It says any required monitoring, reporting, or other conditions should not alter the basic design, location, scope, duration, or timing of the activity.
• Changes standards for harassment authorizations: Similar revisions are made for permits involving harassment, including requirements for monitoring and reporting, while also preventing those requirements from changing the core structure of the activity.
• Directs agencies to use the best available data in an “objective” way: The bill adds a new section saying decisions under the act must be based solely on the objective application of the best scientific and commercial data available, without using precautionary assumptions or other factors that the bill says could bias those judgments.

Practical effect

In plain terms, the bill would likely make it harder for the government to restrict or condition certain human activities—such as fishing, development, transportation, research, or other permitted work—based on predicted or potential effects on marine mammals. It would shift the law toward requiring more direct evidence of harm and toward limiting the extent to which regulators can require changes to planned activities.

Relevant Companies

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