[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6008 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 6008

To prohibit the implementation of certain documents until the Assistant 
 Administrator for Fisheries of the National Marine Fisheries Service 
             issues documents relating to the Rice's whale.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 20, 2023

  Mr. Graves of Louisiana (for himself, Mr. Ezell, Mr. Carl, and Mr. 
                  Hunt) introduced the following bill

                            October 25, 2023

             Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prohibit the implementation of certain documents until the Assistant 
 Administrator for Fisheries of the National Marine Fisheries Service 
             issues documents relating to the Rice's whale.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Requiring Integrity in Conservation 
Efforts Act'' or as the ``R.I.C.E.'s Whale Act''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON IMPLEMENTATION OF CERTAIN DOCUMENTS UNTIL 
              ISSUANCE OF DOCUMENTS RELATING TO RICE'S WHALE.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Compliance with biological opinion.--Notwithstanding 
        any other provision of law, with respect to current and future 
        federally regulated oil and gas program activities in the Gulf 
        of Mexico, compliance with the Biological Opinion shall serve 
        to fully satisfy the requirements of applicable Federal 
        environmental laws, including the Endangered Species Act (16 
        U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and the Marine Mammal Protection Act (16 
        U.S.C. 1371 et seq.).
            (2) Stipulated agreement.--The Assistant Administrator and 
        the Director may not implement, administer, or enforce the 
        Stipulated Agreement or the Notice to Lessees, respectively, 
        until the Assistant Administrator issues a revised Biological 
        Opinion as a result of reinitiated consultation with the 
        Director under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 
        (16 U.S.C. 1536) and in accordance with this section.
    (b) Reinitiated Consultation on Biological Opinion.--
            (1) In general.--The Assistant Administrator and the 
        Director may not request, commence, carry out, or complete 
        reinitiated consultation on the Biological Opinion under this 
        section until--
                    (A) the Assistant Administrator issues a final rule 
                designating critical habitat for the Rice's whale 
                (Balaenoptera ricei) that is consistent with--
                            (i) the results of the study conducted 
                        pursuant to subsection (c);
                            (ii) the requirements of the rulemaking 
                        process pursuant to subchapter II of chapter 5, 
                        and chapter 7, of title 5, United States Code 
                        (commonly known as the ``Administrative 
                        Procedure Act'');
                            (iii) the requirement to conduct an 
                        economic impact analysis pursuant to Executive 
                        Order 12866 (5 U.S.C. 601 note; relating to 
                        regulatory planning and review);
                            (iv) section 307 of the Coastal Zone 
                        Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1456);
                            (v) the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
                        U.S.C. 3501 et seq.); and
                            (vi) chapter 6 of title 5, United States 
                        Code (commonly known as the ``Regulatory 
                        Flexibility Act''); and
                    (B) the Assistant Administrator revises and 
                finalizes the proposed rule titled ``Taking and 
                Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals 
                Incidental to Geophysical Surveys in the Gulf of 
                Mexico'' (88 Fed. Reg. 916; January 5, 2023) to include 
                a correction of the erroneous estimates of incidental 
                take of marine mammals anticipated from the activities 
                analyzed in the final rule titled ``Taking and 
                Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals 
                Incidental to Geophysical Surveys Related to Oil and 
                Gas Activities in the Gulf of Mexico'' (86 Fed. Reg. 
                5322; January 19, 2021).
            (2) Cooperation with states.--In carrying out this section, 
        the Assistant Administrator and the Director shall cooperate 
        with each State to resolve issues that threaten to impair the 
        exploration, development, production, transportation, 
        servicing, or processing of offshore energy resources and 
        related activities.
            (3) Publication and review.--In carrying out any 
        consultation or reinitiated consultation on the Biological 
        Opinion under this section, the Assistant Administrator and the 
        Director shall take steps to ensure--
                    (A) that any scientific evidence considered and 
                relied upon as a part of the consultation or 
                reinitiation of consultation is--
                            (i) made publicly available; and
                            (ii) peer reviewed by the National 
                        Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine 
                        to ensure scientific rigor and independence; 
                        and
                    (B) that any party directly impacted by the 
                Stipulated Agreement or Notice to Lessees shall--
                            (i) have routine and continuing 
                        opportunities to discuss and submit information 
                        to the action agency for consideration during 
                        the development of any biological assessment or 
                        proposed action;
                            (ii) be informed by the action agency of 
                        the schedule for preparation of a biological 
                        assessment or proposed action;
                            (iii) receive a copy of any proposed action 
                        and have the opportunity to review that 
                        document and provide comment to the action 
                        agency (which shall be afforded due 
                        consideration during development);
                            (iv) be informed by the consulting 
                        agencies, the Bureau of Ocean Energy 
                        Management, or the National Marine Fisheries 
                        Service, of the schedule for preparation of the 
                        biological opinion when the biological 
                        assessment is submitted to the consulting 
                        agency by the action agency;
                            (v) receive a copy of any draft biological 
                        opinion and have the opportunity to review that 
                        document and provide comment to the action 
                        agency (which shall be afforded due 
                        consideration during development);
                            (vi) have the opportunity to confer with 
                        the action agency regarding reasonable and 
                        prudent alternatives prior to the action agency 
                        identifying 1 or more reasonable and prudent 
                        alternatives for consideration by the 
                        consulting agency; and
                            (vii) where the action agency proposes a 
                        proposed action or a consulting agency suggests 
                        a reasonable and prudent alternative, be 
                        informed of--
                                    (I) how each component of such 
                                proposed action or alternative will 
                                contribute to avoiding jeopardy or 
                                adverse modification of critical 
                                habitat and the scientific data or 
                                information that supports each 
                                component of the proposed action or 
                                alternative; and
                                    (II) why other proposed alternative 
                                actions that would have fewer 
                                impairments to the supply of offshore 
                                energy and economic impacts are 
                                inadequate to avoid jeopardy or adverse 
                                modification of critical habitat.
            (4) Meetings.--
                    (A) In general.--During any consultation or 
                reinitiated consultation on the Biological Opinion 
                carried out under this section, the Assistant 
                Administrator and the Director shall, on a quarterly 
                basis, hold stakeholder meetings to provide updates on 
                the development of a new or revised biological 
                assessment or biological opinion.
                    (B) Participants.--Each stakeholder meeting held 
                under subparagraph (A) shall--
                            (i) be open to stakeholders identified by 
                        the Assistant Administrator and the Director; 
                        and
                            (ii) include stakeholders that--
                                    (I) represent a broad range of 
                                interests, including environmental, 
                                recreational and commercial fishing, 
                                conventional and renewable energy, 
                                ports, and other regional interests; 
                                and
                                    (II) are not State or local 
                                agencies.
            (5) Clarification.--The Assistant Administrator and the 
        Director may not use stakeholder meetings held under paragraph 
        (3) to fulfill the requirements of paragraph (2).
    (c) Rice's Whale Study.--The Assistant Administrator shall enter 
into an agreement with the National Academies of Science, Engineering, 
and Medicine to conduct a study to determine the occurrence and range 
of the Rice's whale (Balaenoptera ricei) in the Central, Eastern, and 
Western Gulf of Mexico Planning Areas.
    (d) Leasing Activities.--The Secretary of the Interior may not rely 
on the Stipulated Agreement or the Notice to Lessees in carrying out 
offshore oil and gas leasing activities under the Outer Continental 
Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.).
    (e) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Assistant administrator.--The term ``Assistant 
        Administrator'' means the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries 
        of the National Marine Fisheries Service.
            (2) Biological opinion.--The term ``Biological Opinion'' 
        means the document titled ``Biological Opinion on the Federally 
        Regulated Oil and Gas Program Activities in the Gulf of 
        Mexico'' (OPR-2017-00002; March 13, 2020).
            (3) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
        the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
            (4) Notice to lessees.--The term ``Notice to Lessees'' 
        means the document titled ``Notice to Lessees and Operators of 
        Federal Oil and Gas, and Sulphur Leases in the Gulf of Mexico 
        Outer Continental Shelf; Expanded Rice's Whale Protection 
        Efforts During Reinitiated Consultation with NMFS'' (BOEM NTL 
        No. 2023-G01; August 17, 2023), or a substantially similar 
        document.
            (5) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the States of 
        Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.
            (6) Stipulated agreement.--The term ``Stipulated 
        Agreement'' means the document titled ``Stipulated Agreement to 
        Stay Proceedings'' (July 21, 2023; Docket No. 8:20-cv-03060-
        DLB) and entered into by the Sierra Club, Center for Biological 
        Diversity, Friends of the Earth, and Turtle Island Restoration 
        Network and the National Marine Fisheries Service and the 
        Assistant Administrator.
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