[Senate Report 117-77]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                     Calendar No. 212
117th Congress        }                           {           Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session           }                           {           117-77
_______________________________________________________________________

                                     


            MARINE MAMMAL RESEARCH AND RESPONSE ACT OF 2021

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

           COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION

                                   on

                                S. 1289

		[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


               February 15, 2022.--Ordered to be printed
               
               
 			        __________              
 			        
 			        
 			        
 		     U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE    
 		     
29-010 	                    WASHINGTON : 2022	     




               
               
       SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
                    one hundred seventeenth congress
                             second session

                   MARIA CANTWELL, Washington, Chair
AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota             ROGER WICKER, Mississippi
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut      JOHN THUNE, South Dakota
BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii                 ROY BLUNT, Missouri
EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts         TED CRUZ, Texas
GARY PETERS, Michigan                DEB FISCHER, Nebraska
TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin             JERRY MORAN, Kansas
TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois            DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska
JON TESTER, Montana                  MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona              TODD YOUNG, Indiana
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada                  MIKE LEE, Utah
BEN RAY LUJAN, New Mexico            RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
JOHN HICKENLOOPER, Colorado          SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia

RAPHAEL WARNOCK, Georgia             RICK SCOTT, Florida
                                     CYNTHIA LUMMIS, Wyoming
                 Melissa Porter, Acting Staff Director
                  John Keast, Minority Staff Director



                                                     Calendar No. 212
117th Congress        }                           {           Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session           }                           {           117-77

======================================================================



 
            MARINE MAMMAL RESEARCH AND RESPONSE ACT OF 2021

                                _______
                                

               February 15, 2022.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

      Ms. Cantwell, from the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                Transportation, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 1289]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, to 
which was referred the bill (S. 1289) to amend the Marine 
Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to reauthorize and modify the 
John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program, 
and for other purposes, having considered the same, reports 
favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the 
bill do pass.

                          Purpose of the Bill

    The purpose of S. 1289, the Marine Mammal Research and 
Response Act of 2021, is to reauthorize and amend the John H. 
Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program.

                          Background and Needs

    The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) was enacted in 1972 
in large part due to the overwhelming public outcry regarding 
the high levels of dolphin mortalities in the Pacific tuna 
fishery, which were estimated at more than 400,000 mortalities 
per year.\1\ Authorization of appropriations expired at the end 
of fiscal year 1999 after the last reauthorization of the MMPA 
in 1994.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\Eugene H. Buck, The Marine Mammal Protection Act: 
Reauthorization Issues, CRS Report RL30120, June 18, 2004 (https://
digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs10041/m1/1/high_
res_d/RL30120_2004Jun18.pdf).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In 2000, the MMPA was amended by the Marine Mammal Rescue 
Assistance Act of 2000,\2\ establishing the John H. Prescott 
Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program (Prescott Grant 
Program). The Prescott Grant Program is currently administered 
through the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program 
(MMHSR Program) of the National Marine Fisheries Service 
(NMFS), also known as NOAA Fisheries. The MMHSR Program works 
with volunteer stranding and entanglement networks and local, 
Tribal, State, and Federal government agencies to coordinate 
emergency responses to sick, injured, distressed, or dead 
marine mammals.\3\ In one instance, the MMHSR Program 
successfully rescued, rehabilitated, and released Springer, a 
Northern resident orca who was separated from her pod and was 
spotted in Puget Sound--an area beyond the pod's regular 
geographic range.\4\ After Springer was released, she rejoined 
her pod and has had two calves of her own.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\16 U.S.C. 1421f-1.
    \3\NOAA Fisheries, ``Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response 
Program,'' updated September 15, 2021 (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/
national/marine-life-distress/marine-mammal-health-and-stranding-
response-program).
    \4\NOAA Fisheries, ``Orphan Killer Whale A73 (Springer),'' updated 
September 1, 2021 (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/west-coast/
endangered-species-conservation/orphan-killer-whale-a73-springer).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Funding levels for the Prescott Grant Program have varied 
since its inception in 2001, with a high of $5.5 million in the 
first year grants were awarded. From 2001 to 2020, the Prescott 
Grant Program awarded over $63.9 million through 739 grants to 
members of the stranding network.\5\ In 2020, $3.7 million was 
awarded in a total of 43 grants to recipients from 19 States 
and one Indian Tribe.\6\ In addition to the grants, funds have 
been used for emergency assistance during catastrophic 
stranding events, which have varied from $0 to $4 million 
depending on the number and nature of mass strandings in a 
particular year.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\ NOAA Fisheries, ``Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response 
Program,'' updated September 15, 2021 (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/
national/marine-life-distress/marine-mammal-health-and-stranding-
response-program).
    \6\NOAA Fisheries, ``2020 Prescott Grant Proposals Funded,'' 
updated May 19, 2021 (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-
life-distress/2020-prescott-grant-proposals-funded).
    \7\Ibid.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                        MARINE MAMMAL STRANDINGS

    Marine mammal strandings occur for a variety of reasons and 
can be small-scale involving a single animal, or larger scale 
events involving dozens of animals.\8\ In some cases, the cause 
of the stranding is unknown, but some identified causes include 
entanglement, ship strikes, illness or disease, injuries caused 
by natural predators, or unusual weather or oceanographic 
events.\9\ Stranding events provide a substantial amount of 
information to researchers and natural resource managers.\10\ 
The information collected can provide insights on the biology 
and ecology of marine mammal species, such as the type of prey 
it consumes, stock health, and the geographic range of the 
stock. Animals that are rescued by the stranding network are 
often rehabilitated, with the ultimate goal of being released 
back into the wild. Stranded animals may be studied by 
scientists possessing a specific NMFS permit to improve 
understanding of marine mammal populations.\11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \8\NOAA Fisheries, ``Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response 
Program,'' updated September 15, 2021 (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/
national/marine-life-distress/marine-mammal-health-and-stranding-
response-program).
    \9\Ibid.
    \10\Ibid.
    \11\NOAA Fisheries, ``Scientific Research and Enhancement Permits 
for Marine Mammals,'' updated February 24, 2020 (https://
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/scientific-research-and-
enhancement-permits-marine-mammals).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Analysis of dead marine mammals can also provide valuable 
information about outbreaks of disease in marine mammals, such 
as the 2013-2015 outbreak of cetacean morbillivirus on the 
Atlantic coast\12\ and the 2018-2019 Phocine distemper outbreak 
in the Northeast among harbor seals.\13\ Data collected from 
live-stranded animals has revealed important information about 
physiology, reproduction, feeding ecology, and other 
information relevant to conservation and understanding of 
marine mammal species. For example, research on a stranded gray 
whale calf named J.J. yielded some of the only detailed 
information on large baleen whales.\14\ J.J. was successfully 
rehabilitated and returned to the wild.\15\ It is the sense of 
the Committee that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration (NOAA) and the stranding network should make 
additional efforts to facilitate the collection of data from 
live-stranded animals using non-invasive and humane methods 
where possible, particularly for species where data 
availability is poor.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \12\NOAA Fisheries, ``2013-2015 Bottlenose Dolphin Unusual 
Mortality Event in the Mid-Atlantic (Closed),'' updated December 30, 
2019 (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-life-distress/
2013-2015-bottlenose-dolphin-unusual-mortality-event-mid-atlantic).
    \13\NOAA Fisheries, ``2018-2019 Pinniped Unusual Mortality Event 
Along the Northeast Coast,'' updated April 30, 2021 (https://
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/new-england-mid-atlantic/marine-life-distress/
2018-2019-pinniped-unusual-mortality-event-along).
    \14\Oleg I. Lyamin et al., ``Resting Behavior in a Rehabilitating 
Gray Whale Calf,'' Aquatic Mammals 27.3 (January 2001): 256-266 
(https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267704235_
Resting_behavior_in_a_rehabilitating_gray_whale_calf); Paul J. Ponganis 
and Gerald L. Kooyman, ``Heart Rate and Electrocardiogram 
Characteristics of a Young California Gray Whale (Eschrichtius 
robustus),'' Marine Mammal Science 15.4 (August 2006): 1198-1207 
(https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
229729694_Heart_rate_and_electrocardiogram_
characteristics_of_a_young_California_gray_whale_Eschrichtius_robustus).

    \15\Brad Andrews, W. Davis, and D. Parham, ``Corporate Response and 
Facilitation of the Rehabilitation of a California Gray Whale Calf,'' 
Aquatic Mammals 27.3 (2001): 209-211 (https://
aquaticmammalsjournal.org/share/AquaticMammalsIssueArchives/2001/
AquaticMammals_27-03/27-03_Andrews.pdf).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                             ENTANGLEMENTS

    Marine mammal entanglements pose dangerous and often deadly 
risks to numerous marine species and result in the deaths of 
hundreds of thousands of animals annually worldwide.\16\ 
Entanglements of marine mammals occur from a wide variety of 
sources but can involve commercial and recreational fishing 
gear that is actively in use, marine debris such as lost or 
abandoned gear from fishing or other activities, plastic waste, 
and other forms of man-made refuse.\17\ Causes of death for 
animals that become entangled often include drowning, 
starvation, physical trauma, exhaustion, illness, and infection 
from entanglement-caused wounds. Restriction of movement caused 
by entanglement can also lead to vessel strikes that could 
otherwise be avoided.\18\ Entanglements threaten endangered 
species, such as the North Atlantic right whale. The current 
population of right whales is fewer than 300 individuals, and 
NOAA research estimates that more than 85 percent have been 
entangled at least once.\19\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \16\NOAA Fisheries, ``Marine Mammal Entanglement and Marine Debris 
in Alaska,'' 
updated July 14, 2021 (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/alaska/marine-
life-distress/marine-
mammal-entanglement-and-marine-debris-alaska#entanglement-and-marine-
debris); International Whaling Commission, ``Whale Entanglement--
Building a Global Response'' (https://iwc.int/entanglement).
    \17\NOAA Fisheries, ``Entanglement of Marine Life: Risks and 
Response'' 
(https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/insight/entanglement-marine-life-risks-
and-response); Eva Lipiec, Congressional Research Services, Marine 
Debris: NOAA's Role, updated April 23, 2020 (https://www.crs.gov/
Reports/
IF10967?source=search&guid=1074c033ad014d48a927adb78424a009&index
=0); NOAA Fisheries, ``Pinniped Entanglement in Marine Debris,'' 
updated July 14, 2021 (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/alaska/marine-
life-distress/pinniped-entanglement-marine-
debris).
    \18\Ibid (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/insight/entanglement-
marine-life-risks-and-response).
    \19\NOAA Fisheries, ``Faces of North Atlantic Right Whale 
Conservation: Mike Asaro, Entanglement Prevention Policy Expert,'' 
updated August 30, 2021 (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/
feature-story/faces-north-atlantic-right-whale-conservation-mike-asaro-
entanglement-prevention).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    NOAA Fisheries works to reduce marine mammal mortality due 
to entanglement in fishing gear through the Bycatch Reduction 
Engineering Program.\20\ Over the last 4 years (2016-2019), 
NOAA Fisheries has awarded $9.4 million in Bycatch Reduction 
Engineering Program awards. Approximately 40 percent of these 
funds has gone to reducing protected species bycatch, including 
marine mammals.\21\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \20\NOAA Fisheries, ``Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program,'' 
updated September 9, 2021 (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/
bycatch/bycatch-reduction-engineering-program).
    \21\Ibid.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In addition, NOAA Fisheries was also mandated\22\ to 
develop and implement take reduction plans to reduce incidental 
mortality or serious injury due to commercial fishing. The plan 
outlines strategies to approach zero mortality and serious 
injury rate within 5 years of the plan implementation. 
Currently, there are seven take reduction teams.\23\ Each team 
targets the interaction between specific fisheries and marine 
mammal species. For example, the Atlantic Right Whale Take 
Reduction Plan focuses on reducing injury and mortality of 
North Atlantic right, humpback, and fin whales due to 
entanglement with commercial gillnets, traps, and pots.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \22\16 U.S.C. 1387.
    \23\NOAA Fisheries, ``Marine Mammal Take Reduction Plans and 
Teams'' (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-
protection/marine-mammal-take-reduction-plans-and-teams).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                        UNUSUAL MORTALITY EVENTS

    As defined under title IV of the MMPA, an unusual mortality 
event (UME) is ``a stranding that is unexpected; involves a 
significant die-off of any marine mammal population; and 
demands immediate response.''\24\ NOAA's National Working Group 
on Marine Mammal UMEs determines that a UME has occurred when 
it meets any one of seven criteria.\25\ Since the establishment 
of the UME designation in 1991, there have been 70 cases 
declared to meet the criteria. Some causes of UMEs include 
illness, infection, oil spills, pollution, biotoxins from 
harmful algal blooms (HABs) and other natural sources, marine 
heatwaves, food scarcity, vessel strikes, and other human 
interactions.\26\ UME investigations can also provide valuable 
data on large scale environmental events.\27\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \24\Marine Mammal Commission, ``Marine Mammal Health and 
Strandings'' (https://www.mmc.gov/priority-topics/marine-mammal-health-
and-strandings/).
    \25\NOAA, ``Marine Mammals: A Notice by the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration on 12/14/2006,'' Federal Register 71, no. 
240 (December 14, 2006): 75234 (https://www.federalregister.gov/
documents/2006/12/14/E6-21300/marine-mammals).
    \26\NOAA Fisheries, ``Active and Closed Unusual Mortality Events'' 
(https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-life-distress/active-
and-closed-unusual-mortality-events); NOAA Fisheries, ``Investigation 
Results for the Cetacean Unusual Mortality Event in Northern Gulf of 
Mexico,'' updated August 30, 2021 (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/
national/marine-life-distress/investigation-results-cetacean-unusual-
mortality-event-northern-gulf); NOAA Fisheries, ``Marine Mammal Health 
and Stranding Response Program,'' updated September 15, 2021 (https://
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-life-distress/marine-mammal-
health-and-
stranding-response-program).
    \27\NOAA Fisheries, ``Marine Mammal Unusual Mortality Events,'' 
updated August 16, 2021 (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/
marine-mammal-protection/marine-mammal-unusual-mortality-events).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                             OCEAN WARMING

    In 2020, a report found that shifting climate conditions 
are contributing to the occurrence of marine heatwaves, which 
have doubled in frequency, increased in duration, and are 
becoming more intense.\28\ Warming ocean conditions can affect 
marine mammals in different ways, such as: (1) modifying the 
geographic range of the species; (2) modifying changes in the 
prey life cycle causing a mismatch between the timing for prey 
abundance and marine mammal migration; and (3) increasing 
stress and marine mammal susceptibility to pathogens.\29\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \28\Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Special Report on 
the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate: Summary for 
Policymakers, 2019 (https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc/chapter/
summary-for-policymakers/).
    \29\Camille Albouy et al., ``Global Vulnerability of Marine Mammals 
to Global Warming,'' January 17, 2020, Scientific Reports 10(548) 
(https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-57280-3).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                          HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS

    HABs are the rapid expansion of algae colonies that produce 
toxins that can be harmful to other organisms. These blooms can 
occur in bodies of fresh, marine, or brackish water and are 
caused by various microorganisms.\30\ Human activities have 
caused increased ocean temperatures, ocean acidification, and 
nutrient pollution, which contribute to the increased 
occurrence of HABs in coastal areas.\31\ Marine mammal 
strandings and UMEs have been attributed to biotoxins produced 
by HABs.\32\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \30\NOAA, ``Harmful Algal Blooms: Tiny Organisms with a Toxic 
Punch'' (https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/hazards/hab/).
    \31\Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Special Report on 
the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, February 4, 2020 
(https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc/); Environmental Protection Agency, 
``Harmful Algal Blooms'' (https://www.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/
harmful-algal-blooms#cause).
    \32\NOAA Fisheries, ``Active and Closed Unusual Mortality Events'' 
(https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-life-distress/active-
and-closed-unusual-mortality-events); NOAA, National Centers for 
Coastal Ocean Science, ``National Analytical Response to Harmful Algal 
Bloom-Related Marine Animal Mortality Events'' (https://
coastalscience.noaa.gov/project/national-response-harmful-algal-bloom-
mortality-events/).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                         Summary of Provisions

    If enacted, S. 1289 would do the following:
   Reauthorize the Prescott Grant Program at $7 million 
        ($6 million for the Department of Commerce and $1 
        million for the Department of the Interior) for each of 
        fiscal years 2021 through 2026;
   Rename the John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue and 
        Rapid Response Fund as the Joseph R. Geraci Marine 
        Mammal Rescue and Rapid Response Fund. Authorize the 
        Joseph R. Geraci Marine Mammal Rescue and Rapid 
        Response Fund at $500,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 
        through 2026;
   Establish the Marine Mammal Health Monitoring and 
        Analysis Platform (Health MAP), which would be 
        incorporated into the National Integrated Coastal and 
        Ocean Observation System; and
   Require reporting to Congress on data collection and 
        gaps.

                          Legislative History

    S. 1289, the Marine Mammal Research and Response Act of 
2021, was introduced on April 21, 2021, by Senator Cantwell and 
was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate. Senators Murkowski and Sullivan 
were later added as cosponsors. On May 12, 2021, the Committee 
met in open Executive Session and, by voice vote, ordered S. 
1289 reported favorably without amendment.

                             116TH CONGRESS

    S. 2802, a similar bill to S. 1289, was introduced on 
November 6, 2019, by Senator Cantwell and was referred to the 
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 
Senate. Senators Sullivan, Murkowski, and Schatz were later 
added as cosponsors. On December 11, 2019, the Committee met in 
open Executive Session and, by voice vote, ordered S. 2802 
reported favorably with an amendment (in the nature of a 
substitute).
    S. 2453, a bill to aid in the conservation of North 
Atlantic right whales, was introduced on September 10, 2019, by 
Senator Booker (for himself and Senators Isakson and Carper) 
and was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate. Senators Roberts, Blumenthal, and 
Markey were later added as cosponsors. On November 13, 2019, 
the Committee met in open Executive Session and, by voice vote, 
ordered S. 2453 reported favorably with an amendment (in the 
nature of a substitute).

                             114TH CONGRESS

    S. 3059, a similar bill to S. 2802, was introduced on June 
15, 2016, by Senator Cantwell (for herself and Senator 
Sullivan) and was referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation of the Senate. Senators Murkowski 
and Schatz were later added as cosponsors. On November 28, 
2016, S. 3059 was reported favorably with an amendment (in the 
nature of a substitute).

                            Estimated Costs

    In accordance with paragraph 11(a) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate and section 403 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee provides the 
following cost estimate, prepared by the Congressional Budget 
Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                  Washington, DC, October 15, 2021.
Hon. Maria Cantwell,
Chair, Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Madam Chair: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1289, the Mammal 
Research and Response Act of 2021.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Madeleine 
Fox.
            Sincerely,
                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

    
    
    	[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    

    S. 1289 would reauthorize and amend the Marine Mammal 
Protection Act of 1972 (MMPA) and would authorize the 
appropriation of specific amounts through the 2026 period for 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and 
the Department of the Interior (DOI) to conduct specific 
activities. The bill would authorize the appropriation of the 
following amounts over the 2022-2026 period to carry out 
several provisions of the MMPA:
           $30 million for NOAA to conduct its portion 
        of the John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue and 
        Response Program,
           $5 million for DOI to conduct its portion of 
        the same program,
           $2.5 million for a new rapid response fund 
        to provide emergency assistance for marine mammal 
        rescue and response,
           $2.5 million for the Marine Mammal Unusual 
        Mortality Event Fund to compensate emergency responders 
        in the event of large, unexpected die-offs of marine 
        mammals,
           $1.25 million for the operations of the 
        National Marine Mammal Tissue Bank, and
           $1.25 million for NOAA to create and 
        maintain a publicly accessible national database to 
        monitor marine mammal health and to comply with other 
        existing and new administrative requirements of the 
        MMPA.
    The costs of the legislation, detailed in Table 1, fall 
within budget function 300 (natural resources and environment).

                TABLE 1.--ESTIMATED INCREASES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION UNDER S. 1289
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                   By fiscal year, millions of dollars--
                                                         -------------------------------------------------------
                                                            2022     2023     2024     2025     2026   2022-2026
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Specified Programs:
    Authorization.......................................        9        9        9        9        9        43
    Estimated Outlays...................................        5        7        8        9        9        37
Other Requirements:
    Estimated Authorization.............................        2        2        2        2        2        10
    Estimated Outlays...................................        1        2        2        2        2         9
Total Changes:
    Estimated Authorization.............................       11       11       11       11       11        53
    Estimated Outlays...................................        6        9       10       11       11        46
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Components may not sum to totals because of rounding.

    CBO assumes that the bill will be enacted by the end of 
calendar year 2021. Estimated outlays are based on historical 
spending patterns for existing and similar programs. CBO 
estimates implementing S. 1289 would cost $46 million over the 
2022-2026 period, assuming appropriation of authorized and 
estimated amounts.
    As mentioned above, S. 1289 would authorize the 
appropriation of $1.25 million over the 2022-2026 period for 
existing and new administrative requirements of the MMPA. The 
bill would add requirements for NOAA to develop a database and 
complete additional reports, including a report on how 
different factors affect the mortality of marine mammals. Using 
information from NOAA, CBO estimates that the agency would need 
an additional $2 million annually to meet the new 
administrative requirements at a cost of $9 million over the 
2022-2026 period.
    S. 1289 would allow NOAA to accept and spend, without 
further appropriation, monetary gifts to the Prescott grant 
program. Those gifts would be recorded as offsetting receipts, 
which are treated as reductions in direct spending. CBO 
estimates that the net change in direct spending would be 
negligible because any gifts would be spent soon after they are 
received.
    The bill also would allow NOAA to deposit into the Marine 
Mammal Unusual Mortality Event Fund amounts collected as fines 
for violating the MMPA. Under current law, those fines can be 
spent without further appropriation to protect certain marine 
mammals. CBO estimates that enacting that provision would 
increase direct spending by expanding the purposes for which 
those fines could be spent but that the increase would not be 
significant in any year or over the 2022-2031 period.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Madeleine Fox. 
The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy 
Director of Budget Analysis.

                      Regulatory Impact Statement

    In accordance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee provides the 
following evaluation of the regulatory impact of the 
legislation, as reported:

                       NUMBER OF PERSONS COVERED

    S. 1289 would not create any new programs or impose any new 
regulatory requirements, and therefore will not subject any 
individuals or businesses to new regulations.

                            ECONOMIC IMPACT

    S. 1289 is not expected to have a negative impact on the 
Nation's economy.

                                PRIVACY

    S. 1289 would not affect the personal privacy of 
individuals.

                               PAPERWORK

    S. 1289 would require additional data on marine mammal 
strandings from stranding network participants. The additional 
paperwork burden on these groups would be offset by the benefit 
to the Nation of timely and accurate data on marine mammal 
strandings.

                   Congressionally Directed Spending

    In compliance with paragraph 4(b) of rule XLIV of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee provides that no 
provisions contained in the bill, as reported, meet the 
definition of congressionally directed spending items under the 
rule.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis


Section 1. Short title.

    This section would provide that the bill may be cited as 
the ``Marine Mammal Research and Response Act of 2021''.

Section 2. Data collection and dissemination.

    This section would add a requirement for the Secretary of 
Commerce to collect information on entangled marine mammals to 
an existing requirement to collect data on strandings. It would 
specify data reporting requirements, establish a timeline for 
when data must be submitted to the Secretary, and require that 
the Secretary establish a program to make data on marine mammal 
strandings available to researchers, stranding network 
participants, and the public. It would clarify data access for 
stakeholder groups and establish exceptions providing for the 
early public release of data under certain circumstances, as 
well as withholding, for longer periods, data that is related 
to a law enforcement investigation. It would require the 
Secretary to collaborate with the marine mammal research and 
stranding community to develop and periodically update guidance 
on standards for data collection, as well as a data management 
and public outreach collaboration policy for stranding or 
entanglement events.

Section 3. Stranding or entanglement response agreements.

    This section would allow the Secretary to enter into an 
agreement with persons to respond to, or take, marine mammals 
that are entangled. The current statute allows takings in 
response to a stranding. It would require marine mammal 
stranding agreements to include a copy of the data management 
and public outreach policy described in section 2.

Section 4. Unusual mortality event activity funding.

    This section would limit the uses of the unusual mortality 
event fund to include payments for costs incurred while 
responding to a marine mammal mortality event, to reimburse 
stranding networks for tissue sample collection and analysis, 
and for the care of animals that are being rehabilitated. It 
would allow sums collected by NOAA for violations of the MMPA 
and sums received from emergency declaration grants for marine 
mammal conservation to be used to respond to unusual mortality 
events. It would also prohibit use of more than $250,000 per 
fiscal year from each of the amounts appropriated for carrying 
out this Act.

Section 5. Liability.

    This section would add a limitation on liability for 
persons responding to the entanglement of a marine mammal to 
the current limitations for persons responding to a stranding 
event.

Section 6. National Marine Mammal Tissue Bank and tissue analysis.

    This section would add a requirement that the marine mammal 
tissue bank database include information on marine mammal 
mortality.

Section 7. Marine Mammal Rescue and Response Grant Program and Rapid 
        Response Fund.

    This section would make minor changes to the Prescott Grant 
Program. It would direct the Secretary to assess the capacity 
of eligible stranding network participants or collaborators. It 
would allow the Secretary to consider the equitable 
distribution of funds among the stranding regions, including 
the Gulf of Mexico, episodic entanglement events, the 
importance of marine mammal populations to indigenous 
communities, and the conservation of marine mammal species. It 
would specify that priority be given to grant applications for 
marine mammal strandings. It would limit the amount of a single 
Prescott Grant award to not exceed $150,000 for any 12-month 
period. It would allow unexpended funds to remain available 
until expended and would limit the administrative costs of the 
program. This section would also rename the John H. Prescott 
Marine Mammal Rescue and Rapid Response Fund to the Joseph R. 
Geraci Marine Mammal Rescue and Rapid Response Fund. The Rapid 
Response Fund will be used by the Secretary for emergency 
assistance. This section would authorize appropriations of $7 
million for the Prescott Grant Program and $500,000 for the 
Rapid Response Fund for each year from 2021 through 2026. This 
section would also allow the Rapid Response Fund to accept 
donations.

Section 8. Health MAP.

    This section would require the Secretary to consult with 
the Secretary of the Interior and the Marine Mammal Commission 
to establish a national marine mammal health monitoring and 
analysis platform (referred to as the Health MAP). This Health 
MAP would be incorporated into the NOAA Integrated Ocean 
Observation System (IOOS) and be made publicly accessible. The 
Health MAP would be required to integrate marine mammal health, 
stranding, and mortality data collected by Federal, State, and 
Tribal governments, private partners, and academia and would be 
designed to enhance data and information availability and 
access. The Secretary would be required to establish standard 
procedures and guidelines for reporting, transmitting, 
maintaining, and making data publicly accessible for the Health 
MAP. This section would allow the Secretary to receive and 
administer gifts, devises, or bequests for the purposes of 
carrying out the activities described in this section.

Section 9. Reports to Congress.

    This section would require the NOAA Administrator to submit 
a report to Congress on the status of the Health MAP within 2 
years. It would require the NOAA Administrator to make a report 
publicly available and provide a briefing to Congress on a data 
gap analysis within 5 years, and every 10 years thereafter. It 
would require the NOAA Administrator to make a report publicly 
available and provide a briefing and report to Congress on the 
response capabilities for sick and injured marine mammals in 
the Arctic regions of the United States.

Section 10. Authorization of appropriations.

    This section would authorize funding to the NOAA Marine 
Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program for each of the 
fiscal years 2021 through 2026. It would also authorize 
appropriations of $500,000 to the Marine Mammal Unusual 
Mortality Event Fund for each of fiscal years 2021 through 
2026.

Section 11. Definitions.

    This section would define the terms ``entangle'', 
``entanglement'', ``Health MAP'', and ``Observation System''.

Section 12. Study on marine mammal mortality.

    This section would require the NOAA Administrator, in 
consultation with the Secretary of Interior and Marine Mammal 
Commission, to conduct a study to evaluate factors (e.g., heat 
waves, harmful algal blooms, prey availability, and habitat 
degradation) and their impacts on marine mammal mortality 
within 12 months of enactment of this Act. The Administrator 
would make the study publicly available in a report and would 
provide a briefing to Congress.

                        Changes in Existing Law

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law 
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new 
material is printed in italic, existing law in which no change 
is proposed is shown in roman):

MARINE MAMMAL PROTECTION ACT OF 1972

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


TITLE IV--MARINE MAMMAL HEALTH AND STRANDING RESPONSE

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


                           [16 U.S.C. 1421a]

SEC. 402. DETERMINATION; DATA COLLECTION AND DISSEMINATION.

    (a) Determination for Release.--The Secretary shall, in 
consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, the Marine 
Mammal Commission, and individuals with knowledge and 
experience in marine science, marine mammal science, marine 
mammal veterinary and husbandry practices, and marine 
conservation, including stranding network participants, develop 
objective criteria, after an opportunity for public review and 
comment, to provide guidance for determining at what point a 
rehabilitated marine mammal is releasable to the wild.
    (b) Collection.--The Secretary shall, in consultation with 
the Secretary of the Interior, collect and update, 
periodically, existing information on--
            (1) procedures and practices for--
                    (A) rescuing and rehabilitating stranded or 
                entangled marine mammals, including criteria 
                used by stranding network participants, on a 
                species-by-species basis, for determining at 
                what point a marine mammal undergoing rescue 
                and rehabilitation is returnable to the wild; 
                and
                    (B) collecting, preserving, labeling, and 
                transporting marine mammal tissues for 
                physical, chemical, and biological analyses;
            (2) appropriate scientific literature on marine 
        mammal health, disease, and rehabilitation;
            (3) [strandings,] strandings and entanglements, 
        including unusual mortality events, which the Secretary 
        shall compile and analyze, by stranding region, to 
        monitor species, numbers, conditions, and causes of 
        illnesses and deaths of stranded [marine mammals; and] 
        marine mammals and entangled marine mammals to allow 
        comparison of the causes of illness and deaths in 
        stranded marine mammals and entangled marine mammals 
        with physical, chemical, and biological environmental 
        parameters; and
            (4) other life history and reference level data, 
        including marine mammal tissue [analyses, that would 
        allow comparison of the causes of illness and deaths in 
        stranded marine mammals with physical, chemical, and 
        biological environmental parameters.]analyses.
    [(c) Availability.--The Secretary shall make information 
collected under this section available to stranding network 
participants and other qualified scientists.]
    (c) Information Required To Be Submitted and Collected.--
            (1) In general.--After each response to a stranding 
        or entanglement event, the Secretary shall collect 
        (including from any staff of the National Oceanic and 
        Atmospheric Administration that respond directly to 
        such an event), and shall require each stranding 
        network participant who responds to that stranding or 
        entanglement to submit to the Administrator of the 
        National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration--
                    (A) data on the stranding event, including 
                NOAA Form 89-864 (OMB #0648-0178), NOAA Form 
                89-878 (OMB #0648-0178), similar successor 
                forms, or similar information in an appropriate 
                format required by the United States Fish and 
                Wildlife Service for species under its 
                management authority;
                    (B) supplemental data to the data described 
                in subparagraph (A), which may include, as 
                available, relevant information about--
                            (i) weather and tide conditions;
                            (ii) offshore human, predator, or 
                        prey activity;
                            (iii) morphometrics;
                            (iv) behavior;
                            (v) health assessments;
                            (vi) life history samples; or
                            (vii) stomach and intestinal 
                        contents; and
                    (C) data and results from laboratory 
                analysis of tissues, which may include, as 
                appropriate and available--
                            (i) histopathology;
                            (ii) toxicology;
                            (iii) microbiology
                            (iv) virology; or
                            (v) parasitology.
            (2) Timeline.--A stranding network participant 
        shall submit--
                    (A) the data described in paragraph (1)(A) 
                not later than 30 days after the date of a 
                response to a stranding or entanglement event;
                    (B) the compiled data described in 
                paragraph (1)(B) not later than 30 days after 
                the date on which the data is available to the 
                stranding network participant; and
                    (C) the compiled data described in 
                paragraph (1)(C) not later than 30 days after 
                the date on which the laboratory analysis has 
                been reported to the stranding network 
                participant.
    (d) Availability of Data.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall develop a 
        program to make information, including any data and 
        metadata collected under paragraphs (3) or (4) of 
        subsection (b) or subsection (c), available to 
        researchers, stranding network participants, and the 
        public--
                    (A) to improve real-time coordination of 
                response to stranding and entanglement events 
                across geographic areas and between stranding 
                coordinators;
                    (B) to identify and quickly disseminate 
                information on potential public health risks;
                    (C) to facilitate integrated 
                interdisciplinary research;
                    (D) to facilitate peer-reviewed 
                publications;
                    (E) to archive regional data into 1 
                national database for future analyses; and
                    (F) for education and outreach activities.
            (2) Access to data.--The Secretary shall ensure 
        that any data or metadata collected under subsection 
        (c)--
                    (A) by staff of the National Oceanic and 
                Atmospheric Administration that responded 
                directly to a stranding or entanglement event 
                is available to the public through the Health 
                MAP and the Observation System not later than 
                30 days after that data or metadata is 
                collected by, available to, or reported to the 
                Secretary; and
                    (B) by a stranding network participant that 
                responded directly to a stranding or 
                entanglement event is made available to the 
                public through the Health MAP and the 
                Observation System 2 years after the date on 
                which that data is submitted to the Secretary 
                under subsection (c).
            (3) Exceptions.--
                    (A) Written release.--Notwithstanding 
                paragraph (2)(B), the Secretary may make data 
                described in paragraph (2)(B) publicly 
                available earlier than 2 years after the date 
                on which that data is submitted to the 
                Secretary under subsection (c), if the 
                stranding network participant has completed a 
                written release stating that such data may be 
                made publicly available.
                    (B) Law enforcement.--Notwithstanding 
                paragraph (2), the Secretary may withhold data 
                for a longer period than the period of time 
                described in paragraph (2) in the event of a 
                law enforcement action or legal action that may 
                be related to that data.
    (e) Standards.--The Secretary, in consultation with the 
marine mammal stranding community, shall--
            (1) make publicly available guidance about uniform 
        data and metadata standards to ensure that data 
        collected in accordance with this section can be 
        archived in a form that is readily accessible and 
        understandable to the public through the Health MAP and 
        the Observation System; and
            (2) periodically update such guidance.
    (f) Management Policy.--In collaboration with the regional 
stranding networks, the Secretary shall develop, and 
periodically update, a data management and public outreach 
collaboration policy for stranding or entanglement events.

                           [16 U.S.C. 1421b]

SEC. 403. STRANDING OR ENTANGLEMENT RESPONSE AGREEMENTS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary may enter into an agreement 
under section 112(c) with any person to take marine mammals 
under section 109(h)(1) in response to a stranding[.]or 
entanglement.
    (b) Required Provision.--An agreement authorized by 
subsection (a) shall--
            (1) specify each person who is authorized to 
        perform activities under the agreement; [and]
            (2) specify any terms and conditions under which a 
        person so specified may delegate that authority to 
        another person[.]; and
            (3) include a description of the data management 
        and public outreach policy established under section 
        402(f).
    (c) Review.--The Secretary shall periodically review 
agreements under section 112(c) that are entered into pursuant 
to this title, for performance adequacy and effectiveness.

                           [16 U.S.C. 1421c]

SEC. 404. * * *

                           [16 U.S.C. 1421d]

SEC. 405. UNUSUAL MORTALITY EVENT ACTIVITY FUNDING.

    (a) Establishment of Fund.--There is established in the 
Treasury an interest bearing fund to be known as the ``Marine 
Mammal Unusual Mortality Event Fund'', which shall consist of 
amounts deposited into the Fund under subsection (c).
    [(b) Uses.--
            [(1) In general.--Amounts in the Fund--
                    [(A) shall be available only for use by the 
                Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary 
                of the Interior--
                            [(i) to compensate persons for 
                        special costs incurred in acting in 
                        accordance with the contingency plan 
                        issued under section 404(b) or under 
                        the direction of an Onsite Coordinator 
                        for an unusual mortality event;
                            [(ii) for reimbursing any stranding 
                        network participant for costs incurred 
                        in preparing and transporting tissues 
                        collected with respect to an unusual 
                        mortality event for the Tissue Bank; 
                        and
                            [(iii) for care and maintenance of 
                        marine mammal seized under section 
                        104(c)(2)(D); and
                    [(B) shall remain available until expended.
            [(2) Pending claims.--If sufficient amounts are not 
        available in the Fund to satisfy any authorized pending 
        claim, such claim shall remain pending until such time 
        as sufficient amounts are available. All authorized 
        pending claims shall be satisfied in the order 
        received.]
    (b) Uses.--Amounts in the Fund--
            (1) shall be available only for use by the 
        Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of the 
        Interior, and dispersed among claimants based on 
        budgets approved by the Secretary prior to 
        expenditure--
                    (A) to make advance, partial, or progress 
                payments under contracts or other funding 
                mechanisms for property, supplies, salaries, 
                services, and travel costs incurred in acting 
                in accordance with the contingency plan issued 
                under section 404(b) or under the direction of 
                an Onsite Coordinator for an unusual mortality 
                event designated under section 
                404(a)(2)(B)(iii);
                    (B) for reimbursing any stranding network 
                participant for costs incurred in the 
                collection, preparation, analysis, and 
                transportation of marine mammal tissues and 
                samples collected with respect to an unusual 
                mortality event for the Tissue Bank; and
                    (C) for the care and maintenance of a 
                marine mammal seized under section 
                104(c)(2)(D); and
            (2) shall remain available until expended.
    (c) Deposits Into the Fund.--There shall be deposited into 
the Fun.--
            (1) amounts appropriated to the Fund;
            (2) other amounts appropriated to the Secretary for 
        use with respect to unusual mortality events; [and]
            (3) amounts received by the United States in the 
        form of gifts, devises, and bequests under subsection 
        (d)[.];
            (4) not more than $250,000 per year, as determined 
        by the Secretary of Commerce, from sums collected as 
        fines, penalties, or forfeitures of property by the 
        Secretary of Commerce for violations of any provision 
        of this Act; and
            (5) sums received from emergency declaration grants 
        for marine mammal conservation.
    (d) Acceptance of Donations.--For purposes of carrying out 
this title and section 104(c)(2)(D), the Secretary may accept, 
solicit, and use the services of volunteers, and may accept, 
solicit, receive, hold, administer, and use gifts, devises, and 
bequests.

                           [16 U.S.C. 1421e]

SEC. 406. LIABILITY.

    (a) In General.--A person who is authorized to respond to a 
stranding or entanglement pursuant to an agreement entered into 
under section 112(c) is deemed to be an employee of the 
[government] Government for purposes of chapter 171 of title 
28, United States Code, with respect to actions of the person 
that are--
            (1) in accordance with the agreement; and
            (2) in the case of an unusual mortality event, in 
        accordance with--
                    (A) the contingency plan issued under 
                section 404(b);
                    (B) the instructions of an Onsite 
                Coordinator designated under section 404(c); or
                    (C) the best professional judgment of an 
                Onsite Coordinator, in the case of any matter 
                that is not covered by the contingency plan.
    (b) Limitation.--Subsection (a) does not apply to actions 
of a person described in that subsection that are grossly 
negligent or that constitute willful misconduct.

                           [16 U.S.C. 1421f]

SEC. 407. NATIONAL MARINE MAMMAL TISSUE BANK AND TISSUE ANALYSIS.

    (a) * * *
    (b) * * *
    (c) Data Base.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall maintain a 
        central data base which provides an effective means for 
        tracking and accessing data on marine mammals, 
        including relevant data on marine mammal tissues 
        collected for and maintained in the Tissue Bank.
            (2) Contents.--The data base established under this 
        subsection shall include--
                    (A) reference data on [the health of marine 
                mammals and] marine mammal health and mortality 
                and the health of populations of marine 
                mammals; and
                    (B) data on species of marine mammals that 
                are subject to unusual mortality events.
    (d) Access.--The Secretary shall, in consultation with the 
Secretary of the Interior, establish criteria, after an 
opportunity for public review and comment, for public access 
to--
            (1) marine mammal tissues in the Tissue Bank;
            (2) analyses conducted pursuant to subsection (b); 
        and
            (3) marine mammal data in the data base maintained 
        under subsection (c); which provide for appropriate 
        uses of the tissues, analyses, and data by qualified 
        scientists, including stranding network participants.

                          [16 U.S.C. 1421f-1]

SEC. 408. [JOHN H. PRESCOTT MARINE MAMMAL RESCUE ASSISTANCE GRANT 
                    PROGRAM] MARINE MAMMAL RESCUE AND RESPONSE GRANT 
                    PROGRAM AND RAPID RESPONSE FUND.

    [(a) In General.--(1) Subject to the availability of 
appropriations, the Secretary shall conduct a grant program to 
be known as the John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue 
Assistance Grant Program, to provide grants to eligible 
stranding network participants for the recovery or treatment of 
marine mammals, the collection of data from living or dead 
stranded marine mammals for scientific research regarding 
marine mammal health, and facility operation costs that are 
directly related to those purposes.
    [(2)(A) The Secretary shall ensure that, to the greatest 
extent practicable, funds provided as grants under this 
subsection are distributed equitably among the stranding 
regions designated as of the date of the enactment of the 
Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Act of 2000, and in making such 
grants shall give preference to those facilities that have 
established records for rescuing or rehabilitating sick and 
stranded marine mammals in each of the respective regions, or 
subregions.
    [(B) In determining priorities among such regions, the 
Secretary may consider--
            [(i) any episodic stranding or any mortality event 
        other than an event described in section 410(6), that 
        occurred in any region in the preceding year;
            [(ii) data regarding average annual strandings and 
        mortality events per region; and
            [(iii) the size of the marine mammal populations 
        inhabiting a geographic area within such a region.
    [(b) Application.--To receive a grant under this section, a 
stranding network participant shall submit an application in 
such form and manner as the Secretary may prescribe.
    [(c) Consultation.--The Secretary shall consult with the 
Marine Mammal Commission, a representative from each of the 
designated stranding regions, and other individuals who 
represent public and private organizations that are actively 
involved in rescue, rehabilitation, release, scientific 
research, marine conservation, and forensic science regarding 
stranded marine mammals, regarding the development of criteria 
for the implementation of the grant program and the awarding of 
grants under the program.
    [(d) Limitation.--The amount of a grant under this section 
shall not exceed $100,000.]
    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Emergency assistance.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``emergency 
                assistance'' means--
                            (i) financial assistance provided 
                        to respond to, or that results from, a 
                        stranding event or entanglement event 
                        that--
                                    (I) causes an immediate 
                                increase in the cost of a 
                                response, recovery, or 
                                rehabilitation that is greater 
                                than the usual cost of a 
                                response, recovery, or 
                                rehabilitation;
                                    (II) is cyclical or 
                                endemic; or
                                    (III) involves a marine 
                                mammal that is out of the 
                                normal range for that marine 
                                mammal; or
                            (ii) financial assistance provided 
                        to respond to, or that results from, a 
                        stranding event or an entanglement 
                        event that the appropriate Secretary or 
                        State or Tribal government considers to 
                        be an emergency.
                    (B) Exclusions.--The term ``emergency 
                assistance'' does not include financial 
                assistance to respond to an unusual mortality 
                event.
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' has the 
        meaning given that term in section 3(12)(A).
            (3) Stranding region.--The term `stranding region' 
        means a geographic region designated by the applicable 
        Secretary for purposes of administration of this title.
    (b) John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue and Response 
Grant Program.--
            (1) In general.--Subject to the availability of 
        appropriations or other funding, the applicable 
        Secretary shall carry out a grant program, to be known 
        as the ``John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue and 
        Response Grant Program'' (referred to in this section 
        as the ``grant program''), to award grants to eligible 
        stranding network participants or stranding network 
        collaborators, as described in this subsection.
            (2) Purposes.--The purposes of the grant program 
        are to provide for--
                    (A) the recovery, care, or treatment of 
                sick, injured, or entangled marine mammals;
                    (B) responses to marine mammal stranding 
                events that require emergency assistance;
                    (C) the collection of data and samples from 
                living or dead stranded marine mammals for 
                scientific research or assessments regarding 
                marine mammal health;
                    (D) facility operating costs that are 
                directly related to activities described in 
                subparagraph (A), (B), or (C); and
                    (E) development of stranding network 
                capacity, including training for emergency 
                response, where facilities do not exist or are 
                sparse.
            (3) Contract, grant, and cooperative agreement 
        authority.--
                    (A) In general.--The applicable Secretary 
                may enter into a contract, grant, or 
                cooperative agreement with any eligible 
                stranding network participant or stranding 
                network collaborator, as the Secretary 
                determines to be appropriate, for the purposes 
                described in paragraph (2).
                    (B) Emergency award flexibility.--Following 
                a request for emergency award flexibility and 
                analysis of the merits of and necessity for 
                such a request, the applicable Secretary may--
                            (i) amend any contract, grant, or 
                        cooperative agreement entered into 
                        under this paragraph, including 
                        provisions concerning the period of 
                        performance; or
                            (ii) waive the requirements under 
                        subsection (f) for grant applications 
                        submitted during the provision of 
                        emergency assistance.
            (4) Equitable distribution of funds.--
                    (A) In general.--The Secretary shall 
                ensure, to the extent practicable, that funds 
                awarded under the grant program are distributed 
                equitably among the stranding regions.
                    (B) Considerations.--In determining 
                priorities among the stranding regions under 
                this paragraph, the Secretary may consider--
                            (i) equitable distribution within 
                        the stranding regions, including the 
                        sub regions (including, but not limited 
                        to, the Gulf of Mexico);
                            (ii) any episodic stranding, 
                        entanglement, or mortality events, 
                        except for unusual mortality events, 
                        that occurred in any stranding region 
                        in the preceding year;
                            (iii) any data with respect to 
                        average annual stranding, 
                        entanglements, and mortality events per 
                        stranding region;
                            (iv) the size of the marine mammal 
                        populations inhabiting a stranding 
                        region;
                            (v) the importance of the region's 
                        marine mammal populations to the well-
                        being of indigenous communities; and
                            (vi) the conservation of protected, 
                        depleted, threatened, or endangered 
                        marine mammal species.
                    (C) Strandings.--For the purposes of this 
                program, priority is to be given to 
                applications focusing on marine mammal 
                strandings.
            (5) Application.--To be eligible for a grant under 
        the grant program, a stranding network participant 
        shall--
                    (A) submit an application in such form and 
                manner as the applicable Secretary prescribes; 
                and
                    (B) be in compliance with the data 
                reporting requirements under section 402(d) and 
                any applicable reporting requirements of the 
                United States Fish and Wildlife Service for 
                species under its management jurisdiction.
            (6) Grant criteria.--The Secretary shall, in 
        consultation with the Marine Mammal Commission, a 
        representative from each of the stranding regions, and 
        other individuals who represent public and private 
        organizations that are actively involved in rescue, 
        rehabilitation, release, scientific research, marine 
        conservation, and forensic science with respect to 
        stranded marine mammals under that Department's 
        jurisdiction, develop criteria for awarding grants 
        under their respective grant programs.
            (7) Limitations.--
                    (A) Maximum grant amount.--No grant made 
                under the grant program for a single award may 
                exceed $150,000 in any 12-month period.
                    (B) Unexpended funds.--Any funds that have 
                been awarded under the grant program but that 
                are unexpended at the end of the 12-month 
                period described in subparagraph (A) shall 
                remain available until expended.
            (8) Administrative costs and expenses.--The 
        Secretary's administrative costs and expenses related 
        to reviewing and awarding grants under the grant 
        program, in any fiscal year may not exceed the greater 
        of--
                    (A) 6 percent of the amounts made available 
                each fiscal year to carry out the grant 
                program; or
                    (B) $80,000.
            (9) Transparency.--The Secretary shall make 
        publicly available a list of grant proposals for the 
        upcoming fiscal year, funded grants, and requests for 
        grant flexibility under this subsection.
    (c) Joseph R. Geraci Marine Mammal Rescue and Rapid 
Response Fund.--
            (1) In general.--There is established in the 
        Treasury of the United States an interest-bearing fund, 
        to be known as the ``Joseph R. Geraci Marine Mammal 
        Rescue and Rapid Response Fund'' (referred to in this 
        section as the ``Rapid Response Fund'').
            (2) Use of funds.--Amounts in the Rapid Response 
        Fund shall be available only for use by the Secretary 
        to provide emergency assistance.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            (1) In general.--
                    (A) Authorization of appropriations.--There 
                is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
                the grant program $7,000,000 for each of fiscal 
                years 2021 through 2026, to remain available 
                until expended, of which for each fiscal year--
                            (i) $6,000,000 shall be made 
                        available to the Secretary of Commerce; 
                        and
                            (ii) $1,000,000 shall be made 
                        available to the Secretary of the 
                        Interior.
                    (B) Derivation of funds.--Funds to carry 
                out the activities under this section shall be 
                derived from amounts authorized to be 
                appropriated pursuant to subparagraph (A) that 
                are enacted after the date of enactment of the 
                Marine Mammal Research and Response Act of 
                2021.
            (2) Joseph r. geraci marine mammal rescue and rapid 
        response fund.--There is authorized to be appropriated 
        to the Rapid Response Fund $500,000 for each of fiscal 
        years 2021 through 2026.
    (e) Acceptance of Donations.--For the purposes of carrying 
out this section, the Secretary may solicit, accept, receive, 
hold, administer, and use gifts, devises, and bequests without 
any further approval or administrative action.
    [(e)](f) Matching Requirement.--
            (1) In general.--The no.--Federal share of the 
        costs of an activity conducted with a grant under this 
        section shall be 25 percent of such costs.
            (2) In-kind contributions.--The Secretary may apply 
        to the non-Federal share of an activity conducted with 
        a grant under this section the amount of funds, and the 
        fair market value of property and services, provided by 
        non-Federal sources and used for the activity.
    [(f) Administrative Expenses.--Of amounts available each 
fiscal year to carry out this section, the Secretary may expend 
not more than 6 percent or $80,000, whichever is greater, to 
pay the administrative expenses necessary to carry out this 
section.
    [(g) Definitions.--In this section:
            [(1) Designated stranding region.--The term 
        ``designated stranding region'' means a geographic 
        region designated by the Secretary for purposes of 
        administration of this title.
            [(2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' has the 
        meaning given that term in section 3(12)(A).
    [(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized 
to be appropriated to carry out this section $5,000,000 for 
each of fiscal years 2001 through 2003, to remain available 
until expended, of which--
            [(1) $4,000,000 may be available to the Secretary 
        of Commerce; and
            [(2) $1,000,000 may be available to the Secretary 
        of the Interior.]

SEC. 408A. MARINE MAMMAL HEALTH MONITORING AND ANALYSIS PLATFORM 
                    (HEALTH MAP).

    (a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of the Marine Mammal Research and Response Act of 
2021, the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in 
consultation with the Secretary of the Interior and the Marine 
Mammal Commission, shall--
            (1) establish a marine mammal health monitoring and 
        analysis platform (referred to in this Act as the 
        ``Health MAP'');
            (2) incorporate the Health MAP into the Observation 
        System; and
            (3) make the Health MAP--
                    (A) publicly accessible through the web 
                portal of the Observation System; and
                    (B) interoperable with other national data 
                systems or other data systems for management or 
                research purposes, as practicable.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of the Health MAP are--
            (1) to promote--
                    (A) interdisciplinary research among 
                individuals with knowledge and experience in 
                marine mammal science, marine mammal veterinary 
                and husbandry practices, medical science, and 
                oceanography, and with other marine scientists;
                    (B) timely and sustained dissemination and 
                availability of marine mammal health, 
                stranding, entanglement, and mortality data;
                    (C) identification of spatial and temporal 
                patterns of marine mammal mortality, disease, 
                and stranding;
                    (D) evaluation of marine mammal health in 
                terms of mortality, as well as sublethal marine 
                mammal health impacts;
                    (E) improved collaboration and forecasting 
                of marine mammal and larger ecosystem health 
                events;
                    (F) rapid communication and dissemination 
                of information regarding marine mammal 
                strandings that may have implications for human 
                health, such as those caused by harmful algal 
                blooms; and
                    (G) increased accessibility of data in a 
                user friendly visual interface for public 
                education and outreach; and
            (2) to contribute to an ocean health index that 
        incorporates marine mammal health data.
    (c) Requirements.--The Health MAP shall--
            (1) integrate in situ, remote, and other marine 
        mammal health, stranding, and mortality data, including 
        visualizations and metadata, collected by marine mammal 
        stranding networks, Federal, State, local, and Tribal 
        governments, private partners, and academia; and
            (2) be designed--
                    (A) to enhance data and information 
                availability, including data sharing among 
                stranding network participants, scientists, and 
                the public within and across stranding network 
                regions;
                    (B) to facilitate data and information 
                access across scientific disciplines, 
                scientists, and managers;
                    (C) to facilitate public access to national 
                and regional marine mammal health, stranding, 
                entanglement, and mortality data, including 
                visualizations and metadata, through the 
                national and regional data portals of the 
                Observation System; and
                    (D) in collaboration with, and with input 
                from, States and stranding network 
                participants.
    (d) Procedures and Guidelines.--The Secretary shall 
establish and implement policies, protocols, and standards 
for--
            (1) reporting marine mammal health data collected 
        by stranding networks consistent with subsections (c) 
        and (d) of section 402;
            (2) promptly transmitting health data from the 
        stranding networks and other appropriate data providers 
        to the Health MAP;
            (3) disseminating and making publicly available 
        data on marine mammal health, stranding, entanglement, 
        and mortality data in a timely and sustained manner; 
        and
            (4) integrating additional marine mammal health, 
        stranding, or other relevant data as the Secretary 
        determines appropriate.
    (e) Consultation.--The Administrator of the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall maintain and 
update the Health MAP in consultation with the Secretary of the 
Interior and the Marine Mammal Commission.
    (f) Contributions.--For purposes of carrying out this 
section, the Secretary may solicit, accept, receive, hold, 
administer, and use gifts, devises, and bequests without any 
further approval or administrative action.

SEC. 408B. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

    (a) Definition of Appropriate Committees of Congress.--In 
this section, the term ``appropriate committees of Congress'' 
means--
            (1) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
        Transportation of the Senate;
            (2) the Committee on Natural Resources of the House 
        of Representatives; and
            (3) the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 
        of the House of Representatives.
    (b) Health MAP Status Report.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 2 year after the 
        date of enactment of the Marine Mammal Research and 
        Response Act of 2021, the Administrator of the National 
        Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in consultation 
        with the Marine Mammal Commission, the Secretary of the 
        Interior, and the National Ocean Research Leadership 
        Council, shall submit to the appropriate committees of 
        Congress a report describing the status of the Health 
        MAP.
            (2) Requirements.--The report under paragraph (1) 
        shall include--
                    (A) a detailed evaluation of the data made 
                publicly available through the Health MAP;
                    (B) a detailed list of any gaps in data 
                collected pursuant to the Health MAP, a 
                description of the reasons for those gaps, and 
                recommended actions to close those gaps;
                    (C) an analysis of the effectiveness of 
                using the website of the Observation System as 
                the platform to collect, organize, visualize, 
                archive, and disseminate marine mammal 
                stranding and health data;
                    (D) a list of publications, presentations, 
                or other relevant work product resulting from, 
                or produced in collaboration with, the Health 
                MAP;
                    (E) a description of emerging marine mammal 
                health concerns and the applicability of those 
                concerns to human health;
                    (F) an analysis of the feasibility of the 
                Observation System being used as an alert 
                system during stranding events, entanglement 
                events, and unusual mortality events for the 
                stranding network, Observation System partners, 
                Health MAP partners, Federal and State 
                agencies, and local and Tribal governments;
                    (G) an evaluation of the use of Health MAP 
                data to predict broader ecosystem events and 
                changes that may impact marine mammal or human 
                health and specific examples of proven or 
                potential uses of Observation System data for 
                those purposes; and
                    (H) recommendations for the Health MAP with 
                respect to--
                            (i) filling any identified data 
                        gaps;
                            (ii) standards that could be used 
                        to improve data quality, accessibility, 
                        transmission, interoperability, and 
                        sharing;
                            (iii) any other strategies that 
                        would contribute to the effectiveness 
                        and usefulness of the Health MAP; and
                            (iv) the funding levels needed to 
                        maintain and improve the Health MAP.
    (c) Data Gap Analysis.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 5 years after the 
        date on which the report required under subsection 
        (b)(1) is submitted, and every 10 years thereafter, the 
        Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
        Administration, in consultation with the Marine Mammal 
        Commission and the Secretary of Commerce, shall--
                    (A) make publicly available a report on the 
                data gap analysis described in paragraph (2); 
                and
                    (B) provide a briefing to the appropriate 
                committees of Congress concerning that data gap 
                analysis.
            (2) Requirements.--The data gap analysis under 
        paragraph (1) shall include--
                    (A) an overview of existing participants 
                within a marine mammal stranding network;
                    (B) an identification of coverage needs and 
                participant gaps within a network;
                    (C) an identification of data and reporting 
                gaps from members of a network; and
                    (D) an analysis of how stranding and health 
                data are shared and made available to 
                scientists, academics, State, local, and Tribal 
                governments, and the public.
    (d) Marine Mammal Response Capabilities in the Arctic.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the 
        date of enactment of the Marine Mammal Research and 
        Response Act of 2021, the Administrator of the National 
        Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Director of 
        the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the 
        Director of the United States Geologic Survey, in 
        consultation with the Marine Mammal Commission and the 
        Secretary of the Interior, shall--
                    (A) make publicly available a report 
                describing the response capabilities for sick 
                and injured marine mammals in the Arctic 
                regions of the United States; and
                    (B) provide a briefing to the appropriate 
                committees of Congress on that report.
            (2) Arctic.--The term ``Arctic'' has the meaning 
        given the term in section 112 of the Arctic Research 
        and Policy Act of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 4111).
            (3) Requirements.--The report under paragraph (1) 
        shall include--
                    (A) a description, developed in 
                consultation with the Fish and Wildlife Service 
                of the Department of the Interior, of all 
                marine mammal stranding agreements in place for 
                the Arctic region of the United States, 
                including species covered, response 
                capabilities, facilities and equipment, and 
                data collection and analysis capabilities;
                    (B) a list of State and local government 
                agencies that have personnel trained to respond 
                to marine mammal strandings in the Arctic 
                region of the United States;
                    (C) an assessment of potential response and 
                data collection partners and sources of local 
                information and knowledge, including Alaska 
                Native people and villages;
                    (D) an analysis of spatial and temporal 
                trends in marine mammal strandings and unusual 
                mortality events that are correlated with 
                changing environmental conditions in the Arctic 
                region of the United States;
                    (E) a description of training and other 
                resource needs to meet emerging response 
                requirements in the Arctic region of the United 
                States;
                    (F) an analysis of oiled marine mammal 
                response and rehabilitation capabilities in the 
                Arctic region of the United States, including 
                personnel, equipment, facilities, training, and 
                husbandry capabilities, and an assessment of 
                factors that affect response and rehabilitation 
                success rates; and
                    (G) recommendations to address future 
                stranding response needs for marine mammals in 
                the Arctic region of the United States.

                           [16 U.S.C. 1421g]

SEC. 409. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There is authorized to be appropriated--
            (1) to the Secretary for carrying out this title 
        (other than sections 405 and 407) $250,000 for each of 
        fiscal years [1993 and 1994;] 2021 through 2026;
            (2) to the Secretary for carrying out section 407, 
        $250,000 for each of fiscal years [1993 and 1994;] 2021 
        through 2026; and
            (3) to the Fund, $500,000 for [fiscal year 1993.] 
        for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2026.

                           [16 U.S.C. 1421h]

SEC. 410. DEFINITIONS.

    In this title, the following definitions apply:
            (1) The term ``entangle'' or ``entanglement'' means 
        an event in the wild in which a living or dead marine 
        mammal has gear, rope, line, net, or other material 
        wrapped around or attached to the marine mammal and 
        is--
                    (A) on lands under the jurisdiction of the 
                United States, including beaches and 
                shorelines; or
                    (B) in waters under the jurisdiction of the 
                United States, including any navigable waters.
            [(1)] (2) [The term] Except as used in section 408, 
        the term ``Fund'' means the Marine Mammal Unusual 
        Mortality Event Fund established by section 405(a).
            (3) The term ``Health MAP'' means the Marine Mammal 
        Health Monitoring and Analysis Platform established 
        under section 408A(a)(1).
            (4) The term ``Observation System'' means the 
        National Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation 
        System established under section 12304 of the 
        Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act of 
        2009 (33 U.S.C. 3603).
            [(2)] (5) The term ``Office'' means the Office of 
        Protected Resources, in the National Marine Fisheries 
        Service.
            [(3)] (6) The term ``stranding'' means an event in 
        the wild in which--
                    (A) a marine mammal is dead and is--
                            (i) on a beach or shore of the 
                        United States; or
                            (ii) in waters under the 
                        jurisdiction of the United States 
                        (including any navigable waters); or
                    (B) a marine mammal is alive and is--
                            (i) on a beach or shore of the 
                        United States and unable to return to 
                        the water;
                            (ii) on a beach or shore of the 
                        United States and, although able to 
                        return to the water, is in need of 
                        apparent medical attention; or
                            (iii) in the waters under the 
                        jurisdiction of the United States 
                        (including any navigable waters), but 
                        is unable to return to its natural 
                        habitat under its own power or without 
                        assistance.
            [(4)] (7) The term ``stranding network 
        participant'' means a person who is authorized by an 
        agreement under section 112(c) to take marine mammals 
        as described in section 109(h)(1) in response to a 
        stranding.
            [(5)] (8) The term ``Tissue Bank'' means the 
        National Marine Tissue Bank provided for under section 
        407(a).
            [(6)] (9) The term ``unusual mortality event'' 
        means a stranding that--
                    (A) is unexpected;
                    (B) involves a significant die-off of any 
                marine mammal population; and
                    (C) demands immediate response.

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