Sec. 705. Near real-time monitoring and mitigation program for large whales
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The Administrator shall design and deploy a Near Real-Time Large Whale Monitoring and Mitigation Program in order to curtail the risk to large whales of vessel collisions, entanglement in commercial fishing gear, and to minimize other impacts, including but not limited to underwater noise from development activities. Such program shall be capable of detecting and alerting ocean users and enforcement agencies of the location of large whales on a near real-time basis, informing sector-specific mitigation protocols that can effectively reduce take of large whales, and continually integrating improved technology.
The program shall be informed by the technologies, monitoring methods, and mitigation protocols developed pursuant to the pilot program required in subsection (b). In carrying out subsection (a), the Administrator shall first establish a pilot monitoring and mitigation project for North Atlantic right whales for the purposes of informing a cost-effective, efficient and results-oriented near real-time monitoring and mitigation program for large whales. In designing and deploying the monitoring system, the Administrator shall, using best available scientific information, identify and ensure coverage of— core foraging habitats of North Atlantic right whales, including but not limited to— the South of the Islands core foraging habitat; the Cape Cod Bay Area core foraging habitat; the Great South Channel core foraging habitat; and the Gulf of Maine; and important feeding, breeding, calving, rearing, or migratory habitats of North Atlantic right whales that co-occur with areas of high risk of mortality, injury, or harassment of such whales from vessel strikes, disturbance from development activities, and entanglement in commercial fishing gear.
Within 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in consultation with relevant Federal agencies, Tribal governments, and with input from affected stakeholders, shall design and deploy a real-time monitoring system for North Atlantic right whales that includes near real-time monitoring methods, technologies and protocols that— comprise sufficient detection power, spatial coverage and survey effort to detect and localize North Atlantic right whales within core foraging habitats; are capable of detecting North Atlantic right whales visually, including during periods of poor visibility and darkness, and acoustically; take advantage of dynamic habitat suitability models that help to discern the likelihood of North Atlantic right whale occurrence in core foraging habitat at any given time; coordinate with the Integrated Ocean Observing System to leverage monitoring assets; integrate new near real-time monitoring methods and technologies as they become available; accurately verify and rapidly communicate detection data; and allow for ocean users to contribute data that is verified to be collected using comparable near real-time monitoring methods and technologies.
The Administrator shall, in consultation with the Administrator of Homeland Security, Administrator of Defense, Administrator of Transportation, and Administrator of the Interior, and with input from affected stakeholders, develop and deploy mitigation protocols that make use of the near real-time monitoring system to direct sector-specific mitigation measures that avoid and significantly reduce risk of disturbance, injury and mortality to North Atlantic right whales. The Administrator shall provide access to data generated by the monitoring system for purposes of scientific research and evaluation, and public awareness and education, through the NOAA Right Whale Sighting Advisory System and WhaleMap or other successive public web portals.
Not later than two years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation of the Senate, and make available to the public, an interim report that assesses the benefits and efficacy of the North Atlantic right whale near real-time monitoring and mitigation pilot program. The report shall include— a description of the monitoring methods and technology in use or planned for deployment; analyses of the efficacy of the methods and technology in use or planned for deployment in detecting North Atlantic right whales both individually and in combination; how the monitoring system is directly informing and improving species management and mitigation in near real-time across ocean sectors whose activities pose a risk to North Atlantic right whales; and a prioritized identification of gaps in technology or methods requiring future research and development.
Not later than three years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation of the Senate, and make available to the public, a final report, addressing the components in subparagraph
(A)for the subsequent one year following the publication of the interim report, and including the following— a strategic plan to expand the pilot program to provide near real-time monitoring and mitigation measures to additional large whale species, including a prioritized plan for acquisition, deployment, and maintenance of monitoring technologies, and the locations or species for which the plan would apply; and a budget and description of appropriations necessary to carry out the strategic plan pursuant to the requirements of clause (i). In carrying out this section, including, the Administrator may enter into and perform such contracts, leases, grants, or cooperative agreements as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this section on such terms as the Administrator considers appropriate. Not later than one year after the deployment of the program described in subsection
(b)(and after completion of the reporting requirements pursuant to paragraph
(5)of such subsection), and annually thereafter through 2029, the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation of the Senate, and make available to the public, a report that assess the benefits and efficacy of the near real-time monitoring and mitigation program. In this section, the following definitions apply: The term core foraging habitats means areas with biological and physical oceanographic features that aggregate Calanus finmarchicus and where North Atlantic right whales foraging aggregations have been well documented. The term real-time means that visual, acoustic, or other detections of North Atlantic right whales are transmitted and reported as soon as technically feasible, and no longer than 24 hours, after they have occurred. The term large whale means all Mysticeti species and species within the genera Physeter and Orcinus. There is authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to support development, deployment, application and ongoing maintenance of the monitoring system as required by this section, $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026.