Sec. 2. Vessel speed or operational restrictions in the Gulf of Mexico
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The Secretary of Commerce shall not issue an interim or final rule, and the Secretary of the Interior shall not include in an offshore oil and gas lease sale, exploration or development plan, or well permit in the Central or Western Planning Area of the Gulf of Mexico of the outer Continental Shelf a requirement or recommendation, that establishes a vessel speed or vessel operational restriction for any length of time in such a Planning Area until the Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of the Interior— complete a study— assessing the impact of any mitigation protocols developed under subsection
(b)on— the core habitat for Rice's whales in the Eastern Planning Area of the Gulf of Mexico; and seasonal occupation and usage patterns outside such core habitat; and demonstrating that mitigation protocols developed under subsection
(b)would have no negative impact on supply chains, United States offshore energy production and generation, military activities, including readiness, and United States commercial and recreational fishing or maritime commerce; and not later than 60 days after completing the study described in paragraph (1), submit a report containing the findings of such study to— the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate; and the Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives. The Secretary of Commerce, in concurrence with the Secretary of the Interior and in consultation with the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Transportation, and affected stakeholders, shall develop mitigation protocols that make use of any monitoring system designed under section 11303 of the Don Young Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2022 ( 16 U.S.C. 1391 ) to direct sector-specific mitigation measures that reduce the risk of serious injury and mortality to Rice’s whales in the Eastern Planning Area of the Gulf of Mexico. The mitigation protocols developed under paragraph
(1)may not include— any prohibitions on transit at night; or implementation of a vessel speed or vessel operational restriction. The Secretary of Commerce shall, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, provide in any interim or final rule described in subsection
(a)an exception for national security activities. For purposes of this section, the term core habitat , with respect to Rice's whales, has the meaning given the term Bryde’s whale area in the Biological Opinion on the Federally Regulated Oil and Gas Program Activities in the Gulf of Mexico published by the Department of Commerce on March 13, 2020.
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Sec. 2
Vessel speed or operational restrictions in the Gulf of Mexico
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