NOAA Fisheries would have to satisfy a set of conditions before imposing speed limits on more boaters to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales, under a new spending bill released by congressional appropriators Sunday.
The fiscal 2024 bill would order NOAA “to engage with affected stakeholders and incorporate relevant comments” before finalizing its rule to prevent vessel strikes. That would include the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Maritime Administration.
The measure would also encourage NOAA to work with other federal agencies, including the Office of Naval Research and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, to test and evaluate new technologies that would better track the movement of whales.
That work would involve academic institutions and the private sector. In addition, appropriators asked NOAA to include funding for a pilot program and a research and development initiative as part of the agency’s budget request for fiscal 2025.
