Lawmakers ask White House to send whale rule back to NOAA

By Daniel Cusick | 07/15/2024 04:53 PM EDT

More than 50 House members — almost all Republicans — say the pending rule will add “costs and burdens on critical sectors of the American economy.”

A North Atlantic right whale feeds on the surface of Cape Cod Bay.

A North Atlantic right whale in March 2018 feeding on the surface of Cape Cod Bay off the coast of Plymouth, Massachusetts. Michael Dwyer/AP

More than 50 mostly Republican lawmakers Monday called on the White House’s regulatory overseers to throw back a pending NOAA Fisheries rule to further slow commercial and recreational boats moving through for right whale habitat.

In a letter to the Office of Management and Budget and Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, House members said requiring boats 35 feet or longer to maintain 10 knots — or 11.5 miles per hour — when passing through designated right whale habitat is excessive. If finalized, the rule could affect boaters for up to seven months per year in some places, officials have said.

The “boat speed” rule, proposed in 2022, could affect thousands of smaller vessels, including trawlers and other fishing boats plying the Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to Florida. Since 2008, only boats 65 feet and longer are required to meet the 10-knot speed rule.

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NOAA planned to implement the new rule last year but missed its deadline. Meanwhile, Republicans and some Democrats have warned that expanding the number of boats subject to the low-speed requirement would severely damage local fishing economies. Moreover, they question whether the rule is based on sound science.

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