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North Atlantic Right Whale Recovery Act of 2001

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Official summary

Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Aug 3, 2001

North Atlantic Right Whale Recovery Act of 2001 - Directs the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) to institute a North Atlantic Right Whale Recovery Program; and (2) develop cooperative agreements to support State agency involvement in such whale recovery programs.Requires the Secretary and the Secretary of Transportation to: (1) identify and institute demonstration projects to reduce mortality of such whales caused by ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear; and (2) develop a program by January 2003 to prevent such ship strikes through use of a vessel early warning system and a coordinated vessel management system; and (3) ensure Federal agency cooperation to meet the needs of the updated North Atlantic Right Whale Recovery Plan.Requires the Secretary to: (1) create a technology program to detect and track such whales in critical habitat and along their migration routes during FY 2002 and 2003; and (2) incorporate specified data into a geographic information system for analysis of interactions between whales and ships.Requires the Secretary of Transportation to identify any gaps in legislative authority preventing implementation of regulations affecting vessels in U.S. waters necessary to promote recovery of such whales. Authorizes such Secretary to propose regulations for adoption at the International Maritime Organization to further implement recommendations contained within the Recovery Plan.Directs the Secretary to: (1) design a right whale research grant program; (2) continue discussions with Canada to coordinate whale programs; and (3) begin discussions with relevant organizations and nations for creating or amending agreements on management measures to reduce fishery interactions and for facilitating collection of information relevant to development of the priority action or recovery plan.Requires a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report on actions and expenditures under the Recovery Plan, incidents of collisions and entanglements, preventive actions, recovery activity litigation, and demonstration project costs.

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Who introduced it

Sen. Kerry, John F. [D-MA] · D–MA

Committees

  • Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee
1 cosponsorship records, including any withdrawals

Actions

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  1. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

  2. Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S8952-8953)

  3. Introduced in Senate

Bill text & related measures

Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.

Related bills identified by Congress.gov

Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.

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