[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6008 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6008
To prohibit the implementation of certain documents until the Assistant
Administrator for Fisheries of the National Marine Fisheries Service
issues documents relating to the Rice's whale.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 20, 2023
Mr. Graves of Louisiana (for himself, Mr. Ezell, Mr. Carl, and Mr.
Hunt) introduced the following bill
October 25, 2023
Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit the implementation of certain documents until the Assistant
Administrator for Fisheries of the National Marine Fisheries Service
issues documents relating to the Rice's whale.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Requiring Integrity in Conservation
Efforts Act'' or as the ``R.I.C.E.'s Whale Act''.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON IMPLEMENTATION OF CERTAIN DOCUMENTS UNTIL
ISSUANCE OF DOCUMENTS RELATING TO RICE'S WHALE.
(a) In General.--
(1) Compliance with biological opinion.--Notwithstanding
any other provision of law, with respect to current and future
federally regulated oil and gas program activities in the Gulf
of Mexico, compliance with the Biological Opinion shall serve
to fully satisfy the requirements of applicable Federal
environmental laws, including the Endangered Species Act (16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and the Marine Mammal Protection Act (16
U.S.C. 1371 et seq.).
(2) Stipulated agreement.--The Assistant Administrator and
the Director may not implement, administer, or enforce the
Stipulated Agreement or the Notice to Lessees, respectively,
until the Assistant Administrator issues a revised Biological
Opinion as a result of reinitiated consultation with the
Director under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973
(16 U.S.C. 1536) and in accordance with this section.
(b) Reinitiated Consultation on Biological Opinion.--
(1) In general.--The Assistant Administrator and the
Director may not request, commence, carry out, or complete
reinitiated consultation on the Biological Opinion under this
section until--
(A) the Assistant Administrator issues a final rule
designating critical habitat for the Rice's whale
(Balaenoptera ricei) that is consistent with--
(i) the results of the study conducted
pursuant to subsection (c);
(ii) the requirements of the rulemaking
process pursuant to subchapter II of chapter 5,
and chapter 7, of title 5, United States Code
(commonly known as the ``Administrative
Procedure Act'');
(iii) the requirement to conduct an
economic impact analysis pursuant to Executive
Order 12866 (5 U.S.C. 601 note; relating to
regulatory planning and review);
(iv) section 307 of the Coastal Zone
Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1456);
(v) the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.); and
(vi) chapter 6 of title 5, United States
Code (commonly known as the ``Regulatory
Flexibility Act''); and
(B) the Assistant Administrator revises and
finalizes the proposed rule titled ``Taking and
Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals
Incidental to Geophysical Surveys in the Gulf of
Mexico'' (88 Fed. Reg. 916; January 5, 2023) to include
a correction of the erroneous estimates of incidental
take of marine mammals anticipated from the activities
analyzed in the final rule titled ``Taking and
Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals
Incidental to Geophysical Surveys Related to Oil and
Gas Activities in the Gulf of Mexico'' (86 Fed. Reg.
5322; January 19, 2021).
(2) Cooperation with states.--In carrying out this section,
the Assistant Administrator and the Director shall cooperate
with each State to resolve issues that threaten to impair the
exploration, development, production, transportation,
servicing, or processing of offshore energy resources and
related activities.
(3) Publication and review.--In carrying out any
consultation or reinitiated consultation on the Biological
Opinion under this section, the Assistant Administrator and the
Director shall take steps to ensure--
(A) that any scientific evidence considered and
relied upon as a part of the consultation or
reinitiation of consultation is--
(i) made publicly available; and
(ii) peer reviewed by the National
Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine
to ensure scientific rigor and independence;
and
(B) that any party directly impacted by the
Stipulated Agreement or Notice to Lessees shall--
(i) have routine and continuing
opportunities to discuss and submit information
to the action agency for consideration during
the development of any biological assessment or
proposed action;
(ii) be informed by the action agency of
the schedule for preparation of a biological
assessment or proposed action;
(iii) receive a copy of any proposed action
and have the opportunity to review that
document and provide comment to the action
agency (which shall be afforded due
consideration during development);
(iv) be informed by the consulting
agencies, the Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management, or the National Marine Fisheries
Service, of the schedule for preparation of the
biological opinion when the biological
assessment is submitted to the consulting
agency by the action agency;
(v) receive a copy of any draft biological
opinion and have the opportunity to review that
document and provide comment to the action
agency (which shall be afforded due
consideration during development);
(vi) have the opportunity to confer with
the action agency regarding reasonable and
prudent alternatives prior to the action agency
identifying 1 or more reasonable and prudent
alternatives for consideration by the
consulting agency; and
(vii) where the action agency proposes a
proposed action or a consulting agency suggests
a reasonable and prudent alternative, be
informed of--
(I) how each component of such
proposed action or alternative will
contribute to avoiding jeopardy or
adverse modification of critical
habitat and the scientific data or
information that supports each
component of the proposed action or
alternative; and
(II) why other proposed alternative
actions that would have fewer
impairments to the supply of offshore
energy and economic impacts are
inadequate to avoid jeopardy or adverse
modification of critical habitat.
(4) Meetings.--
(A) In general.--During any consultation or
reinitiated consultation on the Biological Opinion
carried out under this section, the Assistant
Administrator and the Director shall, on a quarterly
basis, hold stakeholder meetings to provide updates on
the development of a new or revised biological
assessment or biological opinion.
(B) Participants.--Each stakeholder meeting held
under subparagraph (A) shall--
(i) be open to stakeholders identified by
the Assistant Administrator and the Director;
and
(ii) include stakeholders that--
(I) represent a broad range of
interests, including environmental,
recreational and commercial fishing,
conventional and renewable energy,
ports, and other regional interests;
and
(II) are not State or local
agencies.
(5) Clarification.--The Assistant Administrator and the
Director may not use stakeholder meetings held under paragraph
(3) to fulfill the requirements of paragraph (2).
(c) Rice's Whale Study.--The Assistant Administrator shall enter
into an agreement with the National Academies of Science, Engineering,
and Medicine to conduct a study to determine the occurrence and range
of the Rice's whale (Balaenoptera ricei) in the Central, Eastern, and
Western Gulf of Mexico Planning Areas.
(d) Leasing Activities.--The Secretary of the Interior may not rely
on the Stipulated Agreement or the Notice to Lessees in carrying out
offshore oil and gas leasing activities under the Outer Continental
Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.).
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Assistant administrator.--The term ``Assistant
Administrator'' means the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries
of the National Marine Fisheries Service.
(2) Biological opinion.--The term ``Biological Opinion''
means the document titled ``Biological Opinion on the Federally
Regulated Oil and Gas Program Activities in the Gulf of
Mexico'' (OPR-2017-00002; March 13, 2020).
(3) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of
the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
(4) Notice to lessees.--The term ``Notice to Lessees''
means the document titled ``Notice to Lessees and Operators of
Federal Oil and Gas, and Sulphur Leases in the Gulf of Mexico
Outer Continental Shelf; Expanded Rice's Whale Protection
Efforts During Reinitiated Consultation with NMFS'' (BOEM NTL
No. 2023-G01; August 17, 2023), or a substantially similar
document.
(5) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the States of
Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.
(6) Stipulated agreement.--The term ``Stipulated
Agreement'' means the document titled ``Stipulated Agreement to
Stay Proceedings'' (July 21, 2023; Docket No. 8:20-cv-03060-
DLB) and entered into by the Sierra Club, Center for Biological
Diversity, Friends of the Earth, and Turtle Island Restoration
Network and the National Marine Fisheries Service and the
Assistant Administrator.
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