H.R. 3682 · 115th Congress
Blue Whales and Blue Skies Act
Key: what the circles and colors mean
Each circle is a bill. The ring fills as it moves through Congress:
Under the number: the Yea · Nay count of its final (or latest) recorded vote. On a member's page, the small badge is how that member voted: Y Yea / Aye, N Nay / No, P Present, – Not voting.
Gold and violet are only for Yea and Nay; they never mean a party. A member's party is the letter on their photo.
Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 115th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.
D
LowenthalSponsor7 cosponsors · 7 D
3 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.
This bill requires the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to establish the Blue Whales and Blue Skies Program and annually award Blue Whales and Blue Skies Excellence Awards to owners of certain vessels for successfully participating in, and complying with, the program.
What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in House · Sep 6, 2017
Blue Whales and Blue Skies Act
This bill requires the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to establish the Blue Whales and Blue Skies Program and annually award Blue Whales and Blue Skies Excellence Awards to owners of certain vessels for successfully participating in, and complying with, the program. The program encourages the reduction in the speed of certain vessels transiting the Greater Santa Barbara Channel Region in California in order to reduce air pollution, harmful underwater acoustic impacts, and the risk of fatal whale strikes.
The program must be modeled after the pilot Vessel Speed Reduction Program, except financial incentives for participation in the program may not be provided. The program must require, at a minimum, that each vessel of the awardee transit that region at speeds of 12 knots or lower. In addition, the program must require vessels to participate in the Port of Los Angeles or Port of Long Beach vessel speed reduction programs if the vessels call at those ports.
The Office must create an official seal to be recognized as the symbol of excellence in compliance with the program.
Within four years after this bill's enactment, the Office must consider and report on the feasibility of extending the program to encompass all shipping channels along the U.S. Pacific Coast between Canada and Mexico.
Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov
About this bill and sources
Official title: Blue Whales and Blue Skies Act
Latest action (Sep 7, 2017): Referred to the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation.
Policy area: Environmental Protection · Origin: House · Introduced: Sep 6, 2017
Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)
No recorded floor vote found.