The Secretary shall, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, the Marine Mammal Commission, and individuals with knowledge and experience in marine science, marine mammal science, marine mammal veterinary and husbandry practices, and marine conservation, including stranding network participants, develop objective criteria, after an opportunity for public review and comment, to provide guidance for determining at what point a rehabilitated marine mammal is releasable to the wild.
The Secretary shall, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, collect and update, periodically, existing information on-
After each response to a stranding or entanglement event, the Secretary shall collect (including from any staff of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that respond directly to such an event), and shall require each stranding network participant who responds to that stranding or entanglement to submit to the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service-
A stranding network participant shall submit-
The Secretary, acting through the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, in consultation with the stranding network and the Office of Evaluation Sciences of the General Services Administration, shall establish an online system for the purposes of efficient and timely submission of data described in paragraph (1).
The Secretary shall develop a program to make information, including any data and metadata collected under paragraph (3) or (4) of subsection (b) or subsection (c), available to researchers, stranding network participants, and the public-
The Secretary shall ensure that any data or metadata collected under subsection (c)-
Notwithstanding paragraph (2)(B), the Secretary may make data described in paragraph (2)(B) publicly available earlier than 2 years after the date on which that data are submitted to the Secretary under subsection (c), if the stranding network participant has completed a written release stating that such data may be made publicly available.
Notwithstanding paragraph (2), the Secretary may withhold data for a longer period than the period of time described in paragraph (2) in the event of a law enforcement action or legal action that may be related to that data.
The Secretary, in consultation with the marine mammal stranding community, shall-
In collaboration with the regional stranding networks, the Secretary shall develop, and periodically update, a data management and public outreach collaboration policy for stranding or entanglement events.
The Secretary, acting through the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, shall include authorship agreements or other acknowledgment considerations for use of data by the public, as determined by the Secretary.
The Secretary shall not require submission of research data that are not described in subsection (c).
16 U.S.C. § 1421a
EDITORIAL NOTES
AMENDMENTS2022-Subsec. (b)(1)(A). Pub. L. 117-263, §10401(1)(A), inserted "or entangled" after "stranded".Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 117-263, §10401(1)(B), substituted "strandings and entanglements, including unusual mortality events, which the Secretary shall compile and analyze, by stranding region, to monitor species, numbers, conditions, and causes of illnesses and deaths of stranded marine mammals and entangled marine mammals to allow comparison of the causes of illness and deaths in stranded marine mammals and entangled marine mammals with physical, chemical, and biological environmental parameters; and" for "strandings, which the Secretary shall compile and analyze, by region, to monitor species, numbers, conditions, and causes of illnesses and deaths of stranded marine mammals; and". Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 117-263, §10401(1)(C), substituted "analyses." for "analyses, that would allow comparison of the causes of illness and deaths in stranded marine mammals with physical, chemical, and biological environmental parameters."Subsecs. (c) to (h). Pub. L. 117-263, §10401(2), added subsecs. (c) to (h) and struck out former subsec. (c). Prior to amendment, text of subsec. (c) read as follows: "The Secretary shall make information collected under this section available to stranding network participants and other qualified scientists."
STATUTORY NOTES AND RELATED SUBSIDIARIES
IMPLEMENTATION Pub. L. 102-587, title III, §3003(b), Nov. 4, 1992, 106 Stat. 5066, provided that: "The Secretary of Commerce shall-"(1) in accordance with section 302(a) and (b) [now 402(a), (b)] of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 [16 U.S.C. 1421a(a), (b)], as amended by this Act, and not later than 24 months after the date of enactment of this Act [Nov. 4, 1992]-"(A) develop and implement objective criteria to determine at what point a marine mammal undergoing rehabilitation is returnable to the wild; and "(B) collect and make available information on marine mammal health and health trends; and"(2) in accordance with section 304(b) [now 404(b)] of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 [16 U.S.C. 1421c(b)], as amended by this Act, issue a detailed contingency plan for responding to any unusual mortality event-"(A) in proposed form by not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act; and "(B) in final form by not later than 24 months after the date of enactment of this Act."