An Act To protect marine mammals; to establish a Marine Mammal Commission; and for other purposes

Summary

• It is the sense of the Congress that marine mammals should be protected and encouraged to develop to the greatest extent feasible commensurate with sound policies of resource management and that the primary objective of their management should be to maintain the health and stability of the marine ecosystem. There is established the Marine Mammal Commission to be composed of three members who shall be appointed by the president. The president shall make his selection from a list, submitted to him by the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality, the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, the Director of the National Science Foundation, and the Chairman of the National Academy of Sciences. The Commission shall establish, within ninety days after it establishment, a Committee of Scientific Advisors on Marine Mammals.
• The Committee shall consist of nine scientists knowledgeable in marine ecology and marine mammal affairs. The Commission shall transmit to Congress, by January 31 of each year, a report which shall include a description of the activities and accomplishments of the Commission during the immediately preceding year and all the findings and recommendations made by and to the Commission. Provisions are set forth concerning: terms of office; duties; compensation; and coordination with other Federal agencies. There are authorized to be appropriated for the fiscal year in which this title is enacted and for the next four fiscal years thereafter such sums as may be necessary to carry out this title, but the sums appropriated for any such year shall not exceed $1,000,000.

Subject

• Council on Environmental Quality (U.S.)
• United States Marine Mammal Commission
• United States Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972
• National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
• National Science Foundation

Category

Smithsonian Legal Documents

Legal document information

• 86 stat. 1027
• Title 16, Conservation
• Public Law

Citation information

Statutes at Large

Notes

This Act may be cited as the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972.

Contained within

86 Stat. 1027 (1972); Pub. L. No. 92-522 (Book)

Contact information

Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu

Date

• 1973
• 10/21/1972

Topic

• Marine Biology
• Animals
• Marine ecology
• Finance
• Secretaries
• Annual Reports
• Marine resources conservation
• Expenditures, Public
• Mammals
• Marine mammals

Form/Genre

Public Law

Physical description

Number of pages: 20; Page Numbers: 1027-46

Full Record

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