# 119-hr-10776: To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to change certain requirements regarding certain allowed take of marine mammals, and for other purposes.

119-hr-10776, To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to change certain requirements regarding certain allowed take of marine mammals, and for other purposes., is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Ezell, Mike [R-MS-4] (R-MS); status introduced (as of 2026-10-23).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-10776
- As of: 2026-10-23
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-10776
- Congress: 119
- Title: To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to change certain requirements regarding certain allowed take of marine mammals, and for other purposes.
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-10-09
- Sponsor: Rep. Ezell, Mike [R-MS-4] (R-MS)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Policy area: Animals
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2026-10-23

## Summary

**Replaces numerical caps with a conditions-based framework** that would rewrite how the Marine Mammal Protection Act measures take and disturbance. It would also tighten definitions of take and require decisions to rely only on objective best scientific and commercial data. - Would change permit limits for developers, researchers, and importers by removing "small numbers" language and prior five-year caps and replacing them with practicable, economically feasible conditions set by the Secretary. Those conditions must include efficient monitoring and reporting and may not alter the basic design, location, scope, duration, or timing of the activity. - Would narrow what counts as harm by changing wording from "has the potential to injure" and "is likely to disturb" to the verbs "injures" and "disturbs" and by adding a strict definition of "negligible impact" tied to effects on annual survival rates. - Would add a new rule that Title I decisions must be made solely on the objective application of the best scientific and commercial data available and forbid precautionary factors or assumptions that bias analysis.

## Provisions PRIA read

- Easier rules for marine operators: mixed, medium. If enacted, the bill would replace language about activities that "have the potential to injure" or "are likely to disturb" with language requiring actual injury or disturbance. It would remove the phrase limiting certain authorizations to periods of not more than five consecutive years and drop se…
- Require objective data for agency decisions: mixed, medium. If enacted, the bill would require every Title I decision to be made solely on the objective application of the best scientific and commercial data available. It would forbid precautionary factors, precautionary assumptions, or other factors that bias application of the best data. The rule would ap…
- New monitoring rules for marine activities: mixed, low. If enacted, the bill would let the Secretary require conditions that are appropriate, practicable, and economically feasible to minimize impacts from takes. People doing covered activities would need efficient, practicable monitoring while activities are underway and must report take. For take by h…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-4275: Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025
- 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025
- 119-hr-137: TCJA Permanency Act
- 119-hr-2725: Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025
- 119-hr-471: Fix Our Forests Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-10776 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/10776)

## Related
- [119-hr-4275: Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4275)
- [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151)
- [119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4669)
- [119-hr-137: TCJA Permanency Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-137)
- [119-hr-2725: Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2725)
- [119-hr-471: Fix Our Forests Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-471)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-10776 (as of 2026-10-23).