CHAPTER XIII 



PERMIT PROCESS 



The Marine Mammal Protection Act placed a moratorium, 

 with certain exceptions, on the taking and importing of marine 

 mammals and marine mammal products. Exceptions are provided 

 for the issuance of permits by either the Secretary of Commerce 

 or the Secretary of the Interior, depending upon the species 

 of animal involved, for the taking of marine mammals for 

 purposes of scientific research or public display. The 1988 

 amendments, discussed in Chapter II, added a new permitting 

 authority, enabling the Secretaries to issue permits for 

 activities designed to enhance the survival or recovery of 

 marine mammal species and stocks. Before acting on a permit 

 application, the responsible regulatory agency is reguired to 

 have the application reviewed by the Marine Mammal Commission, 

 in consultation with its Committee of Scientific Advisors. 



Application Review 



The permit application and review process involves three 

 stages: (1) receipt and initial review of the application at 

 the Department of Commerce or the Interior, publication of a 

 notice of receipt of the application in the Federal Register , 

 and transmittal to the Commission; (2) review of the application 

 by the Commission, in consultation with its Committee of 

 Scientific Advisors, and transmittal of its recommendation to 

 the Department; and (3) final processing by the Department, 

 including consideration of all comments and recommendations 

 of the Commission and the public, resulting in the approval 

 or denial of the application. The following is a schematic 

 representation of this process. 



Applicant 



Application 

 I 



J 



Final Departmental Action 



— r~ 



Dept. of 

 Commerce 



Dept. of 



Interior 



i 



i 



Dept. of 

 Interior 



Complete Application 



I 



Dept. of 

 Commerce 



H 



Commission Recommendation 



^ 



Marine Mammal Commission 



Committee of Scientific 

 Advisors on Marine Mammals 



206 



