Chapter X 



PERMITS FOR MARINE MAMMAL RESEARCH, 

 PUBLIC DISPLAY, AND ENHANCEMENT 



The Marine Mammal Protection Act places a 

 moratorium, with certain exceptions, on the taking 

 and importing of marine mammals and marine mam- 

 mal products. One exception provides for the issu- 

 ance of permits by either the Secretary of Commerce 

 or the Secretary of the Interior, depending upon the 

 species of marine mammal involved, for the taking or 

 importation of marine mammals for purposes of 

 scientific research, public display, or enhancing the 

 survival or recovery of a species or stock. Before 

 acting on a permit application, the responsible regula- 

 tory agency is required to have the application re- 

 viewed by the Marine Mammal Commission, in 

 consultation with its Committee of Scientific Advisors 

 on Marine Mammals. 



Permit Application Reyiew 



The permit application and review process involves 

 four stages: (1) receipt and initial review of the 

 application at either the Department of Commerce or 

 the Department of the Interior; (2) publication in the 

 Federal Register of a notice of the application, invit- 

 ing public review and conmient and transmittal to the 

 Marine Mammal Commission; (3) review of the appli- 

 cation by the Commission, in consultation with its 

 Committee of Scientific Advisors, and transmittal of 

 its recommendation to the Department; and (4) final 

 processing by the Department, including consideration 

 of all comments and reconmiendations of the Commis- 

 sion and the public, resulting in the issuance or denial 

 of the permit. Figure 2 on the following page illus- 

 trates this process. 



The total review time for a permit (from initial 

 receipt of an application at the Service until final 

 Departmental action) depends on many factors, 

 including the sufficiency of the information provided 

 by the applicant, any special requirements that must 

 be satisfied before the application may be processed, 

 and the efficiency and thoroughness of those responsi- 

 ble for the agency review. 



During 1991, the Conmiission made recommenda- 

 tions on 44 permit applications submitted to the 

 Department of Commerce (including three applications 

 that were received in 1990 and on which final action 

 was taken in 1991) and three applications submitted to 

 the Department of the Interior. The Commission's 

 average review time for complete applications was 34 

 days. Not included in the preceding statistics are 

 recommendations on 12 applications awaiting final 

 action by the Department of Commerce, 2 applications 

 awaiting final action by the Department of the Interior 

 at year's end, and 2 applications that were under 

 Commission review at year's end. The Commission, 

 in consultation with its Committee of Scientific 

 Advisors, also made recommendations on 33 requests 

 to modify permits and 2 requests for permit renewals 

 during 1991. The average time required for Commis- 

 sion review of these requests was 28 days. 



For the 28 applications processed by the Depart- 

 ment of Commerce during 1991, it took an average of 

 144 days from the date the application was received 

 by the Department until final action was taken. The 



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