Chapter XI 
PERMITS FOR MARINE MAMMAL RESEARCH, 
PUBLIC DISPLAY, AND ENHANCEMENT 
The Marine Mammal Protection Act placed 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, among other things, required to have 
the application reviewed by the Marine Mammal 
Commission, in consultation with its Committee of 
Scientific Advisors on Marine Mammals. 
Permit Application Review 
Whether for a scientific research, public display, or 
species enhancement permit, the application review 
process involves the same four stages: (1) receipt and 
initial review of the application by either the Depart- 
ment of Commerce or the Department of the Interior; 
(2) publication in the Federal Register of a notice of 
the application, inviting public review and comment, 
and transmittal to the Marine Mammal Commission; 
(3) review of the application by the Commission, in 
consultation with its Committee of Scientific Advisors, 
and transmittal of its recommendation to the Depart- 
ment; and (4) final Departmental action on the appli- 
cation, including consideration of comments and 
recommendations of the Commission, the Animal and 
Plant Health Inspection Service on the adequacy of 
facilities and transportation, and the public. Figure 2 
on the following page illustrates this process. 
Once a permit has been issued, it can be modified 
by the responsible agency, provided the proposed 
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modification meets the statutory requirements. A 
modification, in most cases, is subject to the same 
notice, review, and comment procedures as a permit 
application. 
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 can be processed, 
and the efficiency and thoroughness of those responsi- 
ble for the agency review. 
During 1992 the Commission, in consultation with 
its Committee of Scientific Advisors, made recom- 
mendations on 40 permit applications submitted to the 
Department of Commerce and 11 applications submit- 
ted to the Department of the Interior. Of these, 11 
applications awaited final action by the Department of 
Commerce and 8 applications awaited final action by 
the Department of the Interior at the end of 1992. 
The Commission’s average review time for the 51 
complete applications upon which it made recommen- 
dations in 1992 was 33 days. The Commission also 
made recommendations on 39 requests to modify 
permits and one request for a permit renewal during 
1992. The average time required for Commission 
review of these requests was 27 days. 
The Department of Commerce took final action on 
29 permit applications during 1992, including four 
applications that were received in 1991. The average 
processing time, from the date the application was 
received by the Department until final action was 
taken, was 180 days. The Department of the Interior 
took final action on three permit applications during 
1992. If calculated from the date the Department 
considered the application to be complete, the average 
