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(B) the location and manner (which manner must be 

 determined by the Secretary to be humane) in which they may 

 be taken, or from which they may be imported, 



(C) the period during which the permit is valid, and 



(D) any other terms or conditions which the Secretary deems 

 appropriate. 



Such permits also are to specify "the methods of capture, 

 supervision, care, and transportation which must be observed 

 pursuant to and after such taking or importation." 



Each permit application must be reviewed by the Marine 

 Mammal Commission in consultation with its Committee of 

 Scientific Advisors. Also, the Act reguires that notice of each 

 permit application be published in the Federal Register and the 

 public be given 3 days to review and comment on the application. 

 There currently is no provision in the Act for waiving the 30-day 

 comment period, even when a waiver would be in the best interest 

 of the marine mammals involved or when unanticipated and possibly 

 unigue research opportunities would be lost. 



The Act was amended in 1988 to set forth additional 

 reguirements applicable to scientific research permits. The 

 amendments specify that: 



A permit may be issued for scientific research purposes only 

 to an applicant which submits with its permit application 

 information indicating that the taking is reguired to 

 further a bona fide scientific purpose and does not involve 

 unnecessary duplication of research. No permit issued for 

 purposes of scientific research shall authorize the killing 

 of a marine mammal unless the applicant demonstrates that a 

 non-lethal method for carrying out the research is not 

 feasible. The Secretary shall not issue a permit for 

 research which involves the lethal taking of a marine mammal 

 from a species or stock designated as depleted, unless the 

 Secretary determines that the results of such research will 

 directly benefit that species or stock, or that such 

 research fulfills a critically important research need. 



The legislative history of this provision explains that the 

 addition of the reguirement that research further a bona fide 

 scientific purpose was "not intended to substantively change the 

 criteria for granting scientific permits" but was merely intended 

 to codify existing regulations. Nevertheless, including this 

 reguirement in the statute focused attention on the determination 

 that proposed research be bona fide . While the reguired finding 

 may not have changed, the heightened scrutiny given scientific 

 research applications by reviewing agencies as a result of the 

 1988 amendment has no doubt increased the paperwork burden placed 



