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"(2) $1,100,000, all of which shall be available to the Secretary of the 

 Interior, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1978.". 

 Sec. 2. Section 114 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (16 

 U.S.C. 1384) is amended— 



(1) by amending subsection (a) — 



(A) by striking out "four" and inserting in lieu thereof "three", 



and 



(B) by inserting ", not to exceed $8,000,000 for the fiscal year 

 ending September 30, 1977, and not to exceed $10,000,000 for the fiscal 

 year ending September 30, 1978," immediately after "fiscal years"; 

 and 



(2) by amending subsection (b) — 



(A) by striking out "and" immediately after "June 30, 1973,", and 



(B) by inserting ", and not to exceed $700,000 for the fiscal year 

 ending September 30, 1978" immediately after "thereafter". 



Sec. 3. The first sentence of section 207 of the Marine Mammal Protection 

 Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1407) is amended to read as follows: "There are 

 authorized to be appropriated for the fiscal year in which this title is enacted 

 and for the next five fiscal years thereafter such sums as may be necessary 

 to carry out this title, but the sums appropriated for any fiscal year other 

 than the fiscal year ending September 30, 1978, shall not exceed $1,000,000, 

 and the sum appropriated for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1978, shall 

 not exceed $2,000,000.". 



U.S. Depabtment of the Interior, 



Office of the Secretary, 

 Washington, D.C., March 15, 1977. 

 Hon. John M. Murphy, 



Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, House of Representa- 

 tives, Washington, D.C. 



Dear Mr. Chairman : This responds to the request of your Committee for 

 the views of this Department on H.R. 4740, a bill "To increase the appropri- 

 ation authorization for fiscal year 1978 and authorize appropriations for fiscal 

 year 1978 to carry out the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972." 



We recommend the enactment of H.R. 4740 as it pertains to the Department 

 of the Interior, if it is amended as described herein. 



The Marine Mammal Protection Act provides for a Federal research and 

 management responsibility over all marine mammals. The Secretary of the 

 Interior has responsibility for sea otters, walruses, polar bears, dugongs and 

 manatees. All other marine mammals are under the jurisdiction of the Secre- 

 tary of Commerce. H.R. 4740 would extend those appropriations necessary for 

 the Secretary of the Interior to carry out his responsibilities under the Act as 

 follows : 



Section 110(c) : Research grants. 



Section 114(b) : General authorization of appropriations. 



Section 110(c) presently authorizes an appropriation not to exceed $2.5 

 milion annually through fiscal year 1977 for research grants. One-third of the 

 total amount authorized each year is available to the Secretaary of the In- 

 terior and two-thirds are available to the Secretary of Commerce. H.R. 4740 

 would extend the authorization for one fiscal year (FY 1978) at an amount 

 not to exceed $1.1 million to be available to the Department of the Interior. 



We recommend that section 1 of H.R. 4740 be amended to provide for an 

 extension under section 110(c) in the amount of $833,000 for fiscal year 1978. 

 There is a great need for detailed studies under grants from section 110(c) 

 of near shore marine mammal comrminities. Effective protection and manage- 

 ment of this resource cannot be achieved without the knowledge which is only 

 attainable with intensive research efforts. 



Section 114(4) presently authorizes a general appropriation to the Secre- 

 tary of the Interior to carry out functions and responsibilities under the 

 Marine Mammal Protection Act. Funding under this section expires with the 

 end of fiscal year 1977. H.R. 4740 would extend the authorization for one fiscal 

 year (fiscal year 1978) at an amount not to exceed $700,000. 



We recommend that H.R. 4740 be amended to provide for an extension of 

 the authorization under section 114(b) for fiscal year 1978 in the amount of 



