Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act of 2025
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act amends the Marine Mammal Protection Act's John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue and Response Grant Program to add separate grant eligibility for sea turtle rescue, rehabilitation, and response. Subject to specific appropriations, the Secretary of Commerce and the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must provide grants using equivalent criteria and administration rules, adapted for sea turtles and in consultation with the Fish and Wildlife Service instead of the Marine Mammal Commission. Grant decisions must consider rehabilitation of stranded sea turtles. Applicants must submit the required application to Commerce, hold or comply with an Endangered Species Act section 10(a)(1)(A) authorization for sea turtles or a section 6 cooperative agreement, meet Interior's captive sea turtle care standards when facilities are used, and comply with relevant data reporting such as Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network requirements.
Who Benefits and How
Sea turtle rescue organizations benefit from dedicated grant eligibility for rescue, rehabilitation, and response work. Stranded sea turtles benefit because rehabilitation must be considered in grant decisions. State wildlife agencies benefit if their Endangered Species Act cooperative agreements support grant eligibility. Authorized rehabilitation facilities benefit from federal support for sea turtle care capacity.
Who Bears the Burden and How
NOAA grant staff must administer a separate sea turtle grant track under adapted Prescott program rules. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff must consult on criteria and co-administer sea turtle rescue policy. Grant applicants must maintain ESA authorization or cooperative-agreement compliance, sea turtle care standards, and stranding-network reporting. Federal taxpayers bear the cost of grants if Congress provides specific appropriations.
Key Provisions
- Creates separate eligibility for sea turtle rescue, rehabilitation, and response grants.
- Requires grant criteria and administration rules adapted from the existing marine mammal rescue grant program.
- Requires ESA authorization or cooperative-agreement compliance for applicants.
- Requires compliance with captive sea turtle care standards and Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network reporting.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Adds separate sea turtle rescue, rehabilitation, and response grants to the Marine Mammal Protection Act grant framework, with eligibility tied to Endangered Species Act sea turtle authorizations or cooperative agreements, sea turtle care standards, and Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network reporting.
Key Policy Areas
Wildlife, Marine Conservation, Grants
Primary Purpose
Adds separate sea turtle rescue, rehabilitation, and response grants to the Marine Mammal Protection Act grant framework, with eligibility tied to Endangered Species Act sea turtle authorizations or cooperative agreements, sea turtle care standards, and Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network reporting.
Policy Domains
Resolution provisions
Identified Gains
- Sea turtle rescue organizations
- Stranded sea turtles
- State wildlife agencies
- Authorized rehabilitation facilities
Identified Costs
- NOAA grant staff
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff
- Grant applicants
- Federal taxpayers
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMr. Keating introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Authorized rehabilitation facilities, Grant applicants, Sea turtle rescue organizations
Positive-direction: Authorized rehabilitation facilities, Sea turtle rescue organizations
Negative-direction: Grant applicants
NOAA grant staff, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology