Federal whale-tracking program funds maritime tech, prioritizes small-business safety
H.R. 7332 — Whale CHARTS Act of 2026 · Filed by Doris Matsui (D-CA) · 25 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 3, 2026 · Hearing held
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What it does
This bill amends a 2023 defense law to establish a federal program mapping, monitoring, and tracking migratory whales and large cetaceans to reduce ship strikes and other ocean-user interactions. It creates a grant program (up to $10 million annually) for developing detection technologies, requires NOAA to produce high-resolution distribution maps of whale populations, funds surveys of understudied whale species, and mandates regular reporting to Congress on progress. The program is designed to help fishing, shipping, tourism, and maritime industries coexist safely with whales while protecting endangered cetacean populations.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is establishing a federally funded monitoring and mitigation program for whale-ship interactions, with grant funding for detection technology development. It is substantively a conservation and public-safety measure, not a deregulation or industry carve-out.
What the text implies
- The grant program explicitly includes 'ocean users in the fishing, tourism, fishing tackle manufacturing, boating, shipping, marine electronics, ship piloting, vessel towing, and other maritime sectors' as eligible entities, meaning private maritime companies can directly receive federal grant funding for whale-detection technology development.
- Distribution maps will be integrated into vessel navigation systems and Coast Guard carriage requirements, creating a regulatory infrastructure that may impose compliance costs on commercial shipping and fishing fleets, though framed as a safety measure.
- The bill authorizes $18 million over five years (2026–2030) but does not specify how funds are allocated between NOAA research, grant administration, and private-sector technology development, creating discretionary spending authority.
- The grant program allows eligible entities to distribute resources to non-US persons through partnerships, potentially directing federal funds to international maritime technology firms if they partner with US entities.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill funds marine conservation and public safety measures (reducing ship strikes that harm both whales and mariners) without imposing new restrictions on citizens or creating liability shields for private parties. The grant program explicitly prioritizes economic benefits to small maritime businesses, and the mapping/monitoring infrastructure is a public good available to all ocean users.
Who stands to gain
- maritime technology companies (marine electronics, detection systems)
- fishing industry (small businesses receiving grant priority)
- shipping and vessel operators (reduced liability from ship-strike incidents)
- tourism operators (whale-watching industry)
- research institutions and non-profits (grant recipients)
Named in the bill
NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Marine Mammal Commission, U.S. Coast Guard, James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972
Where it stands
25 cosponsors: 13 Republicans, 12 Democrats.
- Feb 3, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Feb 3, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and House Committee on Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and…”
- Jul 21, 2026 — Hearing held · Congress.gov: “Subcommittee Hearings Held”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
2 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $550,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 45 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.
Doris Matsui, the sponsor, reported $1,026,688 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Oceana Inc — $280,000 on 1 filing
- Defenders of Wildlife — $270,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 17, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (15,439 characters) on Aug 17, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 17, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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