Congress delays whale protection rules for seven more years
H.R. 9436 — Northeast Lobsterman Protection Act of 2026 · Filed by Michael Lawler (R-NY) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Jun 24, 2026 · Passed chamber
Your members of Congress
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What it does
This bill delays rules to protect whales. The rules were set to start in 2028. Now they will not start until 2035. A 2023 law is changed to give the fishing industry more time.
Who it affects
Whales called North Atlantic right whales are endangered. Fewer than 340 remain alive. Lobstermen and fishing companies get seven more years without the new rules. The whales face more danger during those seven years.
One thing to notice
The bill delays the rules but does not erase them. Companies will still have to follow the rules starting in 2035.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.
- Jun 24, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jun 24, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources and Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources”
- Jul 15, 2026 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
- Jul 15, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 22 - 13”
- Sep 1, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 219 - 196 (Roll no. 291). (text: CR H5395)”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
3 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 3 reports from Jun 2026 to Jun 2026.
Those reports show $400,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 9 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.
More groups named this bill than 61% of bills with any report.
Michael Lawler, who sponsored the bill, received $2,143,571 from PACs for the 2026 election.
- Defenders of Wildlife — $270,000 in 1 report
- Wildlife Conservation Society — $100,000 in 1 report
- International Fund for Animal Welfare — $30,000 in 1 report
Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.
Words to know
- endangered — A type of animal that may die out completely if not protected.
- lobstermen — People who catch lobsters for a living in the ocean.
- lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
- PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
- sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (401 characters) on Jul 2, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,778 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 21, 2026 · page rendered 2026-11-01.
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