Add Art 13 Title 9 §13-0901, En Con L; amd §75, Nav L; amd §2251, V & T L
Enacts the whale awareness act directing the department of environmental conservation to establish recommendations and educational materials for reduction of marine mammal interactions.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8515A
SPONSOR: Kassay TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the environmental conservation law, the navigation law
and the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to enacting the whale
awareness act
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this bill is to reduce harmful interactions between
marine mammals and vessels in the state.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one provides the title of the bill.
Section two would require the Department of Environmental Conservation
(DEC) to establish recommendations and educational materials for the
reduction of marine mammal interactions with vessels, in consultation
with the Port Authority, the Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic
Preservation (OPRHP), the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Marine Mammal Commission, and
other relevant agencies. Such recommendations and educational materials
would be posted on DEC's website and provided to owners and operators of
licensed party and charter boats, persons participating in an OPRHP
certified boating safety course, and, beginning.December 31, 2028,
owners of vessels registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles
(DMV).
Section three would require OPRHP certified boating safety courses to
provide persons participating in the course the marine mammal inter-
action prevention recommendations and educational materials developed by
the DEC.
Section four would require, beginning December 31, 2028, the DMV to
provide the marine mammal interaction prevention recommendations and
educational materials developed by the DEC to registrants of vessels in
Suffolk, Nassau, Kings, Queens, New York, Richmond, Bronx, Westchester
or Rockland counties.
Section five provides a severability clause. Section six provides the
effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
The growing frequency of whale fatalities along New York's coastlines
signals an urgent need for action. Vessel strikes have become one of the
leading causes of injury and death among marine mammals, particularly
whales, undermining both ecological stability and species conservation
efforts. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis-
tration, approximately 40 percent of necropsied humpback whales were
found to have died from either vessel collisions or fishing gear entan-
glements. Endangered populations like the North Atlantic Right Whale,
with fewer than 350 individuals remaining, are especially at risk.
Between December 2023 and February 2024, twenty-three dead whales were
reported, including twelve off the coasts of New York and New Jersey.
New York ranks among the highest states for whale mortality linked to
vessel strikes. This legislation addresses the issue by directing the
development and distribution of educational materials to reduce marine
mammal interactions and by incorporating this guidance into existing
boater safety programs. Raising awareness among vessel operators
promotes safer practices that help prevent unintentional harm to whales
and other marine mammals.
Beyond the ecological urgency, there is a clear economic rationale.
Whale watching generates significant tourism revenue in states like
Massachusetts, and New York is well positioned to expand its own marine
tourism industry. Protecting whale populations supports sustainable
economic growth and reduces the risk of costly vessel damage resulting
from collisions. This legislation provides a practical solution that
promotes both conservation and economic resilience.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This is a new bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become a law; provided, however, section four of this act
shall take effect December 31, 2028.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8515--A
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 20, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. KASSAY -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Environmental Conservation -- recommitted to the Committee on Envi-
ronmental Conservation in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 --
committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, the navigation law
and the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to enacting the whale
awareness act
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "whale
2 awareness act".
3 § 2. Article 13 of the environmental conservation law is amended by
4 adding a new title 9 to read as follows:
5 TITLE 9
6 WHALE AWARENESS ACT
7 Section 13-0901. Marine mammal interaction recommendations and educa-
8 tional materials.
9 § 13-0901. Marine mammal interaction recommendations and educational
10 materials.
11 1. The department shall establish recommendations and educational
12 materials for the reduction of marine mammal interactions with vessels.
13 In developing such recommendations and educational materials, the
14 department shall consult with the port authority of New York and New
15 Jersey, the office of parks, recreation and historic preservation, the
16 United States coast guard, the national oceanic and atmospheric adminis-
17 tration, the marine mammal commission, and any other relevant agencies.
18 For purposes of this section, "marine mammal interaction" means any act
19 of pursuit, torment, or annoyance of a marine mammal in the wild that
20 has the potential to injure or disturb such mammal by causing disruption
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04652-06-6
A. 8515--A 2
1 of behavioral patterns, including, but not limited to, migration,
2 breathing, nursing, breeding, feeding, or sheltering.
3 2. Recommendations and educational materials developed pursuant to
4 this section shall be posted publicly on the department's website and
5 provided to owners and operators of a party boat or charter boat pursu-
6 ant to section 13-0336 of this article, persons participating in a boat-
7 ing safety course required pursuant to section forty-nine of the naviga-
8 tion law, and on or after December thirty-first, two thousand
9 twenty-eight, to registrants of vessels registered in the state in
10 accordance with section twenty-two hundred fifty-one of the vehicle and
11 traffic law.
12 § 3. Section 75 of the navigation law, as amended by chapter 361 of
13 the laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
14 § 75. Educational program. In order to protect the public interest in
15 the prudent and equitable use of the waters of the state and enhance the
16 enjoyment of pleasure boating and other sports thereon, the commissioner
17 shall initiate and put into effect a comprehensive educational program
18 designed to advance boating safety, which provides for the training of
19 all boat operators in the safe operation of vessels including personal
20 watercraft and specialty prop-craft. Such educational program shall
21 include recommendations and educational materials for the reduction of
22 marine mammal interactions with vessels developed pursuant section
23 13-0901 of the environmental conservation law.
24 § 4. Section 2251 of the vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding
25 a new subdivision 10 to read as follows:
26 10. Marine mammal interaction prevention. In issuing a registration
27 pursuant to this section with respect to any registration application
28 where the address therein is in the county of Suffolk, Nassau, Kings,
29 Queens, New York, Richmond, Bronx, Westchester, or Rockland, the commis-
30 sioner shall also provide marine mammal interaction prevention recommen-
31 dations and educational materials developed pursuant to section 13-0901
32 of the environmental conservation law.
33 § 5. Severability. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision,
34 section or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of competent
35 jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or
36 invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation
37 to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section or part thereof
38 directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have
39 been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of the legislature
40 that this act would have been enacted even if such invalid provisions
41 had not been included herein.
42 § 6. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
43 it shall have become a law; provided, however, section four of this act
44 shall take effect December 31, 2028.
