,i  #aahth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #ebci  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,august #ah1         
#bjbc,mr4 ,higgins of ,louisiana 7for   
himself1 ,mr4 ,dunn of ,florida1 ,mrs4  
,luna1 ,mr4 ,c4 ,scott ,franklin of     
,florida1 and ,mr4 ,webster of ,florida7
 introduced the following bill2 which   
was referred to the ,committee on       
,transportation and ,infrastructure  ,a 
,,bill  ,to prohibit the issuance of an 
interim or final rule that establishes a
 vessel slowdown zone in the ,gulf of   
,mexico until the ,secretary of         
,commerce completes a study             
demonstrating that proposed mitigation  
efforts would have no negative impact on
 supply chains1 and for other purposes4 
#a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited
 as the ,the ,gulf of ,mexico ,commerce 
,protection ,act4  #b4 ,prohibition on  
issuance of rule relating to vessel     
slowdown zone in ,gulf of ,mexico  7a7  
,in general ,the ,administrator of the  
,national ,oceanic and ,atmospheric     

,administration shall not issue an      
interim or final rule that establishes a
 vessel slowdown zone in the ,gulf of   
,mexico until the ,secretary of         
,commerce-- 7#a7 completes a study      
demonstrating that mitigation protocols 
developed under subsection 7b7 would    
have no net negative impact on supply   
chains or maritime commerce2 and  7#b7  
not later than #fj days after completing
 such study1 submits to the ,committees 
on ,energy and ,commerce and ,natural   
,resources of the ,house of             
,representatives and the ,committees on 
,commerce1 ,science1 and ,transportation
 and ,natural ,resources of the ,senate 
a report containing the findings of such
 study4  7b7 ,mitigation protocols      
required  7#a7 ,in general ,the ,under  
,secretary of ,commerce for ,oceans and 
,atmosphere1 in consultation with the   
,secretary of the department in which   
the ,coast ,guard is operating1 the     
,secretary of ,defense1 the ,secretary  
of ,transportation1 and the ,secretary  

of the ,interior1 and with input from   
affected stakeholders1 shall develop    
mitigation protocols that make use of   
any monitoring system designed under    
section #aacjc of the ,don ,young ,coast
 ,guard ,authorization ,act of #bjbb    
7#af ,u4,s4,c4 #acia7 to direct         
sector-specific mitigation measures that
 reduce risk of serious injury and      
mortality to ,rice's whales in the ,gulf
 of ,mexico4  7#b7 ,prohibitions ,the   
mitigation protocols developed under    
paragraph 7#a7 may not include any      
prohibitions on transit at night or     
implementation of a static vessel       
slowdown zone4