Allows the State of Washington and treaty-based tribes to obtain permits for lethal removal of certain seals and sea lions in Washington's coastal and Puget Sound waters and in the Columbia River to protect endangered and threatened salmon.

• Expands a Columbia River sea lion provision in the Marine Mammal Protection Act to cover harbor seals, California sea lions, and Steller sea lions, and lets the Secretary of Commerce issue five-year lethal removal permits to Washington State and covered tribes.
• Applies the permits to Washington rivers, estuaries, Puget Sound, and the Pacific Coast, and excludes the Columbia River and its tributaries, which fall under the separate Columbia River provision.
• Caps total annual takings under all permits at 10 percent of each population's potential biological removal level, and directs the Secretary to suspend permits once lethal removal is no longer needed to protect fish.
• Creates a federal Columbia River Pinniped Exclusion Technology Accelerator, subject to appropriations, to develop barriers that keep pinnipeds out of salmon habitat, and requires annual reports to Congress and a 10-year study of effects on salmon recovery.

• Natural Resources Committee (House)
• Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Subcommittee

Environmental Protection