Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act of 2025
Key claim: The Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act of 2025 reauthorizes the John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue and Response Grant Program through FY2030, expands it to fund sea turtle rescue and rehabilitation activities, and establishes a Sea Turtle Rescue, Rehabilitation, and Rapid Response Fund.
Abstract
(S843 · 119th Congress) Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act of 2025 This bill reauthorizes through FY2030 and expands the John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue and Response Grant Program to include separate grants to rescue sea turtles. The grants must be used for the recovery, care, or treatment of sick, injured, or entangled sea turtles; responses to rescue stranded sea turtles; the collection of data and samples from living or dead stranded sea turtles for scientific research or health assessments; facility operating costs that are directly related to activities to assist sea turtles; or development of stranding network capacity where facilities do not exist or are sparse. In addition, the bill establishes the Sea Turtle Rescue, Rehabilitation, and Rapid Response Fund. Latest action (2026-03-24): Held at the desk.
Why this matters
The bill extends an existing NOAA grant framework rather than creating a new regulatory regime, but folding sea turtles into the Prescott program signals a shift toward consolidated marine wildlife stranding response funding. Practical effects would fall on stranding networks, aquariums, and coastal states that rely on federal cost-share for rescue and rehabilitation, with a dedicated fund potentially stabilizing year-to-year response capacity.