The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has decided to withdraw a proposed rule intended to change speed regulations for vessels to better protect the endangered North Atlantic right whales. This decision was made because the public expressed a significant interest in further engagement, shown by approximately 90,000 comments. NMFS was unable to finalize the rule due to the large volume and complexity of the feedback within the current administration. The existing speed regulations for vessels, designed to prevent collisions with whales, will remain as they are, but NMFS may consider new actions in the future to address the issue.
Simple Explanation
The people in charge of protecting whales decided to pause new boat rules that would make boats go slower to keep the whales safe because lots and lots of people (about 90,000!) had things to say about them. So, for now, everyone is sticking to the old rules until they can figure out what to do next.