Sanctuary Regulations

National Marine Sanctuary regulations are codified in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at Title 15 - Commerce and Foreign Trade, Part 922. These may be accessed on the U.S. Government Printing Office Electronic CFR web site.

Note: regulations covering the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries are codified at Title 15, Subtitle B, Chapter IX, Subchapter B, Part, 922. Subpart A contains regulations of general applicability; Subpart B contains permitting regulations; and there are subparts with regulations for specific national marine sanctuaries. Regulations specifically covering Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary are found at Title 15, Subtitle B, Chapter IX, Subchapter B, Part 922, Subpart H; and Subpart M contains regulations specifically covering Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. GFNMS has administrative jurisdiction over the northern portion of Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. This listing only includes regulations established under the federal National Marine Sanctuary Act (NMSA). Other activities may also be regulated within the sanctuary under other local, state or federal authorities and regulations.

Office of National Marine Sanctuaries regulations that are generally applicable to all sanctuary sites are found at Title 15, Subtitle B, Chapter IX, Subchapter B, Part, 922, Subparts A through E. Regulations that specifically apply to Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary (GFNMS) are found at Title 15, Subtitle B, Chapter IX, Subchapter B, Part 922, Subpart H. This listing only includes regulations established under the federal National Marine Sanctuary Act (NMSA). Other activities may also be regulated within the sanctuary under other local, state or federal authorities and regulations.

As part of the expansion of the sanctuary in 2015, new regulations were created to help protect and manage the area from Bodega Bay in Sonoma County to Manchester Beach (at Latitude 39 North), a few miles north of the Point Arena Lighthouse in Mendocino County (excluding Arena Cove and all rivers and estuaries), including both state and federal waters. In addition, some modifications were made to the regulations that applied to the pre-expansion area of the sanctuary. Full text of the modified Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary final regulations are posted in the Federal Register (Vol. 80, No. 48; March 12, 2015) as the Final Rule (PDF, 318KB), effective Jun. 9, 2015.

Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary accepts permits for Research, Education, Salvage/Recovery Operations and Management purposes.