[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5467 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5467
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to increase transparency,
to support regulatory certainty, and to reauthorize that Act, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 17, 2019
Mr. Tipton introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to increase transparency,
to support regulatory certainty, and to reauthorize that Act, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Land Ownership Collaboration
Accelerates Life Act of 2019'' or the ``LOCAL Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. CONSERVATION AGREEMENTS AS REGULATORY MECHANISMS.
Section 4(f) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533)
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(6) Treatment.--
``(A) In general.--A conservation agreement (including any
agreement described in subparagraph (B)) entered into or
endorsed by the Secretary shall be considered to be a
regulation for purposes of determining whether to include a
species on the list of threatened species or endangered species
pursuant to this section.
``(B) Description of agreements.--An agreement referred to
in subparagraph (A) includes--
``(i) a voluntary wildlife conservation agreement
under paragraph (3);
``(ii) a candidate conservation agreement with
assurances under paragraph (4);
``(iii) a candidate conservation agreement; or
``(iv) a plan that--
``(I) relates to the conservation of a
species;
``(II) affects the viability of the
species; and
``(III) is implemented, or proposed to be
implemented, by--
``(aa) a State;
``(bb) 2 or more States;
``(cc) a unit of local government;
or
``(dd) 2 or more units of local
government.''.
SEC. 3. VOLUNTARY WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AGREEMENTS.
Section 4(f) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C.
1533(f)) is further amended by adding at the end the following:
``(3) Voluntary wildlife conservation agreements.--
``(A) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish
procedures for developing and entering into voluntary
wildlife conservation agreements, including by
establishing conservation goals and other criteria for
the agreements, with 1 or more entities, including--
``(i) a State, Tribal, or local government;
``(ii) a private landowner;
``(iii) a lessee;
``(iv) a private third-party conservation
organization; or
``(v) any other entity that the Secretary
determines appropriate.
``(B) Inclusions.--A voluntary wildlife
conservation agreement entered into under this
paragraph shall include provisions establishing that--
``(i) a party to the agreement that is in
compliance with the agreement shall not be
required to carry out any additional mitigation
measure for a species covered by the agreement,
if the additional measure would require--
``(I) any additional expenditure of
resources by the party to the
agreement; or
``(II) the adoption of any
additional use, development, or
management restriction on land, water,
or a water-related right of the party
to the agreement that would otherwise
be available under the agreement; and
``(ii) a conservation agreement or an
activity proposed to be carried out under such
an agreement may be modified only--
``(I) under extraordinary
circumstances; and
``(II) with the consent of all
parties to the agreement.
``(C) Streamlining requirements.--To reduce the
time and expense required to enter into a voluntary
wildlife conservation agreement under this paragraph,
the Secretary shall, to the maximum extent
practicable--
``(i) implement standard procedures and
encourage widespread use of templates in
developing the agreements;
``(ii) simplify the application and
approval processes relating to the agreements;
``(iii) reduce the burdens associated with
reporting and monitoring under the agreements;
and
``(iv) provide for the protection of
sensitive personal and business-related
information of any party to the agreements.''.
SEC. 4. CANDIDATE CONSERVATION AGREEMENTS WITH ASSURANCES.
(a) In General.--Section 4(f) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973
(16 U.S.C. 1533(f)) (as amended by section 4) is amended by adding at
the end the following:
``(4) Candidate conservation agreements with assurances.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in entering into or
carrying out any candidate conservation agreement under this
Act, the Secretary--
``(A) shall honor the terms of the agreement, as in
existence before March 21, 2017;
``(B) shall enact regulations--
``(i) to expedite the process for entering
into a conservation agreement; and
``(ii) to protect sensitive personal and
business-related information of each party to
the agreement;
``(C) may not take into consideration whether the
implementation of the agreement, in the Secretary's
judgement, will provide a net conservation benefit to a
species covered by the agreement;
``(D) shall take into consideration whether the
implementation of the agreement, in the Secretary's
judgement, will preclude or remove any need to list a
species covered by the agreement as a threatened
species or an endangered species under this section;
and
``(E) may not preclude a party to the agreement
from receiving Federal funds under any other
conservation program.''.
(b) Effect on Regulations.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law--
(1) the amendments to part 17 of title 50, Code of Federal
Regulations, made by the final rule promulgated by the
Secretary of the Interior entitled ``Endangered and Threatened
Wildlife and Plants; Revisions to the Regulations for Candidate
Conservation Agreements With Assurances'' (81 Fed. Reg. 95053
(December 27, 2016)) shall have no force or effect;
(2) such part shall be in effect as if those amendments had
not been made; and
(3) the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of the
Interior shall not make any amendments to such part that are
substantially similar to the amendments made by the final rule
described in paragraph (1), unless specifically authorized to
do so by Act of Congress.
SEC. 5. SAFE HARBOR AGREEMENTS.
Section 4(f) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C.
1533(f)) (as amended by section 5(a)) is amended by adding at the end
the following:
``(5) Safe harbor agreements.--The Secretary may offer to
enter into an agreement, to be known as a `safe harbor
agreement', with 1 or more entities, including a State or local
government, a private landowner, a lessee, private third-party
conservation organization, or any other entity that the
Secretary determines appropriate, that--
``(A) shall provide for the taking of any
additional threatened species or endangered species
that--
``(i) is not covered under another
agreement under this subsection; and
``(ii) is drawn to the property covered by
that agreement due to the improved conditions
on that property generated by recovery
activities for the benefit of the species
covered by the agreement; and
``(B) may provide for the taking of any threatened
species or endangered species covered under another
agreement under this subsection and any additional
threatened species or endangered species not covered
under that agreement that is drawn to an adjacent
property not covered by the agreement due to the
improved conditions on the property covered by the
agreement generated by recovery activities for the
benefit of the species covered by the agreement.''.
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