[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 97 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 97
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to further restrict the
Secretary of the Interior from designating certain lands used for
national defense-related purposes as critical habitats for any species
under that Act and to broaden exclusions and exemptions from that Act
for such defense-related purposes.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 9, 2023
Mr. Biggs introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources
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A BILL
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to further restrict the
Secretary of the Interior from designating certain lands used for
national defense-related purposes as critical habitats for any species
under that Act and to broaden exclusions and exemptions from that Act
for such defense-related 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 ``Armed Forces Endangered Species
Exemption Act''.
SEC. 2. EXCLUSION OF MILITARY INSTITUTIONS AS CRITICAL HABITAT.
Section 4(a)(3)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C.
1533(a)(3)(B)) is amended to read as follows:
``(i) The Secretary shall not designate as
critical habitat--
``(I) any military installation or
a State-owned National Guard
installation, or any portion thereof,
as such terms are defined in section
100 of the Sikes Act (16 U.S.C. 670);
or
``(II) any other lands, waters, or
geographical area not described in
clause (i) that is otherwise designated
for use by the Secretary of Defense
including by any contractor of the
Department of Defense, if the Secretary
of Defense determines in writing and
submitted to the Secretary of the
Interior that such area is necessary
for military training, weapons testing,
or any other reason determined
appropriate by such Secretary of
Defense.
``(ii) The Secretary of Defense shall not
be required to consult with the Secretary of
the Interior, under section 7(a)(2) of this Act
with respect to agency action, regardless of
whether the area described in clause (i) is
subject to an integrated natural resources
management plan prepared under section 101 of
the Sikes Act (16 U.S.C. 670a).''.
SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL EXCLUSIONS AND EXEMPTIONS FROM THE ENDANGERED
SPECIES ACT FOR DEFENSE-RELATED OPERATIONS.
Section 10 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1539)
is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(h) Exclusion for National Defense-Related Operations.--
``(1) Exclusions.--The prohibitions under section 9 shall
not apply with respect to--
``(A) the taking of any endangered species or
threatened species, or the importation or exportation
of any such species taken as prohibited by such
section, by military personnel engaged in a national
defense-related operation;
``(B) damaging or destroying any threatened or
endangered species, or removing, cutting, digging up,
damaging, or destroying any such species, by military
personnel engaged in a national defense-related
operation; or
``(C) an injury to or mortality of a threatened or
endangered species that results from, but is not the
purpose of, a national defense-related operation,
regardless of whether the operation is conducted on a military
installation or other area described in section 4(a)(3)(B)(i).
``(2) Definitions.--For the purposes of this subsection--
``(A) the term `national defense-related operation'
means--
``(i) research, development, testing, and
evaluation of military munitions, other
ordnance, and weapons systems;
``(ii) the training of members of the Armed
Forces in the use and handling of military
munitions, other ordnance, and weapons systems;
``(iii) general training and military
preparedness; or
``(iv) any action or duty that the
Secretary of Defense deems necessary to support
the Department of Defense in its mission; and
``(B) the term `military personnel' means--
``(i) a member of the Armed Forces; and
``(ii) a civilian employee or contractor
(including a subcontractor at any tier) of
the--
``(I) Department of Defense
(including a nonappropriated fund
instrumentality of the Department); or
``(II) any other Federal agency, or
any provisional authority, to the
extent such employment relates to
supporting the mission of the
Department of Defense overseas.''.
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