,i  #aacth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #dgig  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,june #b1 #bjad ,mr4 
,duncan of ,south ,carolina 7for        
himself1 ,mr4 ,bucshon1 ,mr4 ,mulvaney1 
,mr4 ,cramer1 ,mr4 ,jones1 ,mr4 ,rokita1
 ,mr4 ,johnson of ,ohio1 and ,mrs4      
,black7 introduced the following bill2  
which was referred to the ,committee on 
,natural ,resources  ,a ,,bill  ,to     
update avian protection laws in order to
 support an all-of-the-above domestic   
energy strategy1 and for other purposes4
  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be    
cited as the ,clarification of ,legal   
,enforcement ,against ,non-criminal     
,energy ,producers ,act of #bjad or the 
,,clean ,energy ,producers ,act of      
#bjad4  #b4 ,findings ,the ,congress    
finds the following3  7#a7 ,the         
,migratory ,bird ,treaty ,act 7,,mbta7  
was enacted in #aiah to protect the     
migratory bird population from          
overhunting and poaching and has not    
been updated to reflect the societal    

changes that have occurred in our       
,nation over the last #ie years4  7#b7  
,anyone involved in an otherwise legal  
activity may be subject to criminal     
liability for the unintentional death of
 any one of over #a1jjj species of birds
 protected under the ,,mbta4  7#c7 ,the 
,act of ,june #h1 #aidj 7chapter #bgh2  
#af ,u4,s4,c4 #ffh71 popularly known as 
the ,bald and ,golden ,eagle ,protection
 ,act 7,,bgepa71 was first enacted in   
#aidj to protect the dwindling          
population of bald eagles and amended in
 #aifb to cover golden eagles in order  
to provide additional protective        
measures for bald eagles and for other  
purposes4  7#d7 ,the ,,bgepa includes a 
program for the ,federal ,government to 
issue permits in order to protect       
companies from legal liability if eagles
 are unintentionally injured or killed1 
but the ,federal ,government has failed 
to issue permits issued under the       
program4  7#e7 ,among other goals1 the  
,,bgepa's permit program was established

 to assure the protection of interests  
fundamental to the basic operation of   
our society like agriculture and energy 
infrastructure development and          
maintenance4  7#f7 ,the ,,bgepa was     
successful in helping the overall eagle 
population recover1 leading to bald     
eagles being removed from the list of   
threatened and endangered species in    
#bjjg4  7#g7 ,there are differing legal 
and judicial interpretations regarding  
the scope of criminality in those       
statutes4  7#h7 ,it appears criminal    
prosecution under those statutes has    
been subjective1 selective1 and not     
applied uniformly and fairly across all 
sectors of society4  7#i7 ,those        
statutes need to be updated to reflect  
significant changes in our ,nation over 
the last half century1 including the    
urbanization of rural areas and how     
domestic energy is produced1            
transmitted1 and distributed4  7#aj7    
,protecting the avian population and its
 habitat is important4  7#aa7 ,federal  

enforcement actions should be           
appropriate1 uniform1 nondiscriminatory1
 and just4  #c4 ,permits for incidental 
take ,section #a of the ,act of ,june   
#h1 #aidj 7chapter #bgh2 #af ,u4,s4,c4  
#ffh71 popularly known as the ,bald and 
,golden ,eagle ,protection ,act1 is     
amended by adding at the end the        
following3  7d7 ,permits for incidental 
take ,upon submission of a substantially
 completed application1 the ,secretary  
shall issue or deny an eagle take permit
 for no less than #cj years under       
section #bb4bf of title #ej1 ,code of   
,federal ,regulations1 that authorizes  
taking of any bald eagle or golden eagle
 that is incidental to1 but not the     
purpose of1 an otherwise lawful         
activity4 ,failure to issue or deny such
 a permit within a reasonable time      
7which shall not exceed one year7 is    
deemed issuance of such permit1 and the 
applicant shall not be subject to       
liability for any incidental take of a  
bald eagle or golden eagle that is in   

conformity with the information         
submitted to the ,secretary as part of  
the application for the permit4  4  #d4 
,migratory ,bird ,treaty ,act ,section  
#f7;a7 of the ,migratory ,bird ,treaty  
,act 7#af ,u4,s4,c4 #gjg7;a77 is        
amended--  7#a7 by striking shall the   
first and second place it appears and   
inserting shall with intent knowingly2  
and  7#b7 by adding at the end the      
following3 ,for the purposes of this    
subsection1 with intent knowingly does  
not include any taking1 killing1 or     
other harm to any migratory bird that is
 accidental or incidental to the        
presence or operation of an otherwise   
lawful activity44