H.R. 659 — Introduced in House

I 114th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 659 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES February 2, 2015 Mr. Mullin (for himself, Mr. Lucas, Mr. Neugebauer, Mr. Thornberry, Mr. Cole, Mr. Tipton, Ms. Jenkins of Kansas, Mr. Flores, Mr. Pearce, Mr. Huelskamp, and Mr. Bridenstine) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To reverse the Department of the Interior’s listing of the lesser prairie chicken as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, to prevent further consideration of listing of such species as a threatened species or endangered species under that Act pending implementation of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ Lesser Prairie-Chicken Range-Wide Conservation Plan and other conservation measures, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Lesser Prairie Chicken Voluntary Recovery Act of 2015. 2. Implementation of Lesser Prairie-Chicken Range-Wide Conservation Plan and other conservation measures (a) Prohibition on treatment as threatened or endangered species (1) In general Notwithstanding any prior action by the Secretary of the Interior, the lesser prairie chicken shall not be treated as a threatened species or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) before January 31, 2020. (2) Prohibition on proposal On and after January 31, 2020, the lesser prairie chicken may not be treated as a threatened species or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) unless the Secretary publishes a determination, based on the totality of the scientific evidence, that conservation (as that term is used in that Act) under the Range-Wide Plan and the agreements, programs, and efforts referred to in subsection (b) has not achieved the conservation goals established by the Range-Wide Plan. (b) Monitoring of progress of conservation programs The Secretary shall monitor and annually report to the Congress on progress in conservation of the Lesser Prairie Chicken under the Range-Wide Plan and all related Candidate Conservation Agreements and Candidate and Conservation Agreements With Assurances, other Federal conservation programs administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Department of Agriculture, State conservation programs, and private conservation efforts. (c) Definitions In this section: (1) Candidate Conservation Agreements Each of the terms Candidate Conservation Agreement and Candidate and Conservation Agreement With Assurances means, respectively, such an agreement referred to in— (A) the Announcement of Final Policy for Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances published by the Department of the Interior and the Department of Commerce on June 17, 1999 (64 Fed. Reg. 32726); and (B) sections 17.22(d) and 17.32(d) of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations. (2) Range-Wide Plan The term Range-Wide Plan means the Lesser Prairie-Chicken Range-Wide Conservation Plan of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, as endorsed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service on October 23, 2013, and published for comment on January 29, 2014 (79 Fed. Reg. 4652).