[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2553 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2553

To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to authorize the Secretary 
 of the Interior to enter into cooperative agreements with States and 
  political subdivisions of States to provide assistance for habitat 
  acquisition to carry out conservation plans, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

            October 7 (legislative day, September 12), 1994

  Mrs. Boxer introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to authorize the Secretary 
 of the Interior to enter into cooperative agreements with States and 
  political subdivisions of States to provide assistance for habitat 
  acquisition to carry out conservation plans, 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 ``Cooperative Planning Assistance Act 
of 1994''.

SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE FOR HABITAT ACQUISITION.

    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:
    ``(k) Assistance for Habitat Acquisition.--
            ``(1) In general.--In accordance with this subsection, the 
        Secretary may enter into a cooperative agreement with a State, 
        political subdivision of a State, or group of States or 
        political subdivisions of a State (referred to in this 
        subsection as an `entity') to provide assistance for the 
        acquisition of habitat required to carry out a conservation 
        plan approved pursuant to subsection (a)(2), including 
        assisting the entity with meeting the requirement of subsection 
        (a)(2)(B)(iii).
            ``(2) Cooperative agreements.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), the 
                Secretary may pay to an entity that is a party to a 
                cooperative agreement under paragraph (1), the full 
                amount of interest on--
                            ``(i) a loan obtained by the entity;
                            ``(ii) a bond issued by the entity; or
                            ``(iii) any other debt instrument that the 
                        Secretary determines to be appropriate;
                that is approved by the Secretary before entering into 
                the cooperative agreement.
                    ``(B) Conditions for entering into cooperative 
                agreements.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Subparagraph (A) shall 
                        apply only in the case of a loan, bond, or 
                        other debt instrument that is used solely to 
                        cover the cost of acquisition of habitat 
                        identified in a conservation plan approved by 
                        the Secretary pursuant to subsection (a)(2).
                            ``(ii) Demonstration of ability to repay.--
                        Before entering into a cooperative agreement 
                        with the Secretary under this subsection, the 
                        entity that is a party to the cooperative 
                        agreement shall demonstrate, to the 
                        satisfaction of the Secretary, the ability of 
                        the entity to repay the amount of principal of 
                        the debt incurred through the debt instrument--
                                    ``(I) in a timely manner; and
                                    ``(II) from a source, other than 
                                the general tax revenue of the entity, 
                                that is dedicated to the repayment of 
                                the amount of principal of the debt.
                    ``(C) Factors.--In making a determination whether 
                to enter into a cooperative agreement under this 
                subsection, the Secretary may take into consideration--
                            ``(i) the number of species for which the 
                        approved conservation plan under subsection 
                        (a)(2) was developed;
                            ``(ii) the quantity of habitat that will be 
                        preserved under the conservation plan;
                            ``(iii) the history of the commitment of 
                        the entity that intends to enter into a 
                        cooperative agreement to conserve habitat;
                            ``(iv) the participation of diverse 
                        interests, including government, business, 
                        environmental and landowner interests, in the 
                        planning process that produced the approved 
                        conservation plan;
                            ``(v) the amount of funds other than the 
                        funds obtained through the debt instrument 
                        under the cooperative agreement that the entity 
                        has expended or will expend to set aside and 
                        preserve habitat;
                            ``(vi) the likelihood of success of the 
                        conservation plan; and
                            ``(vii) such other factors as the Secretary 
                        considers to be appropriate.
            ``(3) Conditions during cooperative agreements.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The conditions described in this 
                paragraph shall apply to a cooperative agreement 
                entered into under this subsection.
                    ``(B) Payment of interest.--The sole obligation to 
                be paid by the Secretary pursuant to the cooperative 
                agreement shall be the interest on the debt described 
                in paragraph (2). The Secretary shall pay the interest 
                at the time the interest becomes due.
                    ``(C) Payment of principal.--The entity that is a 
                party to the cooperative agreement shall pay the amount 
                of principal of the debt described in paragraph (2) in 
                the manner described in paragraph (2)(B)(ii).
                    ``(D) Effect of default on payment of principal.--
                If the entity that is a party to the cooperative 
                agreement defaults on the payment of an amount of 
                principal of the debt described in paragraph (2) and 
                the default continues for a period of 2 years or more--
                            ``(i) the obligation of the Secretary to 
                        pay interest shall terminate; and
                            ``(ii) the defaulting entity shall be 
                        required to repay the Secretary all interest 
                        payments made pursuant to the terms of the 
                        cooperative agreement.
                    ``(E) Conveyance to the united states.--On full 
                payment of the debt described in paragraph (2), and at 
                the request of the Secretary, the habitat purchased by 
                the entity with funds obtained through the debt 
                instrument pursuant to the cooperative agreement shall 
                be conveyed to the United States pursuant to paragraph 
                (4).
            ``(4) Conveyance to the secretary.--
                    ``(A) Right of secretary.--The Secretary shall have 
                the right to assume ownership of the real property 
                purchased as habitat as described in paragraph (3)(E) 
                at such time as--
                            ``(i) the purchase of habitat financed 
                        through a debt instrument that is the subject 
                        of a cooperative agreement under this 
                        subsection has been carried out; and
                            ``(ii) the debt incurred for the purchase 
                        of the habitat has been paid in full.
                    ``(B) Transfer.--If the Secretary exercises the 
                authority described in subparagraph (A)--
                            ``(i) the entity shall transfer title to 
                        the property to the Secretary; and
                            ``(ii) the use of the property shall be 
                        dedicated to the protection of species and the 
                        preservation of any wilderness areas of the 
                        property.''.
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