[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2253 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2253

 To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to create a mechanism by 
 which information may flow between local communities and governments 
   and the Federal Government regarding the designation of critical 
 habitat and the establishment of National Wildlife Refuges under that 
                                  Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 4, 1995

Mr. Underwood introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to create a mechanism by 
 which information may flow between local communities and governments 
   and the Federal Government regarding the designation of critical 
 habitat and the establishment of National Wildlife Refuges under that 
                                  Act.
    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 ``Endangered Species Community 
Advisory Board Act of 1995''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARDS UNDER 
              ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT OF 1973.

    The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:

                      ``community advisory boards

    ``Sec. 19. (a) Establishment.--(1) The Secretary shall establish an 
Endangered Species Community Advisory Board (in this section referred 
to as a `community advisory board') in connection with the designation 
of an area under this Act as critical habitat or as a National Wildlife 
Refuge.
    ``(2) Each community advisory board--
            ``(A) shall be comprised of 12 members appointed by the 
        Secretary from among individuals recommended by the Governor of 
        the State in which is located the area for which the advisory 
        board is established; and
            ``(B) shall have as its chairperson a member of the 
        advisory board who is an elected official of a local government 
        in that area and who is designated as chairperson by the 
        Secretary.
    ``(3) The term of a member of a community advisory board shall be 4 
years, except that of the members first appointed--
            ``(A) 3 shall be appointed for an initial term of 1 year;
            ``(B) 3 shall be appointed for an initial term of 2 years; 
        and
            ``(C) 3 shall be appointed for an initial term of 3 years;
as specified by the Secretary at the time of appointment.
    ``(4) Individuals who are Federal employees may not comprise a 
majority of the total number of members of a community advisory board.
    ``(5) The Secretary shall prescribe regulations regarding the 
establishment, characteristics, composition, and funding of community 
advisory boards. However, the issuance of regulations shall not be a 
precondition to the establishment of a community advisory board or 
affect the existence or operation of a community advisory board 
established before the effective date of this section.
    ``(6) The Secretary may provide for the payment of routine 
administrative expenses of a community advisory board established for 
an area from funds available for activities relating to study of the 
area to determine whether to designate the area as critical habitat or 
as a National Wildlife Refuge.
    ``(b) Assistance for Citizen Participation.--(1) Subject to the 
availability of appropriations, the Secretary shall make available 
funds to facilitate the participation of individuals from the private 
sector on community advisory boards for the purpose of ensuring public 
input into the designation of areas as critical habitat or National 
Wildlife Refuges.
    ``(2) The private individuals who are members of a community 
advisory board are eligible for funding assistance under this 
subsection only if they reside in the vicinity of the area for which 
the community advisory board is established. For accounting and 
financial management purposes, such funds shall be paid to and 
administered by the community advisory board on which the private 
individuals are members, subject to paragraph (3).
    ``(3) Individuals who are local community members of a community 
advisory board may use funds made available under this paragraph only--
            ``(A) to obtain technical assistance of experts in 
        interpreting scientific data, material, and issues regarding 
        protection of endangered species; and
            ``(B) to educate the local community in understanding such 
        data, material, and issues.
    ``(c) Consultation by Secretary.--If a community advisory board is 
established for an area, the Secretary, before designating any of the 
area under this Act as critical habitat or as a National Wildlife 
Refuge, shall--
            ``(1) consult with and seek the advice and recommendations 
        of the board regarding--
                    ``(A) identifying the needs and concerns of the 
                affected local community and individual landowners;
                    ``(B) monitoring scientific studies and surveys 
                used to determine the need for designation of the area 
                as critical habitat or a National Wildlife Refuge, 
                before that designation; and
                    ``(C) addressing land use strategies and 
                management; and
            ``(2) publish recommendations received from the board 
        within 180 days after the date the Secretary initiates 
        consultation under paragraph (1).
    ``(d) Monitoring and Reporting by Community Advisory Boards.--Each 
community advisory board shall, with respect to critical habitat or a 
National Wildlife Refuge for which it was established--
            ``(1) monitor and periodically report to the Secretary on 
        progress made in the conservation and recovery of species for 
        which that critical habitat or Refuge was designated; and
            ``(2) periodically review and report to the Secretary 
        regarding the continued accuracy and sufficiency of the 
        scientific findings that were the basis of that designation.
    ``(e) State Defined.--Notwithstanding section 3(17), in this 
section the term `State' means any of the several States, the District 
of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the 
Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 
Islands.''.
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