[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1284 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1284

  To provide for protection of the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife 
 Refuge and endangered species and other protected species of fish and 
    wildlife that inhabit or use that refuge, to ensure that scarce 
    wildlife refuge land in and around the Minneapolis, Minnesota, 
metropolitan area is not subjected to physical or auditory impairment, 
  and to ensure that the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 is 
                        adequately implemented.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 25, 1999

  Mr. Young of Alaska (for himself, Mr. Pombo, Mr. Schaffer, and Mr. 
 Radanovich) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide for protection of the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife 
 Refuge and endangered species and other protected species of fish and 
    wildlife that inhabit or use that refuge, to ensure that scarce 
    wildlife refuge land in and around the Minneapolis, Minnesota, 
metropolitan area is not subjected to physical or auditory impairment, 
  and to ensure that the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 is 
                        adequately implemented.

    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 ``Minnesota Valley National Wildlife 
Refuge Protection Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) On September 21, 1998, the United States Fish and 
        Wildlife Service announced an agreement with the Metropolitan 
        Airports Commission of the State of Minnesota, which is the 
        public agency that operates the Minneapolis-St. Paul 
        International Airport. The agreement would allow construction 
        of a new runway for that airport that would have severe impacts 
        on the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge.
            (2) The agreement authorizes impacts of a major runway 
        expansion that would allow more than 5,000 overflights per 
        month at less than 2,000 feet above the surface of the 
        Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge.
            (3) The Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, in 
        serving as an urban-oriented wildlife refuge, is a sanctuary in 
        the midst of the urban and industrial sprawl of Minneapolis and 
        St. Paul, Minnesota. Any agreement to allow scores of jumbo 
        jets each day to fly any closer to the one place of sanctuary 
        for wildlife in that region violates the very concept of 
        providing places of refuge for wildlife.
            (4) A disparity exists in the treatment of activities 
        affecting various national wildlife refuges. Although low 
        altitude overflights would be allowed over the Minnesota Valley 
        National Wildlife Refuge, activities that would have 
        significantly fewer impacts have been prohibited on or near 
        other national wildlife refuges located in rural areas. Even 
        emergency medical services necessary to save human lives have 
        not been allowed access to some national wildlife refuges.
            (5) The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 
        U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) requires that for every major Federal 
        action an environmental impact statement must be prepared that 
        describes and mitigates for the impacts of the action on the 
        environment.
            (6) The environmental impact statement prepared with 
        respect to expansion of the Minneapolis-St. Paul International 
        Airport is totally inadequate, because it fails to adequately 
        determine and describe the impacts of 5,000 overflights per 
        month below an altitude of 2,000 feet on endangered species, 
        threatened species, and other protected species of fish and 
        wildlife in the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge.

SEC. 3. MINNESOTA VALLEY NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE PROTECTION.

    (a) Moratorium on Implementation of Agreement.--The Secretary of 
the Interior and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service shall not 
implement any agreement entered into before the date of the enactment 
of this Act that would have the effect of allowing expansion of the 
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport beyond the capacity of that 
airport on that date of enactment.
    (b) Environmental Review.--
            (1) Existing environmental impact statement not 
        effective.--The environmental impact statement prepared by the 
        Department of Transportation and the Minneapolis-St. Paul 
        Airport Commission with respect to the expansion of the 
        Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, dated May 1998, 
        shall have no force or effect.
            (2) Preparation of new environmental impact statement 
        required--A new environmental impact statement with respect to 
        the expansion of the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport 
        shall be prepared in accordance with the National Environmental 
        Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) before the date on 
        which construction is begun to expand that airport, that--
                    (A) fully determines and describes the impacts, on 
                each species of fish or wildlife that inhabits or uses 
                the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge and is 
                listed under section 4(c) of the Endangered Species Act 
                of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(c)) or otherwise protected 
                under Federal or Minnesota State law, of increases in 
                overflights of the refuge resulting from the expansion; 
                and
                    (B) includes a determination of whether 
                consultation is required under section 7(a)(2) of the 
                Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536(a)(2)) 
                with respect to that expansion.
    (c) Report.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall report to the Congress 
regarding whether the activities associated with expansion of the 
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport or additional overflights of 
the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge by air traffic using that 
airport may constitute a taking of an endangered species or threatened 
species of fish or wildlife prohibited by the Endangered Species Act of 
1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
                                 <all>