[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3259 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3259

   To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to authorize Federal 
 agencies to promptly respond to emergencies involving the health and 
 safety of persons, in the same manner as such authority is available 
                       under the Wilderness Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 8, 2001

  Mr. McInnis (for himself and Mr. Hayworth) introduced the following 
         bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to authorize Federal 
 agencies to promptly respond to emergencies involving the health and 
 safety of persons, in the same manner as such authority is available 
                       under the Wilderness Act.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. EXEMPTION UNDER ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT OF 1973 FOR AGENCY 
              ACTION IN RESPONSE TO HEALTH AND SAFETY EMERGENCIES.

    Section 7(j) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 
1536(j)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(j)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(2) The head of a Federal agency may authorize, fund, or carry 
out an agency action notwithstanding any other provision of this Act 
upon a determination that the action is to be undertaken in response to 
an emergency that involves or will likely involve the health and safety 
of persons and a determination that the nature of the emergency does 
not reasonably permit the application, consultation, and consideration 
process otherwise required by subsections (g) and (h). The agency head 
shall delegate the authority to make such determinations to appropriate 
field officers of the agency so as to ensure the timely response by the 
agency to such emergencies. The agency head shall notify the Committee 
of an exemption granted by the agency under this paragraph as soon as 
practicable, and the Committee shall accept such determinations and 
approve the exemption.''.
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