[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3706 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3706

 To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to provide a public right-
   to-know for landowners in implementing the Endangered Species Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 7, 2002

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to provide a public right-
   to-know for landowners in implementing the Endangered Species Act.

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

SECTION 1. LANDOWNER AND PUBLIC RIGHT-TO-KNOW.

    (a) In General.--Section 13 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 
is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 13. PROVISION OF INFORMATION TO AFFECTED PERSONS.

    ``(a) In General.--Any person who is the owner of record of 
privately owned land, or the Governor of any State, may submit to the 
Secretary a request for information described in subsection (b) with 
respect to the privately owned land or land owned by the State, 
respectively, that is described in the request and affected by the 
application of this Act.
    ``(b) Information Available.--The information referred to in 
subsection (a) is, with respect to the land described in the request, 
all of the following information that is in the possession of any 
agency under the administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary:
            ``(1) A description of the location where the species is 
        known to occur on the land, and of how the occurrence of the 
        species on that land originally became known to the Secretary.
            ``(2) The presence or absence on the land of species listed 
        or proposed for listing under section 4(c).
            ``(3) Any regulations or restrictions that may apply under 
        this Act to the land as a result of protections under this Act 
        of such species/species listed under section 4(c).
            ``(4) The impact that any pending proposal to list a 
        species under section 4(c) as an endangered species or 
        threatened species could have on use and management of the 
        land.
            ``(5) The impact that a designation under this Act 
        (including any pending proposed designation) of the land as 
        critical habitat would have on the use and management of the 
        land.
            ``(6) A response as to whether any action specified in the 
        request constitutes a taking of a species prohibited under this 
        Act, and a description of actions that must be taken by the 
        person to avoid such a taking.
            ``(7) A description of what other actions relating to the 
        land will constitute a taking prohibited under this Act, and 
        the actions that must be taken to avoid such a taking.
            ``(8) Any other information that could affect the use or 
        management of the land.
    ``(c) Deadline for Response.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall provide in writing 
        to the owner of privately owned land or the Governor of a State 
        the information described in subsection (b) by not later than 
        the expiration of the 90-day period beginning on the date the 
        Secretary receives a request under subsection (a) from the 
        owner or Governor, respectively.
            ``(2) Restriction on enforcement.--After the period 
        referred to in paragraph (1), this Act may not be enforced with 
        respect to actions occurring on the land that is the subject of 
        the request unless the Secretary has provided the information 
        described in subsection (b) pursuant to the request.
    ``(d) State Administration.--The Secretary may delegate to any 
State the authority to carry out a program established by the Secretary 
to implement this section with respect to land located in the State, if 
the State demonstrates it has the authority and the funds necessary for 
that implementation.
    ``(e) Reliance on Information Provided.--Any act or omission by a 
person that is based on the good faith reliance by the person on 
information provided to the person in writing under this section shall 
not be treated as a violation of this Act.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in the first section 
of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 is amended by striking the item 
relating to section 13 and inserting the following:

``Sec. 13. Provision of information to affected persons.''.

SEC. 2. REGULATIONS ESTABLISHING REQUIREMENTS FOR CONDUCTING PUBLIC 
              HEARINGS.

    Section 4(b)(5)(E) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 
1533(b)(5)(E)) is amended by striking ``if any person files a request 
for such a hearing'' and inserting ``in accordance with section 556 of 
title 5, United States Code,''.

SEC. 3. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.

    Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit, replace, or 
interfere with other opportunities for public comment on, participation 
in, or influence on agency decision making pursuant to the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, chapter 5 of title 5, United States 
Code (popularly known as the ``Administrative Procedure Act''), or any 
other law or policy that provides for such opportunities.
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