[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3707 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3707

To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to improve protections for 
                      endangered species habitats.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    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 improve protections for 
                      endangered species habitats.

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

SECTION 1. IMPROVED PROTECTIONS FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES HABITATS.

    (a) Survival Habitat Defined.--Section 3 of the Endangered Species 
Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1532) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(22) The term `survival habitat' for a threatened species or 
endangered species means the specific areas within the geographical 
area occupied by the species, at the time it is listed under section 
4(c), on which are found those physical or biological features that--
            ``(A) are essential to the conservation of the species; and
            ``(B) may require special management considerations or 
        protection.''.
    (b) Requirements To Designate Habitat.--Section 4 of such Act (16 
U.S.C. 1533) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by amending paragraph (3) to read as 
        follows:
            ``(3)(A) The Secretary, by regulation promulgated in 
        accordance with subsection (b), shall--
                    ``(i) concurrently with making a determination 
                under paragraph (1) that a species is an endangered 
                species or threatened species, designate survival 
                habitat of the species; and
                    ``(ii) concurrently with adoption of the final 
                recovery plan for a species under subsection (f), 
                designate critical habitat of the species.
            ``(B) A final regulation implementing the determination 
        that a species is an endangered species or threatened species 
        shall not be published in the Federal Register unless the 
        Secretary has determined and published in the Federal Register 
        the survival habitat for such species.''; and
            (2) in subsection (b), by amending paragraph (2) to read as 
        follows:
            ``(2)(A)(i) The Secretary shall designate critical habitat, 
        and make revisions thereto, under subsection (a)(3) on the 
        basis of the best scientific and commercial data available and 
        after taking into consideration the economic impact, and any 
        other relevant impact, of specifying any particular area as 
        critical habitat.
            ``(ii) Survival habitat designated for a species at the 
        time of listing the species under subsection (c) shall be 
        revised and finalized as critical habitat concurrently with the 
        adoption of the final recovery plan under this section for the 
        species.
            ``(iii) The Secretary may exclude any area from critical 
        habitat if the Secretary determines that the benefits of such 
        exclusion outweigh the benefits of specifying such area as part 
        of the critical habitat, unless the Secretary determines, based 
        on the best scientific and commercial data available, that the 
        failure to designate such area as critical habitat will result 
        in the extinction of the species concerned.
            ``(B)(i) The Secretary shall designate survival habitat of 
        a species based only on the basis of the best scientific and 
        commercial data available and after taking into consideration 
        the economic impact, and any other relevant impact, of 
        specifying any particular area as survival habitat.
            ``(ii) The Secretary may exclude any area from survival 
        habitat if the Secretary determines that the benefits of such 
        exclusion outweigh the benefits of specifying such area as part 
        of the survival habitat, unless the Secretary determines, based 
        on the best scientific and commercial data available, that the 
        failure to designate such area as critical habitat will result 
        in the extinction of the species concerned.''.
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