[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3798 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3798

   To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to require clear and 
convincing scientific data with respect to the designation of critical 
                  habitat of a species under that Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 26, 2002

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to require clear and 
convincing scientific data with respect to the designation of critical 
                  habitat of a species 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 ``Common Sense Critical Habitat Act of 
2002''.

SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON DESIGNATION OF CRITICAL HABITAT.

    Section 4(b)(2) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 
1533(b)(2)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(A)'' after ``(2)''; and
            (2) by striking the second sentence and inserting the 
        following:
    ``(B) The Secretary may not designate an area as critical habitat 
of a species--
            ``(i) unless the Secretary finds, based on clear and 
        convincing scientific data, that the area is, or historically 
        has been, occupied by a viable population of the species; or
            ``(ii) if the Secretary determines that the benefits of not 
        designating the area outweigh the benefits of designating the 
        area.
    ``(C) Subparagraph (B) shall not apply with respect to an area if 
the Secretary finds, based on clear and convincing scientific and 
commercial data, that failure to designate such area as critical 
habitat will result in the extinction of the species.''.
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