[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4114 Reported in House (RH)]






                                                 Union Calendar No. 299
108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4114

                          [Report No. 108-520]

To amend the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to exclude non-native migratory 
 bird species from the application of that Act, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 1, 2004

 Mr. Gilchrest (for himself, Mr. Saxton, and Mr. Kind) introduced the 
    following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources

                              June 3, 2004

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]
 [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 
                                1, 2004]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to exclude non-native migratory 
 bird species from the application of that Act, and for other purposes.

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

 TITLE I--EXCLUSION OF NONNATIVE SPECIES FROM MIGRATORY BIRD TREATY ACT

SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.

    This title may be cited as the ``Migratory Bird Treaty Reform Act 
of 2004''.

SEC. 102. EXCLUSION OF NON-NATIVE SPECIES FROM APPLICATION OF CERTAIN 
              PROHIBITIONS UNDER MIGRATORY BIRD TREATY ACT.

    Section 2 of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703) is 
amended--
            (1) in the first sentence by striking ``That unless and 
        except as permitted'' and inserting the following: ``(a) In 
        General.--Unless and except as permitted''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Limitation on Application to Introduced Species.--
            ``(1) In general.--This section applies only to migratory 
        bird species that are native to the United States and whose 
        occurrence in the United States is entirely the result of 
        natural biological or ecological conditions.
            ``(2) Treatment of introduced species.--For purposes of 
        paragraph (1)--
                    ``(A) a bird species shall not be treated as native 
                to the United States if it occurs in the United States 
                solely as a result of intentional or unintentional 
                human-assisted introduction; and
                    ``(B) a migratory bird species shall be treated as 
                native to the United States if--
                            ``(i) it was native to the United States 
                        and extant in 1918;
                            ``(ii) it was extirpated after 1918 
                        throughout its range in the United States; and
                            ``(iii) after such extirpation, it was 
                        reintroduced in the United States as a part of 
                        a program carried out by a Federal agency.''.

SEC. 103. PUBLICATION OF LIST.

    The Secretary of the Interior shall publish in the Federal Register 
within 3 months after the date of enactment of this Act a list of all 
non-native, human introduced bird species to which the Migratory Bird 
Treaty Act does not apply that belong to biological families of 
migratory birds covered under any of the migratory bird conventions 
with Great Britain (for Canada), Mexico, Russia, or Japan. The 
Secretary shall provide adequate time for public comment. Nothing in 
this section concerning the publication of the list shall delay 
implementation of other provisions of this Act that exclude non-native, 
human introduced bird species from the application of the Migratory 
Bird Treaty Act.

         TITLE II--CONSERVATION OF NEOTROPICAL MIGRATORY BIRDS

SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE.

    This title may be cited as the ``Neotropical Migratory Bird 
Conservation Improvement Act of 2004''.

SEC. 202. AMENDMENTS TO NEOTROPICAL MIGRATORY BIRD CONSERVATION ACT.

    (a) Findings.--Section 2(1) of the Neotropical Migratory Bird 
Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 6101(1)) is amended by inserting ``but 
breed in Canada and the United States'' after ``the Caribbean''.
    (b) Purposes.--Section 3(2) of the Neotropical Migratory Bird 
Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 6102(2)) is amended by inserting 
``Canada,'' after ``United States,''.
    (c) Definition of Caribbean.--Section 4 of the Neotropical 
Migratory Bird Conservation Act is amended by redesignating paragraphs 
(2) and (3) in order or paragraphs (3) and (4), and by inserting 
paragraph (1) the following:
            ``(2) Caribbean.--The term `Caribbean' includes Puerto Rico 
        and the United States Virgin Islands.''.
    (d) Cost Sharing.--Section 5(e) of the Neotropical Migratory Bird 
Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 6104(e)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1) by striking ``25 percent'' and 
        inserting ``50 percent''; and
            (2) in paragraph (2) by amending subparagraph (B) to read 
        as follows:
                    ``(B) Form of payment.--
                            ``(i) Projects in the united states and 
                        canada.--The non-Federal share required to be 
                        paid for a project carried out in the United 
                        States or Canada shall be paid in cash.
                            ``(ii) Projects in latin america and the 
                        caribbean.--The non-Federal share required to 
                        be paid for a project carried out in Latin 
                        America or the Caribbean may be paid in cash or 
                        in kind.''.
    (e) Report.--Section 8 of the Neotropical Migratory Bird 
Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 6107) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``October 1, 2002,'' and inserting ``12 
        months after the date of the enactment of the Neotropical 
        Migratory Bird Conservation Improvement Act of 2004,''; and
            (2) by inserting before the period the following: ``, and a 
        description of the activities of the advisory committee 
        convened under section 7(b)''.
    (f) Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Fund.--
            (1) In general.-- Section 9 of the Neotropical Migratory 
        Bird Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 6108) is amended by striking 
        so much as precedes subsection (c) and inserting the following:

``SEC. 9. NEOTROPICAL MIGRATORY BIRD CONSERVATION FUND.

    ``(a) Establishment.--There is established in the Treasury a 
separate account, which shall be known as the `Neotropical Migratory 
Bird Conservation Fund'. The Fund shall consist of amounts deposited 
into the Fund by the Secretary of the Treasury under subsection (b).
    ``(b)  Deposits Into the Fund.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall 
deposit into the Fund--
            ``(1) all amounts received by the Secretary in the form of 
        donations under subsection (d); and
            ``(2) other amounts appropriated to the Fund.''.
            (2) Administrative expenses.--Section 9(c)(2) of the 
        Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 
        6108(c)(2)) is amended by striking ``$80,000'' and inserting 
        ``$150,000''.
            (3) Conforming amendments.--The Neotropical Migratory Bird 
        Conservation Act is amended as follows:
                    (A) In section 4 (16 U.S.C. 6103), by striking 
                paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
            ``(1) Fund.--The term `Fund' means the Neotropical 
        Migratory Bird Conservation Fund established by section 
        9(a).''.
                    (B) In section 9(d) (16 U.S.C. 6108(d)), by 
                striking ``Account'' and inserting ``Fund''.
            (4) Transfer.--The Secretary of the Treasury may transfer 
        to the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Fund amounts 
        that were in the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation 
        Account immediately before the enactment of this Act.
    (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 10 of the Neotropical 
Migratory Bird Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 6109) is amended to read as 
follows:

``SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    ``(a) In General.--There is authorized to be appropriated to the 
Fund to carry out this Act the following amounts:
            ``(1) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2005.
            ``(2) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2006.
            ``(3) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2007.
            ``(4) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2008.
    ``(b) Availability.--Amounts appropriated under this section may 
remain available until expended.
    ``(c) Allocation.--Of amounts appropriated under this section for 
each fiscal year, not less than 75 percent shall be expended for 
projects carried out outside the United States.
    ``(d) Limitation on Expenditures for Projects in Canada.--Amounts 
appropriated under this section for a fiscal year may not be used for 
any project in Canada unless the amount available to carry out this Act 
for that fiscal year is greater than $10,000,000.''.




                                                 Union Calendar No. 299

108th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                               H. R. 4114

                          [Report No. 108-520]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To amend the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to exclude non-native migratory 
 bird species from the application of that Act, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                              June 3, 2004

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed