[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2547 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2547

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 18, 2004

  Mr. Voinovich (for himself and Mr. Crapo) introduced the following 
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment 
                            and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 NONNATIVE 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 the 
        occurrence of which 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 the species 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) the species was native to the United 
                        States and extant in 1918;
                            ``(ii) the species was extirpated after 
                        1918 throughout its range in the United States; 
                        and
                            ``(iii) after such extirpation, the species 
                        was reintroduced in the United States as a part 
                        of a program carried out by a Federal 
                        agency.''.

SEC. 103. PUBLICATION OF LIST.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall publish in the Federal 
Register a list of all nonnative, human-introduced bird species to 
which the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703 et seq.) 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.
    (b) Public Comment.--Before publishing the list under subsection 
(a), the Secretary shall provide adequate time for public comment.
    (c) Effect of Section.--Nothing in this section shall delay 
implementation of other provisions of this Act or amendments made by 
this Act that exclude nonnative, human-introduced bird species from the 
application of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703 et seq.).

         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 (16 U.S.C. 6103) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (4);
            (2) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
            ``(1) Caribbean.--The term `Caribbean' includes Puerto Rico 
        and the United States Virgin Islands.''; and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
            ``(3) Fund.--The term `Fund' means the Neotropical 
        Migratory Bird Conservation Fund established by section 
        9(a).''.
    (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 striking subparagraph (B) and 
        inserting the following:
                    ``(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 ``1 year 
        after the date of enactment of the Neotropical Migratory Bird 
        Conservation Improvement Act of 2004,'';
            (2) by striking ``this Act, including recommendations'' and 
        inserting ``this Act that includes--
            ``(1) recommendations'';
            (3) by striking the period at the end and inserting ``; 
        and''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) a description of the activities of the advisory group 
        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--
                    (A) by striking the section heading and all that 
                follows through subsection (b) and inserting the 
                following:

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

    ``(a) Establishment.--There is established in the Treasury a 
separate account to be known as the `Neotropical Migratory Bird 
Conservation Fund', which shall consist of amounts deposited in the 
Fund by the Secretary of the Treasury under subsection (b).
    ``(b) Deposits in 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.''; and
                    (B) in subsection (d), by striking ``Account'' and 
                inserting ``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) Transfer.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer 
        to the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Fund amounts 
        that were in the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation 
        Account immediately before the date of 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 are authorized to be appropriated to the 
Fund to carry out this Act--
            ``(1) $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2005 and 2006;
            ``(2) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; and
            ``(3) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2008.
    ``(b) Availability.--Amounts made available under this section 
shall remain available until expended.
    ``(c) Allocation.--Of amounts made available under this section for 
a 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 
made available under this section for a fiscal year shall 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.''.
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