[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 518 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 518

 To require the Secretary of the Interior to refine the Department of 
 the Interior program for providing assistance for the conservation of 
                      neotropical migratory birds.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 2, 2005

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the Secretary of the Interior to refine the Department of 
 the Interior program for providing assistance for the conservation of 
                      neotropical migratory birds.

    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 ``Neotropical Migratory Bird 
Conservation Improvement Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. 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) Advisory Group.--
            (1) Requirement to convene.--Section 7(b)(1) of the 
        Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 
        6106(b)(1)) is amended by striking ``may'' and inserting 
        ``shall''.
            (2) Deadline.--The Secretary of the Interior shall convene 
        an advisory group pursuant to the amendment made by paragraph 
        (1) by not later than 6 months after the effective date of this 
        Act. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, the schedule 
        previously established by the United States Fish and Wildlife 
        Service for the submission, judging, and awarding of grants 
        shall not be delayed by virtue of the convening of the advisory 
        group.
            (3) Composition.--The advisory group as a whole shall have 
        expertise in the methods and procedures set forth in section 
        4(2) of the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (16 
        U.S.C 6103(2)) in each country and region of the Western 
        Hemisphere.
            (4) Federal advisory committee act.--The provisions of the 
        Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply 
        to the advisory committee required by the amendment made by 
        paragraph (1).
    (f) Report.--Section 8 of the Neotropical Migratory Bird 
Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 6107) is amended by striking ``October 1, 
2002,'' and inserting ``2 years after the date of the enactment of the 
Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Improvement Act of 2005''.
    (g) 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.
    (h) 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 2006.
            ``(2) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2007.
            ``(3) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2008.
            ``(4) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2009.
    ``(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.''.
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