[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2327 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2327

 To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to strengthen polar 
           bear conservation efforts, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 15, 2007

 Mr. Inslee (for himself, Mr. LoBiondo, and Mr. Dicks) introduced the 
    following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 
 Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a 
 period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to strengthen polar 
           bear conservation efforts, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Polar Bear Protection Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Section 101 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 
        (16 U.S.C. 1371) established a moratorium on the importation of 
        marine mammals and marine mammal products, including the 
        importation of all sport hunted marine mammal trophies.
            (2) In 1994, such section was amended to create an 
        exemption from the moratorium, which allows the importation of 
        sport-hunted polar bear trophies from Canada.
            (3) This exemption has had the effect of increasing 
        Canadian polar bear mortalities from United States sport 
        hunters.
            (4) Polar bears have low reproductive rates, have long 
        lives, and rely on high adult survival rates to maintain 
        population numbers. In addition, polar bear populations are 
        under stress from climate change and habitat degradation.
            (5) In July 2005, the World Conservation Union Polar Bear 
        Specialist Group released its quadrennial report, in which it 
        reviewed the status of polar bears and concluded that the 
        species should be upgraded from ``a species of least concern'' 
        to ``vulnerable'', based on the ``likelihood of an overall 
        decline in the size of the total population of more than 30 
        percent within the next 35 to 50 years''.
            (6) Based on threats posed to polar bears, on December 27, 
        2006, the Department of the Interior proposed that polar bears 
        be listed under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 as 
        threatened species.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are the following:
            (1) To ensure that citizens of the United States do not 
        contribute to polar bear mortalities in Canada by removing the 
        exemption in that Act that allows for the Secretary of the 
        Interior to issue permits to United States trophy hunters for 
        the importation of polar bear trophies from Canada.
            (2) To heed the warnings of the Department of the Interior 
        and the World Conservation Union Polar Bear Specialist Group 
        that polar bears are at risk and could become endangered, by 
        prohibiting such importation.
            (3) To further the goals of the International Agreement on 
        the Conservation of Polar Bears, to which all five nations with 
        polar bears within their borders are a party.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO PROHIBIT IMPORTATION OF POLAR BEARS AND POLAR 
              BEAR PARTS.

    The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 is amended--
            (1) in section 101(a)(1) (16 U.S.C. 1371(a)(1)) by--
                    (A) striking ``, or for importation of polar bear 
                parts (other than internal organs) taken in sport hunts 
                in Canada.'' and inserting ``. No permit may be issued 
                under this Act for the importation of polar bear parts 
                taken in a sport hunt.'';
                    (B) striking ``, except permits issued under 
                section 104(c)(5),''; and
                    (C) striking ``, other than importation under 
                section 104(c)(5),'';
            (2) in section 104(c) (16 U.S.C. 1374(c))--
                    (A) in paragraph (2)(E), by striking ``paragraph 
                (10)'' and inserting ``paragraph (9)'';
                    (B) in paragraph (8)(B)(ii), by striking 
                ``paragraph (10)'' and inserting ``paragraph (9)'';
                    (C) by striking paragraph (5); and
                    (D) by redesignating (6) through (10) as paragraphs 
                (5) through (9); and
            (3) in section 104(e)(1) (16 U.S.C. 1374(e)(1))--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``or'' after 
                the comma at the end;
                    (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``, or'' and 
                inserting a period; and
                    (C) by striking subparagraph (C).
                                 <all>