[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4043 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4043

   To amend title 10, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of 
 Defense to establish Southern Sea Otter Military Readiness Areas for 
           national defense purposes, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 15, 2012

 Mr. Gallegly introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
   Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on 
 Natural Resources, 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 title 10, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of 
 Defense to establish Southern Sea Otter Military Readiness Areas for 
           national defense purposes, 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 ``Military Readiness and Southern Sea 
Otter Conservation Act''.

SEC. 2. SOUTHERN SEA OTTER MILITARY READINESS AND CONSERVATION ACT.

    (a) Findings and Purpose.--The Congress finds and declares the 
following:
            (1) The United States Fish and Wildlife Service--
                    (A) developed a relocation and management plan for 
                southern sea otters as authorized by Public Law 99-625 
                (Nov. 7, 1986, 100 Stat. 3500);
                    (B) promulgated governing regulations on August 11, 
                1987 (52 Fed. Reg. 29754), in accordance with section 
                1(b) of Public Law 99-625; and
                    (C) has administered the plan since August 1987.
            (2) National defense-related activities at San Nicolas 
        Island have not had adverse affects on southern sea otters, but 
        continued expansion of the southern sea otter population into 
        the area designated by Public Law 99-625 as the management zone 
        may result in national security impacts. Military training 
        programs evolve, as they are linked to real world events, 
        necessitating greater flexibility in the types and amounts of 
        training events the military departments conduct.
            (3) Sikes Act Compliant Integrated Natural Resources 
        Management Plans for military installations in California 
        adequately address the special management needs of threatened 
        and endangered species, and provide conservation benefits to 
        the near shore marine environments through watershed and land-
        based management actions.
            (4) Public Law 99-625 provided the authority under the 
        Endangered Species Act of 1973 and the Marine Mammal Protection 
        Act of 1972 for otters established at San Nicolas Island to be 
        designated a nonessential experimental population and this 
        designation should be continued to provide for the flexibility 
        needed for military readiness requirements guaranteed by Public 
        Law 99-625.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to enhance 
conservation of the southern sea otter and its growth toward an optimum 
sustainable population while allowing reasonable assurances for 
military readiness activities, as defined in section 315(f) of the Bob 
Stump National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003 (Public 
Law 107-314; 116 Stat. 2509; 16 U.S.C. 703 note), to continue.
    (c) Establishment of the Southern Sea Otter Military Readiness 
Areas.--Chapter 136 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by 
adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 2283. Establishment of the Southern Sea Otter Military Readiness 
              Areas
    ``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Defense shall establish 
Southern Sea Otter Military Readiness Areas for national defense 
purposes, consisting of--
            ``(1) the area that includes Naval Base Ventura County San 
        Nicolas Island and Begg Rock, and the adjacent and surrounding 
        waters within the following coordinates:
                    ``N. Latitude/W. Longitude
                    ``3327.8'/11934.3'
                    ``3320.5'/11915.5'
                    ``3313.5'/11911.8'
                    ``3306.5'/11915.3'
                    ``3302.8'/11926.8'
                    ``3308.8'/11946.3'
                    ``3317.2'/11956.9'
                    ``3330.9'/11954.2';
            ``(2) that area that includes Naval Base Coronado San 
        Clemente Island and the adjacent and surrounding waters running 
        parallel to shore to 3 nautical miles from the high tide line 
        designated by 33 C.F.R. part 165 on May 20, 2010, as the San 
        Clemente Island 3NM Safety Zone; and
            ``(3) that area that includes Marine Corps Base Camp 
        Pendleton and the adjacent waters within the following 
        coordinates:
                    ``Latitude/W. Longitude
                    ``3326.6'/11738.9'
                    ``3321.3'/11745.8'
                    ``3356.2'/11739.7'
                    ``336.5'/11728.5'
                    ``3310.2'/11723.7'
                    ``3311.8'/11723.2'
                    ``3326.6'/11738.9'.
    ``(b) Activities Within the Southern Sea Otter Military Readiness 
Areas.--
            ``(1) Incidental takings under endangered species act of 
        1973.--Sections 4 and 9 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 
        (16 U.S.C. 1533, 1538) shall not apply with respect to the 
        incidental taking of any southern sea otter in the Southern Sea 
        Otter Military Readiness Areas in the course of conducting a 
        military readiness activity.
            ``(2) Incidental takings under marine mammal protection act 
        of 1972.--Sections 101 and 102 of the Marine Mammal Protection 
        Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1371, 1372) shall not apply with respect 
        to the incidental taking of any southern sea otter in the 
        Southern Sea Otter Military Readiness Areas in the course of 
        conducting military readiness activities.
            ``(3) Treatment as species proposed to be listed.--For 
        purposes of any military readiness activity, any southern sea 
        otter while within the Southern Sea Otter Military Readiness 
        Areas shall be treated for the purposes of section 7 of the 
        Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536) as a member of 
        a species that is proposed to be listed as an endangered 
        species or a threatened species under section 4 of the 
        Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533).
    ``(c) Removal.--Nothing in this section or any other Federal law 
shall be construed to require that any southern sea otter located 
within the Southern Sea Otter Military Readiness Areas as of the 
effective date of this section or thereafter be removed from the Areas.
    ``(d) Revision or Termination of Exceptions.--The Secretary of the 
Interior may revise or terminate the application of subsection (b) if 
the Secretary, in consultation with, and with the concurrence of, the 
Secretary of the Navy, determines that military activities authorized 
under subsection (b) are substantially impeding southern sea otter 
conservation or the return of southern sea otters to optimum 
sustainable population levels.
    ``(e) Monitoring.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary of the Navy shall monitor 
        the Southern Sea Otter Military Readiness Areas not less than 
        every three years to measure the growth or decline of the 
        southern sea otter population.
            ``(2) Reports.--Within 24 months after the effective date 
        of this section and every three years thereafter, the Secretary 
        of the Navy shall report to Congress and the public on 
        monitoring undertaken pursuant to paragraph (1).
    ``(f) Relationship to Other Federal Law.--Except as provided in 
subsections (a) and (b), nothing in this section shall be construed as 
repealing, superseding, or modifying any provision of Federal law.
    ``(g) Ecosystem Management.--
            ``(1) Ecosystem management plan.--Consistent with Public 
        Law 99-625 and the notice and comment provisions of chapter 5 
        of title 5, the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife 
        Service and the Director of the National Marine Fisheries 
        Service, in cooperation with the Marine Mammal Commission, 
        shall develop an ecosystem management plan that, for waters off 
        the coast of California, ensures--
                    ``(A) the recovery of the southern sea otter;
                    ``(B) the recovery of the endangered black abalone 
                and the endangered white abalone; and
                    ``(C) the commercial harvest of shellfish fisheries 
                at levels approximating current harvests.
            ``(2) Assessment of carrying capacity.--The Director of the 
        United States Fish and Wildlife Service shall, within one year 
        after the effective date of this section, assess the carrying 
        capacity of the habitat for southern sea otters, including an 
        assessment of the impacts of water quality on that carrying 
        capacity and the causes of water quality degradation.
            ``(3) Continued implementation of existing plan.--The 
        Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service shall 
        continue implementing the relocation and management plan for 
        southern sea otters authorized by Public Law 99-625 (100 Stat. 
        3500) until the date the management plan and assessment 
        required under paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively, are 
        completed.
    ``(h) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Incidental taking.--The term `incidental taking' 
        means any take of a southern sea otter that is incidental to, 
        and not the purpose of, the carrying out of an otherwise lawful 
        activity.
            ``(2) Optimum sustainable population.--The term `optimum 
        sustainable population' means, with respect to any population 
        stock, the number of animals that will result in the maximum 
        productivity of the population or the species, keeping in mind 
        the carrying capacity of the habitat and the health of the 
        ecosystem of which they form a constituent element.
            ``(3) Southern sea otter.--The term `southern sea otter' 
        means any member of the subspecies Enhydra lutris nereis.
            ``(4) Take.--The term `take'--
                    ``(A) when used in reference to activities subject 
                to regulation by the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 
                U.S.C. 1531-1544) shall have the meaning given such 
                term in that statute; and
                    ``(B) when used in reference to activities subject 
                to regulation by the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 
                1972 (16 U.S.C. 1361-1423h), shall have the meaning 
                given such term in that statute.
            ``(5) Military readiness activity.--The term `military 
        readiness activity' has the meaning given that term in section 
        315(f) of the Bob Stump National Defense Authorization Act for 
        Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law 107-314; 116 Stat. 2509; 16 U.S.C. 
        703 note), and includes all training and operations of the 
        Armed Forces that relate to combat, and the adequate and 
        realistic testing of military equipment, vehicles, weapons, and 
        sensors for proper operation and suitability for combat use.''.
    (d) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter is amended by adding at the end the following:

``2283. Establishment of the Southern Sea Otter Military Readiness 
                            Areas.''.
                                 <all>