[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4739 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4739

 To provide for the conservation and preservation of the Greater Sage 
              Grouse by facilitating State recovery plans.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 15, 2016

Mr. Bishop of Utah (for himself, Mr. Simpson, Mrs. Lummis, Mr. Amodei, 
  Mr. Bridenstine, Mr. Weber of Texas, Mr. Gosar, Mr. Duncan of South 
 Carolina, Mr. Lamborn, Mr. Stewart, Mr. Hardy, Mr. Zinke, Mr. Hurd of 
Texas, Mr. Cook, and Mr. Chaffetz) introduced the following bill; which 
           was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for the conservation and preservation of the Greater Sage 
              Grouse by facilitating State recovery plans.

    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 ``Greater Sage Grouse Protection and 
Recovery Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. PROTECTION AND RECOVERY OF GREATER SAGE GROUSE.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Federal resource management plan.--The term ``Federal 
        resource management plan'' means--
                    (A) a land use plan prepared by the Bureau of Land 
                Management for public lands pursuant to section 202 of 
                the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 
                U.S.C. 1712); or
                    (B) a land and resource management plan prepared by 
                the Forest Service for National Forest System lands 
                pursuant to section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland 
                Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 
                1604).
            (2) Greater sage grouse.--The term ``Greater Sage Grouse'' 
        means a sage grouse of the species Centrocercus urophasianus.
            (3) State management plan.--The term ``State management 
        plan'' means a State-approved plan for the protection and 
        recovery of the Greater Sage Grouse.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is--
            (1) to facilitate implementation of State management plans 
        over a period of multiple, consecutive Greater Sage Grouse life 
        cycles; and
            (2) to demonstrate the efficacy of the State management 
        plans for the protection and recovery of the Greater Sage 
        Grouse.
    (c) Delay in Making Endangered Species Act of 1973 Finding.--
            (1) Delay required.--In the case of any State with a State 
        management plan, the Secretary of the Interior may not make a 
        finding under clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of section 4(b)(3)(B) 
        of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(b)(3)(B)) 
        with respect to the Greater Sage Grouse in that State before 
        September 30, 2026.
            (2) Effect on other laws.--The delay imposed by paragraph 
        (1) is, and shall remain, effective without regard to any other 
        statute, regulation, court order, legal settlement, or any 
        other provision of law or in equity.
            (3) Effect on conservation status.--Until the date 
        specified in paragraph (1), the conservation status of the 
        Greater Sage Grouse shall remain not warranted for listing 
        under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 
        seq.).
    (d) Coordination of Federal Land Management and State Management 
Plans.--
            (1) Prohibition on withdrawals and modifications of federal 
        resource management plans.--In order to foster coordination 
        between a State management plan and Federal resource management 
        plans that affect the Greater Sage Grouse, upon notification by 
        the Governor of a State with a State management plan, the 
        Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture, as 
        applicable, may not exercise authority under section 204 of the 
        Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1714) 
        to make, modify, or extend any withdrawal, nor amend or 
        otherwise modify any Federal resource management plan 
        applicable to Federal land in the State, in a manner 
        inconsistent with the State management plan for a period, to be 
        specified by the Governor in the notification, of at least five 
        years beginning on the date of the notification.
            (2) Retroactive effect.--In the case of any State that 
        provides notification under paragraph (1), if any withdrawal 
        was made, modified, or extended or if any amendment or 
        modification of a Federal resource management plan applicable 
        to Federal lands in the State was issued during the three-year 
        period preceding the date of the notification and the 
        withdrawal, amendment, or modification altered management of 
        the Greater Sage Grouse or its habitat, implementation and 
        operation of the withdrawal, amendment, or modification shall 
        be stayed to the extent that the withdrawal, amendment, or 
        modification is inconsistent with the State management plan. 
        The Federal resource management plan, as in effect immediately 
        before the amendment or modification, shall apply instead with 
        respect to management of the Greater Sage Grouse and its 
        habitat, to the extent consistent with the State management 
        plan.
            (3) Determination of inconsistency.--Any disagreement 
        regarding whether a withdrawal, or an amendment or other 
        modification of a Federal resource management plan, is 
        inconsistent with a State management plan shall be resolved by 
        the Governor of the affected State.
    (e) Relation to National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.--With 
regard to any major Federal action consistent with a State management 
plan, any findings, analyses, or conclusions regarding the Greater Sage 
Grouse or its habitat under section 102(2)(C) of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) shall not have 
a preclusive effect on the approval or implementation of the major 
Federal action in that State.
    (f) Reporting Requirement.--Not later than one year after the date 
of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter through 2026, the 
Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall 
jointly submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 
Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of 
Representatives a report on the Secretaries' implementation and 
effectiveness of systems to monitor the status of Greater Sage Grouse 
on Federal lands under their jurisdiction.
    (g) Judicial Review.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
statute or regulation, the requirements and implementation of this 
section, including determinations made under subsection (d)(3), are not 
subject to judicial review.
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