[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 468 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 468

  To provide a categorical exclusion under the National Environmental 
    Policy Act of 1969 to allow the Director of the Bureau of Land 
Management and the Chief of the Forest Service to remove Pinyon-Juniper 
 trees to conserve and restore the habitat of the greater sage-grouse 
                           and the mule deer.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 11, 2015

   Mr. Hatch introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide a categorical exclusion under the National Environmental 
    Policy Act of 1969 to allow the Director of the Bureau of Land 
Management and the Chief of the Forest Service to remove Pinyon-Juniper 
 trees to conserve and restore the habitat of the greater sage-grouse 
                           and the mule deer.

    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 ``Sage-Grouse and Mule Deer Habitat 
Conservation and Restoration Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION FOR PINYON-JUNIPER TREE REMOVAL.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a vegetation management 
project by the Director of the Bureau of Land Management or the Chief 
of the Forest Service involving removal or treatment of any Pinyon or 
Juniper tree for the purpose of conserving or restoring the habitat of 
the greater sage-grouse or mule deer shall be eligible to be a 
categorical exclusion (as defined in section 1508.4 of title 40, Code 
of Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation)) for purposes of the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
                                 <all>