[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6583 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 6583

   To authorize the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to seek 
compensation for injuries to trust resources and to use funds received 
    as that compensation to restore, replace, or acquire equivalent 
                   resources, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 4, 2023

       Mr. Thompson of California (for himself, Mr. Wittman, Mr. 
Krishnamoorthi, Mrs. Dingell, Ms. Norton, Ms. DeGette, Mr. Huffman, Mr. 
   Nadler, and Ms. Matsui) introduced the following bill; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To authorize the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to seek 
compensation for injuries to trust resources and to use funds received 
    as that compensation to restore, replace, or acquire equivalent 
                   resources, 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 ``Refuge System Protection Act of 
2023''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Damages.--The term ``damages'' means--
                    (A) compensation for--
                            (i)(I) the cost of replacing, restoring, or 
                        acquiring the equivalent of a system resource; 
                        and
                            (II) the value of any significant loss of 
                        use of a system resource, pending--
                                    (aa) restoration or replacement of 
                                the system resource; or
                                    (bb) the acquisition of an 
                                equivalent resource; or
                            (ii) the value of a system resource, if the 
                        system resource cannot be replaced or restored; 
                        and
                    (B) the cost of any relevant damage assessment 
                carried out pursuant to section 4(c).
            (2) Response cost.--The term ``response cost'' means the 
        cost of any action carried out by the Secretary--
                    (A) to prevent, minimize, or abate the destruction 
                or loss of, or injury to, a system resource;
                    (B) to abate or minimize the imminent risk of any 
                destruction, loss, or injury described in subparagraph 
                (A); or
                    (C) to monitor the ongoing effects of any incident 
                causing any destruction, loss, or injury described in 
                subparagraph (A).
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
            (4) System resource.--The term ``system resource'' means 
        any living, nonliving, historical, cultural, or archeological 
        resource that is located within the boundaries of--
                    (A) a unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System;
                    (B) a unit of the National Fish Hatchery System; or
                    (C) any other land or water managed by the Director 
                of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, 
                including any land or water managed cooperatively with 
                any other Federal or State agency.

SEC. 3. ACTIONS.

    (a) In General.--The Attorney General, at the request of the 
Secretary, may bring in the district court of the United States of 
appropriate jurisdiction--
            (1) a civil action against any individual or entity that--
                    (A) destroys, causes the loss of, or injures any 
                system resource; or
                    (B) causes the Secretary to carry out any action to 
                prevent, minimize, or abate the destruction or loss of, 
                or injury or risk to, any system resource; or
            (2) an in rem action against any instrumentality (including 
        a vessel, vehicle, aircraft, or other equipment or mechanism) 
        that--
                    (A) destroys, causes the loss of, or injures any 
                system resource; or
                    (B) causes the Secretary to carry out any action to 
                prevent, minimize, or abate destruction or loss of, or 
                injury or risk to, a system resource.
    (b) Affirmative Defenses.--It shall be an affirmative defense in an 
action under subsection (a) that--
            (1) the applicable destruction or loss of, or injury to, 
        the system resource was caused by an otherwise legal act or 
        omission that occurred outside of the boundaries of the system 
        resource;
            (2) the applicable destruction or loss of, or injury to, 
        the system resource was caused by an activity performed in 
        accordance with Federal, State, or local law, regulation, or 
        court order;
            (3) the applicable destruction or loss of, or injury to, 
        the system resource was caused solely by an act of God or an 
        act of war;
            (4)(A) the applicable individual, entity, or 
        instrumentality exercised due care; and
            (B) the applicable destruction or loss of, or injury to, 
        the system resource was caused solely by an act or omission of 
        a third party, other than an employee or agent of the 
        individual, entity, or instrumentality; or
            (5)(A) the applicable destruction or loss of, or injury to, 
        the system resource was caused by an individual, entity, or 
        instrumentality, including an employee or agent of the 
        individual, entity, or instrumentality, acting in physical 
        self-defense or defense of others against physical harm; and
            (B) the physical defense was--
                    (i) reasonably necessary;
                    (ii) without reasonable alternative; and
                    (iii) not excessive under the circumstances.
    (c) Damages.--In an action under subsection (a), the court may 
award response costs and damages resulting from the applicable 
destruction or loss of, or injury to, the system resource.
    (d) De Minimis Threshold.--The Secretary may not make a request to 
the Attorney General under subsection (a) if the amount that could be 
awarded under subsection (c) relating to the cause of action would not 
exceed $5,000.
    (e) Administrative Actions for Response Costs and Damages.--
            (1) Action by secretary.--
                    (A) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), the 
                Secretary, after making a finding described in 
                subparagraph (B), may consider, compromise, and settle 
                a claim for response costs and damages if the claim has 
                not been referred to the Attorney General under 
                subsection (a).
                    (B) Description of findings.--A finding referred to 
                in subparagraph (A) is a finding that--
                            (i) destruction or loss of, or injury to, a 
                        system resource has occurred; or
                            (ii) that destruction, loss, or injury 
                        would occur absent an action by the Secretary 
                        to prevent, minimize, or abate the destruction, 
                        loss, or injury.
            (2) Requirement.--In any case in which the total amount to 
        be recovered in an action under subsection (a) may exceed 
        $500,000 (excluding interest), a claim may be compromised and 
        settled under paragraph (1) only with the prior written 
        approval of the Attorney General.
    (f) Response Actions, Assessments of Damages, and Injunctive 
Relief.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary may carry out any necessary 
        action (including making a request to the Attorney General to 
        seek injunctive relief)--
                    (A) to prevent, minimize, or abate the destruction 
                or loss of, or injury to, a system resource; or
                    (B) to abate or minimize the imminent risk of that 
                destruction, loss, or injury.
            (2) Assessment and monitoring.--
                    (A) In general.--The Secretary may assess and 
                monitor the destruction or loss of, or injury to, any 
                system resource for purposes of paragraph (1).
                    (B) Judicial review.--Any determination or 
                assessment of damage to a system resource carried out 
                under subparagraph (A) shall be subject to judicial 
                review under subchapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 7, 
                of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the 
                ``Administrative Procedure Act''), on the basis of the 
                administrative record developed by the Secretary.
    (g) Scope.--The liability established by this section shall be in 
addition to any other liability arising under Federal or State law.

SEC. 4. USE OF RECOVERED AMOUNTS.

    (a) In General.--Amounts of the response costs and damages 
recovered by the Secretary under this Act and any amounts recovered by 
the Federal Government under any provision of Federal, State, or local 
law or otherwise as a result of the destruction or loss of, or injury 
to, any system resource shall be credited as discretionary offsetting 
collections to the Construction account of the United States Fish and 
Wildlife Service for use in accordance with subsection (b), and shall 
be made available for such purposes only to the extent and in the 
amounts provided in advance in appropriations Acts.
    (b) Use.--The Secretary may only use amounts made available under 
subsection (a)--
            (1) to reimburse expenditures incurred for--
                    (A) response costs;
                    (B) damage assessments;
                    (C) remediation action planning costs; or
                    (D) other activities the Secretary determines to be 
                necessary to respond to, assess, and remediate damages 
                to a system resource;
            (2) to restore, replace, or acquire the equivalent of a 
        system resource that was destroyed, lost, or injured; or
            (3) to monitor and study the recovery of a system resource 
        that was destroyed, lost, or injured.
    (c) Allocation.--The Secretary shall--
            (1) allocate for use under subsection (b) the amount of 
        response costs and damages recovered with respect to each 
        system resource and made available under subsection (a) to the 
        unit, land, or water described in section 2(4) within which the 
        system resource was located at the time of the destruction, 
        loss, or injury; and
            (2) after the allocation under paragraph (1), allocate any 
        remaining amounts for such use under subsection (b) as the 
        Secretary determines to be appropriate.

SEC. 5. DONATIONS.

    (a) Acceptance of Monetary Donations and Services.--Subject to 
subsection (b), the Secretary may accept donations of money or services 
to meet expected, immediate, or ongoing response costs and damages.
    (b) Use of Monetary Donations.--Amounts accepted under subsection 
(a) shall be credited as discretionary offsetting collections to the 
Construction account of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service for 
meeting such expected, immediate, or ongoing response costs and 
damages, and shall be made available for such purposes only to the 
extent and in the amounts provided in advance in appropriations Acts.

SEC. 6. STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION WITH RESPECT TO ALASKA.

    If any conflict arises between any provision of this Act and any 
provision of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 
U.S.C. 3101 et seq.), then the provision in such Act shall control.
                                 <all>