[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 102 (Tuesday, June 18, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S3698]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 688. Mr. LEE (for himself, Mr. Crapo, and Mr. Risch) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 1790, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2020 for military activities
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the appropriate place, insert the following:
SEC. __. GREATER SAGE-GROUSE PROTECTION AND RECOVERY.
(a) Purposes.--The purposes of this section are--
(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.
(b) 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 land pursuant to section 202 of the
Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C.
1712); and
(B) a land and resource management plan prepared by the
Forest Service for National Forest System land 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.
(c) Protection and Recovery of Greater Sage-grouse.--
(1) Endangered species act of 1973 findings.--
(A) Delay required.--The Secretary of the Interior may not
modify or invalidate the finding of the Director of the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service announced in the
proposed rule entitled ``Endangered and Threatened Wildlife
and Plants; 12-Month Finding on a Petition to List Greater
Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) as an Endangered or
Threatened Species'' (80 Fed. Reg. 59858 (October 2, 2015))
during the period beginning on the date of enactment of this
Act and ending on September 30, 2029.
(B) Effect on other laws.--The delay required under
subparagraph (A) 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.
(C) Effect on conservation status.--The conservation status
of the greater sage-grouse shall be considered not to warrant
listing of the greater sage-grouse as an endangered species
or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of
1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) during the period beginning on
the date of enactment of this Act and ending on September 30,
2029.
(2) Coordination of federal land management and state
conservation and management plans.--
(A) Prohibition on withdrawal and modification of federal
resource management plans.--On notification by the Governor
of a State with a State management plan, the Secretary of the
Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture may not make,
modify, or extend any withdrawal or 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, as specified by the Governor in the
notification, a period of not fewer than 5 years beginning on
the date of the notification.
(B) Retroactive effect.--In the case of any State that
provides notification under subparagraph (A), if any
withdrawal was made, modified, or extended or any amendment
or modification of a Federal resource management plan
applicable to Federal land in the State was issued after June
1, 2014, and the withdrawal, amendment, or modification
altered the management of the greater sage-grouse or the
habitat of the greater sage-grouse--
(i) 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; and
(ii) the Federal resource management plan, as in effect
immediately before the withdrawal, amendment, or
modification, shall apply instead with respect to the
management of the greater sage-grouse and the habitat of the
greater sage-grouse, to the extent consistent with the State
management plan.
(C) Determination of inconsistency.--Any disagreement
regarding whether a withdrawal, 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.
(3) 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 and the habitat
of the greater sage-grouse 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.
(4) Reporting requirement.--Not later than 1 year after the
date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter
through 2029, 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
describing the implementation by the Secretaries of, and the
effectiveness of, systems to monitor the status of greater
sage-grouse on Federal land under the jurisdiction of the
Secretaries.
(5) Judicial review.--Notwithstanding any other provision
of law (including regulations), this subsection, including
any determination made under paragraph (2)(C), shall not be
subject to judicial review.
SEC. __. REMOVAL OF ENDANGERED SPECIES STATUS FOR AMERICAN
BURYING BEETLE.
Notwithstanding the final rule of the United States Fish
and Wildlife Service entitled ``Endangered and Threatened
Wildlife and Plants; Determination of Endangered Status for
the American Burying Beetle'' (54 Fed. Reg. 29652 (July 13,
1989)), the American burying beetle may not be listed as a
threatened species or an endangered species under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
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