The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“Text of Senate Amendment 5994” mentioning the Department of Interior was published in the in the Senate section section on pages S5486-S5487 on Sept. 28.
The Department oversees more than 500 million acres of land. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, said the department has contributed to a growing water crisis and holds many lands which could be better managed.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
SA 5994. Mr. LEE submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 5499 submitted by Mr. Reed (for himself and Mr. Inhofe) and intended to be proposed to the bill H.R. 7900, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2023 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 end of subtitle G of title X, add the following:
SEC. 10__. 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 10-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act.
(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 10-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act.
(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 the date that is 10 years after that date of enactment, 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. 10__. IMPLEMENTATION OF LESSER PRAIRIE-CHICKEN RANGE-
WIDE CONSERVATION PLAN AND OTHER CONSERVATION
MEASURES.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Candidate conservation agreement; candidate conservation agreement with assurances.--The terms
``Candidate Conservation Agreement'' and ``Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances'' have the meanings given those terms in the announcement of the Department of the Interior and the Department of Commerce entitled
``Announcement of Final Policy for Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances'' (64 Fed. Reg. 32726 (June 17, 1999)).
(2) Lesser prairie-chicken.--The term ``lesser prairie- chicken'' means a prairie-chicken of the species Tympanuchus pallidicinctus.
(3) Range-wide plan.--The term ``Range-Wide Plan'' means the lesser prairie-chicken Range-Wide Conservation Plan of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, as described in the proposed rule of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service entitled ``Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Listing the Lesser-Prairie Chicken as a Threatened Species with a Special Rule'' (79 Fed. Reg. 4652
(January 29, 2014)).
(4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the Interior.
(b) Prohibition on Treatment as Threatened or Endangered Species.--
(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any prior action by the Secretary, the lesser prairie-chicken shall not be treated as a threatened species or an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) before the date that is 10 years after the date of enactment of this Act.
(2) Prohibition on proposal.--Effective beginning on the date that is 10 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the lesser prairie-chicken may not be treated as a threatened species or an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) unless the Secretary publishes a determination, based on the totality of the scientific evidence, that conservation (as that term is used in that Act) under the Range-Wide Plan and the agreements, programs, and efforts described in subsection
(c) have not achieved the conservation goals established by the Range-Wide Plan.
(c) Monitoring of Progress of Conservation Programs.--The Secretary shall monitor and annually submit to Congress a report on the conservation progress of the lesser prairie- chicken under the Range-Wide Plan and all related--
(1) Candidate Conservation Agreements and Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances;
(2) Federal conservation programs administered by the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, and the Secretary of Agriculture;
(3) State conservation programs; and
(4) private conservation efforts.
SEC. 10__. 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 (Nicrophorus americanus) 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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