Prohibits the Secretary from determining that the Preble's meadow jumping mouse is an endangered or threatened species unless the determination is supported by data obtained by observation of the species in the field.
Directs the Secretary to: (1) accept and acknowledge receipt of data regarding the status of that species that is collected by an owner of land through observation of the species on the land, and include the data in the rule-making record compiled for any determination that the species is an endangered or threatened species; (2) solicit recommendations from the National Academy of Sciences and develop and maintain a list of qualified reviewers to participate in independent scientific review of actions; and (3) appoint randomly from among the list, before any action becomes final, three qualified individuals who shall review and report to the Secretary on the scientific information and analyses on which the proposed action is based.
[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1253 Introduced in House (IH)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1253
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to establish special
requirements for determining whether the Preble's meadow jumping mouse
is an endangered species or threatened species.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 12, 2003
Mr. Tancredo introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to establish special
requirements for determining whether the Preble's meadow jumping mouse
is an endangered species or threatened species.
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 ``Common Sense Preble's Conservation
Act''.
SEC. 2. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS REGARDING PREBLE'S MEADOW JUMPING MOUSE.
(a) In General.--Section 13 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973
is amended to read as follows:
``special requirements regarding preble's meadow jumping mouse
``Sec. 13. (a) Use of Best Scientific and Commercial Data
Available.--In any case in which the Secretary is required by this Act
to use the best scientific and commercial data available with respect
to determining whether the Preble's meadow jumping mouse is an
endangered species or a threatened species, the Secretary--
``(1) in evaluating comparable data, shall give greater
weight to scientific or commercial data that are empirical or
have been field-tested or peer-reviewed; and
``(2) shall include, in data used with respect to that
species, data regarding population numbers of the species.
``(b) Field Data.--
``(1) Requirement.--The Secretary may not determine under
section 4 that the Preble's meadow jumping mouse is an
endangered species or a threatened species unless the
determination is supported by data obtained by observation of
the species in the field.
``(2) Data from landowners.--The Secretary shall--
``(A) accept and acknowledge receipt of data
regarding the status of that species that is collected
by an owner of land through observation of the species
on the land; and
``(B) include the data in the rulemaking record
compiled for any determination that the species is an
endangered species or a threatened species.
``(c) Independent Scientific Review Requirements.--
``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Action.--The term `action' means--
``(i) the determination that the Preble's
meadow jumping mouse is an endangered species
or a threatened species under section 4(a); and
``(ii) the determination under section 4(a)
that the Preble's meadow jumping mouse should
be removed from any list published under
section 4(c)(1).
``(B) Qualified individual.--The term `qualified
individual' means an individual with expertise in the
biological sciences--
``(i) who through publication of peer-
reviewed scientific literature or other means,
has demonstrated scientific expertise on the
Preble's meadow jumping mouse or a similar
species or other scientific expertise relevant
to the decision of the Secretary under section
4(a) or (f);
``(ii) who does not have, or represent any
person with, a conflict of interest with
respect to the determination that is the
subject of the review;
``(iii) who is not a participant in any
petition or proposed or final determination
before the Secretary; and
``(iv) who has no direct financial
interest, and is not employed by any person
with a direct financial interest, in opposing
the action under consideration.
``(2) List of independent scientific reviewers.--The
Secretary shall solicit recommendations from the National
Academy of Sciences and develop and maintain a list of
qualified reviewers to participate in independent scientific
review of actions.
``(3) Appointment of independent scientific reviewers.--(A)
Before any action shall become final, the Secretary shall
appoint randomly, from among the list prepared in accordance
with this section, 3 qualified individuals who shall review and
report to the Secretary on the scientific information and
analyses on which the proposed action is based.
``(B) The selection and activities of the reviewers
selected pursuant to this section shall not be subject to the
Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.).
``(C) Reviewers shall be compensated for conducting the
independent review.
``(4) Opinion of peer reviewers.--Independent reviewers
shall provide the Secretary, within 3 months, their opinion
regarding all relevant scientific information and assumptions
relating to the taxonomy, population models, and supportive
biological and ecological information for the Preble's meadow
jumping mouse.
``(5) Final determination.--If the referees have made a
recommendation on a proposed action, the Secretary shall
evaluate and consider the information that results from the
independent scientific review and include in the final
determination--
``(A) a summary of the results of the independent
scientific review; and
``(B) in a case in which the recommendation of a
majority of the referees who conducted the independent
scientific review is not followed, an explanation as to
why the recommendation was not followed.
``(6) Public notice.--The report of the peer reviewers
shall be included in the official record of the proposed action
and shall be available for public review prior to the close of
the comment period on the proposed action.''.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections in the first
section of such Act is amended by striking the item relating to section
13 and inserting the following:
``Sec. 13. Special requirements regarding Preble's meadow jumping
mouse.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Resources.
Executive Comment Requested from Interior.
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