Sage-Grouse Accountability and Private Conservation Act of 2014 - Directs the Department of the Interior to report on the status of the greater sage-grouse conservation efforts by December 15, 2014. Requires the report to include a description of: (1) public (federal and state) and private programs and expenditures, (2) existing state management plans as well as plans that have been announced but not yet implemented, and (3) plans by land management agencies.
Authorizes the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide funding under its agricultural land easements program for a conservation easement in an amount that is up to 75% of the value of land with greater or Gunnison sage-grouse habitat of special environmental significance. Adds maximizing the protection of that habitat as a consideration when ranking applications to the program.
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2575 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2575
To require the Secretary of the Interior to prepare a report on the
status of greater sage-grouse conservation efforts, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 9, 2014
Mr. Walsh (for himself, Mr. Tester, and Mr. Udall of Colorado)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Environment and Public Works
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of the Interior to prepare a report on the
status of greater sage-grouse conservation efforts, 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 ``Sage-Grouse Accountability and
Private Conservation Act of 2014''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) pursuant to the court-approved work schedule described
in the Joint Motion for Approval of Settlement Agreement and
Order of Dismissal of Guardians Claims entitled ``In Re
Endangered Species Act Section 4 Deadline Litigation'' (D.D.C.
2011), not later than September 30, 2015, the Secretary is
scheduled to issue a decision on whether to proceed with
listing the greater sage-grouse as a threatened or endangered
species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.);
(2) the Federal Government, through programs of the
Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture,
has invested substantial funds on greater and Gunnison sage-
grouse conservation efforts to avoid the greater and Gunnison
sage-grouse being listed as threatened or endangered species
under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.);
(3) State wildlife management agencies have prepared, and
as of the date of enactment of this Act are in the process of
implementing, greater and Gunnison sage-grouse conservation
plans to complement the conservation efforts of the Federal
Government;
(4) private investment in conservation efforts,
independently and in conjunction with Federal cost-share
conservation easement programs, has been significant;
(5) through a combination of Federal, State, and private
efforts, significant conservation progress is being made, and
further progress will be made following full implementation of
State management plans and new Federal conservation programs;
and
(6) farmers, ranchers, developers, and small businesses
need certainty, and further clarity on the likelihood of a
listing decision will provide that certainty.
SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF SECRETARY.
In this Act, the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the
Interior.
SEC. 4. GREATER SAGE-GROUSE REPORTING REQUIREMENT.
(a) In General.--Not later than December 15, 2014, the Secretary
shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report on the
status of greater sage-grouse conservation efforts.
(b) Contents.--In the report required under subsection (a), the
Secretary shall include--
(1) a description of public and private programs and
expenditures, including State and Federal Government agencies,
relating to greater sage-grouse conservation;
(2) a description of State management plans, including
plans that have been announced but not yet implemented;
(3) a description of Bureau of Land Management plans, or
plans by any other land management agencies, relating to
greater sage-grouse conservation;
(4) in accordance with subsection (c), a description of the
metrics that, at the discretion of the Secretary, will be used
to make a determination of whether the greater sage-grouse
should be listed as threatened or endangered under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.);
(5) any outcome under the programs, expenditures, or plans
referred to in paragraphs (1) through (3) that can be measured
by the metrics described in subsection (c); and
(6) any recommendations to Congress for legislative actions
that could provide certainty to farmers, ranchers, developers,
and small businesses and could assist in the conservation of
the greater sage-grouse.
(c) Reported Metrics.--The metrics referred to in subsection (b)(4)
may include--
(1) the quantity of acres enrolled in sagebrush and habitat
protection in conservation programs established under title XII
of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3801 et seq.) or
other conservation programs of the Department of Agriculture,
including conservation easements, land purchases or swaps,
vegetation management or habitat enhancement programs, and
fuels management programs;
(2) data on nonfire related habitat restoration efforts,
including native, nonnative, and mixed seeding efforts;
(3) data on mine reclamation and subsequent restoration
efforts intended to restore greater sage-grouse habitat;
(4) data on conifer removal;
(5) data on presuppression fire efforts, including--
(A) the number of acres associated with fuels
management programs; and
(B) the number of miles associated with fire
breaks;
(6) data on habitat restoration, including postfire
restoration efforts involving native, nonnative, and mixed
seeding;
(7) data on structure removal, power line burial, power
line retrofitting or modification, fence modification, fence
marking, and fence removal;
(8) for livestock and rangeland management, data on
allotment closure and road closure;
(9) for travel management, data on road and trail closure
and trail rerouting;
(10) data on greater sage-grouse translocation efforts,
including the number of greater sage-grouse translocated, the
age of each translocated greater sage-grouse, and the sex of
each translocated greater sage-grouse; and
(11) any other data or metric the Secretary may examine in
making the decision on whether to list the greater sage-grouse
as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered
Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
SEC. 5. AGRICULTURAL LAND EASEMENTS.
(a) In General.--Section 1265B(b)(2)(C)(i) of the Food Security Act
of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3865b(b)(2)(C)(i)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``Grasslands'' and inserting ``In
general''; and
(2) by inserting ``and land with greater or Gunnison sage-
grouse habitat of special environmental significance'' after
``significance''.
(b) Considerations.--Section 1265B(b)(3)(B) of the Food Security
Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3865b(b)(3)(B)) is amended--
(1) in clause (i), by striking ``and'' after the semicolon
at the end;
(2) in clause (ii), by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(iii) maximizing the protection of
greater or Gunnison sage-grouse habitat.''.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
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