Manatee Protection Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 131 To designate the West Indian manatee as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 9, 2023 Mr. BUCHANAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To designate the West Indian manatee as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Manatee Protection 4 Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. WEST INDIAN MANATEE DESIGNATED ENDAN- 6 GERED SPECIES. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 8 sion of law, the species known as the ‘‘West Indian man- 9 atee’’ (Trichechus manatus) shall be treated as an endan- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H131.IH H131 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 131 IH gered species for purposes of the Endangered Species Act 1 of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 2 (b) LISTING OF WEST INDIAN MANATEE.—Notwith- 3 standing any other provision of law, the Secretary of the 4 Interior shall include the species known as the ‘‘West In- 5 dian manatee’’ (Trichechus manatus) in the endangered 6 species list published under section 4(c) of the Endangered 7 Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(c)). 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H131.IH H131 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB