FISH Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 872 To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to vest in the Secretary of the Interior functions under that Act with respect to species of fish that spawn in fresh or estuarine waters and migrate to ocean waters and species of fish that spawn in ocean waters and migrate to fresh or estuarine waters, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 8, 2023 Mr. CALVERT (for himself, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. SIMPSON, Mrs. STEEL, Mr. COSTA, Mr. OBERNOLTE, and Mr. ISSA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to vest in the Secretary of the Interior functions under that Act with respect to species of fish that spawn in fresh or estuarine waters and migrate to ocean waters and species of fish that spawn in ocean waters and migrate to fresh or estuarine waters, 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 ‘‘Federally Integrated 4 Species Health Act’’ or the ‘‘FISH Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Mar 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H872.IH H872 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 872 IH SEC. 2. TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO 1 ANADROMOUS SPECIES AND CATADROMOUS 2 SPECIES. 3 (a) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.—All functions with 4 respect to anadromous species and catadromous species 5 under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 6 1531 et seq.) that were vested in the Secretary of Com- 7 merce or the National Marine Fisheries Service imme- 8 diately before the enactment of this Act are transferred 9 to the Secretary of the Interior. 10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Endangered 11 Species Act of 1973 is amended— 12 (1) in section 3(15) (16 U.S.C. 1532(15))— 13 (A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(15)’’; and 14 (B) by inserting after ‘‘Secretary of Agri- 15 culture.’’ the following: 16 ‘‘(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), with re- 17 spect to anadromous species and catadromous species, the 18 term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary of the Interior.’’; 19 and 20 (2) in section 3 (16 U.S.C. 1532) by adding at 21 the end the following: 22 ‘‘(22) The term ‘anadromous species’ means a species 23 of fish that spawns in fresh or estuarine waters and mi- 24 grates to ocean waters. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Mar 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H872.IH H872 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 872 IH ‘‘(23) The term ‘catadromous species’ means a spe- 1 cies of fish that spawns in ocean waters and migrates to 2 fresh or estuarine waters.’’. 3 SEC. 3. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 4 (a) REFERENCES.—Any reference in any other Fed- 5 eral law, Executive order, rule, regulation, or delegation 6 of authority, or any document of or pertaining to a depart- 7 ment or office from which a function is transferred by this 8 Act— 9 (1) to the head of such department or office is 10 deemed to refer to the Secretary of the Interior; or 11 (2) to such department or office is deemed to 12 refer to the Department of the Interior. 13 (b) EXERCISE OF AUTHORITIES.—Except as other- 14 wise provided by law, the Secretary of the Interior may, 15 for purposes of performing the functions transferred by 16 this Act, exercise all authorities under the Endangered 17 Species Act of 1973 that were available with respect to 18 the performance of that function immediately before the 19 effective date of the transfer of the function under this 20 Act. 21 (c) SAVINGS PROVISIONS.— 22 (1) LEGAL DOCUMENTS.—All orders, deter- 23 minations, rules, regulations, permits, grants, loans, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Mar 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H872.IH H872 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 872 IH contracts, agreements, certificates, licenses, and 1 privileges— 2 (A) that have been issued, made, granted, 3 or allowed to become effective by the Secretary 4 of Commerce, any officer or employee of the 5 Department of Commerce, or any other Govern- 6 ment official in the performance of any function 7 that is transferred by this Act, or by a court of 8 competent jurisdiction with respect to such per- 9 formance; and 10 (B) that are in effect on the effective date 11 of this Act (or become effective after such date 12 pursuant to their terms as in effect on such ef- 13 fective date), 14 shall continue in effect according to their terms until 15 modified, terminated, superseded, set aside, or re- 16 voked in accordance with law by the President, any 17 other authorized official, a court of competent juris- 18 diction, or operation of law. 19 (2) PROCEEDINGS.— 20 (A) IN GENERAL.—This Act shall not af- 21 fect any proceedings or any application for any 22 benefits, service, license, permit, certificate, or 23 financial assistance pending on the date of the 24 enactment of this Act before an office trans- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Mar 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H872.IH H872 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 872 IH ferred by this Act. Such proceedings and appli- 1 cations shall be continued. Orders shall be 2 issued in such proceedings, appeals shall be 3 taken therefrom, and payments shall be made 4 pursuant to such orders, as if this Act had not 5 been enacted, and orders issued in any such 6 proceeding shall continue in effect until modi- 7 fied, terminated, superseded, or revoked by a 8 duly authorized official, by a court of competent 9 jurisdiction, or by operation of law. 10 (B) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this para- 11 graph shall be considered to prohibit the dis- 12 continuance or modification of any such pro- 13 ceeding under the same terms and conditions 14 and to the same extent that such proceeding 15 could have been discontinued or modified if this 16 Act had not been enacted. 17 (3) SUITS.—This Act shall not affect suits com- 18 menced before the date of the enactment of this Act, 19 and in all such suits, proceeding shall be had, ap- 20 peals taken, and judgments rendered in the same 21 manner and with the same effect as if this Act had 22 not been enacted. 23 (4) NONABATEMENT OF ACTIONS.—No suit, ac- 24 tion, or other proceeding commenced by or against 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Mar 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H872.IH H872 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 872 IH the Department of Commerce or the Secretary of 1 Commerce, or by or against any individual in the of- 2 ficial capacity of such individual as an officer or em- 3 ployee of the Department of Commerce, shall abate 4 by reason of the enactment of this Act. 5 (5) CONTINUANCE OF SUITS.—If any Govern- 6 ment officer in the official capacity of such officer 7 is party to a suit with respect to a function of the 8 officer, and under this Act such function is trans- 9 ferred to any other officer or office, then such suit 10 shall be continued with the other officer or the head 11 of such other office, as applicable, substituted or 12 added as a party. 13 (6) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE AND JUDI- 14 CIAL REVIEW.—Except as otherwise provided by this 15 Act, any statutory requirements relating to notice, 16 hearings, action upon the record, or administrative 17 or judicial review that apply to any function trans- 18 ferred by this Act shall apply to the exercise of such 19 function by the head of the Federal agency, and 20 other officers of the agency, to which such function 21 is transferred by this Act. 22 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 23 For purposes of this Act: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Mar 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H872.IH H872 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 872 IH (1) ANADROMOUS SPECIES AND CATADROMOUS 1 SPECIES.—Each of the terms ‘‘anadromous species’’ 2 and ‘‘catadromous species’’ has the meaning that 3 term has under section 3 of the Endangered Species 4 Act of 1973, as amended by section 3 of this Act. 5 (2) FUNCTION.—The term ‘‘function’’ includes 6 any duty, obligation, power, authority, responsibility, 7 right, privilege, activity, or program. 8 (3) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘office’’ includes any 9 office, administration, agency, bureau, institute, 10 council, unit, organizational entity, or component 11 thereof. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Mar 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H872.IH H872 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB