Albatross and Petrel Conservation Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4057 To implement the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 22, 2021 Mr. LOWENTHAL (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. KILMER, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. COHEN, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. BEYER, Mr. GARAMENDI, Ms. WILD, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. NORTON, Mr. KEATING, Mr. CASE, and Ms. JACOBS of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on For- eign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris- diction of the committee concerned A BILL To implement the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Albatross and Petrel Conservation Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4057.IH H4057 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4057 IH (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 1 this Act is as follows: 2 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Definitions. TITLE I—CONSERVATION MEASURES Sec. 101. Reestablishment of species. Sec. 102. Management of nonnative species. Sec. 103. Habitat conservation and restoration. Sec. 104. Management of human activities. Sec. 105. Education and public awareness. TITLE II—PROHIBITED ACTS, PERMITS, AND EXEMPTIONS Sec. 201. Prohibited acts. Sec. 202. Authorization of take. Sec. 203. Exemption. TITLE III—PENALTIES AND ENFORCEMENT Sec. 301. Enforcement. TITLE IV—AGREEMENT AUTHORITY Sec. 401. Agreement authority. Sec. 402. Reporting. Sec. 403. General coordination. TITLE V—INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND ASSISTANCE Sec. 501. Cooperation among nations. TITLE VI—BYCATCH AND EQUIVALENT CONSERVATION Sec. 601. Protected living marine resources. TITLE VII—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS Sec. 701. Regulatory authority. Sec. 702. Administration. Sec. 703. Effective date. SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 3 In this Act: 4 (1) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Advi- 5 sory Committee’’ means the Advisory Committee es- 6 tablished by Article IX of the Agreement. 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4057.IH H4057 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4057 IH (2) AGREEMENT.—Each of the terms ‘‘Agree- 1 ment on the Conservation of Albatrosses and 2 Petrels’’ and ‘‘Agreement’’ means the Agreement on 3 the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, done at 4 Cape Town, South Africa, on February 2, 2001. 5 (3) COVERED ALBATROSSES AND PETRELS.— 6 The terms ‘‘covered albatrosses and petrels’’ and 7 ‘‘covered albatross or petrel’’ mean any species, sub- 8 species, population, or individual within the taxo- 9 nomic order Procellariiformes that is listed under 10 Annex I of the Agreement, whether dead or alive, in- 11 cluding any part, egg, derivative nest, or product of 12 such a species, subspecies, population, or individual. 13 (4) ANTARCTICA.—The term ‘‘Antarctica’’ 14 means the area south of 60 degrees south latitude. 15 (5) BREEDING SITE.—The term ‘‘breeding site’’ 16 means— 17 (A) a location in the wild at which any cov- 18 ered albatross or petrel eggs, tended by the par- 19 ent birds, have successfully hatched at any time 20 in the previous 5 years; or 21 (B) a location where reestablishment of 22 breeding covered albatrosses and petrels is un- 23 derway. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4057.IH H4057 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4057 IH (6) CONSERVATION MEASURE.—The term ‘‘con- 1 servation measure’’ means any action taken for the 2 purpose of achieving or maintaining the favorable 3 conservation status of covered albatrosses and 4 petrels. 5 (7) DISTURB AND DISTURBANCE.—Each of the 6 terms ‘‘disturb’’ and ‘‘disturbance’’ means any act 7 that interferes with the natural behavioral patterns 8 of covered albatrosses and petrels, including migra- 9 tion, brooding, nesting, breeding, feeding, or shel- 10 tering, to a point at which such behavioral patterns 11 are abandoned or significantly altered. 12 (8) FAVORABLE CONSERVATION STATUS.—The 13 term ‘‘favorable conservation status’’ has the mean- 14 ing given the term in Article I of the Agreement. 15 (9) HABITAT.—The term ‘‘habitat’’ means any 16 area within the range, that contains suitable living 17 conditions for covered albatrosses and petrels, in- 18 cluding appropriate nesting and foraging areas. 19 (10) MAGNUSON-STEVENS ACT.—The term 20 ‘‘Magnuson-Stevens Act’’ means the Magnuson-Ste- 21 vens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 22 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.). 23 (11) PARTY.—The term ‘‘Party’’ means any 24 country (including the United States) or regional 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4057.IH H4057 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4057 IH economic integration organization that has ratified 1 or acceded to the Agreement. 2 (12) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means— 3 (A) any individual (whether or not a cit- 4 izen or national of the United States); 5 (B) any corporation, partnership, associa- 6 tion, or other entity (whether or not existing 7 under the laws of any State); and 8 (C) any Federal, State, local, or foreign 9 government or any entity of such a government. 10 (13) RANGE.—The term ‘‘range’’ means— 11 (A) all land or water that any covered 12 albatrosses and petrels inhabit, stay in tempo- 13 rarily, cross, or over-fly, at any time during mi- 14 gration, breeding, feeding, or aggregating; and 15 (B) any other areas that the Secretary or 16 the Secretary of Commerce determines have 17 been used for any of those purposes. 18 (14) RANGE STATE.—The term ‘‘range state’’ 19 means any country— 20 (A) that exercises jurisdiction over any 21 part of a range; or 22 (B) the flagged vessels of which are en- 23 gaged outside of the jurisdictional limits of the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4057.IH H4057 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4057 IH country in take, or in an activity that has the 1 potential to take. 2 (15) REGIONAL FISHERY MANAGEMENT COUN- 3 CIL.—The term ‘‘Regional Fishery Management 4 Council’’ means any Regional Fishery Management 5 Council established by section 302(a)(1) of the Mag- 6 nuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. 1852(a)(1)). 7 (16) SECRETARIAT.—The term ‘‘Secretariat’’ 8 means the Secretariat established by the Parties to 9 the Agreement pursuant to paragraph 11 of Article 10 VIII. 11 (17) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 12 means the Secretary of the Interior. 13 (18) TAKE.—The term ‘‘take’’ means to harm- 14 fully interfere with, harass, pursue, hunt, shoot, 15 wound, kill, trap, capture, destroy, possess, or col- 16 lect. 17 (19) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘United 18 States’’ means— 19 (A) each of the several States; 20 (B) the District of Columbia; 21 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 22 (D) the United States Virgin Islands; 23 (E) American Samoa; 24 (F) Guam; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4057.IH H4057 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4057 IH (G) the Commonwealth of the Northern 1 Mariana Islands; and 2 (H) any other commonwealth, territory, or 3 possession of the United States. 4 (20) WATERS SUBJECT TO THE JURISDICTION 5 OF THE UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘waters subject 6 to the jurisdiction of the United States’’ means— 7 (A) the waters of the United States terri- 8 torial sea under Presidential Proclamation 9 5928, dated December 27, 1988 (43 U.S.C. 10 1331 note); 11 (B) the exclusive economic zone (as defined 12 in section 107 of title 46, United States Code); 13 and 14 (C) the areas referred to as ‘‘eastern spe- 15 cial areas’’ in Article 3(1) of the Agreement be- 16 tween the United States of America and the 17 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Mar- 18 itime Boundary, signed at Washington, June 1, 19 1990 (T. Doc. 101–22), including those areas 20 east of the maritime boundary, as defined in 21 that Agreement, that lie within 200 nautical 22 miles of the baselines from which the breadth of 23 the territorial sea of Russia is measured but be- 24 yond 200 nautical miles of the baselines from 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4057.IH H4057 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4057 IH which the breadth of the territorial sea of the 1 United States is measured. 2 TITLE I—CONSERVATION 3 MEASURES 4 SEC. 101. REESTABLISHMENT OF SPECIES. 5 The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of 6 Commerce, as appropriate, may carry out activities, based 7 on the best available scientific information, to reestablish 8 covered albatrosses and petrels within the range. 9 SEC. 102. MANAGEMENT OF NONNATIVE SPECIES. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary or the Secretary of 11 Commerce, as appropriate, in consultation with each other 12 and with the heads of other relevant Federal agencies, and 13 consistent with this Act and any other applicable law, may 14 carry out activities to prevent the introduction of, eradi- 15 cate, or control invasive and nonnative species that have 16 or may have an adverse effect on covered albatrosses and 17 petrels. 18 (b) INCLUDED ACTIVITIES.—The activities under 19 subsection (a) may include— 20 (1) implementation of management plans for 21 such invasive or nonnative species; 22 (2) research on and development of practical 23 and effective techniques to eradicate or control 24 invasive or nonnative species; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4057.IH H4057 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4057 IH (3) development of regional assessments on es- 1 tablished and newly discovered populations of 2 invasive or nonnative species; 3 (4) development of decision-support tools to 4 prevent the introduction or establishment of invasive 5 or nonnative species; 6 (5) development of rapid response approaches 7 and techniques; 8 (6) documentation of— 9 (A) any invasive or nonnative species that 10 coexist with humans; and 11 (B) delineation of areas in which eradi- 12 cation or control of those species would be most 13 effective and cost efficient; 14 (7) eradication or control of established popu- 15 lations or individuals of invasive or nonnative spe- 16 cies; and 17 (8) outreach and education related to— 18 (A) the impacts of invasive or nonnative 19 species on covered albatrosses and petrels; and 20 (B) the techniques to eradicate or control 21 those species. 22 SEC. 103. HABITAT CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION. 23 (a) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4057.IH H4057 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4057 IH (1) USE OF OTHER AUTHORITIES.—The Sec- 1 retary may use authority available under any other 2 laws for the protection of wildlife to conserve, pro- 3 tect, and restore breeding sites of covered 4 albatrosses and petrels, including authority under— 5 (A) the Migratory Bird Conservation Act 6 (16 U.S.C. 715 et seq.); 7 (B) the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act 8 (16 U.S.C. 661 et seq.); 9 (C) the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 (16 10 U.S.C. 742a, et seq.); and 11 (D) any other cooperative or land-acquisi- 12 tion authority vested in the Secretary. 13 (2) MANAGEMENT PLANS AND CONSERVATION 14 MEASURES.—The Secretary, in consultation with the 15 Secretary of Commerce, may develop and implement 16 management plans and undertake measures for the 17 conservation and protection of covered albatross and 18 petrel habitat. 19 (b) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OF COMMERCE.— 20 The Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Sec- 21 retary, may— 22 (1) develop and implement management plans 23 and undertake conservation measures in marine 24 habitats to ensure the sustainability of living marine 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4057.IH H4057 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 4057 IH resources that provide food for such covered 1 albatrosses and petrels; and 2 (2) use authority under law to conserve and 3 protect marine habitat important to the conservation 4 of covered albatrosses and petrels, including such 5 authority under— 6 (A) the National Marine Sanctuaries Act 7 (16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.); and 8 (B) the Magnuson-Stevens Act. 9 SEC. 104. MANAGEMENT OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES. 10 (a) POLLUTANTS AND MARINE DEBRIS.— 11 (1) RESEARCH.—The Secretary and the Sec- 12 retary of Commerce may undertake scientific re- 13 search to assess the effects of pollutants and marine 14 debris on covered albatrosses and petrels. 15 (2) MARINE DEBRIS.—The Secretary and the 16 Secretary of Commerce may each develop and imple- 17 ment conservation measures to minimize the effects 18 of, or threats posed by, marine debris on covered 19 albatrosses and petrels. 20 (b) PREVENTION, MINIMIZATION, OR MITIGATION OF 21 TAKE AND DISTURBANCE.—The Secretary and the Sec- 22 retary of Commerce— 23 (1) in consultation with each other and con- 24 sistent with the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4057.IH H4057 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 4057 IH U.S.C. 703 et seq.) and any other authority, may 1 develop and implement measures, including by 2 issuing regulations, to prevent, minimize, or miti- 3 gate— 4 (A) the take of covered albatrosses and 5 petrels— 6 (i) on lands or in waters subject to 7 the jurisdiction of the United States; and 8 (ii) by vessels and nationals of the 9 United States located outside the jurisdic- 10 tion of the United States; and 11 (B) the disturbance of covered albatrosses 12 and petrels— 13 (i) on lands or in waters subject to 14 the jurisdiction of the United States; and 15 (ii) by vessels and nationals of the 16 United States located outside the jurisdic- 17 tion of the United States; and 18 (2) shall— 19 (A) notify the Secretary of the department 20 in which the Coast Guard is operating of any 21 actions taken under this subsection, to ensure a 22 c [Text truncated for display. 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