CECIL Act

IB Union Calendar No. 563 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 2245 [Report No. 116–680, Part I] To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to prohibit import and export of any species listed or proposed to be listed under such Act as a threatened species or endangered species, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 10, 2019 Mr. GRIJALVA (for himself, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. COHEN, Ms. NORTON, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. LYNCH, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, and Mr. MOULTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Foreign Affairs, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned DECEMBER 21, 2020 Additional sponsors: Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. HASTINGS, Mrs. MURPHY of Florida, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. DEAN, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SOTO, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. QUIGLEY, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Ms. DELBENE, Ms. MUCARSEL-POWELL, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. CARBAJAL, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. SCHIFF, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. POCAN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. SHALALA, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. PASCRELL, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. CRIST, Ms. TITUS, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. DESAULNIER, Ms. SPANBERGER, Mr. YARMUTH, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. BEYER, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. FOSTER, and Mrs. LURIA VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Dec 22, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2245.RH H2245 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2245 RH DECEMBER 21, 2020 Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with amendments [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] DECEMBER 21, 2020 Committees on Foreign Affairs and Ways and Means discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and or- dered to be printed [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 10, 2019] A BILL To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to prohibit import and export of any species listed or proposed to be listed under such Act as a threatened species or endangered species, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Dec 22, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2245.RH H2245 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2245 RH 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 ‘‘Conserving Ecosystems 4 by Ceasing the Importation of Large Animal Trophies Act’’ 5 or the ‘‘CECIL Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO PROHIBITED ACTS. 7 Section 9(a) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 8 (16 U.S.C. 1538(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 9 following: 10 ‘‘(3) Except as provided in section 10 of this Act, it 11 is unlawful for any person to import into or export from 12 the United States any sport-hunted trophy of a species list- 13 ed or proposed to be listed under section 4(c) as a threatened 14 species or endangered species.’’. 15 SEC. 3. IMPORTS OF SPORT-HUNTED TROPHIES. 16 Section 10(a) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 17 (16 U.S.C. 1539(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 18 following: 19 ‘‘(3) Before issuing any permit under this Act author- 20 izing import of any sport-hunted trophy of a species that 21 is listed or proposed to be listed as an endangered or threat- 22 ened species, the Secretary must make a finding after public 23 notice and comment pursuant to section 553 of title 5, 24 United States Code, of whether the country where the ani- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Dec 22, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2245.RH H2245 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2245 RH mal was killed adequately provides for the conservation and 1 monitoring for that species, including that— 2 ‘‘(A) a management plan for that species based 3 on the best available science that— 4 ‘‘(i) addresses existing threats to the species; 5 ‘‘(ii) provides a significant conservation 6 benefit to the species; 7 ‘‘(iii) formally coordinates with adjacent 8 countries to protect transboundary populations; 9 and 10 ‘‘(iv) ensures that any take is sustainable 11 and does not contribute to the species’ decline in 12 either the short-term or long-term according to 13 current population estimates derived through the 14 use of the best available science; 15 ‘‘(B) such management plan is being actively 16 implemented; 17 ‘‘(C) the country where the animal was killed 18 demonstrates transparency, accountability, and 19 verifiability in governance to ensure that any benefits 20 of trophy hunting, including revenue from such tak- 21 ing, materially, directly and substantially benefits the 22 conservation of that species; 23 ‘‘(D) hunting of the species in such country en- 24 hances the propagation or survival of the species; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Dec 22, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2245.RH H2245 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2245 RH ‘‘(E) the local community in which the trophy 1 hunting occurs directly and substantially benefits 2 from the hunting of the species. 3 ‘‘(4) Notwithstanding subsections (b) and (c)(2) of sec- 4 tion 9, no permit may be issued by the Secretary for the 5 import of a sport-hunted trophy of an elephant or lion 6 taken in Tanzania, Zimbabwe, or Zambia.’’. 7 SEC. 4. PERMIT FEES FOR SPORT-HUNTED TROPHY IM- 8 PORTS. 9 Section 10(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 10 (16 U.S.C. 1539(a)(2)) is amended by redesignating sub- 11 paragraph (C) as subparagraph (D), and by inserting after 12 subparagraph (B) the following: 13 ‘‘(C) No permit may be issued by the Secretary under 14 this Act for import of a sport-hunted trophy unless the ap- 15 plicant pays to the Secretary all administrative costs in- 16 curred by the United States that are associated with proc- 17 essing the permit application.’’. 18 SEC. 5. TRANSPARENCY OF SPORTS-HUNTED TROPHY IM- 19 PORT PERMITS. 20 Section 10(c) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 21 (16 U.S.C. 1539(c)) is amended by inserting ‘‘The Secretary 22 shall publish notice in the Federal Register of each applica- 23 tion for an exemption or permit which is made under this 24 Act for a sport-hunted trophy of a species that is listed or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Dec 22, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2245.RH H2245 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2245 RH proposed to be listed as an endangered species or threatened 1 species.’’ after ‘‘section.’’ 2 SEC. 6. TERMINATION OF INTERNATIONAL WILDLIFE CON- 3 SERVATION COUNCIL. 4 The International Wildlife Conservation Council of the 5 United States Fish and Wildlife Service is hereby abolished. 6 SEC. 7. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE STUDY. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 8 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 9 of the United States shall conduct and submit to the Con- 10 gress a report on the results of a study of the effectiveness 11 of trophy hunting in supporting international wildlife con- 12 servation efforts. 13 (b) REPORT.—The report shall— 14 (1) include a detailed analysis of how permit fees 15 and other payments from hunters to government enti- 16 ties and hunting guides in host countries are applied 17 to tangible actions supporting the conservation of the 18 target species and other wildlife in such countries; 19 (2) identify data gaps and recommend informa- 20 tion that hunters and host countries must submit to 21 verify the impacts of trophy hunting on wildlife con- 22 servation efforts; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Dec 22, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2245.RH H2245 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2245 RH (3) recommend actions that the Department of 1 the Interior and the Congress should take to ensure 2 that trophy hunting contributes to conservation. 3 Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to strengthen protec- tions for endangered and threatened species, as well as species proposed to be listed, by requiring certification by the Fish and Wildlife Service that any international tro- phy hunting of those species enhances the conservation of the species before any import of the trophy would be per- mitted, and for other purposes.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Dec 22, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2245.RH H2245 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS Union Calendar No. 563 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 2245 [Report No. 116–680, Part I] A BILL To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to prohibit import and export of any species listed or proposed to be listed under such Act as a threatened species or endangered species, and for other purposes. DECEMBER 21, 2020 Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with amendments DECEMBER 21, 2020 Committees on Foreign Affairs and Ways and Means dis- charged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Dec 22, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H2245.RH H2245 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS