Wildlife Corridors Conservation Act of 2019

IB Union Calendar No. 456 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 2795 [Report No. 116–558, Part I] To establish National Wildlife Corridors to provide for the protection and restoration of certain native fish, wildlife, and plant species, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 16, 2019 Mr. BEYER (for himself and Mr. BUCHANAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addi- tion to the Committees on Agriculture, Armed Services, and Transpor- tation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with- in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned OCTOBER 9, 2020 Additional sponsors: Ms. HAALAND, Mr. LUJA´N, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. TORRES SMALL of New Mexico, Mr. ROONEY of Florida, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. NEGUSE, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CONNOLLY, and Mrs. MURPHY of Florida OCTOBER 9, 2020 Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Oct 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2795.RH H2795 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2795 RH OCTOBER 9, 2020 Committees on Agriculture, Armed Services, and Transportation and Infra- structure discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 16, 2019] A BILL To establish National Wildlife Corridors to provide for the protection and restoration of certain native fish, wildlife, and plant species, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Oct 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2795.RH H2795 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2795 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Wildlife Corridors Conservation Act of 2019’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6 this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Findings and purposes. Sec. 3. Definitions. TITLE I—NATIONAL WILDLIFE CORRIDOR SYSTEM ON FEDERAL LAND AND WATER Sec. 101. National Wildlife Corridors. Sec. 102. Administrative designation of National Wildlife Corridors. Sec. 103. Management of National Wildlife Corridors. Sec. 104. Collaboration and coordination. Sec. 105. Effect. TITLE II—TRIBAL WILDLIFE CORRIDORS Sec. 201. Tribal Wildlife Corridors. Sec. 202. Protection of Indian tribes. TITLE III—WILDLIFE MOVEMENT GRANT PROGRAM ON NON- FEDERAL LAND AND WATER Sec. 301. Wildlife movement grant program. Sec. 302. National Coordination Committee. Sec. 303. Regional wildlife movement councils. TITLE IV—NATIONAL WILDLIFE CORRIDORS DATABASE Sec. 401. National wildlife corridors database. TITLE V—FUNDING Sec. 501. Wildlife Corridors Stewardship Fund. Sec. 502. Working landscapes. Sec. 503. Authorization of appropriations. SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 9 (1) the native fish, wildlife, and plant species in 10 the United States are part of a rich natural heritage 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Oct 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2795.RH H2795 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2795 RH and an important legacy to pass on to future genera- 1 tions; 2 (2) the populations of many native fish, wildlife, 3 and plant species in the United States are in decline; 4 (3) scientists estimate that 1 in 5 animal and 5 plant species in the United States is at risk of extinc- 6 tion, and many species are declining in numbers; 7 (4) threats to the survival and diversity of many 8 native fish, wildlife, and plant species in the United 9 States include the loss, degradation, fragmentation, 10 and obstruction of natural habitats; 11 (5) climate change threatens native fish, wildlife, 12 and plant species; 13 (6) the 2019 global assessment report from the 14 Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Bio- 15 diversity and Ecosystem Services found that— 16 (A) 1,000,000 wildlife and plant species 17 worldwide are now threatened with extinction; 18 and 19 (B) 75 percent of the land-based environ- 20 ment, and approximately 66 percent of the ma- 21 rine environment, have been significantly altered 22 by human actions; 23 (7) the conservation of new and existing land- 24 scape and seascape corridors, through which native 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Oct 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2795.RH H2795 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2795 RH species can transition from 1 habitat to another, 1 plays an important role in helping— 2 (A) to conserve native biodiversity; and 3 (B) to ensure resiliency against impacts 4 from a range of biotic and abiotic stressors; 5 (8) the conservation, restoration, and establish- 6 ment of new ecological connections to facilitate the 7 movement of species into more suitable habitats is a 8 key climate change adaptation strategy; 9 (9) the protection of new and existing corridors 10 is often one of the first steps in restoration and recov- 11 ery planning; 12 (10) States have recognized the importance of 13 habitat connectivity, including— 14 (A) a New England Governors and Eastern 15 Canadian Premiers’ Conference on the impor- 16 tance of connectivity for ecosystem adaptability 17 and resilience, biodiversity, and human commu- 18 nities; and 19 (B) past Western Governors’ Association 20 policy resolution; 21 (11) the strategic plan of the United States Fish 22 and Wildlife Service to respond to accelerating cli- 23 mate change entitled ‘‘Rising to the Urgent Chal- 24 lenge’’ acknowledges that ‘‘processes such as polli- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Oct 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2795.RH H2795 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2795 RH nation, seed dispersal, nutrient cycling, natural dis- 1 turbance cycles, predator-prey relations, and others 2 must be part of the natural landscapes we seek to 3 maintain or restore . . . and are likely to function 4 more optimally in landscapes composed of large habi- 5 tat blocks connected by well-placed corridors’’; 6 (12) Federal and State agencies continue to de- 7 velop policies to address— 8 (A) the importance of conserving fish, wild- 9 life, and plant corridors; 10 (B) the gap between science and manage- 11 ment for at-risk species; and 12 (C) ecological connectivity; and 13 (13) Federal policies consistently recognize the 14 importance of voluntary improvement projects by pri- 15 vate landowners to habitat conservation and restora- 16 tion for native species. 17 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 18 (1) to support a diverse array of native species, 19 including species protected under Federal, State, and 20 Tribal law, that have experienced or may experience 21 habitat loss, degradation, fragmentation, or obstruc- 22 tion to connectivity; 23 (2) to provide long-term habitat connectivity for 24 native species migration, dispersal, adaptation to cli- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Oct 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2795.RH H2795 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2795 RH mate and other environmental change, and genetic ex- 1 change; 2 (3) to help restore wildlife movements that have 3 been disrupted by habitat loss, degradation, frag- 4 mentation, or obstruction; 5 (4) to facilitate coordinated landscape- and 6 seascape-scale connectivity planning and management 7 across jurisdictions; and 8 (5) to support State, Tribal, local, voluntary pri- 9 vate landowner, and Federal agency decisionmakers 10 in the planning and development of National Wildlife 11 Corridors. 12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 13 In this Act: 14 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS.— 15 The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Congress’’ 16 means— 17 (A) the Committee on Energy and Natural 18 Resources of the Senate; 19 (B) the Committee on Environment and 20 Public Works of the Senate; 21 (C) the Committee on Appropriations of the 22 Senate; 23 (D) the Committee on Energy and Com- 24 merce of the House of Representatives; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Oct 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2795.RH H2795 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2795 RH (E) the Committee on Natural Resources of 1 the House of Representatives; and 2 (F) the Committee on Appropriations of the 3 House of Representatives. 4 (2) CONNECTIVITY.—The term ‘‘connectivity’’ 5 means the degree to which the landscape or seascape 6 facilitates native species movement. 7 (3) CORRIDOR.—The term ‘‘corridor’’ means a 8 feature of the landscape or seascape that— 9 (A) provides habitat or ecological 10 connectivity; and 11 (B) allows for native species movement or 12 dispersal. 13 (4) DATABASE.—The term ‘‘Database’’ means the 14 National Wildlife Corridors Database established 15 under section 401(a). 16 (5) FEDERAL LAND OR WATER.—The term ‘‘Fed- 17 eral land or water’’ means any land or water, or in- 18 terest in land or water, owned by the United States. 19 (6) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Wildlife 20 Corridors Stewardship Fund established by section 21 501(a). 22 (7) HABITAT.—The term ‘‘habitat’’ means land, 23 water, and substrate occupied at any time during the 24 life cycle of a native species that is necessary, with re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Oct 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2795.RH H2795 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2795 RH spect to the native species, for spawning, breeding, 1 feeding, growth to maturity, or migration. 2 (8) INDIAN LAND.—The term ‘‘Indian land’’ 3 means land of an Indian tribe, or an Indian indi- 4 vidual, that is— 5 (A) held in trust by the United States; or 6 (B) subject to a restriction against alien- 7 ation imposed by the United States. 8 (9) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ has 9 the meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian 10 Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 11 U.S.C. 5304). 12 (10) NATIONAL COORDINATION COMMITTEE.—The 13 term ‘‘National Coordination Committee’’ means the 14 National Coordination Committee established under 15 section 302(a). 16 (11) NATIONAL WILDLIFE CORRIDOR.—The term 17 ‘‘National Wildlife Corridor’’ means any Federal land 18 or water designated as a National Wildlife Corridor 19 under section 101(a). 20 (12) NATIONAL WILDLIFE CORRIDOR SYSTEM.— 21 The term ‘‘National Wildlife Corridor System’’ means 22 the system of National Wildlife Corridors established 23 by section 101(a). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Oct 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2795.RH H2795 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2795 RH (13) NATIVE SPECIES.—The term ‘‘native spe- 1 cies’’ means— 2 (A) a fish, wildlife, or plant species that is 3 or was historically present in a particular eco- 4 system as a result of natural migratory or evolu- 5 tionary processes, including subspecies and plant 6 varieties; and 7 (B) a migratory bird species that is native 8 to the United States or its territories (as defined 9 in section 2(b) of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act 10 (16 U.S.C. 703(b))). 11 (14) REGIONAL OCEAN PARTNERSHIP.—The term 12 ‘‘regional ocean partnership’’ means a regional orga- 13 nization of coastal or Great Lakes States, territories, 14 or possessions voluntarily convened by Governors to 15 address cross-jurisdictional ocean matters, or the 16 functional equivalent of such a regional ocean organi- 17 zation designated by the Governor or Governors of a 18 State or States. 19 (15) REGIONAL WILDLIFE MOVEMENT COUN- 20 CIL.—The term ‘‘regional wildlife movement council’’ 21 means a regional wildlife movement council estab- 22 lished under section 303(a). 23 (16) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 24 means— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Oct 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2795.RH H2795 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2795 RH (A) the Secretary of Agriculture; 1 (B) the Secretary of Commerce; 2 (C) the Secretary of Defense; 3 (D) the Secretary of the Interior; and 4 (E) the Secretary of Transportation. 5 (17) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 6 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di- 7 rector of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. 8 (18) TRIBAL WILDLIFE CORRIDOR.—The term 9 ‘‘Tribal Wildlife Corridor’’ means a corridor estab- 10 lished by the Secretary under section 201(a)(1)(C). 11 (19) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘United 12 States’’, when used in a geographical sense, means— 13 (A) a State; 14 (B) the District of Columbia; 15 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 16 (D) Guam; 17 (E) American Samoa; 18 (F) the Commonwealth of the Northern 19 Mariana Islands; 20 (G) the Federated States of Micronesia; 21 (H) the Republic of the Marshall Islands; 22 (I) the Republic of Palau; 23 (J) the United States Virgin Islands; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Oct 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2795.RH H2795 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2795 RH (K) the territorial sea (within the meaning 1 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 2 and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.)) 3 and the exclusive economic zone (as defined in 4 section 3 of that Act (16 U.S.C. 1802)) within 5 the jurisdiction or sovereignty of the Federal 6 Government. 7 (20) WILDLIFE MOVEMENT.—The term ‘‘wildlife 8 movement’’ means the passage of individual members 9 or populations of native species across a landscape or 10 seascape. 11 TITLE I—NATIONAL WILDLIFE 12 CORRIDOR SYSTEM ON FED- 13 ERAL LAND AND WATER 14 SEC. 101. NATIONAL WILDLIFE CORRIDORS. 15 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a system 16 of corridors on Federal land and water, to be known as 17 the ‘‘National Wildlife Corridor System’’, which shall con- 18 sist of National Wildlife Corridors designated as part of the 19 National Wildlife Corridor System by— 20 (1) statute; 21 (2) rulemaking under section 102; or 22 (3) a land management or land use plan devel- 23 oped or revised by the Secretaries. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Oct 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2795.RH H2795 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 2795 RH (b) STRATEGY.—Not later than 18 months after the 1 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall develop 2 a strategy for the effective development of the National 3 Wil [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]