Federal

To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to provide that artificially propagated animals shall be treated the same under that Act as naturally propagated animals, and for other purposes.

Source: Congress.gov · 448 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill changes how the Endangered Species Act treats animals that are bred in captivity (artificially propagated animals). It says the government must treat captive-bred animals the same way it treats wild-born animals (naturally propagated animals) when enforcing the law. The bill also allows the use of captive breeding as a way to fix environmental damage caused by endangered species protections.

Who It Affects

The Secretary of the Interior or Commerce (whoever enforces the Endangered Species Act). Any person or organization that breeds endangered or threatened animals in captivity. Businesses or projects that must repair environmental damage related to endangered species.

Key Provisions

- The Secretary cannot treat artificially propagated animals differently from naturally propagated animals when making decisions under the Endangered Species Act. (Sec. 1) - The Secretary must allow the use of artificial propagation of animals to satisfy any mitigation (repair or compensation) required by the Endangered Species Act. (Sec. 2) - These changes apply to all species, whether they were listed as endangered or threatened before, on or after this law is passed. (Sec. 3)

What Changes

Government officials must stop distinguishing between captive-bred animals and wild animals when enforcing endangered species protections. Captive breeding becomes an approved method for meeting legal requirements to fix environmental damage caused by endangered species rules.

Important Definitions

Artificially propagated animals: Animals bred in captivity. Naturally propagated animals: Wild-born animals.

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 520 To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to provide that artificially propagated animals shall be treated the same under that Act as naturally propagated animals, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 25, 2023 Mr. MCCLINTOCK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to provide that artificially propagated animals shall be treated the same under that Act as naturally propagated animals, 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. TREATMENT OF ARTIFICIALLY PROPAGATED 3 ANIMALS. 4 Section 4 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 5 U.S.C. 1533) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 6 lowing new subsection: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:42 Feb 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H520.IH H520 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 520 IH ‘‘(j) TREATMENT OF ARTIFICIALLY PROPAGATED 1 ANIMALS.—The Secretary shall not distinguish between 2 naturally propagated animals and artificially propagated 3 animals in making any determination under this Act.’’. 4 SEC. 2. ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION FOR MITIGATION PUR- 5 POSES. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 14 of the Endangered 7 Species Act of 1973 (relating to repeals of provisions of 8 law, which have executed) is amended to read as follows: 9 ‘‘ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION FOR MITIGATION PURPOSES 10 ‘‘SEC. 14. The Secretary shall authorize the use of 11 artificial propagation of animals of a species for purposes 12 of any mitigation required under this Act with respect to 13 such species.’’. 14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con- 15 tents in the first section of such Act is amended by strik- 16 ing the item relating to such section and inserting the fol- 17 lowing: 18 ‘‘Sec. 14. Artificial propagation for mitigation purposes.’’. SEC. 3. APPLICATION. 19 The amendments made by this Act shall apply with 20 respect to a species without regard to whether the species 21 was determined to be an endangered species or threatened 22 species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:42 Feb 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H520.IH H520 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 520 IH U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) before, on, or after the date of enact- 1 ment of this Act. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:42 Feb 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H520.IH H520 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS

Important: This plain English summary was generated by AI and is provided for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice. Always consult the official bill text on Congress.gov or a qualified attorney for legal matters.