Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Lesser Prairie Chicken Voluntary Recovery Act of 2014”.
Lesser Prairie Chicken Voluntary Recovery Act of 2014
A BILL
To reverse the listing by the Secretary of the Interior of the lesser prairie chicken as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, to prevent further consideration of listing of the species as a threatened species or endangered species under that Act pending implementation of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ Lesser Prairie-Chicken Range-Wide Conservation Plan and other conservation measures, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Implementation of Lesser Prairie-Chicken Range-Wide Conservation Plan and other conservation measures
Definitions— In this section:
Candidate Conservation Agreements— The terms Candidate Conservation Agreement and Candidate and Conservation Agreement With Assurances have the meaning given those terms in—
the announcement of the Department of the Interior and the Department of Commerce entitled “Announcement of Final Policy for Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances” (64 Fed. Reg. 32726 (June 17, 1999)); and
sections 17.22(d) and 17.32(d) of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment of this Act).
Range-Wide Plan— The term “Range-Wide Plan” means the Lesser Prairie-Chicken Range-Wide Conservation Plan of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, as endorsed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service on October 23, 2013, and published for comment on January 29, 2014 (79 Fed. Reg. 4652).
Secretary— The term Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior.
Prohibition on treatment as threatened or endangered species—
In general— Notwithstanding any prior action by the Secretary, the lesser prairie chicken shall not be treated as a threatened species or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) before January 31, 2020.
Prohibition on proposal— Beginning on January 31, 2020, the lesser prairie chicken may not be treated as a threatened species or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) unless the Secretary publishes a determination, based on the totality of the scientific evidence, that conservation (as that term is used in that Act) under the Range-Wide Plan and the agreements, programs, and efforts referred to in subsection (c) have not achieved the conservation goals established by the Range-Wide Plan.
Monitoring of progress of conservation programs— The Secretary shall monitor and annually submit to Congress a report on progress in conservation of the lesser prairie chicken under the Range-Wide Plan and all related—
Candidate Conservation Agreements and Candidate and Conservation Agreements With Assurances;
other Federal conservation programs administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Department of Agriculture;
State conservation programs; and
private conservation efforts.