American Burying Beetle Relief Act of 2014

Summary: American Burying Beetle Relief Act of 2014 - Removes the United States Fish and Wildlife Service's listing of the American burying beetle as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. Prohibits the beetle from being listed as a threatened or endangered species.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``American Burying Beetle Relief Act 
of 2014''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) in 1989, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 
        (referred to in this section as ``the Service'') listed the 
        American burying beetle as an endangered species under the 
        Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.);
            (2) in making the decision to list the American burying 
        beetle as an endangered species, the Service--
                    (A) stated that the American burying beetle was 
                ``once widely distributed throughout eastern North 
                America''; and
                    (B) considered possible factors in the population 
                decline of the American burying beetle, but ultimately 
                concluded that ``the cause of the species' decline is 
                unknown'';
            (3) as of the date of the decision, there were only 2 known 
        populations of the American burying beetle, 1 located in 
        Eastern Oklahoma and 1 located on an island off the coast of 
        Rhode Island;
            (4) at that time, the Rhode Island population was estimated 
        to be around 520 American burying beetles and the Oklahoma 
        population to be fewer than 12 American burying beetles;
            (5) the Service has not completed a range-wide population 
        survey of the American burying beetle since 1985;
            (6) in 1991, the Service published a recovery plan for the 
        American burying beetle, with the objective of protecting and 
        maintaining the extant population in Rhode Island and the 
        populations in Oklahoma;
            (7) in order to reconsider the listing status of the 
        American burying beetle, the Service is required to identify 3 
        populations of American burying beetle that have been 
        reestablished (or additional populations discovered) within 
        each of 4 broad geographical areas of the historical range of 
        the American burying beetle;
            (8) the Service has identified these 4 geographical areas 
        as--
                    (A) the Midwest region, including Oklahoma and most 
                States between Texas, Louisiana, and Montana;
                    (B) the Great Lakes region;
                    (C) the Southeast region; and
                    (D) the Northeast region, including Rhode Island;
            (9) in 2008, the Service performed the first 5-year review 
        of the American burying beetle, which--
                    (A) determined that--
                            (i) the criteria for reconsidering the 
                        listing of the American burying beetle had been 
                        met in the Midwest region, ``where additional 
                        occurrences of the American burying beetle have 
                        been discovered''; and
                            (ii) that, ``as a consequence, the total 
                        number of American burying beetle in this 
                        recovery area is believed to greatly exceed the 
                        numerical target'' established under the 
                        recovery plan;
                    (B) stated that ``although one of four geographic 
                recovery areas for the American burying beetle has met 
                the criteria for reclassification, the species 
                presumably remains extirpated in most of its historic 
                range''; and
                    (C) concluded that the American burying beetle 
                should remain listed as an endangered species;
            (10) as of the date of enactment of this Act--
                    (A) the population of the American burying beetle 
                in Nebraska is estimated to contain over 3,000 American 
                burying beetles, making that one of the largest known 
                populations, although at the time the American burying 
                beetle was listed in 1989 none were known to live in 
                Nebraska;
                    (B) the population of the American burying beetle 
                in Oklahoma has grown dramatically from the population 
                numbers in 1989 when the American burying beetle was 
                listed as an endangered species and is believed to be 
                well into the thousands;
                    (C) the Service believes that the American burying 
                beetle exists in 45 of the 77 counties in Oklahoma, 
                although at the time the Service listed the American 
                burying beetle as endangered in 1989, only 4 counties 
                in Oklahoma had a known American burying beetle 
                population;
                    (D) Oklahoma State officials are concerned about 
                the lack of mitigation options available to developers 
                relating to the American burying beetle; and
                    (E) Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation 
                Director Richard Hatcher has not received a response to 
                the request submitted to the Service on April 15, 2013, 
                which asked--
                            (i) for an update to the recovery plan for 
                        the American burying beetle; and
                            (ii) that the process of delisting the 
                        American burying beetle begin;
            (11) Service documents published close to the date of 
        enactment of this Act list the States of Arkansas, Kansas, 
        Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode 
        Island, South Dakota, and Texas as having an American burying 
        beetle population;
            (12) the history of the process of the gray wolf being 
        delisted as an endangered species, first in some areas of the 
        United States and then entirely, provides an example that could 
        be used to delist the American burying beetle in the Midwest 
        region;
            (13) important points in the history of the gray wolf being 
        delisted include that--
                    (A) in 2011, the Service decided to remove the gray 
                wolf from the endangered species list in the States of 
                Idaho, Montana, Utah, Washington, and parts of Oregon 
                while leaving the species listed in Wyoming;
                    (B) this partial delisting was due to the healthy 
                population levels present in those States at that time; 
                and
                    (C) less than 2 years later, in 2013, the delisting 
                was extended to Wyoming, and the gray wolf was no 
                longer listed as endangered under the Endangered 
                Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.);
            (14) there is support for the American burying beetle being 
        completely delisted, because--
                    (A) beginning in 2007, the Service promulgated an 
                official policy stating that when the Service evaluates 
                the probability of a species being lost to extinction 
                across the range of that species, the Service does so 
                within the known existing range of that species, not a 
                hypothetical historic range of that species;
                    (B) using the policy described in subparagraph (A), 
                if the American burying beetle were reconsidered as a 
                candidate for being listed as an endangered species 
                under the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 
                seq.), the American burying beetle likely would not be 
                eligible because the known populations are not in 
                danger of being lost and instead are expanding as of 
                the date of enactment of this Act; and
                    (C) the historic range of the American burying 
                beetle, described by the Service as being 
                ``ubiquitous'' at some point, is reliant on data, 
                observations, and studies that are more than 70 years 
                old and are not easy to locate;
            (15) there is a lack of information about the extent of the 
        American burying beetle population as of the date of enactment 
        of this Act, although the population appears to have expanded 
        since the American burying beetle was originally listed as an 
        endangered species;
            (16) it is not clear whether the increased population count 
        of the American burying beetle is due to the scientific 
        community being more apt at locating these insects or whether 
        the population has actually increased; and
            (17) it is clear the American burying beetle has proven 
        much more resilient than the Service originally believed, 
        rendering the decision of the Service to list the American 
        burying beetle as an endangered species under the Endangered 
        Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) indefensible.

SEC. 3. REMOVAL OF ENDANGERED SPECIES STATUS.

    Notwithstanding the final rule of the United States Fish and 
Wildlife Service entitled ``Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and 
Plants; Determination of Endangered Status for the American Burying 
Beetle'' (54 Fed. Reg. 29652 (July 13, 1989)), the American burying 
beetle shall not be listed as a threatened or endangered species under 
the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).