I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4558 

To authorize the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to seek compensation for injuries to trust resources and use those funds to restore, 

replace, or acquire equivalent resources, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 12, 2016 

Mr. THOMPSON of California (for himself, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. COSTELLO

of Pennsylvania, Mr. KIND, Mr. LOBIONDO, and Mr. WITTMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 

Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Appropriations, 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 

A BILL 

To authorize the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 

to seek compensation for injuries to trust resources and 

use those funds to restore, replace, or acquire equivalent 

resources, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States Fish 

5 and Wildlife Service Resource Protection Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) DAMAGES.—The term ‘‘damages’’ means— 

4 (A) compensation for— 

5 (i)(I) the cost of replacing, restoring, 

6 or acquiring the equivalent of a system re7 source; and 

8 (II) the value of any significant loss of 

9 use of a system resource, pending— 

10 (aa) restoration or replacement 

11 of the system resource; or 

12 (bb) the acquisition of an equiva13 lent resource; or 

14 (ii) the value of a system resource, if 

15 the system resource cannot be replaced or 

16 restored; and 

17 (B) the cost of any relevant damage as18 sessment carried out pursuant to section 4(c). 

19 (2) RESPONSE COST.—The term ‘‘response 

20 cost’’ means the cost of any action carried out by 

21 the Secretary— 

22 (A) to prevent, minimize, or abate destruc23 tion or loss of, or injury to, a system resource; 

24 (B) to abate or minimize the imminent risk 

25 of such destruction, loss, or injury; or 


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1 (C) to monitor the ongoing effects of any 

2 incident causing such destruction, loss, or in3 jury. 

4 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

5 the Secretary of the Interior. 

6 (4) SYSTEM RESOURCE.—The term ‘‘system re7 source’’ means any living, nonliving, historical, cul8 tural, or archeological resource that is located within 

9 the boundaries of— 

10 (A) a unit of the National Wildlife Refuge 

11 System; 

12 (B) a unit of the National Fish Hatchery 

13 System; or 

14 (C) any other land managed by the United 

15 States Fish and Wildlife Service, including any 

16 land managed cooperatively with any other Fed17 eral or State agency. 

18 SEC. 3. LIABILITY. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (c), any in20 dividual or entity that destroys, causes the loss of, or in21 jures any system resource, or that causes the Secretary 

22 to carry out any action to prevent, minimize, or abate de23 struction or loss of, or injuries or risk to, any system re24 source, shall be liable to the United States for any reVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Feb 17, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4558.IH H4558

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1 sponse costs or damages resulting from the destruction, 

2 loss, or injury. 

3 (b) LIABILITY IN REM.—Any instrumentality (includ4 ing a vessel, vehicle, aircraft, or other equipment or mech5 anism) that destroys, causes the loss of, or injures any 

6 system resource, or that causes the Secretary to carry out 

7 any action to prevent, minimize, or abate destruction or 

8 loss of, or injury or risk to, a system resource shall be 

9 liable in rem to the United States for any response costs 

10 or damages resulting from the destruction, loss, or injury, 

11 to the same extent that an individual or entity is liable 

12 under subsection (a). 

13 (c) DEFENSES.—An individual or entity shall not be 

14 liable under this section, if the individual or entity can 

15 establish that— 

16 (1) the destruction or loss of, or injury to, the 

17 system resource was caused solely by an act of God 

18 or an act of war; or 

19 (2)(A) the individual or entity exercised due 

20 care; and 

21 (B) the destruction or loss of, or injury to, the 

22 system resource was caused solely by an act or omis23 sion of a third party, other than an employee or 

24 agent of the individual or entity. 


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1 (d) SCOPE.—The liability established by this section 

2 shall be in addition to any other liability arising under 

3 Federal or State law. 

4 SEC. 4. ACTIONS. 

5 (a) CIVIL ACTIONS FOR RESPONSE COSTS AND DAM6 AGES.—The Attorney General, on request of the Sec7 retary, may commence a civil action in the United States 

8 district court of appropriate jurisdiction against any indi9 vidual, entity, or instrumentality that may be liable under 

10 section 3 for response costs or damages. 

11 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS FOR RESPONSE

12 COSTS AND DAMAGES.— 

13 (1) ACTION BY SECRETARY.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph 

15 (2), the Secretary, after making a finding de16 scribed in subparagraph (B), may consider, 

17 compromise, and settle a claim for response 

18 costs and damages if the claim has not been re19 ferred to the Attorney General under subsection 

20 (a). 

21 (B) DESCRIPTION OF FINDINGS.—A find22 ing referred to in subparagraph (A) is a finding 

23 that— 

24 (i) destruction or loss of, or injury to, 

25 a system resource has occurred; or 


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1 (ii) such destruction, loss, or injury 

2 would occur absent an action by the Sec3 retary to prevent, minimize, or abate the 

4 destruction, loss, or injury. 

5 (2) REQUIREMENT.—In any case in which the 

6 total amount to be recovered in a civil action under 

7 subsection (a) may exceed $500,000 (excluding in8 terest), a claim may be compromised and settled 

9 under paragraph (1) only with the prior written ap10 proval of the Attorney General. 

11 (c) RESPONSE ACTIONS, ASSESSMENTS OF DAM12 AGES, AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may carry out 

14 all necessary actions (including making a request to 

15 the Attorney General to seek injunctive relief)— 

16 (A) to prevent, minimize, or abate destruc17 tion or loss of, or injury to, a system resource; 

18 or 

19 (B) to abate or minimize the imminent risk 

20 of such destruction, loss, or injury. 

21 (2) ASSESSMENT AND MONITORING.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may as23 sess and monitor the destruction or loss of, or 

24 injury to, any system resource for purposes of 

25 paragraph (1). 


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1 (B) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Any determina2 tion or assessment of damage to a system re3 source carried out under subparagraph (A) 

4 shall be subject to judicial review under sub5 chapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 7, of title 

6 5, United States Code (commonly known as the 

7 ‘‘Administrative Procedure Act’’), on the basis 

8 of the administrative record developed by the 

9 Secretary. 

10 SEC. 5. USE OF RECOVERED AMOUNTS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—An amount equal to the total 

12 amount of the response costs and damages recovered by 

13 the Secretary under this Act and any amounts recovered 

14 by the Federal Government under any provision of Fed15 eral, State, or local law (including regulations) or other16 wise as a result of the destruction or loss of, or injury 

17 to, any system resource shall be made available to the Sec18 retary, without further appropriation, for use in accord19 ance with subsection (b). 

20 (b) USE.—The Secretary may use amounts made 

21 available under subsection (a) only, in accordance with ap22 plicable law— 

23 (1) to reimburse response costs and damage as24 sessments carried out pursuant to this Act by the 


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1 Secretary or such other Federal agency as the Sec2 retary determines to be appropriate; 

3 (2) to restore, replace, or acquire the equivalent 

4 of a system resource that was destroyed, lost, or in5 jured; or 

6 (3) to monitor and study system resources. 

7 SEC. 6. DONATIONS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any other authority 

9 to accept donations, the Secretary may accept donations 

10 of money or services for expenditure or use to meet ex11 pected, immediate, or ongoing response costs and dam12 ages. 

13 (b) TIMING.—A donation described in subsection (a) 

14 may be expended or used at any time after acceptance of 

15 the donation, without further action by Congress. 

16 SEC. 7. TRANSFER OF FUNDS FROM NATURAL RESOURCE 

17 DAMAGE ASSESSMENT AND RESTORATION 

18 FUND. 

19 The matter under the heading ‘‘NATURAL RESOURCE

20 DAMAGE ASSESSMENT AND RESTORATION FUND’’ under 

21 the heading ‘‘UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERV22 ICE’’ of title I of the Department of the Interior and Re23 lated Agencies Appropriations Act, 1994 (43 U.S.C. 

24 1474b–1), is amended by striking ‘‘Provided, That’’ and 

25 all that follows through ‘‘activities.’’ and inserting the folVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Feb 17, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4558.IH H4558

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1 lowing: ‘‘Provided, That notwithstanding any other provi2 sion of law, any amounts appropriated or credited during 

3 fiscal year 1992 or any fiscal year thereafter may be trans4 ferred to any account (including through a payment to any 

5 Federal or non-Federal trustee) to carry out a negotiated 

6 legal settlement or other legal action for a restoration ac7 tivity under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 

8 Compensation, and Liability Act (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.), 

9 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 

10 et seq.), the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2701 

11 et seq.), the Act of July 27, 1990 (16 U.S.C. 19jj et seq.), 

12 or the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Resource 

13 Protection Act, or for any damage assessment activity: 

14 Provided further, That sums provided by any individual 

15 or entity before or after the date of enactment of this Act 

16 shall remain available until expended and shall not be lim17 ited to monetary payments, but may include stocks, bonds, 

18 or other personal or real property, which may be retained, 

19 liquidated, or otherwise disposed of by the Secretary for 

20 the restoration of injured resources or to conduct any new 

21 damage assessment activity.’’. 

Æ 


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