II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 809 

To encourage and facilitate efforts by States and other stakeholders to conserve and sustain the western population of monarch butterflies, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 17 (legislative day, MARCH 16), 2021 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. 

VAN HOLLEN, and Mr. PADILLA) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public 

Works 

A BILL 

To encourage and facilitate efforts by States and other stakeholders to conserve and sustain the western population 

of monarch butterflies, 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 ‘‘Monarch Action, Re5 covery, and Conservation of Habitat Act of 2021’’ or the 

6 ‘‘MONARCH Act of 2021’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) the population of western monarch butter2 flies is at imminent risk of extinction; 

3 (2) over the past 3 decades, the population of 

4 western monarch butterflies has declined by more 

5 than 99 percent due to prolonged drought, loss of 

6 milkweed and native pollinator habitat, loss of breed7 ing and overwintering habitat, and climate change; 

8 (3) in 2020, the population of western monarch 

9 butterflies reached a new historic low of 1,914 but10 terflies, falling below the predicted extinction thresh11 old for the third year in a row; 

12 (4) the extinction of the population of migra13 tory western monarch butterflies is now likely to 

14 occur within the next 2 decades if urgent action is 

15 not taken; 

16 (5) actively restoring native milkweed and nec17 tar plants, monarch overwintering habitat, and other 

18 pollinator habitat, and ensuring that key habitats 

19 are protected from destruction, are critical to ensur20 ing the survival of western monarch butterflies and 

21 can also help facilitate conservation of other essen22 tial pollinators; and 

23 (6) enhancing pollinator populations can result 

24 in improved pollination services for neighboring land, 

25 including agriculture and wildlife ecosystems. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) CONSERVATION.—The term ‘‘conservation’’ 

4 means the use of each method or procedure nec5 essary to protect habitats of western monarch but6 terflies, including— 

7 (A) the protection, restoration, and man8 agement of overwintering, breeding, and migra9 tory habitats; 

10 (B) assistance in the development and im11 plementation of national, regional, State, and 

12 local conservation and management plans; and 

13 (C) community outreach and education. 

14 (2) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the West15 ern Monarch Butterfly Rescue Fund established by 

16 section 5(a). 

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

18 the Secretary of the Interior. 

19 (4) WESTERN MONARCH BUTTERFLY.—The 

20 term ‘‘western monarch butterfly’’ means the mon21 arch butterfly population that overwinters along the 

22 coast of the State of California and breeds across 

23 the States of California, Arizona, Nevada, Wash24 ington, Oregon, Idaho, and Utah. 


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1 SEC. 4. WESTERN MONARCH BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION 

2 GRANT PROGRAM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of 

4 funds and in consultation with other relevant Federal 

5 agencies, the Secretary shall use amounts in the Fund to 

6 provide grants for projects for the conservation of western 

7 monarch butterflies for which project proposals are ap8 proved by the Secretary in accordance with this section. 

9 (b) PROJECT PROPOSALS.— 

10 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An entity that is eli11 gible to receive a grant for a project under this sec12 tion is— 

13 (A) a relevant local or Tribal government 

14 agency, research institution, or nonprofit orga15 nization with expertise required for the con16 servation of western monarch butterflies; and 

17 (B) any other entity, as determined appro18 priate by the Secretary, with the expertise re19 quired for the conservation of western monarch 

20 butterflies. 

21 (2) FEDERAL PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES.— 

22 A State or Federal agency— 

23 (A) may not be a lead entity or receive a 

24 grant for a project under this section; but 


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1 (B) may be included as a partner or col2 laborator on a project that receives a grant 

3 under this section. 

4 (3) REQUIRED ELEMENTS.—A proposal for a 

5 project under this section shall include— 

6 (A) a statement of the purposes of the 

7 project; 

8 (B) the name of the entity with overall re9 sponsibility for the project; 

10 (C) a description of— 

11 (i) the qualifications of the entity that 

12 will conduct the project; 

13 (ii) methods for project implementa14 tion and outcome assessment; and 

15 (iii) anticipated outcomes; 

16 (D) assurances that the project will be im17 plemented in consultation with relevant wildlife 

18 management authorities, Indian Tribes, and 

19 other appropriate local government, State gov20 ernment, and Federal Government agencies; 

21 (E) assurances that the conservation ef22 forts outlined in the proposal do not conflict 

23 with food safety measures or practices; 

24 (F) information that demonstrates the 

25 clear potential of the project to contribute to 


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1 the conservation and recovery of western mon2 arch butterflies; and 

3 (G) such other information as the Sec4 retary may require. 

5 (c) PROJECT REVIEW AND APPROVAL.—The Sec6 retary shall annually— 

7 (1) solicit project proposals for funding under 

8 this section; and 

9 (2) review each proposal described in paragraph 

10 (1) on a timeline that recognizes the urgency of the 

11 declining number of western monarch butterflies to 

12 determine whether the proposal meets the criteria 

13 specified in subsection (d). 

14 (d) CRITERIA FOR APPROVAL.—The Secretary may 

15 approve a project proposal under this section if the pro16 posal demonstrates a likelihood that the project will con17 tribute to the conservation of western monarch butterfly 

18 populations in the wild. 

19 (e) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall 

20 provide technical assistance for a project that receives a 

21 grant under this section. 

22 (f) PROJECT REPORTING.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each entity that receives a 

24 grant for a project under this section shall submit 

25 to the Secretary, at such intervals as the Secretary 


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1 may require, reports that include any information 

2 that the Secretary determines is necessary to evalu3 ate the progress and success of the project for the 

4 purposes of ensuring positive results, assessing prob5 lems, and fostering improvements. 

6 (2) AVAILABILITY TO STATE LEGISLATURES.— 

7 Each entity that receives a grant for a project under 

8 this section shall submit each report under para9 graph (1) to the State legislature of the State in 

10 which the project is conducted. 

11 (3) AVAILABILITY TO THE PUBLIC.—The Sec12 retary shall make available to the public, in a timely 

13 manner— 

14 (A) each report submitted under para15 graph (1); and 

16 (B) any other documents relating to 

17 projects for which a grant is provided under 

18 this section. 

19 SEC. 5. WESTERN MONARCH BUTTERFLY RESCUE FUND. 

20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

21 Treasury of the United States a fund, to be known as the 

22 ‘‘Western Monarch Butterfly Rescue Fund’’. 

23 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of the amounts 

24 available in the Fund for each fiscal year, the Secretary 


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1 may expend not more than 3 percent to pay the adminis2 trative expenses necessary to carry out this Act. 

3 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

4 authorized to be appropriated to the Fund $12,500,000 

5 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026. 

6 SEC. 6. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE WESTERN MONARCH 

7 BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION PLAN. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall enter into an 

9 agreement with the National Fish and Wildlife Founda10 tion pursuant to the National Fish and Wildlife Founda11 tion Establishment Act (16 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.) to facili12 tate the implementation of the Western Monarch Butterfly 

13 Conservation Plan prepared by the Western Association 

14 of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and dated January 2019. 

15 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—Section 10(a) of the National 

16 Fish and Wildlife Foundation Establishment Act (16 

17 U.S.C. 3709(a)) shall not apply with respect to— 

18 (1) the agreement entered into under subsection 

19 (a); or 

20 (2) amounts made available to carry out this 

21 section. 

22 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

23 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 

24 $12,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026 

25 to carry out this section. 


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1 SEC. 7. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

2 Not later than January 31 of each year, the Sec3 retary shall submit to Congress a report describing the 

4 status of western monarch butterflies, including, with re5 spect to the year for which the report is submitted— 

6 (1) a summary of the projects for which the 

7 Secretary has provided funding under section 4 and 

8 an evaluation of those projects; and 

9 (2) a summary of the projects for which the 

10 Secretary has provided funding through the Western 

11 Monarch Butterfly Conservation Plan prepared by 

12 the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agen13 cies and dated January 2019. 

Æ 


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