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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9971 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9971

 To amend the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to affirm that the prohibition 
  on the unauthorized take or killing of migratory birds of that Act 
  includes incidental take, and to direct the United States Fish and 
   Wildlife Service to authorize such incidental take, and for other 
                               purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 11, 2024

Mr. Huffman (for himself and Mr. Fitzpatrick) introduced the following 
     bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To amend the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to affirm that the prohibition 
  on the unauthorized take or killing of migratory birds of that Act 
  includes incidental take, and to direct the United States Fish and 
   Wildlife Service to authorize such incidental take, and for other 
                               purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Migratory Bird Protection Act of 
2024''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE MIGRATORY BIRD TREATY ACT.

    (a) In General.--The Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703 et 
seq.) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``of Agriculture'' each place it appears;
            (2) by striking ``of the Interior'' each place it appears;
            (3) in section 5 (16 U.S.C. 706), as amended by paragraph 
        (1) of this section, by inserting ``of the Interior'' after 
        ``employee of the Department'';
            (4) in section 6 (16 U.S.C. 707), as amended by paragraph 
        (1) of this section, by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Authorizing Civil Penalties for Incidental Take.--
            ``(1) In general.--A person who incidentally takes a 
        migratory bird without an authorization issued pursuant to 
        section 14 or in violation of the terms and conditions of an 
        applicable permit or regulation issued by the Secretary to 
        administer section 14 may be assessed a civil penalty by the 
        Secretary of not more than $10,000 per violation, except that 
        unpermitted incidental take which is caused by conduct that is 
        reckless or grossly negligent shall be subject to the penalties 
        of subsection (a).
            ``(2) Civil action.--The Secretary may commence a civil 
        action for appropriate relief, including a permanent or 
        temporary injunction, for any incidental take of a migratory 
        bird without a permit or any violation of the terms and 
        conditions of a permit issued or regulation promulgated 
        pursuant to section 14.''; and
            (5) by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 14. INCIDENTAL TAKE OF MIGRATORY BIRDS.

    ``(a) In General.--It shall be a violation of this Act to 
incidentally take any migratory bird, and any part, nest, or egg of any 
such bird, except as authorized by the Secretary. The Secretary shall 
promulgate regulations to authorize the incidental take of migratory 
birds pursuant to this section, including issuing general permits. 
Before the Secretary promulgates regulations for an industry, the 
Secretary shall continue to enforce the document titled `Director's 
Order No.: 225' (published October 5, 2021). No penalty shall be 
assessed unless such entity is given notice and opportunity for a 
hearing on the record in accordance with sections 554 and 556 of title 
5, United States Code. In determining the amount of the penalty, the 
Secretary shall consider the gravity of the violation and the 
demonstrated good faith of the entity. For good cause shown, the 
Secretary, in an extraordinary case, may remit or mitigate any such 
penalty.
    ``(b) Authorization of Fees.--The Secretary may collect fees 
pursuant to authorizing and administering the incidental take of 
migratory birds. The fees may be used to cover the administrative costs 
for the permit program and conserving populations of bird species--
            ``(1) affected by the authorized activities; or
            ``(2) identified as birds of conservation concern under 
        authority of section 13 of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation 
        Act of 1980 (16 U.S.C. 2912).
    ``(c) Deposit of Fees.--There is established in the Treasury a 
separate account, which shall be known as the `Migratory Bird Recovery 
Fund'. The fund shall be managed by the Secretary and may consist of--
            ``(1) amounts received from fees pursuant to regulations 
        under subsection (b);
            ``(2) amounts received pursuant to section 6(e);
            ``(3) amounts made available from appropriations; and
            ``(4) amounts received by the Secretary in the form of 
        donations.
    ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated $10,000,000 for each fiscal year beginning after the date 
of the enactment of this section to carry out this section.
    ``(e) Report to Congress.--Not later than 5 years after the date of 
enactment of this section, and at the end of each 5 year period 
thereafter, the Secretary shall submit a report to the Chair and 
Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee and to the 
Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works 
Committee on--
            ``(1) the conservation status of migratory birds;
            ``(2) the impacts upon migratory birds of activities for 
        which authorizing regulations have been issued under this 
        section; and
            ``(3) the Secretary's progress in carrying out the 
        functions and responsibilities given to the Secretary under 
        this section.
    ``(f) Research Program.--The Secretary shall establish and 
maintain, through direct programming, contracts, or other form of 
agreement, and in consultation with research institutions, institutions 
of higher education, wildlife conservation groups, and representatives 
of authorized activities regulated under this section, a research 
program to--
            ``(1) better monitor the status of bird populations;
            ``(2) understand the stressors to bird populations;
            ``(3) identify opportunities to reduce the impact of such 
        stressors; and
            ``(4) deploy and validate mitigation measures to conserve 
        bird populations.

``SEC. 15. DEFINITIONS.

    ``For the purposes of this Act:
            ``(1) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        `institution of higher education' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 1001(a)).
            ``(2) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior, acting through the Director of the United 
        States Fish and Wildlife Service.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 7(b) of the North American 
Wetlands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 4406(b)) is amended by inserting 
``subsections (a) through (d) of'' before ``section 6 of the Migratory 
Bird Treaty Act''.
                                 <all>
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