I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1788 

To amend the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to delegate to States the authorities 

of the Secretary of the Interior under that Act with respect to cormorants, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 26, 2013 

Mrs. BACHMANN (for herself, Mr. PETERSON, Mr. KLINE, Mr. JONES, Mr. 

BACHUS, Mr. LATTA, Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan, Mr. COLE, and Mr. 

DUNCAN of South Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to delegate to 

States the authorities of the Secretary of the Interior 

under that Act with respect to cormorants, 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 ‘‘Cormorant Manage5 ment and Natural Resources Protection Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The current permitting system is not suffi2 cient to achieve a streamlined control of excessive 

3 cormorant populations. 

4 (2) Excessive cormorant populations cause 

5 damage to ecosystems. 

6 (3) Excessive cormorant populations pose public 

7 health and safety concerns. 

8 (4) Excessive cormorant populations pose an 

9 unsightly, loud, and olfactory nuisance. 

10 (5) Excessive cormorant populations can have a 

11 detrimental effect on fish populations. 

12 (6) Excessive cormorant populations displace 

13 native species from their habitats. 

14 (7) Cormorant excrement in colonies often kills 

15 vegetation. 

16 SEC. 3. DELEGATION TO STATES OF AUTHORITY UNDER MI17 GRATORY BIRD TREATY ACT WITH RESPECT 

18 TO CORMORANTS. 

19 (a) DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY.—Section 7 of the 

20 Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 708) is amended— 

21 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) PRESERVATION OF STATE

22 AUTHORITY.—’’ before the first sentence; and 

23 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(b) DELEGATION TO STATES OF AUTHORITY WITH

25 RESPECT TO CORMORANTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The authority of the Sec2 retary under this Act with respect to cormorants in 

3 a State is hereby delegated to the governor of the 

4 State effective on the date on which the Secretary 

5 approves a management plan for cormorants in the 

6 State that is submitted by the governor. 

7 ‘‘(2) APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL OF MANAGE8 MENT PLAN.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

10 approve or disapprove a management plan sub11 mitted under this subsection by not later than 

12 the end of the 60-day period beginning on the 

13 date the plan is submitted. 

14 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT TO APPROVE.—The 

15 Secretary shall approve a management plan 

16 submitted under this subsection if the plan is in 

17 accordance with United States obligations 

18 under treaties and Federal law. 

19 ‘‘(C) DISAPPROVAL OF PLAN.—If the Sec20 retary disapproves a management plan under 

21 this subsection the Secretary shall provide to 

22 the governor who submitted the plan the rea23 sons for the disapproval and an opportunity to 

24 revise and resubmit the plan. 


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1 ‘‘(D) PLAN DEEMED APPROVED.—Except 

2 as provided in subparagraph (E), if the Sec3 retary does not approve or disapprove a man4 agement plan before the end of the period re5 ferred to in paragraph (1) the Secretary is 

6 deemed to have approved the plan. 

7 ‘‘(E) LIMITATION ON APPROVAL.—A man8 agement plan shall not be approved under this 

9 paragraph if the plan is found to be in violation 

10 of United States obligations under treaties and 

11 Federal law. 

12 ‘‘(F) REVIEW OF APPROVED PLANS.—The 

13 Secretary— 

14 ‘‘(i) shall review every 5 years each 

15 management plan approved for a State 

16 under this subsection and the State gov17 ernor’s exercise of authority delegated 

18 under this subsection; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) may revoke such approval and 

20 delegation if, based on such review, the 

21 Secretary determines that the plan or the 

22 governor’s exercise of authority delegated 

23 under this subsection is not in accordance 

24 with this Act or any treaty implemented by 

25 this Act. 


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1 ‘‘(3) RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN APPROVED PLAN

2 AND REGULATIONS.—A management plan that is 

3 approved for a State under this subsection shall 

4 apply in that State with respect to management of 

5 cormorants, in lieu of regulations issued under this 

6 Act. 

7 ‘‘(4) COMPLIANCE WITH TREATIES AND FED8 ERAL LAW.—In exercising authority delegated under 

9 this subsection the governor of a State shall comply 

10 with this Act and all treaties implemented by this 

11 Act. 

12 ‘‘(5) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER AUTHORITY.— 

13 Nothing in this subsection limits the authority of the 

14 Secretary or any Federal agency to exercise author15 ity under any Federal law to assist a State, upon re16 quest by the governor of the State, with control of 

17 cormorants. 

18 ‘‘(6) CORMORANT DEFINED.—In this subsection 

19 the term ‘cormorant’ means the double-crested cor20 morant (Phalacrocorax auritus).’’. 

21 (b) COOPERATION TO PREVENT CORMORANT PRO22 LIFERATION.— 

23 (1) DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR COOPERA24 TION.—The Secretary of the Interior, acting in con25 sultation with the National Aquaculture Information 


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1 Center and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

2 Service, shall conduct educational and informational 

3 activities for the owners and operators of aqua4 culture facilities to improve their efforts to prevent 

5 cormorants from consuming aquatic species being 

6 reared in aquaculture facilities, which contributes to 

7 the proliferation of cormorants. 

8 (2) OTHER EFFORTS.—Nothing in this sub9 section restricts the authority of other Federal or 

10 State wildlife or natural resource management agen11 cies to cooperate with the owners and operators of 

12 aquaculture facilities regarding the management and 

13 control of cormorants to prevent their proliferation. 

14 (3) CORMORANT DEFINED.—In this subsection, 

15 the term ‘‘cormorant’’ means the double-crested cor16 morant (Phalacrocorax auritus). 

Æ 


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