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[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2136 Introduced in House (IH)]

  1st Session
                                H. R. 2136

    To provide for the management, containment, and elimination of 
     brucellosis from the Yellowstone area, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 27, 1995

 Mr. Williams introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
      Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Committee on 
Agriculture, 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 provide for the management, containment, and elimination of 
     brucellosis from the Yellowstone area, 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 ``Bison Management Improvement Act of 
1995''.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that:
            (1) The natural resources of Yellowstone National Park are 
        unique to the world, and the free-ranging wildlife found within 
        and adjacent to the park, including bison and elk, are of 
        significant economic, recreational, and esthetic value to the 
        American people.
            (2) The livestock industry is vital to the economy, 
        culture, and lifestyle of the Yellowstone area.
            (3) The ability of livestock producers in Montana, Wyoming, 
        and Idaho to freely market cattle is jeopardized by uncertainty 
        concerning the application of the Uniform Methods and Rules of 
        the National Brucellosis Eradication Program and by actions of 
        other States.
            (4) The containment and eventual elimination of the disease 
        brucellosis in the Yellowstone area is important to the 
        maintenance of State livestock-dependent economies.
            (5) Better scientific information is needed regarding the 
        etiology of Brucella abortus in wildlife, the potential for 
        containment and eventual elimination of the disease, and the 
        potential for transmission between wildlife and domestic 
        livestock.
            (6) Bison are of significant cultural and spiritual value 
        to Native Americans, and preservation and restoration of 
        buffalo to tribal lands is important.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are to--
            (1) provide a comprehensive framework to address plans for 
        the containment and eventual elimination of brucellosis from 
        the Yellowstone area by the year 2010;
            (2) recognize the cultural, spiritual, and economic value 
        of bison to Native Americans and to promote the restoration of 
        these animals to tribal lands;
            (3) to support, promote, and coordinate scientific research 
        related to the management necessary to achieve containment and 
        eventual elimination of brucellosis from the Yellowstone area;
            (4) to provide economic stability to the livestock 
        producers in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming by establishing 
        criteria and regulatory guidelines for such management;
            (5) assure that brucellosis related management 
        recommendations and decisions are based on defensible and 
        factual scientific information; and
            (6) to ensure that Yellowstone wildlife are managed in a 
        manner that allows bison and other ungulates to range across 
        jurisdictional boundaries on public lands in the Yellowstone 
        area.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act:
            (1) The term ``Yellowstone area'' means the area consisting 
        of the lands, water, and interests therein within the area 
        generally depicted on the map entitled ``Boundary Map'', 
        numbered             , and dated             . The map shall be 
        on file and available for public inspection in the offices of 
        the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, United States 
        Department of Agriculture and the National Park Service, 
        Department of the Interior. The Secretaries may from time to 
        time make minor revisions in the boundary of the natural area 
        to promote management effectiveness and efficiency in the 
        furtherance of this Act.
            (2) The term ``brucellosis'' means a disease which causes 
        abortion in cattle and some other ungulates as a result of 
        infection by Brucella abortus.
            (3) The term ``Yellowstone Interagency Brucellosis 
        Committee'' means the committee established by States of 
        Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana, and the United States Department 
        of Agriculture and the United States Department of the 
        Interior, signatories to a Memorandum of Understanding.
            (4) The term ``surplus bison'' means populations, 
        subpopulations, or individual bison that are located on or may 
        enter on to private property against the wishes of the 
        landowner, come into contract with or intermingle with the 
        lawfully present livestock on public lands, or that have 
        exceeded the numbers allowed under planning documents for 
        discrete geographic areas.
            (5) The term ``Secretaries'' means the Secretary of 
        Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior.

SEC. 5. YELLOWSTONE BRUCELLOSIS FREE MANAGEMENT AREA.

    For the purposes of protecting exceptional wildlife and 
agricultural values, providing for better management of Yellowstone 
National Park bison herds, and providing a comprehensive approach to 
the management, containment, and eventual elimination of brucellosis 
from the Yellowstone area, there is hereby established the Yellowstone 
Brucellosis Free Management Area. This area is defined in section 4 as 
``Yellowstone area''.
SEC. 6. POWERS AND DUTIES OF SECRETARIES.

    (a) Within Yellowstone Brucellosis Free Management Area.--Within 
the Yellowstone Brucellosis Free Management Area, the Secretaries are 
authorized and directed to develop joint bison and elk management plans 
with the respective States of Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho. Such plans 
shall provide for temporal and spatial separation of bison from 
lawfully present cattle on public lands unless the Secretary of 
Agriculture determines that currently available vaccination programs 
provide sufficient protection from Brucella abortus and that cattle and 
bison can be present on the same lands concurrently. These plans shall 
allow for the seasonal migration of elk and bison populations.
    (b) Transport of Bison to Tribal Lands.--The Secretary of 
Agriculture shall develop plans and protocols that will allow 
quarantine of surplus bison and following quarantine transportation of 
such bison to tribal lands.
    (c) Wildlife Populations.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall 
develop and implement plans in cooperation with the respective States 
for the elimination of Brucella abortus from the wildlife populations 
of the Yellowstone area. Such plans shall recognize the high public 
value associated with free-ranging ungulate herds.
    (d) Use of Yellowstone Interagency Brucellosis Committee.--
Notwithstanding the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the Secretaries may 
use the Yellowstone Interagency Brucellosis Committee, or any of its 
subcommittees, to develop the plans and recommendations necessary to 
achieve the purposes of this Act.

SEC. 7. ADMINISTRATION.

    (a) In General.--Based on the best scientific information 
available, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized, with the 
concurrence of the Secretary of the Interior, to prescribe regulations 
necessary to carry out the purposes and objectives of this Act.
    (b) Factors.--In prescribing such regulations, the Secretaries 
shall give full consideration to all factors which affect the important 
ecological relationships of wildlife in the Yellowstone area and the 
need to provide market stability for cattle producers, including but 
not limited to--
            (1) providing reasonable and achievable transportation 
        protocols for the transportation, quarantine, and restoration 
        of bison to Native American lands;
            (2) the need to provide the States of Montana, Idaho, and 
        Wyoming reasonable assurances regarding their Class-Free 
        Brucellosis Status and reduce any unfair market barriers 
        imposed by other States as a result of free-ranging bison; and
            (3) provide special rules under the National Brucellosis 
        Eradication Program that preserves the Class-Free Brucellosis 
        Status for Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming outside of the 
        Yellowstone area while recognizing the special needs and 
        considerations within the Yellowstone Brucellosis Free 
        Management Area.

SEC. 8. RESEARCH AUTHORIZATION.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall undertake a 
program of research through the Agricultural Research Service to 
understand the etiology of Brucella abortus in wild ungulate 
populations, brucellosis transmission from wild ungulates to domestic 
livestock, and to develop safe, effective vaccines and delivery systems 
that will prevent the transmission of the disease between ungulate 
species and ultimately eliminate the organism from the Yellowstone 
area.
    (b) Grants and Financial Assistance.--The Secretary of Agriculture 
and the Secretary of the Interior are authorized to make grants, or to 
provide financial assistance in such other form as they deem 
appropriate, to any Federal or State agency, public or private 
institution, or other person for the purpose of assisting such agency, 
institution, or person to undertake research in subjects which are 
relevant to the management and elimination of the disease brucellosis 
from the Yellowstone area.

SEC. 9. DISPOSITION OF SURPLUS BISON.

    (a) General Authorization.--The Secretaries shall work with the 
States and Indian tribes in the management and disposition of bison 
determined by the Secretary of the Interior to be surplus bison.
    (b) Facilities.--The Secretaries are authorized to construct 
temporary or permanent handling, capture, quarantine, or testing 
facilities on or adjacent to Federal lands. Such facilities shall be 
subject to full compliance under the National Environmental Policy Act 
of 1969, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and applicable State laws.
    (c) Donation, Sale, or Disposal of Bison.--(1)(A) The Secretary of 
the Interior is authorized in his discretion under such conditions as 
he may prescribe to give bison to Federal, State, county, and municipal 
authorities for zoos, parks, or equivalent public purposes. The 
Secretary may provide surplus bison to Native American tribes, tribal 
cooperatives, or other tribal organizations as he may prescribe.
    (B) The transportation costs associated with receiving elk or bison 
under subparagraph (A) shall be recovered from the benefiting 
organization.
    (2) The Secretary may sell or otherwise dispose of bison under such 
conditions as he may prescribe and all monies received from the sale of 
any such surplus bison shall be credited to the appropriation current 
at the time to offset management costs.

SEC. 10. USE AND ACQUISITION OF LANDS.

    Within the Yellowstone area, the Secretaries may acquire lands or 
interest in lands for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of 
this Act, including lands for handling, capturing, testing, 
quarantining, or transporting. Acquisition or use is authorized by 
lease, cooperative agreement, donation, purchase with donated, or 
appropriated funds.

SEC. 11. LIMITATION ON FEDERAL ACTION.

    The Secretary of Agriculture shall take no action to downgrade the 
Class-Free Brucellosis Status of the states of Montana, Wyoming, or 
Idaho under the rules of the National Brucellosis Eradication Program 
as long as the Interim Bison Management Plan currently in effect and 
bison and elk management plans currently under development continue to 
provide adequate temporary and spatial separation between bison, elk, 
and livestock.

SEC. 12. LIMITATION ON STATE ACTION.

    No State shall impose requirements on livestock originating from 
Montana, Wyoming, or Idaho, that it does not impose on other States 
that have been designated Brucellosis Class-Free as long as the United 
States Department of Agriculture brucellosis free designation remains 
in place.

SEC. 13. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated to the 
Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture such sums 
as are necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.
    (b) Availability.--Funds appropriated for planning or research 
shall remain available until expended.
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