I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 872 

To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to vest in the Secretary 

of the Interior functions under that Act with respect to species of 

fish that spawn in fresh or estuarine waters and migrate to ocean 

waters and species of fish that spawn in ocean waters and migrate 

to fresh or estuarine waters, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 8, 2023 

Mr. CALVERT (for himself, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. SIMPSON, Mrs. STEEL, Mr. 

COSTA, Mr. OBERNOLTE, and Mr. ISSA) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to vest 

in the Secretary of the Interior functions under that 

Act with respect to species of fish that spawn in fresh 

or estuarine waters and migrate to ocean waters and 

species of fish that spawn in ocean waters and migrate 

to fresh or estuarine waters, 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 ‘‘Federally Integrated 

5 Species Health Act’’ or the ‘‘FISH Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO 

2 ANADROMOUS SPECIES AND CATADROMOUS 

3 SPECIES. 

4 (a) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.—All functions with 

5 respect to anadromous species and catadromous species 

6 under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

7 1531 et seq.) that were vested in the Secretary of Com8 merce or the National Marine Fisheries Service imme9 diately before the enactment of this Act are transferred 

10 to the Secretary of the Interior. 

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Endangered 

12 Species Act of 1973 is amended— 

13 (1) in section 3(15) (16 U.S.C. 1532(15))— 

14 (A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(15)’’; and 

15 (B) by inserting after ‘‘Secretary of Agri16 culture.’’ the following: 

17 ‘‘(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), with re18 spect to anadromous species and catadromous species, the 

19 term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary of the Interior.’’; 

20 and 

21 (2) in section 3 (16 U.S.C. 1532) by adding at 

22 the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(22) The term ‘anadromous species’ means a species 

24 of fish that spawns in fresh or estuarine waters and mi25 grates to ocean waters. 


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1 ‘‘(23) The term ‘catadromous species’ means a spe2 cies of fish that spawns in ocean waters and migrates to 

3 fresh or estuarine waters.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 

5 (a) REFERENCES.—Any reference in any other Fed6 eral law, Executive order, rule, regulation, or delegation 

7 of authority, or any document of or pertaining to a depart8 ment or office from which a function is transferred by this 

9 Act— 

10 (1) to the head of such department or office is 

11 deemed to refer to the Secretary of the Interior; or 

12 (2) to such department or office is deemed to 

13 refer to the Department of the Interior. 

14 (b) EXERCISE OF AUTHORITIES.—Except as other15 wise provided by law, the Secretary of the Interior may, 

16 for purposes of performing the functions transferred by 

17 this Act, exercise all authorities under the Endangered 

18 Species Act of 1973 that were available with respect to 

19 the performance of that function immediately before the 

20 effective date of the transfer of the function under this 

21 Act. 

22 (c) SAVINGS PROVISIONS.— 

23 (1) LEGAL DOCUMENTS.—All orders, deter24 minations, rules, regulations, permits, grants, loans, 


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1 contracts, agreements, certificates, licenses, and 

2 privileges— 

3 (A) that have been issued, made, granted, 

4 or allowed to become effective by the Secretary 

5 of Commerce, any officer or employee of the 

6 Department of Commerce, or any other Govern7 ment official in the performance of any function 

8 that is transferred by this Act, or by a court of 

9 competent jurisdiction with respect to such per10 formance; and 

11 (B) that are in effect on the effective date 

12 of this Act (or become effective after such date 

13 pursuant to their terms as in effect on such ef14 fective date), 

15 shall continue in effect according to their terms until 

16 modified, terminated, superseded, set aside, or re17 voked in accordance with law by the President, any 

18 other authorized official, a court of competent juris19 diction, or operation of law. 

20 (2) PROCEEDINGS.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—This Act shall not af22 fect any proceedings or any application for any 

23 benefits, service, license, permit, certificate, or 

24 financial assistance pending on the date of the 

25 enactment of this Act before an office transVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Mar 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H872.IH H872

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1 ferred by this Act. Such proceedings and appli2 cations shall be continued. Orders shall be 

3 issued in such proceedings, appeals shall be 

4 taken therefrom, and payments shall be made 

5 pursuant to such orders, as if this Act had not 

6 been enacted, and orders issued in any such 

7 proceeding shall continue in effect until modi8 fied, terminated, superseded, or revoked by a 

9 duly authorized official, by a court of competent 

10 jurisdiction, or by operation of law. 

11 (B) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this para12 graph shall be considered to prohibit the dis13 continuance or modification of any such pro14 ceeding under the same terms and conditions 

15 and to the same extent that such proceeding 

16 could have been discontinued or modified if this 

17 Act had not been enacted. 

18 (3) SUITS.—This Act shall not affect suits com19 menced before the date of the enactment of this Act, 

20 and in all such suits, proceeding shall be had, ap21 peals taken, and judgments rendered in the same 

22 manner and with the same effect as if this Act had 

23 not been enacted. 

24 (4) NONABATEMENT OF ACTIONS.—No suit, ac25 tion, or other proceeding commenced by or against 


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1 the Department of Commerce or the Secretary of 

2 Commerce, or by or against any individual in the of3 ficial capacity of such individual as an officer or em4 ployee of the Department of Commerce, shall abate 

5 by reason of the enactment of this Act. 

6 (5) CONTINUANCE OF SUITS.—If any Govern7 ment officer in the official capacity of such officer 

8 is party to a suit with respect to a function of the 

9 officer, and under this Act such function is trans10 ferred to any other officer or office, then such suit 

11 shall be continued with the other officer or the head 

12 of such other office, as applicable, substituted or 

13 added as a party. 

14 (6) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE AND JUDI15 CIAL REVIEW.—Except as otherwise provided by this 

16 Act, any statutory requirements relating to notice, 

17 hearings, action upon the record, or administrative 

18 or judicial review that apply to any function trans19 ferred by this Act shall apply to the exercise of such 

20 function by the head of the Federal agency, and 

21 other officers of the agency, to which such function 

22 is transferred by this Act. 

23 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

24 For purposes of this Act: 


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1 (1) ANADROMOUS SPECIES AND CATADROMOUS

2 SPECIES.—Each of the terms ‘‘anadromous species’’ 

3 and ‘‘catadromous species’’ has the meaning that 

4 term has under section 3 of the Endangered Species 

5 Act of 1973, as amended by section 3 of this Act. 

6 (2) FUNCTION.—The term ‘‘function’’ includes 

7 any duty, obligation, power, authority, responsibility, 

8 right, privilege, activity, or program. 

9 (3) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘office’’ includes any 

10 office, administration, agency, bureau, institute, 

11 council, unit, organizational entity, or component 

12 thereof. 

Æ 


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