II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1110

To provide for a National Biological Survey, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 15, 1993

Mr. AKAKA introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

A BILL

To provide for a National Biological Survey, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘National Biological Survey Act of 1993’’.

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of

7 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Findings and purpose.

Sec. 3. Definitions.

TITLE I—NATIONAL BIOLOGICAL SURVEY

Sec. 101. National Biological Survey.

Sec. 102. Critical biological concerns.

Sec. 103. National Biological Survey Science Council.
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Sec. 104. National Biological Survey Policy Board.

Sec. 105. Donations.

Sec. 106. Wetlands inventory.

Sec. 107. Authorization of appropriations.

TITLE II—RESOURCE MANAGEMENT TRAINING

Sec. 201. Natural resource management training.

Sec. 202. Confidentiality of information concerning location of candidate,

threatened, or endangered species.

Sec. 203. Access to private property.

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

3 (1) comprehensive and high quality scientific re4 search and analysis at the Department of the Inte5 rior must be the foundation for informed and timely

6 natural resource decisionmaking;

7 (2) the need for broader and more timely infor8 mation about the living resources of the United

9 States has been readily apparent in the numerous

10 controversies and potential economic dislocations

11 surrounding decisions concerning endangered

12 species;

13 (3) legislatures and agencies at all levels of gov14 ernment lack the scientific information and analysis

15 necessary to solve national, regional, and local natu16 ral resource conflicts, and to avoid future resource

17 problems; and

18 (4) the Federal Government needs an independ19 ent, nonregulatory source of information about the

20 living resources of the United States.
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1 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide

2 a national focus for biological research and monitoring of

3 the living resources of the United States through the es4 tablishment of a National Biological Survey.

5 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

6 As used in this Act:

7 (1) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the Na8 tional Biological Survey Policy Board established

9 under section 104.

10 (2) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Council’’ means the

11 National Biological Survey Science Council estab12 lished under section 103.

13 (3) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’

14 means the Department of the Interior.

15 (4) FEDERAL, STATE, OR LOCAL AGENCY.—The

16 term ‘‘Federal, State, or local agency’’ means a unit

17 of Federal, State, local, or tribal government that

18 manages or regulates land, water, or wildlife

19 resources.

20 (5) LIVING RESOURCES.—The term ‘‘living re21 sources’’ means the full range of variety and varia22 bility within and among organisms and the ecological

23 complexes in which the organisms occur (including

24 the waters of the United States). The term includes
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1 ecosystem or community diversity, species diversity,

2 and genetic diversity.

3 (6) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term

4 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means—

5 (A) an institution of higher education, a

6 nonprofit scientific or private organization, or a

7 natural history museum, that maintains or uses

8 land, water, or wildlife resources; or

9 (B) a nonprofit professional biological soci10 ety or a private nonprofit organization that

11 identifies, protects, or maintains living re12 sources.

13 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

14 the Secretary of the Interior.

15 (8) SURVEY.—The term ‘‘Survey’’ means the

16 National Biological Survey established under section

17 101.

18 TITLE I—NATIONAL BIOLOGICAL

19 SURVEY

20 SEC. 101. NATIONAL BIOLOGICAL SURVEY.

21 (a) ESTABLISHMENT; PURPOSE.—

22 (1) EXISTING ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary shall

23 establish a National Biological Survey to—
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1 (A) consolidate and enhance biological re2 search activities of the Department that are in

3 existence on the date of enactment of this Act;

4 (B) gather, analyze, and disseminate bio5 logical information necessary for the wise stew6 ardship of the living resources of the United

7 States; and

8 (C) foster a greater understanding of the

9 biological systems and benefits that the living

10 resources provide.

11 (2) OTHER ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary shall

12 combine with the Survey such other biological re13 search, inventory, and monitoring functions of the

14 Department as the Secretary determines necessary

15 or appropriate to provide sound scientific guidance

16 for the management of Federal lands and natural

17 resources.

18 (3) DIRECTOR.—The survey shall be headed by

19 a Director. With the advice and consent of the Sen20 ate, the Secretary shall appoint a Director from

21 among individuals with academic training and exper22 tise in the biological sciences. The Director shall re23 port to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for

24 Fish and Wildlife and Parks.

25 (4) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—
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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 3(a) of the

2 Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C.

3 742b(a)) is amended by adding at the end the

4 following new sentence: ‘‘The Director of the

5 United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Di6 rector of the National Park Service, and the Di7 rector of the National Biological Survey shall be

8 subject to the supervision of the Assistant Sec9 retary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.’’.

10 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Sec11 tions 3, 7(a), and 9(a) of such Act (16 U.S.C.

12 742b, 742f(a), and 742g(a)) are each amended

13 by striking ‘‘Assistant Secretary for Fish and

14 Wildlife’’ each place it appears (other than in

15 the last sentence of section 3(a)) and inserting

16 ‘‘Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and

17 Parks’’.

18 (b) DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting

20 through the Director, shall—

21 (A) inventory, monitor, and report on the

22 distribution, abundance, health, status, and

23 trends of the living resources of the United

24 States;
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1 (B) establish a cooperative network of Fed2 eral, State, and local agencies and nonprofit or3 ganizations to assist the Survey in collecting

4 and maintaining data concerning the distribu5 tion, abundance, health, status, and trends of

6 the living resources of the United States;

7 (C) develop protocols and methods for the

8 consistent and systematic collection and analy9 sis of data concerning living resources;

10 (D) establish and maintain systems for

11 managing information on the living resources of

12 the United States and obtain data from other

13 Federal, State, and local agencies and nonprofit

14 organizations for incorporation into the infor15 mation systems;

16 (E) establish methods to disseminate the

17 information referred to in subparagraph (D) to

18 agencies, organizations, and individuals con19 cerned with the care, use, and conservation of

20 the living resources of the United States;

21 (F) identify deficiencies with respect to in22 formation concerning the distribution, abun23 dance, health, status, and trends of the living

24 resources of the United States, and organize
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1 field surveys and research designed to eliminate

2 the deficiencies;

3 (G) monitor the effects of ecosystem man4 agement;

5 (H) engage in technology development and

6 transfer that will enable resource managers in

7 Federal, State, and local agencies and nonprofit

8 organizations to develop comprehensive eco9 system management strategies, respond to re10 source problems, and make resource manage11 ment decisions in a timely and efficient manner;

12 (I) integrate information related to ad13 vances in technology development relevant to

14 the biological diversity of the United States into

15 the information systems referred to in subpara16 graph (D);

17 (J) provide financial assistance (including

18 awarding a grant) to, or offer to enter into a

19 contract with, appropriate Federal, State, or

20 local agencies or nonprofit organizations to

21 carry out biological diversity research,

22 inventorying, monitoring, and information

23 transfer;

24 (K) provide technical assistance on a reim25 bursable or nonreimbursable basis to Federal,
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1 State, or local agencies and nonprofit organiza2 tions that collect and maintain information con3 cerning the living resources of the United

4 States;

5 (L) engage in cooperative research,

6 inventorying, monitoring, scientific exchange,

7 and data dissemination with other countries

8 and foreign organizations regarding living re9 sources; and

10 (M) prepare a biennial report for public

11 distribution on the distribution, abundance,

12 health, status, and trends of the living re13 sources of the United States.

14 (2) USE OF EXISTING DATA.—To the extent

15 practicable, in carrying out the duties of the Sec16 retary identified in paragraph (1), the Director shall

17 obtain and use data from all available sources.

18 (3) AVOIDANCE OF DUPLICATION OF DATA.—In

19 making a determination to provide financial assist20 ance, or in offering to enter into a contract pursuant

21 to subparagraphs (J) and (K) of paragraph (1), the

22 Director shall take such action as may be necessary

23 to ensure that the data generated in association with

24 the financial assistance, or pursuant to the contract,
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1 does not duplicate then current data available to the

2 Secretary from other sources.

3 SEC. 102. CRITICAL BIOLOGICAL CONCERNS.

4 The Secretary shall use information developed

5 through the Survey to direct resources and respond to the

6 most critical biological resource concerns of the United

7 States, as determined by the Secretary.

8 SEC. 103. NATIONAL BIOLOGICAL SURVEY SCIENCE COUN9 CIL.

10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish

11 an advisory board to be known as the ‘‘National Biological

12 Survey Science Council’’.

13 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—

14 (1) APPOINTMENTS.—The Secretary shall ap15 point 17 members to the Council, including a Chair16 person. The Director shall recommend members for

17 appointment to the Council from among—

18 (A) individuals who use biological diversity

19 data; and

20 (B) individuals who generate biological di21 versity data.

22 (2) COMPOSITION.—The members of the Coun23 cil shall include representatives of—

24 (A) Federal, State, or local agencies; and

25 (B) nonprofit organizations.
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1 (3) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT; VACANCIES.—

2 Members of the Council shall be appointed for a

3 term of 3 years. Any vacancy in the Council shall

4 not affect the powers of the Council, but shall be

5 made in the same manner as the initial appointment

6 was made.

7 (4) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 120

8 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the ini9 tial meeting of the Council shall be held at the call

10 of the Chairperson.

11 (c) DUTIES OF THE COUNCIL.—The Council shall

12 recommend policies to the Director concerning—

13 (1) research and data collection undertaken by

14 the Survey;

15 (2) methods of improving coordination with re16 search entities outside of the Department;

17 (3) establishing and maintaining systems for

18 managing information collected by the Survey;

19 (4) making the information collected by the

20 Survey available to other Federal, State, and local

21 agencies and nonprofit organizations;

22 (5) quality control functions;

23 (6) scientific trends related to the activities of

24 the Survey;
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1 (7) the financial and technical needs of the Sur2 vey;

3 (8) providing the financial and technical assist4 ance referred to in subparagraphs (J) and (K) of

5 section 101(b)(1);

6 (9) ensuring that the agenda of the Survey fully

7 reflects critical biological resource concerns of the

8 United States; and

9 (10) developing collaborative relationships for

10 biological science with Federal, State, and local

11 agencies and nonprofit organizations.

12 (d) REPORTS.—The Chairperson of the Council shall

13 prepare and submit to the Director such reports as the

14 Director determines appropriate to assist the Director in

15 carrying out this Act.

16 (e) COMPENSATION.—Members of the Council shall

17 serve without compensation, except that while away from

18 home or a regular place of business, each member who

19 is not otherwise employed by the Federal Government may

20 be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of

21 subsistence, as authorized by section 5703 of title 5, Unit22 ed States Code, for persons employed intermittently in

23 Government service.
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1 SEC. 104. NATIONAL BIOLOGICAL SURVEY POLICY BOARD.

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish

3 a policy board to be known as the ‘‘National Biological

4 Survey Policy Board’’.

5 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Secretary shall appoint the

6 members of the Board, including a Chairperson. The Sec7 retary shall appoint 1 senior representative of each of the

8 bureaus of the Department to serve on the Board. The

9 Secretary may appoint members from other Federal agen10 cies to serve on the Board.

11 (c) DUTIES OF THE BOARD.—The Board shall—

12 (1) offer guidance to the Survey concerning the

13 potential effects of biological science on policies car14 ried out by the Survey; and

15 (2) identify priorities for the Survey in order to

16 facilitate the production of data that is useful for re17 source managers.

18 SEC. 105. DONATIONS.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through the

20 Director, is authorized to accept for use by the Survey—

21 (1) lands, buildings, equipment, and other con22 tributions, either cash or in-kind, from public and

23 private sources, and to carry out projects in coopera24 tion with other Federal, State, or local agencies and

25 private organizations; and
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1 (2) the services of individuals or entities, with2 out compensation (except that the Secretary, acting

3 through the Director, may provide for the incidental

4 expenses of volunteers, including transportation,

5 lodging, and subsistence).

6 (b) VOLUNTEERS.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para8 graph (2), a volunteer who provides services pursu9 ant to subsection (a)(2) shall not be deemed a Fed10 eral employee, and shall not be subject to the provi11 sions of law relating to Federal employment.

12 (2) EXCEPTION.—For the purposes of section

13 1346(b) and chapter 171 of title 28, United States

14 Code, a volunteer under this subsection shall be con15 sidered a Federal employee.

16 SEC. 106. WETLANDS INVENTORY.

17 Notwithstanding section 401(a) of the Emergency

18 Wetlands Resources Act of 1986 (16 U.S.C. 3931(a)), the

19 Secretary is authorized to act through the Director in car20 rying out the activities of the National Wetlands Inventory

21 Project referred to in such subsection.

22 SEC. 107. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

23 There are authorized to be appropriated to the De24 partment such funds as may be necessary to carry out

25 this Act.
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1 TITLE II—RESOURCE

2 MANAGEMENT TRAINING

3 SEC. 201. NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT TRAINING.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director is authorized to de5 velop and implement a program of natural resource man6 agement training for Federal, State, local, and private

7 natural resource managers and graduate students in insti8 tutions of higher education who wish to become natural

9 resource managers.

10 (b) CONTENTS OF TRAINING PROGRAMS.—The train11 ing programs shall include—

12 (1) techniques of collecting and maintaining

13 data concerning the distribution, abundance, health,

14 status, and trends of the living resources of the

15 United States;

16 (2) strategies for comprehensive ecosystem

17 management that respond to natural resource issues

18 in a timely and efficient manner; and

19 (3) other areas of training that the Director

20 considers appropriate.

21 SEC. 202. CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION CONCERN22 ING LOCATION OF CANDIDATE, THREAT23 ENED, OR ENDANGERED SPECIES.

24 (a) DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION.—Information

25 concerning the location of any candidate, threatened, or
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1 endangered species, as described in the Endangered Spe2 cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), may not be

3 made available to the public under subchapter II of chap4 ter 5 of title 5, United States Code, or under any other

5 provision of law, unless the Secretary determines that the

6 disclosure would—

7 (1) further the purposes of this Act or the En8 dangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et

9 seq.);

10 (2) not create a risk of harm to the species or

11 to the site at which the species is located; and

12 (3) not violate the terms of any confidentiality

13 agreement that was a basis for receiving the infor14 mation.

15 (b) REQUEST FOR DISCLOSURE BY GOVERNORS.—

16 Notwithstanding subsection (a), if the Governor of a State

17 submits a written request to the Secretary for the location

18 of a site within the State of the Governor in which a can19 didate, threatened, or endangered species is located, and

20 the request states—

21 (1) the specific site or area for which the Gov22 ernor is seeking information;

23 (2) the purpose for which the Governor is seek24 ing the information; and
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1 (3) a commitment by the Governor to protect

2 the confidentiality of the information to the extent

3 necessary to prevent harm or commercial exploi4 tation of the species or the site at which the species

5 is located,

6 the Secretary shall provide the Governor the requested in7 formation concerning the location of the species within the

8 State, unless the Secretary determines that the release

9 would violate the terms of a confidentiality agreement that

10 was a basis for receiving the information.

11 SEC. 203. ACCESS TO PRIVATE PROPERTY.

12 The Secretary may—

13 (1) enter into an agreement with an owner or

14 manager of private land or water to provide a basis

15 for the study of living resources on the land or

16 water; and

17 (2) as a condition of the access referred to in

18 paragraph (1), agree to indemnify and hold harmless

19 the owner or manager from all actions undertaken

20 as a part of or related to the study without regard

21 to the availability of appropriations for the purpose

22 referred to in this paragraph.

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