I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6583 

To authorize the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to seek compensation for injuries to trust resources and to use funds received as that 

compensation to restore, replace, or acquire equivalent resources, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 4, 2023 

Mr. THOMPSON of California (for himself, Mr. WITTMAN, Mr. 

KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. NORTON, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. 

HUFFMAN, Mr. NADLER, and Ms. MATSUI) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To authorize the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 

to seek compensation for injuries to trust resources and 

to use funds received as that compensation to restore, 

replace, or acquire equivalent resources, 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 ‘‘Refuge System Protec5 tion Act of 2023’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) DAMAGES.—The term ‘‘damages’’ means— 

4 (A) compensation for— 

5 (i)(I) the cost of replacing, restoring, 

6 or acquiring the equivalent of a system re7 source; and 

8 (II) the value of any significant loss of 

9 use of a system resource, pending— 

10 (aa) restoration or replacement 

11 of the system resource; or 

12 (bb) the acquisition of an equiva13 lent resource; or 

14 (ii) the value of a system resource, if 

15 the system resource cannot be replaced or 

16 restored; and 

17 (B) the cost of any relevant damage as18 sessment carried out pursuant to section 4(c). 

19 (2) RESPONSE COST.—The term ‘‘response 

20 cost’’ means the cost of any action carried out by 

21 the Secretary— 

22 (A) to prevent, minimize, or abate the de23 struction or loss of, or injury to, a system re24 source; 

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1 (B) to abate or minimize the imminent risk 

2 of any destruction, loss, or injury described in 

3 subparagraph (A); or 

4 (C) to monitor the ongoing effects of any 

5 incident causing any destruction, loss, or injury 

6 described in subparagraph (A). 

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

8 the Secretary of the Interior. 

9 (4) SYSTEM RESOURCE.—The term ‘‘system re10 source’’ means any living, nonliving, historical, cul11 tural, or archeological resource that is located within 

12 the boundaries of— 

13 (A) a unit of the National Wildlife Refuge 

14 System; 

15 (B) a unit of the National Fish Hatchery 

16 System; or 

17 (C) any other land or water managed by 

18 the Director of the United States Fish and 

19 Wildlife Service, including any land or water 

20 managed cooperatively with any other Federal 

21 or State agency. 

22 SEC. 3. ACTIONS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, at the re24 quest of the Secretary, may bring in the district court of 

25 the United States of appropriate jurisdiction— 

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1 (1) a civil action against any individual or enti2 ty that— 

3 (A) destroys, causes the loss of, or injures 

4 any system resource; or 

5 (B) causes the Secretary to carry out any 

6 action to prevent, minimize, or abate the de7 struction or loss of, or injury or risk to, any 

8 system resource; or 

9 (2) an in rem action against any instrumen10 tality (including a vessel, vehicle, aircraft, or other 

11 equipment or mechanism) that— 

12 (A) destroys, causes the loss of, or injures 

13 any system resource; or 

14 (B) causes the Secretary to carry out any 

15 action to prevent, minimize, or abate destruc16 tion or loss of, or injury or risk to, a system re17 source. 

18 (b) AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES.—It shall be an affirm19 ative defense in an action under subsection (a) that— 

20 (1) the applicable destruction or loss of, or in21 jury to, the system resource was caused by an other22 wise legal act or omission that occurred outside of 

23 the boundaries of the system resource; 

24 (2) the applicable destruction or loss of, or in25 jury to, the system resource was caused by an activVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Dec 10, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6583.IH H6583
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1 ity performed in accordance with Federal, State, or 

2 local law, regulation, or court order; 

3 (3) the applicable destruction or loss of, or in4 jury to, the system resource was caused solely by an 

5 act of God or an act of war; 

6 (4)(A) the applicable individual, entity, or in7 strumentality exercised due care; and 

8 (B) the applicable destruction or loss of, or in9 jury to, the system resource was caused solely by an 

10 act or omission of a third party, other than an em11 ployee or agent of the individual, entity, or instru12 mentality; or 

13 (5)(A) the applicable destruction or loss of, or 

14 injury to, the system resource was caused by an in15 dividual, entity, or instrumentality, including an em16 ployee or agent of the individual, entity, or instru17 mentality, acting in physical self-defense or defense 

18 of others against physical harm; and 

19 (B) the physical defense was— 

20 (i) reasonably necessary; 

21 (ii) without reasonable alternative; and 

22 (iii) not excessive under the circumstances. 

23 (c) DAMAGES.—In an action under subsection (a), 

24 the court may award response costs and damages resulting 

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1 from the applicable destruction or loss of, or injury to, 

2 the system resource. 

3 (d) DE MINIMIS THRESHOLD.—The Secretary may 

4 not make a request to the Attorney General under sub5 section (a) if the amount that could be awarded under sub6 section (c) relating to the cause of action would not exceed 

7 $5,000. 

8 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS FOR RESPONSE COSTS

9 AND DAMAGES.— 

10 (1) ACTION BY SECRETARY.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph 

12 (2), the Secretary, after making a finding de13 scribed in subparagraph (B), may consider, 

14 compromise, and settle a claim for response 

15 costs and damages if the claim has not been re16 ferred to the Attorney General under subsection 

17 (a). 

18 (B) DESCRIPTION OF FINDINGS.—A find19 ing referred to in subparagraph (A) is a finding 

20 that— 

21 (i) destruction or loss of, or injury to, 

22 a system resource has occurred; or 

23 (ii) that destruction, loss, or injury 

24 would occur absent an action by the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Dec 10, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6583.IH H6583
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1 retary to prevent, minimize, or abate the 

2 destruction, loss, or injury. 

3 (2) REQUIREMENT.—In any case in which the 

4 total amount to be recovered in an action under sub5 section (a) may exceed $500,000 (excluding inter6 est), a claim may be compromised and settled under 

7 paragraph (1) only with the prior written approval 

8 of the Attorney General. 

9 (f) RESPONSE ACTIONS, ASSESSMENTS OF DAMAGES, 

10 AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may carry out 

12 any necessary action (including making a request to 

13 the Attorney General to seek injunctive relief)— 

14 (A) to prevent, minimize, or abate the de15 struction or loss of, or injury to, a system re16 source; or 

17 (B) to abate or minimize the imminent risk 

18 of that destruction, loss, or injury. 

19 (2) ASSESSMENT AND MONITORING.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may as21 sess and monitor the destruction or loss of, or 

22 injury to, any system resource for purposes of 

23 paragraph (1). 

24 (B) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Any determina25 tion or assessment of damage to a system reVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Dec 10, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6583.IH H6583
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1 source carried out under subparagraph (A) 

2 shall be subject to judicial review under sub3 chapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 7, of title 

4 5, United States Code (commonly known as the 

5 ‘‘Administrative Procedure Act’’), on the basis 

6 of the administrative record developed by the 

7 Secretary. 

8 (g) SCOPE.—The liability established by this section 

9 shall be in addition to any other liability arising under 

10 Federal or State law. 

11 SEC. 4. USE OF RECOVERED AMOUNTS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Amounts of the response costs 

13 and damages recovered by the Secretary under this Act 

14 and any amounts recovered by the Federal Government 

15 under any provision of Federal, State, or local law or oth16 erwise as a result of the destruction or loss of, or injury 

17 to, any system resource shall be credited as discretionary 

18 offsetting collections to the Construction account of the 

19 United States Fish and Wildlife Service for use in accord20 ance with subsection (b), and shall be made available for 

21 such purposes only to the extent and in the amounts pro22 vided in advance in appropriations Acts. 

23 (b) USE.—The Secretary may only use amounts 

24 made available under subsection (a)— 

25 (1) to reimburse expenditures incurred for— 

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1 (A) response costs; 

2 (B) damage assessments; 

3 (C) remediation action planning costs; or 

4 (D) other activities the Secretary deter5 mines to be necessary to respond to, assess, and 

6 remediate damages to a system resource; 

7 (2) to restore, replace, or acquire the equivalent 

8 of a system resource that was destroyed, lost, or in9 jured; or 

10 (3) to monitor and study the recovery of a sys11 tem resource that was destroyed, lost, or injured. 

12 (c) ALLOCATION.—The Secretary shall— 

13 (1) allocate for use under subsection (b) the 

14 amount of response costs and damages recovered 

15 with respect to each system resource and made 

16 available under subsection (a) to the unit, land, or 

17 water described in section 2(4) within which the sys18 tem resource was located at the time of the destruc19 tion, loss, or injury; and 

20 (2) after the allocation under paragraph (1), al21 locate any remaining amounts for such use under 

22 subsection (b) as the Secretary determines to be ap23 propriate. 

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1 SEC. 5. DONATIONS. 

2 (a) ACCEPTANCE OF MONETARY DONATIONS AND

3 SERVICES.—Subject to subsection (b), the Secretary may 

4 accept donations of money or services to meet expected, 

5 immediate, or ongoing response costs and damages. 

6 (b) USE OF MONETARY DONATIONS.—Amounts ac7 cepted under subsection (a) shall be credited as discre8 tionary offsetting collections to the Construction account 

9 of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service for meeting 

10 such expected, immediate, or ongoing response costs and 

11 damages, and shall be made available for such purposes 

12 only to the extent and in the amounts provided in advance 

13 in appropriations Acts. 

14 SEC. 6. STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION WITH RESPECT TO 

15 ALASKA. 

16 If any conflict arises between any provision of this 

17 Act and any provision of the Alaska National Interest 

18 Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.), then 

19 the provision in such Act shall control. 

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