I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 518 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to refine the Department of the 

Interior program for providing assistance for the conservation of 

neotropical migratory birds. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 2, 2005 

Mr. KIND (for himself and Mr. GILCHREST) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Resources 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to refine the Department of the Interior program for providing assistance 

for the conservation of neotropical migratory birds. 

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 ‘‘Neotropical Migratory 

5 Bird Conservation Improvement Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO NEOTROPICAL MIGRATORY BIRD 

7 CONSERVATION ACT. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Section 2(1) of the Neotropical Mi9 gratory Bird Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 6101(1)) is 
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1 amended by inserting ‘‘but breed in Canada and the 

2 United States’’ after ‘‘the Caribbean’’. 

3 (b) PURPOSES.—Section 3(2) of the Neotropical Mi4 gratory Bird Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 6102(2)) is 

5 amended by inserting ‘‘Canada,’’ after ‘‘United States,’’. 

6 (c) DEFINITION OF CARIBBEAN.—Section 4 of the 

7 Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act is amended 

8 by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) in order or para9 graphs (3) and (4), and by inserting paragraph (1) the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(2) CARIBBEAN.—The term ‘Caribbean’ in12 cludes Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Is13 lands’’. 

14 (d) COST SHARING.—Section 5(e) of the Neotropical 

15 Migratory Bird Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 6104(e)) is 

16 amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘25 percent’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘50 percent’’; and 

19 (2) in paragraph (2) by amending subpara20 graph (B) to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘(B) FORM OF PAYMENT.— 

22 ‘‘(i) PROJECTS IN THE UNITED

23 STATES AND CANADA.—The non-Federal 

24 share required to be paid for a project car-
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1 ried out in the United States or Canada 

2 shall be paid in cash. 

3 ‘‘(ii) PROJECTS IN LATIN AMERICA

4 AND THE CARIBBEAN.—The non-Federal 

5 share required to be paid for a project car6 ried out in Latin America or the Caribbean 

7 may be paid in cash or in kind.’’. 

8 (e) ADVISORY GROUP.— 

9 (1) REQUIREMENT TO CONVENE.—Section 

10 7(b)(1) of the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conserva11 tion Act (16 U.S.C. 6106(b)(1)) is amended by 

12 striking ‘‘may’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’. 

13 (2) DEADLINE.—The Secretary of the Interior 

14 shall convene an advisory group pursuant to the 

15 amendment made by paragraph (1) by not later 

16 than 6 months after the effective date of this Act. 

17 Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, the sched18 ule previously established by the United States Fish 

19 and Wildlife Service for the submission, judging, and 

20 awarding of grants shall not be delayed by virtue of 

21 the convening of the advisory group. 

22 (3) COMPOSITION.—The advisory group as a 

23 whole shall have expertise in the methods and proce24 dures set forth in section 4(2) of the Neotropical Mi25 gratory Bird Conservation Act (16 U.S.C 6103(2)) 
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1 in each country and region of the Western Hemi2 sphere. 

3 (4) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—The 

4 provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the advisory com6 mittee required by the amendment made by para7 graph (1). 

8 (f) REPORT.—Section 8 of the Neotropical Migratory 

9 Bird Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 6107) is amended by 

10 striking ‘‘October 1, 2002,’’ and inserting ‘‘2 years after 

11 the date of the enactment of the Neotropical Migratory 

12 Bird Conservation Improvement Act of 2005’’. 

13 (g) NEOTROPICAL MIGRATORY BIRD CONSERVATION

14 FUND.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 9 of the Neotropical 

16 Migratory Bird Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 6108) 

17 is amended by striking so much as precedes sub18 section (c) and inserting the following: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 9. NEOTROPICAL MIGRATORY BIRD CONSERVATION 

20 FUND. 

21 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

22 Treasury a separate account, which shall be known as the 

23 ‘Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Fund’. The 

24 Fund shall consist of amounts deposited into the Fund 

25 by the Secretary of the Treasury under subsection (b). 
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1 ‘‘(b) DEPOSITS INTO THE FUND.—The Secretary of 

2 the Treasury shall deposit into the Fund— 

3 ‘‘(1) all amounts received by the Secretary in 

4 the form of donations under subsection (d); and 

5 ‘‘(2) other amounts appropriated to the Fund.’’. 

6 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Section 

7 9(c)(2) of the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conserva8 tion Act (16 U.S.C. 6108(c)(2)) is amended by 

9 striking ‘$80,000’ and inserting ‘$150,000’. 

10 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The 

11 Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act is 

12 amended as follows: 

13 (A) In section 4 (16 U.S.C. 6103), by 

14 striking paragraph (1) and inserting the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(1) FUND.—The term ‘Fund’ means the 

17 Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Fund es18 tablished by section 9(a).’’. 

19 (B) In section 9(d) (16 U.S.C. 6108(d)), 

20 by striking ‘‘Account’’ and inserting ‘‘Fund’’. 

21 (4) TRANSFER.—The Secretary of the Treasury 

22 may transfer to the Neotropical Migratory Bird Con23 servation Fund amounts that were in the 

24 Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Account 

25 immediately before the enactment of this Act. 
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1 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

2 10 of the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act 

3 (16 U.S.C. 6109) is amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro6 priated to the Fund to carry out this Act the following 

7 amounts: 

8 ‘‘(1) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2006. 

9 ‘‘(2) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2007. 

10 ‘‘(3) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2008. 

11 ‘‘(4) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2009. 

12 ‘‘(b) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated under 

13 this section may remain available until expended. 

14 ‘‘(c) ALLOCATION.—Of amounts appropriated under 

15 this section for each fiscal year, not less than 75 percent 

16 shall be expended for projects carried out outside the 

17 United States. 

18 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON EXPENDITURES FOR PROJECTS

19 IN CANADA.—Amounts appropriated under this section 

20 for a fiscal year may not be used for any project in Canada 

21 unless the amount available to carry out this Act for that 

22 fiscal year is greater than $10,000,000.’’. 

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