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105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1287

To assist in the conservation of Asian elephants by supporting and providing

financial resources for the conservation programs of nations within the

range of Asian elephants and projects of persons with demonstrated

expertise in the conservation of Asian elephants.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 9, 1997

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

referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

A BILL

To assist in the conservation of Asian elephants by supporting and providing financial resources for the conservation

programs of nations within the range of Asian elephants

and projects of persons with demonstrated expertise in

the conservation of Asian elephants.

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 ‘‘Asian Elephant Con5 servation Act of 1997’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:
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1 (1) Asian elephant populations in nations with2 in the range of Asian elephants have continued to

3 decline to the point that the long-term survival of

4 the species in the wild is in serious jeopardy.

5 (2) The Asian elephant is listed as an endan6 gered species under section 4 of the Endangered

7 Species Act of 1973 and under appendix I of the

8 Convention on International Trade in Endangered

9 Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

10 (3) Because the challenges facing the conserva11 tion of Asian elephants are so great, resources to

12 date have not been sufficient to cope with the con13 tinued loss of habitat and the consequent diminution

14 of Asian elephant populations.

15 (4) The Asian elephant is a flagship species for

16 the conservation of tropical forest habitats in which

17 it is found and provides the consequent benefit from

18 such conservation to numerous other species of wild19 life including many other endangered species.

20 (5) Among the threats to the Asian elephant in

21 addition to habitat loss are population fragmenta22 tion, human-elephant conflict, poaching for ivory,

23 meat, hide, bones and teeth, and capture for domes24 tication.
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1 (6) To reduce, remove, or otherwise effectively

2 address these threats to the long-term viability of

3 populations of Asian elephants in the wild will re4 quire the joint commitment and effort of nations

5 within the range of Asian elephants, the United

6 States and other countries, and the private sector.

7 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

8 The purposes of this Act are the following:

9 (1) To perpetuate healthy populations of Asian

10 elephants.

11 (2) To assist in the conservation and protection

12 of Asian elephants by supporting the conservation

13 programs of Asian elephant range states and the

14 CITES Secretariat.

15 (3) To provide financial resources for those pro16 grams.

17 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

18 In this Act:

19 (1) The term ‘‘CITES’’ means the Convention

20 on International Trade in Endangered Species of

21 Wild Fauna and Flora, signed on March 3, 1973,

22 and its appendices.

23 (2) The term ‘‘conservation’’ means the use of

24 methods and procedures necessary to bring Asian

25 elephants to the point at which there are sufficient
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1 populations in the wild to ensure that the species

2 does not become extinct, including all activities asso3 ciated with scientific resource management, such as

4 conservation, protection, restoration, acquisition, and

5 management of habitat; research and monitoring of

6 known populations; assistance in the development of

7 management plans for managed elephant ranges;

8 CITES enforcement; law enforcement through com9 munity participation; translocation of elephants; con10 flict resolution initiatives; and community outreach

11 and education.

12 (3) The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Asian Ele13 phant Conservation Fund established under section

14 6(a).

15 (4) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

16 of the Interior.

17 (5) The term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad18 ministrator of the Agency for International Develop19 ment.

20 SEC. 5. ASIAN ELEPHANT CONSERVATION ASSISTANCE.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, subject to the

22 availability of funds and in consultation with the Adminis23 trator, shall use amounts in the Fund to provide financial

24 assistance for projects for the conservation of Asian ele-
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1 phants for which final project proposals are approved by

2 the Secretary in accordance with this section.

3 (b) PROJECT PROPOSAL.—Any relevant wildlife man4 agement authority of a nation within the range of Asian

5 elephants whose activities directly or indirectly affect

6 Asian elephant populations, the CITES Secretariat, or

7 any person with demonstrated expertise in the conserva8 tion of Asian elephants, may submit to the Secretary a

9 project proposal under this section. Each proposal shall

10 include the following:

11 (1) The name of the individual responsible for

12 conducting the project.

13 (2) A succinct statement of the purposes of the

14 project.

15 (3) A description of the qualifications of the in16 dividuals who will conduct the project.

17 (4) An estimate of the funds and time required

18 to complete the project.

19 (5) Evidence of support of the project by appro20 priate governmental entities of countries in which

21 the project will be conducted, if the Secretary deter22 mines that the support is required for the success of

23 the project.
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1 (6) Information regarding the source and

2 amount of matching funding available to the appli3 cant.

4 (7) Any other information the Secretary consid5 ers to be necessary for evaluating the eligibility of

6 the project for funding under this Act.

7 (c) PROJECT REVIEW AND APPROVAL.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Within 30 days after receiv9 ing a final project proposal, the Secretary shall pro10 vide a copy of the proposal to the Administrator.

11 The Secretary shall review each final project pro12 posal to determine if it meets the criteria set forth

13 in subsection (d).

14 (2) CONSULTATION; APPROVAL OR DIS15 APPROVAL.—Not later than 6 months after receiving

16 a final project proposal, and subject to the availabil17 ity of funds, the Secretary, after consulting with the

18 Administrator, shall—

19 (A) request written comments on the pro20 posal from each country within which the

21 project is to be conducted;

22 (B) after requesting those comments, ap23 prove or disapprove the proposal; and

24 (C) provide written notification of that ap25 proval or disapproval to the person who submit-
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1 ted the proposal, the Administrator, and each

2 of those countries.

3 (d) CRITERIA FOR APPROVAL.—The Secretary may

4 approve a final project proposal under this section if the

5 project will enhance programs for conservation of Asian

6 elephants by assisting efforts to—

7 (1) implement conservation programs;

8 (2) address the conflicts between humans and

9 elephants that arise from competition for the same

10 habitat;

11 (3) enhance compliance with provisions of

12 CITES and laws of the United States or a foreign

13 country that prohibit or regulate the taking or trade

14 of Asian elephants or regulate the use and manage15 ment of Asian elephant habitat;

16 (4) develop sound scientific information on the

17 condition of Asian elephant habitat, Asian elephant

18 population numbers and trends, or the threats to

19 such habitat, numbers, or trends; or

20 (5) promote cooperative projects on those topics

21 with other foreign governments, affected local com22 munities, nongovernmental organizations, or others

23 in the private sector.

24 (e) PROJECT SUSTAINABILITY.—To the maximum

25 extent practical, in determining whether to approve project
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1 proposals under this section, the Secretary shall give con2 sideration to projects which will enhance sustainable inte3 grated conservation development programs to ensure ef4 fective, long-term conservation of Asian elephants.

5 (f) PROJECT REPORTING.—Each person who receives

6 assistance under this section for a project shall provide

7 periodic reports, as the Secretary considers necessary, to

8 the Secretary and the Administrator. Each report shall in9 clude all information required by the Secretary, after con10 sulting with the Administrator, for evaluating the progress

11 and success of the project.

12 (g) MATCHING FUNDS.—In determining whether to

13 approve project proposals under this section, the Secretary

14 shall give priority to those projects for which there exists

15 some measure of matching funds.

16 SEC. 6. ASIAN ELEPHANT CONSERVATION FUND.

17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the

18 general fund of the Treasury a separate account to be

19 known as the ‘‘Asian Elephant Conservation Fund’’, which

20 shall consist of amounts deposited into the Fund by the

21 Secretary of the Treasury under subsection (b).

22 (b) DEPOSITS INTO THE FUND.—The Secretary of

23 the Treasury shall deposit into the Fund—

24 (1) all amounts received by the Secretary in the

25 form of donations under subsection (d); and
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1 (2) other amounts appropriated to the Fund.

2 (c) USE.—

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),

4 the Secretary may use amounts in the Fund without

5 further appropriation to provide assistance under

6 section 5.

7 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—Of amounts in the

8 Fund available for each fiscal year, the Secretary

9 may use not more than 3 percent to administer the

10 Fund.

11 (d) ACCEPTANCE AND USE OF DONATIONS.—The

12 Secretary may accept and use donations to provide assist13 ance under section 5. Amounts received by the Secretary

14 in the form of donations shall be transferred to the Sec15 retary of the Treasury for deposit into the Fund.

16 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

17 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Fund

18 $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1998, 1999, 2000,

19 2001, and 2002 to carry out this Act, which may remain

20 available until expended.

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