Calendar No. 279

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1287

[Report No. 105–142]

A BILL

To assist in the conservation of Asian elephants by

of Asian elephants.with demonstrated expertise in the conservationrange of Asian elephants and projects of personsthe conservation programs of nations within thesupporting and providing financial resources for

NOVEMBER 7, 1997

Reported with an amendment
II

Calendar No. 279

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1287

[Report No. 105–142]

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 (for himself, Mr. CHAFEE, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. MACK, Mr.

SANTORUM, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. WELLSTONE, Mr. KERRY,

Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. REID, Mr. CRAIG, Mr. BOND, and Mr. TORRICELLI)

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the

Committee on Environment and Public Works

NOVEMBER 7, 1997

Reported by Mr. CHAFEE, with an amendment

[Insert the part printed in italic]

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.
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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:

8 (1) Asian elephant populations in nations with9 in the range of Asian elephants have continued to

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

11 the species in the wild is in serious jeopardy.

12 (2) The Asian elephant is listed as an endan13 gered species under section 4 of the Endangered

14 Species Act of 1973 and under appendix I of the

15 Convention on International Trade in Endangered

16 Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

17 (3) Because the challenges facing the conserva18 tion of Asian elephants are so great, resources to

19 date have not been sufficient to cope with the con20 tinued loss of habitat and the consequent diminution

21 of Asian elephant populations.

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

23 the conservation of tropical forest habitats in which

24 it is found and provides the consequent benefit from
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1 such conservation to numerous other species of wild2 life including many other endangered species.

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

4 addition to habitat loss are population fragmenta5 tion, human-elephant conflict, poaching for ivory,

6 meat, hide, bones and teeth, and capture for domes7 tication.

8 (6) To reduce, remove, or otherwise effectively

9 address these threats to the long-term viability of

10 populations of Asian elephants in the wild will re11 quire the joint commitment and effort of nations

12 within the range of Asian elephants, the United

13 States and other countries, and the private sector.

14 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

15 The purposes of this Act are the following:

16 (1) To perpetuate healthy populations of Asian

17 elephants.

18 (2) To assist in the conservation and protection

19 of Asian elephants by supporting the conservation

20 programs of Asian elephant range states and the

21 CITES Secretariat.

22 (3) To provide financial resources for those pro23 grams.

24 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

25 In this Act:
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1 (1) The term ‘‘CITES’’ means the Convention

2 on International Trade in Endangered Species of

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

4 and its appendices.

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

6 methods and procedures necessary to bring Asian

7 elephants to the point at which there are sufficient

8 populations in the wild to ensure that the species

9 does not become extinct, including all activities asso10 ciated with scientific resource management, such as

11 conservation, protection, restoration, acquisition, and

12 management of habitat; research and monitoring of

13 known populations; assistance in the development of

14 management plans for managed elephant ranges;

15 CITES enforcement; law enforcement through com16 munity participation; translocation of elephants; con17 flict resolution initiatives; and community outreach

18 and education.

19 (3) The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Asian Ele20 phant Conservation Fund established under section

21 6(a).

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

23 of the Interior.
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1 (5) The term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad2 ministrator of the Agency for International Develop3 ment.

4 SEC. 5. ASIAN ELEPHANT CONSERVATION ASSISTANCE.

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

6 availability of funds and in consultation with the Adminis7 trator, shall use amounts in the Fund to provide financial

8 assistance for projects for the conservation of Asian ele9 phants for which final project proposals are approved by

10 the Secretary in accordance with this section.

11 (b) PROJECT PROPOSAL.—Any relevant wildlife man12 agement authority of a nation within the range of Asian

13 elephants whose activities directly or indirectly affect

14 Asian elephant populations, the CITES Secretariat, or

15 any person with demonstrated expertise in the conserva16 tion of Asian elephants, may submit to the Secretary a

17 project proposal under this section. Each proposal shall

18 include the following:

19 (1) The name of the individual responsible for

20 conducting the project.

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

22 project.

23 (3) A description of the qualifications of the in24 dividuals who will conduct the project.
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1 (4) An estimate of the funds and time required

2 to complete the project.

3 (5) Evidence of support of the project by appro4 priate governmental entities of countries in which

5 the project will be conducted, if the Secretary deter6 mines that the support is required for the success of

7 the project.

8 (6) Information regarding the source and

9 amount of matching funding available to the appli10 cant.

11 (7) Any other information the Secretary consid12 ers to be necessary for evaluating the eligibility of

13 the project for funding under this Act.

14 (c) PROJECT REVIEW AND APPROVAL.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Within 30 days after receiv16 ing a final project proposal, the Secretary shall pro17 vide a copy of the proposal to the Administrator.

18 The Secretary shall review each final project pro19 posal to determine if it meets the criteria set forth

20 in subsection (d).

21 (2) CONSULTATION; APPROVAL OR DIS22 APPROVAL.—Not later than 6 months after receiving

23 a final project proposal, and subject to the availabil24 ity of funds, the Secretary, after consulting with the

25 Administrator, shall—
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1 (A) request written comments on the pro2 posal from each country within which the

3 project is to be conducted;

4 (B) after requesting those comments, ap5 prove or disapprove the proposal; and

6 (C) provide written notification of that ap7 proval or disapproval to the person who submit8 ted the proposal, the Administrator, and each

9 of those countries.

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

11 approve a final project proposal under this section if the

12 project will enhance programs for conservation of Asian

13 elephants by assisting efforts to—

14 (1) implement conservation programs;

15 (2) address the conflicts between humans and

16 elephants that arise from competition for the same

17 habitat;

18 (3) enhance compliance with provisions of

19 CITES and laws of the United States or a foreign

20 country that prohibit or regulate the taking or trade

21 of Asian elephants or regulate the use and manage22 ment of Asian elephant habitat;

23 (4) develop sound scientific information on the

24 condition of Asian elephant habitat, Asian elephant
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1 population numbers and trends, or the threats to

2 such habitat, numbers, or trends; or

3 (5) promote cooperative projects on those topics

4 with other foreign governments, affected local com5 munities, nongovernmental organizations, or others

6 in the private sector.

7 (e) PROJECT SUSTAINABILITY.—To the maximum

8 extent practical, in determining whether to approve project

9 proposals under this section, the Secretary shall give con10 sideration to projects which will enhance sustainable inte11 grated conservation development programs to ensure ef12 fective, long-term conservation of Asian elephants.

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

14 assistance under this section for a project shall provide

15 periodic reports, as the Secretary considers necessary, to

16 the Secretary and the Administrator. Each report shall in17 clude all information required by the Secretary, after con18 sulting with the Administrator, for evaluating the progress

19 and success of the project.

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

21 approve project proposals under this section, the Secretary

22 shall give priority to those projects for which there exists

23 some measure of matching funds.

24 (h) LIMITATION ON USE FOR CAPTIVE BREEDING.—

25 Amounts provided as a grant under this Act may not be
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1 used for captive breeding of Asian elephants other than for

2 release in the wild.

3 SEC. 6. ASIAN ELEPHANT CONSERVATION FUND.

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

5 general fund of the Treasury a separate account to be

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

7 shall consist of amounts deposited into the Fund by the

8 Secretary of the Treasury under subsection (b).

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

10 the Treasury shall deposit into the Fund—

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

12 form of donations under subsection (d); and

13 (2) other amounts appropriated to the Fund.

14 (c) USE.—

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

16 the Secretary may use amounts in the Fund without

17 further appropriation to provide assistance under

18 section 5.

19 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—Of amounts in the

20 Fund available for each fiscal year, the Secretary

21 may use not more than 3 percent to administer the

22 Fund.

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

24 Secretary may accept and use donations to provide assist25 ance under section 5. Amounts received by the Secretary
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1 in the form of donations shall be transferred to the Sec2 retary of the Treasury for deposit into the Fund.

3 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

4 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Fund

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

6 2001, and 2002 to carry out this Act, which may remain

7 available until expended.