I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4284 

To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to encourage greater State 

input and authority over species and habitat management by allowing 

States to propose and implement State Protective Action before species 

are listed under that Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 24, 2014 

Mr. NEUGEBAUER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to encourage 

greater State input and authority over species and habitat management by allowing States to propose and implement State Protective Action before species are listed 

under that Act, 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 ‘‘ESA Improvement Act 

5 of 2014’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ENDANGERED AND THREATENED SPECIES STATE 

2 PROTECTIVE ACTIONS. 

3 Section 4(c) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

4 (16 U.S.C. 1533(c)) is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (1), in the first sentence, by 

6 striking ‘‘The Secretary shall’’ and inserting ‘‘Ex7 cept as provided in paragraph (3), the Secretary 

8 shall’’; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(3) STATE PROTECTIVE ACTION.— 

11 ‘‘(A) EXCLUSION FROM LISTS.—The Sec12 retary shall not include in a list under this sub13 section any population of a species in a State 

14 if the Secretary has approved a State Protective 

15 Action for such population in accordance with 

16 this paragraph. 

17 ‘‘(B) PUBLICATION OF NOTICE.—Not later 

18 than 90 days before proposing to add a species 

19 to a list under this subsection, the Secretary 

20 shall notify each State in which a population of 

21 the species occurs of the opportunity to submit 

22 to the Secretary a proposed State Protective 

23 Action for the species in that State, including 

24 specification of the criteria for approval of such 

25 an action under this paragraph. 


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1 ‘‘(C) SUBMISSION BY STATE.—Each State 

2 notified under subparagraph (B), or group of 

3 such States, may submit to the Secretary a pro4 posed State Protective Action for the species in 

5 such State or States within the period specified 

6 by the Secretary for the submission of public 

7 comment regarding the inclusion of the species 

8 in the list. 

9 ‘‘(D) GUIDANCE TO STATES.—During 

10 preparation of a proposed State Protective Ac11 tion under subparagraph (A), the Secretary 

12 shall provide guidance to the State regarding 

13 such preparation. 

14 ‘‘(E) APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL; RESUB15 MISSION.—The Secretary shall— 

16 ‘‘(i) approve or disapprove a proposed 

17 State Protective Action by not later than 

18 45 days after the date it is submitted; 

19 ‘‘(ii) approve such an action if the 

20 Secretary determines that it meets the cri21 teria specified for approval in the notifica22 tion under subparagraph (B); 

23 ‘‘(iii) upon disapproving such an ac24 tion— 


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1 ‘‘(I) provide the written com2 ments explaining specifically why the 

3 action was not approved; 

4 ‘‘(II) allow the proposed action to 

5 be resubmitted at any time before the 

6 end of the 45-day period beginning on 

7 the date the Secretary provides such 

8 comments; and 

9 ‘‘(III) by not later than 30 days 

10 after the end of such period, issue a 

11 final decision regarding the proposed 

12 action. 

13 ‘‘(F) LIMITATION ON FINAL LISTING.— 

14 The Secretary may not add a population of a 

15 species to a list before the date the Secretary 

16 has made a final determination regarding ap17 proval of each State Protective Action for such 

18 population that has been submitted in accord19 ance with this paragraph. 

20 ‘‘(G) QUALIFICATION FOR GRANTS.—For 

21 purposes of subsection (d), a State Protective 

22 Action approved by the Secretary under this 

23 paragraph shall be treated as a cooperative 

24 agreement entered into pursuant to this sub25 section. 


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1 ‘‘(H) REVIEW OF PLANS.—Every 5 years 

2 after approving a State Protective Action, the 

3 Secretary shall review the implementation and 

4 effectiveness of the action, and if necessary pro5 vide guidance on improvements or revisions that 

6 are required to maintain the Secretary’s ap7 proval of the action. 

8 ‘‘(I) REVOCATION OF APPROVAL.—The 

9 Secretary may revoke approval of a State Pro10 tective Action for a population and propose 

11 adding such species to a list under this sub12 section if at any time after completion of the 

13 first review under subparagraph (H) the Sec14 retary determines that— 

15 ‘‘(i) the State has failed to implement 

16 the action; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) the action has failed to make 

18 measurable progress toward achieving the 

19 recovery criteria for the population. 

20 ‘‘(J) TERMINATION.—The Secretary may 

21 terminate the effectiveness of a State Protective 

22 Action approved under this paragraph, includ23 ing review regarding the action under subpara24 graph (H), if the Secretary determines that reVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:51 Mar 25, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4284.IH H4284

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1 covery criteria for the population have been 

2 achieved.’’. 

Æ 


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