II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2560 

To authorize the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to seek compensation for injuries to trust resources and use those funds to restore, 

replace, or acquire equivalent resources, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 26, 2014 

Mr. CARDIN (by request) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To authorize the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 

to seek compensation for injuries to trust resources and 

use those funds 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 ‘‘United States Fish 

5 and Wildlife Service Resource Protection Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

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


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1 (A) compensation for— 

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

3 or acquiring the equivalent of a system re4 source; and 

5 (II) the value of any significant loss of 

6 use of a system resource, pending— 

7 (aa) restoration or replacement 

8 of the system resource; or 

9 (bb) the acquisition of an equiva10 lent resource; or 

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

12 the system resource cannot be replaced or 

13 restored; and 

14 (B) the cost of any relevant damage as15 sessment carried out pursuant to section 4(c). 

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

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

18 the Secretary— 

19 (A) to prevent, minimize, or abate destruc20 tion or loss of, or injury to, a system resource; 

21 (B) to abate or minimize the imminent risk 

22 of such destruction, loss, or injury; or 

23 (C) to monitor the ongoing effects of any 

24 incident causing such destruction, loss, or in25 jury. 


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

2 the Secretary of the Interior. 

3 (4) SYSTEM RESOURCE.—The term ‘‘system re4 source’’ means any living, nonliving, historical, cul5 tural, or archeological resource that is located within 

6 the boundaries of— 

7 (A) a unit of the National Wildlife Refuge 

8 System; 

9 (B) a unit of the National Fish Hatchery 

10 System; or 

11 (C) any other land managed by the United 

12 States Fish and Wildlife Service, including any 

13 land managed cooperatively with any other Fed14 eral or State agency. 

15 SEC. 3. LIABILITY. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (c), any in17 dividual or entity that destroys, causes the loss of, or in18 jures any system resource, or that causes the Secretary 

19 to carry out any action to prevent, minimize, or abate de20 struction or loss of, or injuries or risk to, any system re21 source, shall be liable to the United States for any re22 sponse costs or damages resulting from the destruction, 

23 loss, or injury. 

24 (b) LIABILITY IN REM.—Any instrumentality (includ25 ing a vessel, vehicle, aircraft, or other equipment or mechVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:27 Jul 09, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2560.IS S2560

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1 anism) that destroys, causes the loss of, or injures any 

2 system resource, or that causes the Secretary to carry out 

3 any action to prevent, minimize, or abate destruction or 

4 loss of, or injury or risk to, a system resource shall be 

5 liable in rem to the United States for any response costs 

6 or damages resulting from the destruction, loss, or injury, 

7 to the same extent that an individual or entity is liable 

8 under subsection (a). 

9 (c) DEFENSES.—An individual or entity shall not be 

10 liable under this section, if the individual or entity can 

11 establish that— 

12 (1) the destruction or loss of, or injury to, the 

13 system resource was caused solely by an act of God 

14 or an act of war; or 

15 (2)(A) the individual or entity exercised due 

16 care; and 

17 (B) the destruction or loss of, or injury to, the 

18 system resource was caused solely by an act or omis19 sion of a third party, other than an employee or 

20 agent of the individual or entity. 

21 (d) SCOPE.—The liability established by this section 

22 shall be in addition to any other liability arising under 

23 Federal or State law. 


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1 SEC. 4. ACTIONS. 

2 (a) CIVIL ACTIONS FOR RESPONSE COSTS AND DAM3 AGES.—The Attorney General, on request of the Sec4 retary, may commence a civil action in the United States 

5 district court of appropriate jurisdiction against any indi6 vidual, entity, or instrumentality that may be liable under 

7 section 3 for response costs or damages. 

8 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS FOR RESPONSE

9 COSTS 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) such destruction, loss, or injury 

24 would occur absent an action by the Sec25 retary to prevent, minimize, or abate the 

26 destruction, loss, or injury. 


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

2 total amount to be recovered in a civil action under 

3 subsection (a) may exceed $500,000 (excluding in4 terest), a claim may be compromised and settled 

5 under paragraph (1) only with the prior written ap6 proval of the Attorney General. 

7 (c) RESPONSE ACTIONS, ASSESSMENTS OF DAM8 AGES, AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.— 

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

10 all necessary actions (including making a request to 

11 the Attorney General to seek injunctive relief)— 

12 (A) to prevent, minimize, or abate destruc13 tion or loss of, or injury to, a system resource; 

14 or 

15 (B) to abate or minimize the imminent risk 

16 of such destruction, loss, or injury. 

17 (2) ASSESSMENT AND MONITORING.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may as19 sess and monitor the destruction or loss of, or 

20 injury to, any system resource for purposes of 

21 paragraph (1). 

22 (B) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Any determina23 tion or assessment of damage to a system re24 source carried out under subparagraph (A) 

25 shall be subject to judicial review under subVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:27 Jul 09, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2560.IS S2560

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1 chapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 7, of title 

2 5, United States Code (commonly known as the 

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

4 of the administrative record developed by the 

5 Secretary. 

6 SEC. 5. USE OF RECOVERED AMOUNTS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—An amount equal to the total 

8 amount of the response costs and damages recovered by 

9 the Secretary under this Act and any amounts recovered 

10 by the Federal Government under any provision of Fed11 eral, State, or local law (including regulations) or other12 wise as a result of the destruction or loss of, or injury 

13 to, any system resource shall be made available to the Sec14 retary, without further appropriation, for use in accord15 ance with subsection (b). 

16 (b) USE.—The Secretary may use amounts made 

17 available under subsection (a) only, in accordance with ap18 plicable law— 

19 (1) to reimburse response costs and damage as20 sessments carried out pursuant to this Act by the 

21 Secretary or such other Federal agency as the Sec22 retary determines to be appropriate; 

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

24 of a system resource that was destroyed, lost, or in25 jured; or 


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1 (3) to monitor and study system resources. 

2 SEC. 6. DONATIONS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any other authority 

4 to accept donations, the Secretary may accept donations 

5 of money or services for expenditure or use to meet ex6 pected, immediate, or ongoing response costs and dam7 ages. 

8 (b) TIMING.—A donation described in subsection (a) 

9 may be expended or used at any time after acceptance of 

10 the donation, without further action by Congress. 

11 SEC. 7. TRANSFER OF FUNDS FROM NATURAL RESOURCE 

12 DAMAGE ASSESSMENT AND RESTORATION 

13 FUND. 

14 The matter under the heading ‘‘NATURAL RESOURCE

15 DAMAGE ASSESSMENT AND RESTORATION FUND’’ under 

16 the heading ‘‘UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERV17 ICE’’ of title I of the Department of the Interior and Re18 lated Agencies Appropriations Act, 1994 (43 U.S.C. 

19 1474b–1), is amended by striking ‘‘Provided, That’’ and 

20 all that follows through ‘‘activities.’’ and inserting the fol21 lowing: ‘‘Provided, That notwithstanding any other provi22 sion of law, any amounts appropriated or credited during 

23 fiscal year 1992 or any fiscal year thereafter may be trans24 ferred to any account (including through a payment to any 

25 Federal or non-Federal trustee) to carry out a negotiated 


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1 legal settlement or other legal action for a restoration ac2 tivity under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 

3 Compensation, and Liability Act (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.), 

4 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 

5 et seq.), the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2701 

6 et seq.), the Act of July 27, 1990 (16 U.S.C. 19jj et seq.), 

7 or the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Resource 

8 Protection Act, or for any damage assessment activity: 

9 Provided further, That sums provided by any individual 

10 or entity before or after the date of enactment of this Act 

11 shall remain available until expended and shall not be lim12 ited to monetary payments, but may include stocks, bonds, 

13 or other personal or real property, which may be retained, 

14 liquidated, or otherwise disposed of by the Secretary for 

15 the restoration of injured resources or to conduct any new 

16 damage assessment activity.’’. 

Æ 


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