II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2678 

To remove the American burying beetle from the list of endangered species 

under the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 29, 2014 

Mr. INHOFE (for himself and Mr. COBURN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 

Public Works 

A BILL 

To remove the American burying beetle from the list of 

endangered species under the Endangered Species Act 

(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 

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 ‘‘American Burying 

5 Beetle Relief Act of 2014’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) in 1989, the United States Fish and Wild9 life Service (referred to in this section as ‘‘the ServVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:40 Jul 31, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2678.IS S2678

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1 ice’’) listed the American burying beetle as an en2 dangered species under the Endangered Species Act 

3 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); 

4 (2) in making the decision to list the American 

5 burying beetle as an endangered species, the Serv6 ice— 

7 (A) stated that the American burying bee8 tle was ‘‘once widely distributed throughout 

9 eastern North America’’; and 

10 (B) considered possible factors in the pop11 ulation decline of the American burying beetle, 

12 but ultimately concluded that ‘‘the cause of the 

13 species’ decline is unknown’’; 

14 (3) as of the date of the decision, there were 

15 only 2 known populations of the American burying 

16 beetle, 1 located in Eastern Oklahoma and 1 located 

17 on an island off the coast of Rhode Island; 

18 (4) at that time, the Rhode Island population 

19 was estimated to be around 520 American burying 

20 beetles and the Oklahoma population to be fewer 

21 than 12 American burying beetles; 

22 (5) the Service has not completed a range-wide 

23 population survey of the American burying beetle 

24 since 1985; 


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1 (6) in 1991, the Service published a recovery 

2 plan for the American burying beetle, with the objec3 tive of protecting and maintaining the extant popu4 lation in Rhode Island and the populations in Okla5 homa; 

6 (7) in order to reconsider the listing status of 

7 the American burying beetle, the Service is required 

8 to identify 3 populations of American burying beetle 

9 that have been reestablished (or additional popu10 lations discovered) within each of 4 broad geo11 graphical areas of the historical range of the Amer12 ican burying beetle; 

13 (8) the Service has identified these 4 geo14 graphical areas as— 

15 (A) the Midwest region, including Okla16 homa and most States between Texas, Lou17 isiana, and Montana; 

18 (B) the Great Lakes region; 

19 (C) the Southeast region; and 

20 (D) the Northeast region, including Rhode 

21 Island; 

22 (9) in 2008, the Service performed the first 5- 

23 year review of the American burying beetle, which— 

24 (A) determined that— 


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1 (i) the criteria for reconsidering the 

2 listing of the American burying beetle had 

3 been met in the Midwest region, ‘‘where 

4 additional occurrences of the American 

5 burying beetle have been discovered’’; and 

6 (ii) that, ‘‘as a consequence, the total 

7 number of American burying beetle in this 

8 recovery area is believed to greatly exceed 

9 the numerical target’’ established under 

10 the recovery plan; 

11 (B) stated that ‘‘although one of four geo12 graphic recovery areas for the American bury13 ing beetle has met the criteria for reclassifica14 tion, the species presumably remains extirpated 

15 in most of its historic range’’; and 

16 (C) concluded that the American burying 

17 beetle should remain listed as an endangered 

18 species; 

19 (10) as of the date of enactment of this Act— 

20 (A) the population of the American bury21 ing beetle in Nebraska is estimated to contain 

22 over 3,000 American burying beetles, making 

23 that one of the largest known populations, al24 though at the time the American burying beetle 


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1 was listed in 1989 none were known to live in 

2 Nebraska; 

3 (B) the population of the American bury4 ing beetle in Oklahoma has grown dramatically 

5 from the population numbers in 1989 when the 

6 American burying beetle was listed as an en7 dangered species and is believed to be well into 

8 the thousands; 

9 (C) the Service believes that the American 

10 burying beetle exists in 45 of the 77 counties in 

11 Oklahoma, although at the time the Service list12 ed the American burying beetle as endangered 

13 in 1989, only 4 counties in Oklahoma had a 

14 known American burying beetle population; 

15 (D) Oklahoma State officials are concerned 

16 about the lack of mitigation options available to 

17 developers relating to the American burying 

18 beetle; and 

19 (E) Oklahoma Department of Wildlife 

20 Conservation Director Richard Hatcher has not 

21 received a response to the request submitted to 

22 the Service on April 15, 2013, which asked— 

23 (i) for an update to the recovery plan 

24 for the American burying beetle; and 


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1 (ii) that the process of delisting the 

2 American burying beetle begin; 

3 (11) Service documents published close to the 

4 date of enactment of this Act list the States of Ar5 kansas, Kansas, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, 

6 Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and 

7 Texas as having an American burying beetle popu8 lation; 

9 (12) the history of the process of the gray wolf 

10 being delisted as an endangered species, first in 

11 some areas of the United States and then entirely, 

12 provides an example that could be used to delist the 

13 American burying beetle in the Midwest region; 

14 (13) important points in the history of the gray 

15 wolf being delisted include that— 

16 (A) in 2011, the Service decided to remove 

17 the gray wolf from the endangered species list 

18 in the States of Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wash19 ington, and parts of Oregon while leaving the 

20 species listed in Wyoming; 

21 (B) this partial delisting was due to the 

22 healthy population levels present in those States 

23 at that time; and 

24 (C) less than 2 years later, in 2013, the 

25 delisting was extended to Wyoming, and the 


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1 gray wolf was no longer listed as endangered 

2 under the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 

3 1531 et seq.); 

4 (14) there is support for the American burying 

5 beetle being completely delisted, because— 

6 (A) beginning in 2007, the Service promul7 gated an official policy stating that when the 

8 Service evaluates the probability of a species 

9 being lost to extinction across the range of that 

10 species, the Service does so within the known 

11 existing range of that species, not a hypo12 thetical historic range of that species; 

13 (B) using the policy described in subpara14 graph (A), if the American burying beetle were 

15 reconsidered as a candidate for being listed as 

16 an endangered species under the Endangered 

17 Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), the 

18 American burying beetle likely would not be eli19 gible because the known populations are not in 

20 danger of being lost and instead are expanding 

21 as of the date of enactment of this Act; and 

22 (C) the historic range of the American 

23 burying beetle, described by the Service as 

24 being ‘‘ubiquitous’’ at some point, is reliant on 


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1 data, observations, and studies that are more 

2 than 70 years old and are not easy to locate; 

3 (15) there is a lack of information about the ex4 tent of the American burying beetle population as of 

5 the date of enactment of this Act, although the pop6 ulation appears to have expanded since the Amer7 ican burying beetle was originally listed as an endan8 gered species; 

9 (16) it is not clear whether the increased popu10 lation count of the American burying beetle is due 

11 to the scientific community being more apt at locat12 ing these insects or whether the population has actu13 ally increased; and 

14 (17) it is clear the American burying beetle has 

15 proven much more resilient than the Service origi16 nally believed, rendering the decision of the Service 

17 to list the American burying beetle as an endangered 

18 species under the Endangered Species Act (16 

19 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) indefensible. 

20 SEC. 3. REMOVAL OF ENDANGERED SPECIES STATUS. 

21 Notwithstanding the final rule of the United States 

22 Fish and Wildlife Service entitled ‘‘Endangered and 

23 Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Determination of Endan24 gered Status for the American Burying Beetle’’ (54 Fed. 

25 Reg. 29652 (July 13, 1989)), the American burying beetle 


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1 shall not be listed as a threatened or endangered species 

2 under the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 

3 seq.). 

Æ 


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