I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2459 

To establish a competitive grant program to support the conservation and 

recovery of native plant and animal species in the State of Hawaii, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 3, 2023 

Mr. CASE (for himself and Ms. TOKUDA) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To establish a competitive grant program to support the 

conservation and recovery of native plant and animal 

species in the State of Hawaii, 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 ‘‘Hawaii Native Species 

5 Conservation and Recovery Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti9 ty’’ means— 


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1 (A) the State; 

2 (B) a unit of local government in the 

3 State; 

4 (C) a Native Hawaiian organization; 

5 (D) a nonprofit organization; 

6 (E) a business; and 

7 (F) an institution of higher education. 

8 (2) GRANT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘grant pro9 gram’’ means the Hawaii Native Species Conserva10 tion and Recovery Grant Program established under 

11 section 3(a). 

12 (3) NATIVE HAWAIIAN ORGANIZATION.—The 

13 term ‘‘Native Hawaiian organization’’ has the mean14 ing given the term in section 3 of the NATIVE Act 

15 (25 U.S.C. 4352). 

16 (4) NATIVE SPECIES.—The term ‘‘native spe17 cies’’ means a plant or animal species that is native 

18 to the State. 

19 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

20 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di21 rector of the United States Fish and Wildlife Serv22 ice. 

23 (6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

24 of Hawaii. 


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1 SEC. 3. HAWAII NATIVE SPECIES CONSERVATION AND RE2 COVERY GRANT PROGRAM. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 

4 the date on which amounts are appropriated to carry out 

5 this Act, the Secretary shall establish a grant program, 

6 to be known as the ‘‘Hawaii Native Species Conservation 

7 and Recovery Grant Program’’, to annually provide, 

8 through cooperative agreements, grants, micro grants, or 

9 other means, funding to eligible entities to carry out 

10 projects that— 

11 (1) achieve the funding priorities developed 

12 under subsection (c); and 

13 (2) meet the criteria developed under subsection 

14 (e). 

15 (b) PURPOSE.—The grant program shall identify pri16 orities and provide funding and technical assistance to 

17 carry out coordinated, science-based conservation and re18 covery projects in the State— 

19 (1) to prevent and mitigate the introduction 

20 and spread of invasive species, pests, and diseases 

21 that threaten native species; 

22 (2) to address the ecological consequences of 

23 climate change on native species; 

24 (3) to address loss and degradation of native 

25 species’ habitats; 


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1 (4) to manage, maintain, and restore popu2 lations of native species; 

3 (5) to increase scientific capacity to support the 

4 planning, monitoring, and research activities nec5 essary for the conservation and recovery of native 

6 species; 

7 (6) to improve information collection, ecological 

8 monitoring, and management relating to the activi9 ties described in paragraphs (1) through (5); and 

10 (7) to engage the public through outreach, edu11 cation, and community involvement to increase ca12 pacity and support for the conservation and recovery 

13 of native species in the State. 

14 (c) DEVELOPMENT OF PRIORITIES.—In carrying out 

15 the grant program, the Secretary shall coordinate with the 

16 following individuals to develop annual, science-based 

17 funding priorities for the grant program that support the 

18 purposes described in subsection (b): 

19 (1) The heads of Federal agencies, including— 

20 (A) the Administrator of the National Oce21 anic and Atmospheric Administration (or a des22 ignee); 

23 (B) the Administrator of the Environ24 mental Protection Agency (or a designee); 


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1 (C) the Secretary of Agriculture (or a des2 ignee); and 

3 (D) the head of any other applicable Fed4 eral agency (or a designee), as determined by 

5 the Secretary. 

6 (2) The Chairperson of the Hawaii Board of 

7 Land and Natural Resources (or a designee). 

8 (3) The Chairperson of the Hawaii Board of 

9 Agriculture (or a designee). 

10 (4) Any other relevant stakeholder involved in 

11 the conservation and recovery of native species in 

12 the State that the Secretary determines to be appro13 priate. 

14 (d) REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS.—The Secretary shall 

15 publish in the Federal Register an annual request for pro16 posals, in accordance with the funding priorities developed 

17 under subsection (c). 

18 (e) CRITERIA.—The Secretary, in coordination with 

19 the individuals described in subsection (c), shall annually 

20 develop criteria for ranking project proposals to receive 

21 funding under the grant program. 

22 (f) RECUSAL.—If the State or a unit of local govern23 ment in the State applies for a grant under the grant pro24 gram, then the individuals described in paragraphs (2), 

25 (3), and (4) of subsection (c) who are representatives of 


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1 the State or that unit of local government, as applicable, 

2 shall recuse themselves from all funding decisions relating 

3 to those applications. 

4 (g) COST SHARING.— 

5 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara7 graph (B), the Federal share of the cost of a 

8 project carried out under the grant program 

9 shall not exceed 75 percent. 

10 (B) EXCEPTIONS.—The Federal share of 

11 the cost of a project carried out under the grant 

12 program may be 100 percent, as determined by 

13 the Secretary— 

14 (i) for any project, in the discretion of 

15 the Secretary; or 

16 (ii) if the project— 

17 (I) is carried out by a Native Ha18 waiian organization; 

19 (II) significantly contributes to 

20 youth workforce readiness in the im21 plementation of the project; or 

22 (III) is carried out using a grant 

23 awarded under the grant program in 

24 an amount of not more than $50,000. 


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1 (2) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—The non-Fed2 eral share of the cost of a project carried out under 

3 the grant program may be provided in the form of 

4 an in-kind contribution of services, materials, or ac5 cess to land. 

6 (h) REQUIREMENT.—Of the amounts made available 

7 to carry out the grant program for each fiscal year, not 

8 less than 5 percent shall be used to award grants for 

9 projects described in subclauses (I) through (III) of sub10 section (g)(1)(B)(ii). 

11 (i) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary may 

12 provide technical assistance to eligible entities to assist in 

13 the implementation of projects that receive funding under 

14 the grant program. 

15 (j) CONSULTATION WITH NATIVE HAWAIIAN ORGA16 NIZATIONS.—The Secretary, in carrying out the grant pro17 gram, shall consult with Native Hawaiian organizations 

18 with respect to any project that receives funding under 

19 the grant program with implications for the Native Hawai20 ian Community. 

21 (k) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds made 

22 available to carry out the grant program for each fiscal 

23 year shall supplement and not supplant other funds made 

24 available to carry out the purposes described in para25 graphs (1) through (7) of subsection (b) in the State. 


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1 SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORT. 

2 Annually, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a 

3 report on the implementation of this Act, including— 

4 (1) a description of each project that has re5 ceived funding under the grant program; and 

6 (2) the status of each project described in para7 graph (1) that is in progress on the date of submis8 sion of the applicable report. 

9 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro11 priated to the Secretary to carry out this Act $30,000,000 

12 for the first fiscal year that begins after the date of enact13 ment of this Act and for each of the 9 fiscal years there14 after. 

15 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of the amounts 

16 made available for each fiscal year under subsection (a), 

17 the Secretary shall use not more than 5 percent for admin18 istrative expenses relating to carrying out the grant pro19 gram. 

Æ 


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