Title: Greater Sage-Grouse Protection and Recovery Act of 2017
Policy area: Animals

Summary:
Greater Sage Grouse Protection and Recovery Act of 2017
This bill addresses the October 2, 2015, finding of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) that the greater sage grouse is not an endangered or threatened species. Until September 30, 2027, the USFWS may not modify or invalidate the finding.
Additionally, the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture (USDA)	are prohibited from amending any federal resource management plans that affect the greater sage grouse in a state in which the governor has notified Interior or USDA that a state management plan is in place.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 273 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 273

 To provide for the protection and recovery of the greater sage-grouse 
     by facilitating State recovery plans, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 1, 2017

Mr. Risch (for himself, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Heller, Mr. Lee, Mr. 
  Daines, and Mr. Enzi) introduced the following bill; which was read 
  twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for the protection and recovery of the greater sage-grouse 
     by facilitating State recovery plans, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Greater Sage-Grouse Protection and 
Recovery Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to facilitate implementation of State management plans 
        over a period of multiple, consecutive greater sage-grouse life 
        cycles; and
            (2) to demonstrate the efficacy of the State management 
        plans for the protection and recovery of the greater sage-
        grouse.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Federal resource management plan.--The term ``Federal 
        resource management plan'' means--
                    (A) a land use plan prepared by the Bureau of Land 
                Management for public land pursuant to section 202 of 
                the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 
                U.S.C. 1712); and
                    (B) a land and resource management plan prepared by 
                the Forest Service for National Forest System land 
                pursuant to section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland 
                Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 
                1604).
            (2) Greater sage-grouse.--The term ``greater sage-grouse'' 
        means a sage-grouse of the species Centrocercus urophasianus.
            (3) State management plan.--The term ``State management 
        plan'' means a State-approved plan for the protection and 
        recovery of the greater sage-grouse.

SEC. 4. PROTECTION AND RECOVERY OF GREATER SAGE-GROUSE.

    (a) Endangered Species Act of 1973 Findings.--
            (1) Delay required.--The Secretary of the Interior may not 
        modify or invalidate the finding of the Director of the United 
        States Fish and Wildlife Service announced in the proposed rule 
        entitled ``Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 12-
        Month Finding on a Petition to List Greater Sage-Grouse 
        (Centrocercus urophasianus) as an Endangered or Threatened 
        Species'' (80 Fed. Reg. 59858 (October 2, 2015)) during the 
        period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act and 
        ending on September 30, 2027.
            (2) Effect on other laws.--The delay required under 
        paragraph (1) is and shall remain effective without regard to 
        any other statute, regulation, court order, legal settlement, 
        or any other provision of law or in equity.
            (3) Effect on conservation status.--The conservation status 
        of the greater sage-grouse shall be considered not to warrant 
        listing of the greater sage-grouse as an endangered species or 
        threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 
        U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) during the period beginning on the date of 
        enactment of this Act and ending on September 30, 2027.
    (b) Coordination of Federal Land Management and State Conservation 
and Management Plans.--
            (1) Prohibition on withdrawal and modification of federal 
        resource management plans.--On notification by the Governor of 
        a State with a State management plan, the Secretary of the 
        Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture may not make, modify, 
        or extend any withdrawal or amend or otherwise modify any 
        Federal resource management plan applicable to Federal land in 
        the State in a manner inconsistent with the State management 
        plan for, as specified by the Governor in the notification, a 
        period of not fewer than 5 years beginning on the date of the 
        notification.
            (2) Retroactive effect.--In the case of any State that 
        provides notification under paragraph (1), if any withdrawal 
        was made, modified, or extended or any amendment or 
        modification of a Federal resource management plan applicable 
        to Federal land in the State was issued after June 1, 2014, and 
        the withdrawal, amendment, or modification altered the 
        management of the greater sage-grouse or the habitat of the 
        greater sage-grouse--
                    (A) implementation and operation of the withdrawal, 
                amendment, or modification shall be stayed to the 
                extent that the withdrawal, amendment, or modification 
                is inconsistent with the State management plan; and
                    (B) the Federal resource management plan, as in 
                effect immediately before the withdrawal, amendment, or 
                modification, shall apply instead with respect to the 
                management of the greater sage-grouse and the habitat 
                of the greater sage-grouse, to the extent consistent 
                with the State management plan.
            (3) Determination of inconsistency.--Any disagreement 
        regarding whether a withdrawal, amendment, or other 
        modification of a Federal resource management plan is 
        inconsistent with a State management plan shall be resolved by 
        the Governor of the affected State.
    (c) Relation to National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.--With 
regard to any major Federal action consistent with a State management 
plan, any findings, analyses, or conclusions regarding the greater 
sage-grouse and the habitat of the greater sage-grouse under section 
102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 
4332(2)(C)) shall not have a preclusive effect on the approval or 
implementation of the major Federal action in that State.
    (d) Reporting Requirement.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter through 2027, the 
Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall 
jointly submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 
Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of 
Representatives a report describing the implementation by the 
Secretaries of, and the effectiveness of, systems to monitor the status 
of greater sage-grouse on Federal land under the jurisdiction of the 
Secretaries.
    (e) Judicial Review.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law 
(including regulations), this section, including any determination made 
under subsection (b)(3), shall not be subject to judicial review.
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