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 alter 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]
[H.R. 527 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 527

 To provide for the conservation and preservation of the Greater Sage 
  Grouse by facilitating State recovery plans, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 13, 2017

 Mr. Bishop of Utah (for himself, Mr. Simpson, Mr. Amodei, Mr. Gosar, 
   Mr. Stewart, Mrs. Love, Mr. Labrador, Mr. Chaffetz, Mrs. McMorris 
  Rodgers, Mr. Tipton, and Ms. Cheney) introduced the following bill; 
        which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for the conservation and preservation 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. PROTECTION AND RECOVERY OF GREATER SAGE GROUSE.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) The term ``Federal resource management plan'' means--
                    (A) a land use plan prepared by the Bureau of Land 
                Management for public lands pursuant to section 202 of 
                the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 
                U.S.C. 1712); or
                    (B) a land and resource management plan prepared by 
                the Forest Service for National Forest System lands 
                pursuant to section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland 
                Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 
                1604).
            (2) The term ``Greater Sage Grouse'' means a sage grouse of 
        the species Centrocercus urophasianus.
            (3) The term ``State management plan'' means a State-
        approved plan for the protection and recovery of the Greater 
        Sage Grouse.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is--
            (1) to facilitate implementation of State management plans 
        over a period of multiple, consecutive 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.
    (c) Endangered Species Act of 1973 Findings.--
            (1) Delay required.--During the period beginning on the 
        date of the enactment of this Act and ending on September 30, 
        2027, the Secretary of the Interior may not alter or invalidate 
        the finding made by United States Fish and Wildlife Service on 
        October 2, 2015, under section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Endangered 
        Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(b)(3)(B)) with respect to 
        the Greater Sage Grouse (80 Fed. Reg. 59857 et seq.).
            (2) Effect on other laws.--Paragraph (1) shall apply 
        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.--Until September 30, 
        2027, the conservation status of the Greater Sage Grouse under 
        the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) 
        shall remain not warranted for listing under such Act.
    (d) Coordination of Federal Land Management and State Conservation 
and Management Plans.--
            (1) Prohibition on withdrawals and modification of federal 
        resource management plans.--Effective upon notification by the 
        Governor of a State with a State management plan, neither the 
        Secretary of the Interior nor the Secretary of Agriculture may 
        exercise authority under section 204 of the Federal Land Policy 
        and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1714) to make, modify, or 
        extend any withdrawal of, nor amend, revise, or otherwise 
        modify any Federal resource management plan applicable to, 
        Federal lands in the State in a manner inconsistent with the 
        State management plan for a period, to be specified by the 
        Governor in the notification, of at least five 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 amendment, 
        revision, or modification of a Federal resource management plan 
        applicable to Federal lands in the State was issued after June 
        1, 2014, and the amendment, revision, or modification altered 
        management of the Greater Sage Grouse or its habitat, 
        implementation and operation of the amendment, revision, or 
        modification shall be stayed to the extent that the amendment, 
        revision, or modification is inconsistent with the State 
        management plan. The Federal resource management plan, as in 
        effect immediately before the withdrawal, amendment, revision, 
        or modification, shall apply instead with respect to management 
        of the Greater Sage Grouse and its habitat, to the extent 
        consistent with the State management plan.
            (3) Determination of inconsistency.--Any disagreement 
        regarding whether an amendment, revision, 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.
    (e) Relation to National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.--With 
regard to any Federal action consistent with a State management plan, 
any findings, analyses, or conclusions regarding the Greater Sage 
Grouse or its habitat under the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.) shall not have a preclusive effect on the 
approval or implementation of the Federal action in that State.
    (f) Reporting Requirement.--Not later than one year after the date 
of the 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 on the Secretaries' implementation and 
effectiveness of systems to monitor the status of Greater Sage Grouse 
on Federal lands under their jurisdiction.
    (g) Judicial Review.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
statute or regulation, this section, including determinations made 
under this section, shall not be subject to judicial review.
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