To provide for the protection and recovery of the greater sage-grouse, the conservation of lesser prairie-chickens, and the removal of endangered species status for the American burying beetle.

SA 1687. Mr. LEE (for himself, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Heller, Mr.
Moran, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Daines, Mr. Risch, and Mr. Roberts)
submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 1463
proposed by Mr. McCain to the bill H.R. 1735, to authorize
appropriations for fiscal year 2016 for military activities of the
Department of Defense and for military construction, to prescribe
military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other
purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place, insert the following:

SEC. ___. 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.--Any finding by the Secretary of the
Interior under clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of 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 made
during the period beginning on September 30, 2015, and ending
on the date of the enactment of this Act shall have no force
or effect in law or in equity, and the Secretary of the
Interior may not make any such finding during the period
beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act and ending
on September 30, 2025.
(2) Effect on other laws.--The delay imposed by 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.--Until the date
specified in paragraph (1), the conservation status of the
Greater Sage Grouse shall remain warranted for listing under
the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.),
but precluded by higher-priority listing actions pursuant to
clause (iii) of section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Endangered Species
Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(b)(3)(B)).
(d) Coordination of Federal Land Management and State
Conservation and Management Plans.--
(1) Prohibition on modification of federal resource
management plans.--In order to foster coordination between a
State management plan and Federal resource management plans
that affect the Greater Sage Grouse, upon notification by the
Governor of a State with a State management plan, the
Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture
may not amend 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
or modification of a Federal resource management plan
applicable to Federal lands in the State was issued during
the one-year period preceding the date of the notification
and the amendment or modification altered management of the
Greater Sage Grouse or its habitat, implementation and
operation of the amendment or modification shall be stayed to
the extent that the amendment or modification is inconsistent
with the State management plan. The Federal resource
management plan, as in effect immediately before the
amendment 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 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 2021, 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 subsection (d)(3), shall not be
subject to judicial review.

SEC. ___. IMPLEMENTATION OF LESSER PRAIRIE-CHICKEN RANGE-WIDE
CONSERVATION PLAN AND OTHER CONSERVATION
MEASURES.

(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Candidate conservation agreements.--The terms
``Candidate Conservation Agreement'' and ``Candidate and
Conservation Agreement With Assurances'' have the meaning
given those terms in--
(A) the announcement of the Department of the Interior and
the Department of Commerce entitled ``Announcement of Final
Policy for Candidate Conservation Agreements with
Assurances'' (64 Fed. Reg. 32726 (June 17, 1999)); and
(B) sections 17.22(d) and 17.32(d) of title 50, Code of
Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment of
this Act).
(2) Range-wide plan.--The term ``Range-Wide Plan'' means
the Lesser Prairie-Chicken Range-Wide Conservation Plan of
the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, as
endorsed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service on
October 23, 2013, and published for comment on January 29,
2014 (79 Fed. Reg. 4652).
(3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior.
(b) Prohibition on Treatment as Threatened or Endangered
Species.--
(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any prior action by the
Secretary, the lesser prairie-chicken shall not be treated as
a threatened species or endangered species under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.)
before January 31, 2021.
(2) Prohibition on proposal.--Effective beginning on
January 31, 2021, the lesser prairie-chicken may not be
treated as a threatened species or endangered species under
the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.)
unless the Secretary publishes a determination, based on the
totality of the scientific evidence, that conservation (as
that term is used in that Act) under the Range-Wide Plan and
the agreements, programs, and efforts referred to in
subsection (c) have not achieved the conservation goals
established by the Range-Wide Plan.
(c) Monitoring of Progress of Conservation Programs.--The
Secretary shall monitor and annually submit to Congress a
report on progress in conservation of the lesser prairie-
chicken under the Range-Wide Plan and all related--
(1) Candidate Conservation Agreements and Candidate and
Conservation Agreements With Assurances;
(2) other Federal conservation programs administered by the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land
Management, and the Department of Agriculture;
(3) State conservation programs; and
(4) private conservation efforts.

SEC. ___. REMOVAL OF ENDANGERED SPECIES STATUS FOR AMERICAN
BURYING BEETLE.

Notwithstanding the final rule of the United States Fish
and Wildlife Service entitled ``Endangered and Threatened
Wildlife and Plants; Determination of Endangered Status for
the American Burying Beetle'' (54 Fed. Reg. 29652 (July 13,
1989)), the American

[[Page S3806]]

burying beetle shall not be listed as a threatened or
endangered species under the Endangered Species Act (16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
______