II
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4187
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 11 (legislative day, May 10), 2022
Mr. Cardin (for himself and Mr. Portman) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works
A BILL
To amend the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act to make improvements to that Act, and for other purposes.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the Migratory Birds of the Americas Conservation Enhancements Act of 2022
.
Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act amendments
Cost sharing
Section 5 of the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 6104) is amended—
in subsection (e)(1), by striking 25 percent
and inserting 33.3 percent
; and
by adding at the end the following:
Criteria
In general
In accordance with paragraph (2), the Secretary shall establish criteria for awarding financial assistance under this section.
Requirement
The criteria established under paragraph (1) shall provide that project proposals submitted under subsection (c) that have a higher non-Federal share, as compared to other project proposals submitted under that subsection, shall receive additional consideration by the Secretary before determining which project proposals shall receive financial assistance under this section.
Availability
The Secretary shall—
make the criteria established under paragraph (1) publicly available; and
include those criteria in—
each notice of funding opportunity for the program under this section; and
any application instructions developed by the Secretary for that program.
.
Reports to Congress
Section 8 of the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 6107) is amended—
in the section heading, by striking Report
and inserting Reports
;
by striking Not later than 2 years
and inserting the following:
Results and effectiveness of program
Not later than 2 years
; and
by inserting after subsection (a) (as so designated) the following:
Cost sharing and criteria implementation
Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of the Migratory Birds of the Americas Conservation Enhancements Act of 2022, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives a report that includes an analysis of the implementation by the Secretary of subsection (f) of section 5, which shall include an analysis of the project proposals selected to receive financial assistance using the criteria established under that subsection.
Advisory group implementation
Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of the Migratory Birds of the Americas Conservation Enhancements Act of 2022, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives a report describing the implementation of subsection (b) of section 7 by the Secretary, which shall include, if applicable, a description of the composition of the advisory group convened under paragraph (1) of that subsection.
.
Neotropical migratory bird conservation fund administrative expenses
Section 9(c)(2) of the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 6108(c)(2)) is amended by striking 3 percent or up to $100,000
and inserting 5 percent or up to $300,000
.
Authorization of appropriations
Section 10 of the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 6109) is amended by striking subsection (a) and inserting the following:
In general
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act—
for fiscal year 2023, $20,000,000;
for fiscal year 2024, $21,250,000;
for fiscal year 2025, $22,500,000;
for fiscal year 2026, $23,750,000; and
for fiscal year 2027, $25,000,000.
.
Technical corrections
Section 4 of the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 6103) is amended—
by striking paragraph (1); and
by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (5) as paragraphs (1) through (4), respectively.
Section 7(b)(1) of the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 6106(b)(1)) is amended, in the second sentence, by adding a period at the end.
