[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1897 Reported in House (RH)]
<DOC>
Union Calendar No. 489
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 1897
[Report No. 119-568]
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to optimize conservation
through resource prioritization, incentivize wildlife conservation on
private lands, provide for greater incentives to recover listed
species, create greater transparency and accountability in recovering
listed species, streamline the permitting process, eliminate barriers
to conservation, and restore congressional intent.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 6, 2025
Mr. Westerman (for himself, Ms. Hageman, Mr. Stauber, Mr. Tiffany, Mr.
Gosar, Mr. Hurd of Colorado, Mr. Newhouse, Mr. Bentz, Mr. Fulcher, Mr.
Begich, Mr. Ezell, Mr. Amodei of Nevada, Mr. Hunt, Ms. Maloy, Mr. Biggs
of Arizona, and Mr. LaMalfa) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
March 24, 2026
Additional sponsors: Ms. Boebert, Mr. McDowell, Mr. Collins, Mr.
Calvert, Mr. Walberg, Mr. Downing, Mr. Higgins of Louisiana, Mr.
Grothman, Mr. Latta, Mr. Rulli, and Mr. Thompson of Pennsylvania
March 24, 2026
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March
6, 2025]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to optimize conservation
through resource prioritization, incentivize wildlife conservation on
private lands, provide for greater incentives to recover listed
species, create greater transparency and accountability in recovering
listed species, streamline the permitting process, eliminate barriers
to conservation, and restore congressional intent.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``ESA Amendments Act
of 2025''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Endangered Species Act of 1973 definitions.
Sec. 3. Authorization of appropriations.
Sec. 4. Rule of construction.
Sec. 5. Renaming of Endangered Species Act of 1973 to Endangered
Species Recovery Act.
TITLE I--OPTIMIZING CONSERVATION THROUGH RESOURCE PRIORITIZATION
Sec. 101. Prioritization of listing petitions, reviews, and
determinations.
TITLE II--INCENTIVIZING WILDLIFE CONSERVATION ON PRIVATE LANDS
Sec. 201. Conservation Benefit Agreements.
Sec. 202. Conservation plans.
Sec. 203. NEPA exemption for incidental take permits.
TITLE III--PROVIDING FOR GREATER INCENTIVES TO RECOVER LISTED SPECIES
Sec. 301. Protective regulations under Endangered Species Act of 1973.
Sec. 302. 5-year review determinations.
Sec. 303. Judicial review during monitoring period.
Sec. 304. Designation of critical habitat.
Sec. 305. Treatment of State, Tribal, and local government data.
Sec. 306. Clarifying significant portion of range of species.
Sec. 307. Delisting criteria.
TITLE IV--CREATING GREATER TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN
RECOVERING LISTED SPECIES
Sec. 401. Requirement to publish basis for listings and critical
habitat designations online.
Sec. 402. Decisional transparency and use of State, Tribal, and local
information.
Sec. 403. Disclosure of expenditures under Endangered Species Act of
1973.
Sec. 404. Award of litigation costs to prevailing parties in accordance
with existing law.
Sec. 405. Analysis of impacts and benefits of determination of
endangered or threatened status.
Sec. 406. Notification of Congress of certain critical habitat
designations.
Sec. 407. Notification of Congress of certain releases of experimental
populations.
Sec. 408. Annual cost analysis by the Fish and Wildlife Service.
TITLE V--STREAMLINING PERMITTING PROCESS
Sec. 501. Limitation on reasonable and prudent measures.
Sec. 502. Successive consultations.
Sec. 503. Clarifying jeopardy.
Sec. 504. Clarifying action area.
Sec. 505. Judicial review.
Sec. 506. Expansion of exemption process and eligibility under section
7 of Endangered Species Act of 1973.
TITLE VI-- ELIMINATING BARRIERS TO CONSERVATION
Sec. 601. Permits for CITES-listed species.
Sec. 602. Utilize Convention standard for permits applicable to non-
native species.
TITLE VII--RESTORING CONGRESSIONAL INTENT
Sec. 701. Limiting agency regulations.
SEC. 2. ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT OF 1973 DEFINITIONS.
(a) Foreseeable Future.--Section 3(20) Endangered Species Act of
1973 (16 U.S.C. 1532(20)) is amended by--
(1) striking ``The term'' and inserting ``(A) The term'';
and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(B) For the purposes of applying subparagraph (A), the term
`foreseeable future' means the period of time extending into the future
within which the Secretary, based on the best scientific and commercial
data available, is able to determine that a factor described in
subparagraphs (A) through (E) of section 4(a)(1) is likely to occur
with respect to the species.''.
(b) Commercial Activity.--Section 3(2) Endangered Species Act of
1973 (16 U.S.C. 1532(2)) is amended by inserting ``or public display or
education aimed at the preservation or conservation of a species''
after ``organizations''.
(c) Conserve; Conserving; Conservation.--Section 3(3) of the
Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1532(3)) is amended by
striking ``and transplantation, and, in the extraordinary case where
population pressures within a given ecosystem cannot be otherwise
relieved, may include'' and inserting ``transplantation, and, at the
discretion of the Secretary,''.
(d) Habitat.--Section 3(5) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973
(16 U.S.C. 1532(5)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(D)(i) For the purpose of designating critical habitat for a
threatened species or an endangered species under this Act, the term
`habitat'--
``(I) means the abiotic and biotic setting that currently
or periodically contains the resources and conditions necessary
to support 1 or more life processes of the threatened species
or endangered species; and
``(II) does not include an area--
``(aa) outside the current or historic range of the
threatened species or endangered species; or
``(bb) visited by only vagrant individual members
of the threatened species or endangered species.
``(ii) If the setting described in clause (i)(I) does not support
all of the life processes of the relevant threatened species or
endangered species, the threatened species or endangered species must
be able to access, from the setting, other areas necessary to support
its remaining life processes.''.
(e) Best Scientific and Commercial Data Available.--Section 3 of
the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1532) is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (10) as
paragraphs (3) through (11), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
``(2) The terms `best scientific and commercial data available' and
`best scientific data available'--
``(A) mean all relevant and objective scientific and
commercial information available at the time of the agency
action; and
``(B) include credible and reliable data, quantitative
analyses, conceptual and numerical models, and model results
that--
``(i) account for known or potential sources or
error;
``(ii) are applied using prevailing principles,
methods, tools, and professional standards of practice;
and
``(iii) are impartially gathered and objectively
applied without reliance on precautionary assumptions
in favor of a species or other assumptions or policy
prescriptions that bias the application.''.
(f) Environmental Baseline.--Section 7 of the Endangered Species
Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(q) Environmental Baseline Defined.--In this section, the term
`environmental baseline'--
``(1) means the condition of the species or the critical
habitat of the species in the area directly affected by the
agency action at the time of the proposed agency action,
without the consequences to the species or the critical habitat
of the species caused by the proposed action; and
``(2) includes--
``(A) the past and present effects of all Federal,
State, local, and private actions and other human
activities in the area directly affected by the agency
action;
``(B) the anticipated effects of each proposed
Federal project within the area directly affected by
the agency action for which a consultation under this
section has been completed;
``(C) the effects of State and private actions that
are contemporaneous with the consultation in process;
``(D) existing structures and facilities and the
past, present, and future effects of the physical
existence of such structures and facilities on the
species or the critical habitat of the species; and
``(E) the effects of Federal actions being carried
out at the time of the proposed agency action and
existing Federal facilities that are not within the
discretion of the Secretary to modify.''.
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) In General.--Section 15 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973
(16 U.S.C. 1542) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) by striking ``subsection (b), (c), and (d)''
and inserting ``subsections (b) and (c)'';
(B) in paragraph (1)--
(i) by striking ``and'' after ``fiscal year
1991,''; and
(ii) by inserting ``, and $287,978,000 for
each of fiscal years 2026 through 2031'' after
``fiscal year 1992'';
(C) in paragraph (2)--
(i) by striking ``and'' after ``fiscal
years 1989 and 1990,''; and
(ii) by inserting ``, and $105,400,000 for
each of fiscal years 2026 through 2031'' after
``fiscal years 1991 and 1992''; and
(D) in paragraph (3)--
(i) by striking ``and'' after ``fiscal
years 1989 and 1990,''; and
(ii) by inserting ``and $2,600,000 for each
of fiscal years 2026 through 2031'' after
``fiscal years 1991 and 1992,'';
(2) in subsection (b), by inserting ``and $600,000 for each
of fiscal years 2026 through 2031'' after ``1992''; and
(3) in subsection (c)--
(A) by striking ``and'' after ``fiscal years 1988,
1989, and 1990,''; and
(B) by inserting ``and $9,900,000 for each of
fiscal years 2026 through 2031,'' after ``fiscal years
1991 and 1992,''.
(b) Technical Amendment.--Section 15(b) of the Endangered Species
Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1542(b)) is amended by striking ``sections 7
(e), (g), and (h)'' and inserting ``subsections (e), (g), and (h) of
section 7''.
SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act may be
construed to enlarge or diminish the authority, jurisdiction, or
responsibility of a State (as that term is defined in section 3 of the
Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1532)) to manage, control, or
regulate fish and wildlife on lands and waters, including Federal lands
and waters, within the State.
SEC. 5. RENAMING OF ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT OF 1973 TO ENDANGERED
SPECIES RECOVERY ACT.
(a) Renaming.--The first section of the Endangered Species Act of
1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 note; Public Law 93-205) is amended by striking
``may be cited as the `Endangered Species Act of 1973''' and inserting
``may be cited as the `Endangered Species Recovery Act'''.
(b) References.--Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document,
paper, or other record of the United States to the ``Endangered Species
Act of 1973'' shall be deemed to be a reference to the ``Endangered
Species Recovery Act''.
TITLE I--OPTIMIZING CONSERVATION THROUGH RESOURCE PRIORITIZATION
SEC. 101. PRIORITIZATION OF LISTING PETITIONS, REVIEWS, AND
DETERMINATIONS.
(a) In General.--Section 4 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973
(16 U.S.C. 1533) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(j) National Listing Work Plan.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than the date described in
paragraph (2), the Secretary shall submit to Congress a
national listing work plan that establishes, for each covered
species, a schedule for the completion during the 5-fiscal year
period beginning on October 1 of the first fiscal year after
the date of the submission of the work plan of--
``(A) findings as described in subsection
(b)(3)(B);
``(B) any proposed or final determination under
subsection (a)(1) required by a court order, court
decree, or court-approved settlement agreement; and
``(C) any proposed or final designation of critical
habitat under subsection (a)(3) required by a court
order, court decree, or court-approved settlement
agreement.
``(2) Submission to congress.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall submit to
Congress--
``(i) together with the budget request of
the Secretary for the first fiscal year that
begins not less than 365 days after the date of
the enactment of this subsection, the initial
work plan required under paragraph (1); and
``(ii) together with the budget request of
the Secretary for each fiscal year thereafter,
an updated work plan under paragraph (1).
``(B) Additional inclusions.--The Secretary shall
include with each budget request referred to in
subparagraph (A) a description of the amounts to be
requested to carry out the work plan for the fiscal
year covered by the budget request, including any
amounts requested to address potential future listings
of species considered on an emergency basis in that
fiscal year.
``(3) Priority.--
``(A) In general.--In developing a work plan under
this subsection, the Secretary shall assign to each
species included in the work plan a priority
classification of Priority 1 through Priority 5, such
that, as determined by the Secretary, the following
apply:
``(i) Priority 1 represents species of the
highest priority, to be designated as
critically imperiled and in need of immediate
action.
``(ii) Priority 2 represents species with
respect to which the best scientific and
commercial data available support a clear
decision regarding the status of the species.
``(iii) Priority 3 represents species with
respect to which studies regarding the status
of the species are being carried out--
``(I) to answer key questions that
may influence the findings of a
petition to list the species submitted
under subsection (b)(3); and
``(II) to resolve any uncertainty
regarding the status of the species
within a reasonable timeframe.
``(iv) Priority 4 represents species for
which proactive conservation efforts likely to
reduce the effects of the factors described in
subparagraphs (A) through (E) of subsection
(a)(1) on the species are being developed or
carried out, within a reasonable timeframe and
in an organized manner, by Federal agencies,
States, landowners, or other stakeholders.
``(v) Priority 5 represents species--
``(I) for which there exists little
information regarding--
``(aa) the effects of the
factors described in
subparagraphs (A) through (E)
of subsection (a)(1) on to the
species; or
``(bb) the status of the
species; or
``(II) that would receive limited
conservation benefit in the foreseeable
future by listing the species as a
threatened species or endangered
species under this section.
``(B) Use of methodology.--The Secretary shall
establish and assign priority classifications under
subparagraph (A) in accordance with the notice of the