H.R. 1897

ESA Amendments Act of 2025

Sponsor: Bruce Westerman

26 cosponsors
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Official summary

Written by the Congressional Research Service.

ESA Amendments Act of 2025

This bill reauthorizes through FY2031 the Endangered Species Act and generally narrows protections provided under the act.

The bill directs the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service to submit a National Listing Work Plan that establishes a five-year schedule and plan for addressing listing of endangered or threatened species and designation of critical habitats for such species. Under the plan, the bill gives the Services flexibility on the timing of acting on listing petitions and eliminates the requirement for the Services to act within 12 months on listing petitions.

The bill limits what land may be designated as critical habitat for an endangered or threatened species. 

It also limits protections provided to threatened species and allows a state to regulate the recovery of such species if the Services determine the state's proposed recovery strategy would conserve the species.

The bill provides statutory authority for Conservation Benefit Agreements, which allow private landowners to voluntarily enter agreements to reduce threats to candidate species in exchange for being allowed to continue their operations if the species is later listed. 

The bill also modifies the permitting process for certain other voluntary conservation agreements, including by exempting incidental take permits (e.g., permits to harm or kill a species) from environmental review requirements.

The bill also makes a variety of other changes to the act, including limiting consultation requirements, judicial review, and awards for attorneys’ fees in certain cases. 

Text of the bill

Expand all
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents Changed · Mar 24

Where this section came from

  1. Mar 6, 2025 · Introduced in House Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources, Mar 6
  2. Mar 24, 2026 · Reported in House Marked up by House Committee on Natural Resources, Dec 17 Reported by House Committee on Natural Resources, Mar 24 Committee members' individual votes aren't in our records.
What changed in the text

(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 prioritizationSec prioritization Sec . 101. Prioritization of listing petitions, reviews, and determinations. Title II—Incentivizing wildlife conservation on private landsSec lands Sec . 201. Candidate Conservation conservation Benefit agreements with assurances Agreements . Sec. 202. Conservation plans. Sec. 203. NEPA exemption for incidental take permits. Title III—Providing for greater incentives to recover listed speciesSec 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. Codification Designation of regulation critical habitat . Sec. 305. Designation Treatment of critical State, habitat 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 speciesSec species Sec . 401. Requirement to publish basis for listings and critical habitat designations on Internet 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 processSec process Sec . 501. Limitation on reasonable and prudent measures. Sec. 502. Successive consultations. Sec. 503. Requirement Clarifying to jeopardy. consider Sec. reasonably 504. certain Clarifying effects action area . Sec. 504 505 . Clarifying Judicial jeopardy review . Sec. 506. Expansion of exemption process and eligibility under section 7 of Endangered Species Act of 1973. Title VI — Eliminating barriers to conservationSec conservation Sec . 601. Permits for CITES-listed species. Sec. 602. Utilize Convention standard for permits applicable to non-native species. Title VII—Restoring congressional intentSec intent Sec . 701. Limiting agency regulations.

What is a markup?

A markup is a committee meeting where members go through a bill and vote on changes before sending it to the full chamber.

(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.

I Optimizing conservation through resource prioritization

II Incentivizing wildlife conservation on private lands

III Providing for greater incentives to recover listed species

IV Creating greater transparency and accountability in recovering listed species

V Streamlining permitting process

VI Eliminating barriers to conservation

VII Restoring congressional intent