H.R. 1897
ESA Amendments Act of 2025
Sponsor: Bruce Westerman
26 cosponsors
- Michael A. Rulli
- Andy Biggs
- Celeste Maloy
- Cliff Bentz
- Dan Newhouse
- Doug LaMalfa
- Harriet M. Hageman
- Jeff Hurd
- Mark E. Amodei
- Mike Ezell
- Nicholas J. Begich III
- Paul A. Gosar
- Pete Stauber
- Russ Fulcher
- Thomas P. Tiffany
- Wesley Hunt
- Troy Downing
- Addison P. McDowell
- Lauren Boebert
- Glenn Thompson
- Ken Calvert
- Mike Collins
- Clay Higgins
- Tim Walberg
- Glenn Grothman
- Robert E. Latta
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
Where this section came from
-
Mar 6, 2025 · Introduced in House Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources, Mar 6
-
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.
(a) Foreseeable future.
The
Section
final
3(20)
rule
Endangered
titled
Species
Endangered
Act
and
of
Threatened
1973
Wildlife
(16
and
U.S.C.
Plants;
1532(20))
Regulations
is
for
amended
Listing
by—
Species
(1)
and
striking
Designating
The
Critical
term
Habitat
and inserting
(
84
A)
Fed.
The
Reg. 45020
term
;
published
and
August
(2)
27,
by
2019)
adding
shall
at
have
the end
the
force
following:
and
[Inserted
effect
into
of
the
law
:
with
(B)
respect
For
to
the
use
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
.
]
… 7 unchanged passages …
(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.
… 2 unchanged passages …
(e) Best scientific and commercial data available.
(1) In general.
Section 3 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1532) is amended— (
A
1
) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (10) as paragraphs (3) through (11), respectively; and (
B
2
) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
(2) Conforming amendment. Section 7(n) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536(n)) is amended by striking section 3(13) and inserting section 3(14).
[Inserted into the law:
(2) The
term
terms
best scientific and commercial data available
includes
and best scientific
data
submitted
available—
to
(A) mean all relevant and objective scientific and commercial information available at
the
Secretary
time
by
of
a
the
State
agency action; and (B) include credible and reliable data
,
Tribal
quantitative analyses
,
conceptual and numerical models, and model results that— (i) account for known
or
local
potential
government
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
.
… 3 unchanged passages …
(q) Environmental baseline
defined
.
For
In
the purpose of carrying out a consultation under
this section
with respect to a threatened species or an endangered species
, 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
area
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
action
area
directly affected by the agency action
; (B) the anticipated effects of each proposed Federal project within the
action
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;
and
(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
;
from
and (E)
the
physical
effects
existence
of Federal actions being carried out at the time
of
such
the
structures
proposed agency action
and
existing Federal
facilities
that are not within the discretion of the Secretary to modify
.
]
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) 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.
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