I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5467 

To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to increase transparency, 

to support regulatory certainty, and to reauthorize that Act, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 17, 2019 

Mr. TIPTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to increase 

transparency, to support regulatory certainty, and to reauthorize that Act, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Land Ownership Col5 laboration Accelerates Life Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘LOCAL 

6 Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CONSERVATION AGREEMENTS AS REGULATORY 

2 MECHANISMS. 

3 Section 4(f) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

4 (16 U.S.C. 1533) is amended by adding at the end the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(6) TREATMENT.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A conservation agreement 

8 (including any agreement described in subparagraph 

9 (B)) entered into or endorsed by the Secretary shall 

10 be considered to be a regulation for purposes of de11 termining whether to include a species on the list of 

12 threatened species or endangered species pursuant 

13 to this section. 

14 ‘‘(B) DESCRIPTION OF AGREEMENTS.—An 

15 agreement referred to in subparagraph (A) in16 cludes— 

17 ‘‘(i) a voluntary wildlife conservation 

18 agreement under paragraph (3); 

19 ‘‘(ii) a candidate conservation agreement 

20 with assurances under paragraph (4); 

21 ‘‘(iii) a candidate conservation agreement; 

22 or 

23 ‘‘(iv) a plan that— 

24 ‘‘(I) relates to the conservation of a 

25 species; 


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1 ‘‘(II) affects the viability of the spe2 cies; and 

3 ‘‘(III) is implemented, or proposed to 

4 be implemented, by— 

5 ‘‘(aa) a State; 

6 ‘‘(bb) 2 or more States; 

7 ‘‘(cc) a unit of local government; 

8 or 

9 ‘‘(dd) 2 or more units of local 

10 government.’’. 

11 SEC. 3. VOLUNTARY WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AGREE12 MENTS. 

13 Section 4(f) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

14 (16 U.S.C. 1533(f)) is further amended by adding at the 

15 end the following: 

16 ‘‘(3) VOLUNTARY WILDLIFE CONSERVATION

17 AGREEMENTS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary 

19 shall establish procedures for developing and 

20 entering into voluntary wildlife conservation 

21 agreements, including by establishing conserva22 tion goals and other criteria for the agreements, 

23 with 1 or more entities, including— 

24 ‘‘(i) a State, Tribal, or local govern25 ment; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) a private landowner; 

2 ‘‘(iii) a lessee; 

3 ‘‘(iv) a private third-party conserva4 tion organization; or 

5 ‘‘(v) any other entity that the Sec6 retary determines appropriate. 

7 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—A voluntary wildlife 

8 conservation agreement entered into under this 

9 paragraph shall include provisions establishing 

10 that— 

11 ‘‘(i) a party to the agreement that is 

12 in compliance with the agreement shall not 

13 be required to carry out any additional 

14 mitigation measure for a species covered 

15 by the agreement, if the additional meas16 ure would require— 

17 ‘‘(I) any additional expenditure 

18 of resources by the party to the agree19 ment; or 

20 ‘‘(II) the adoption of any addi21 tional use, development, or manage22 ment restriction on land, water, or a 

23 water-related right of the party to the 

24 agreement that would otherwise be 

25 available under the agreement; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) a conservation agreement or an 

2 activity proposed to be carried out under 

3 such an agreement may be modified only— 

4 ‘‘(I) under extraordinary cir5 cumstances; and 

6 ‘‘(II) with the consent of all par7 ties to the agreement. 

8 ‘‘(C) STREAMLINING REQUIREMENTS.—To 

9 reduce the time and expense required to enter 

10 into a voluntary wildlife conservation agreement 

11 under this paragraph, the Secretary shall, to 

12 the maximum extent practicable— 

13 ‘‘(i) implement standard procedures 

14 and encourage widespread use of templates 

15 in developing the agreements; 

16 ‘‘(ii) simplify the application and ap17 proval processes relating to the agree18 ments; 

19 ‘‘(iii) reduce the burdens associated 

20 with reporting and monitoring under the 

21 agreements; and 

22 ‘‘(iv) provide for the protection of sen23 sitive personal and business-related infor24 mation of any party to the agreements.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. CANDIDATE CONSERVATION AGREEMENTS WITH 

2 ASSURANCES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4(f) of the Endangered 

4 Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(f)) (as amended by 

5 section 4) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(4) CANDIDATE CONSERVATION AGREEMENTS

7 WITH ASSURANCES.—Notwithstanding any other 

8 provision of law, in entering into or carrying out any 

9 candidate conservation agreement under this Act, 

10 the Secretary— 

11 ‘‘(A) shall honor the terms of the agree12 ment, as in existence before March 21, 2017; 

13 ‘‘(B) shall enact regulations— 

14 ‘‘(i) to expedite the process for enter15 ing into a conservation agreement; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) to protect sensitive personal and 

17 business-related information of each party 

18 to the agreement; 

19 ‘‘(C) may not take into consideration 

20 whether the implementation of the agreement, 

21 in the Secretary’s judgement, will provide a net 

22 conservation benefit to a species covered by the 

23 agreement; 

24 ‘‘(D) shall take into consideration whether 

25 the implementation of the agreement, in the 

26 Secretary’s judgement, will preclude or remove 


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1 any need to list a species covered by the agree2 ment as a threatened species or an endangered 

3 species under this section; and 

4 ‘‘(E) may not preclude a party to the 

5 agreement from receiving Federal funds under 

6 any other conservation program.’’. 

7 (b) EFFECT ON REGULATIONS.—Notwithstanding 

8 any other provision of law— 

9 (1) the amendments to part 17 of title 50, Code 

10 of Federal Regulations, made by the final rule pro11 mulgated by the Secretary of the Interior entitled 

12 ‘‘Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 

13 Revisions to the Regulations for Candidate Con14 servation Agreements With Assurances’’ (81 Fed. 

15 Reg. 95053 (December 27, 2016)) shall have no 

16 force or effect; 

17 (2) such part shall be in effect as if those 

18 amendments had not been made; and 

19 (3) the Secretary of Commerce and the Sec20 retary of the Interior shall not make any amend21 ments to such part that are substantially similar to 

22 the amendments made by the final rule described in 

23 paragraph (1), unless specifically authorized to do so 

24 by Act of Congress. 


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1 SEC. 5. SAFE HARBOR AGREEMENTS. 

2 Section 4(f) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

3 (16 U.S.C. 1533(f)) (as amended by section 5(a)) is 

4 amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(5) SAFE HARBOR AGREEMENTS.—The Sec6 retary may offer to enter into an agreement, to be 

7 known as a ‘safe harbor agreement’, with 1 or more 

8 entities, including a State or local government, a pri9 vate landowner, a lessee, private third-party con10 servation organization, or any other entity that the 

11 Secretary determines appropriate, that— 

12 ‘‘(A) shall provide for the taking of any ad13 ditional threatened species or endangered spe14 cies that— 

15 ‘‘(i) is not covered under another 

16 agreement under this subsection; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) is drawn to the property covered 

18 by that agreement due to the improved 

19 conditions on that property generated by 

20 recovery activities for the benefit of the 

21 species covered by the agreement; and 

22 ‘‘(B) may provide for the taking of any 

23 threatened species or endangered species cov24 ered under another agreement under this sub25 section and any additional threatened species or 

26 endangered species not covered under that 


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1 agreement that is drawn to an adjacent prop2 erty not covered by the agreement due to the 

3 improved conditions on the property covered by 

4 the agreement generated by recovery activities 

5 for the benefit of the species covered by the 

6 agreement.’’. 

Æ 


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