I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5594 

To provide for greater county and State consultation with regard to petitions 

under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 13, 2020 

Mr. SMITH of Missouri (for himself, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. 

CRAWFORD, Mr. NEWHOUSE, and Ms. CHENEY) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide for greater county and State consultation with 

regard to petitions under the Endangered Species Act 

of 1973, 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 ‘‘Ensuring Meaningful 

5 Petition Outreach While Enhancing Rights of States Act 

6 of 2020’’ or the ‘‘EMPOWERS Act of 2020’’. 

7 SEC. 2. GREATER COUNTY AND STATE INVOLVEMENT. 

8 (a) COUNTY AND STATE CONSULTATION ON PETI9 TIONS.—Section 4(b)(3) of the Endangered Species Act 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 5594 IH

1 of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(b)(3)) is amended by adding at 

2 the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(E) LISTING PETITION REVIEW REQUIRE4 MENTS.— 

5 ‘‘(i) Not later than 30 days before 

6 submitting to the Secretary a petition to 

7 list, delist, or reclassify a species that oc8 curs in the United States, or to revise a 

9 designation of critical habitat of such a 

10 species, the petitioner shall provide to the 

11 chief executive of each county and State in 

12 which the species is located a notice of in13 tent to submit such petition. 

14 ‘‘(ii) The Secretary shall, upon finding 

15 that a petitioned action to list a species as 

16 a threatened species or endangered species 

17 may be warranted, solicit from the chief 

18 executive of each county and State in 

19 which the species is located— 

20 ‘‘(I) information regarding 

21 threats to the species and efforts by 

22 the county or State, respectively, to 

23 protect the species; 

24 ‘‘(II) information about the an25 ticipated effects of the action reVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:19 Jan 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5594.IH H5594

pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 5594 IH

1 quested in the petition in that county 

2 or State, respectively; and 

3 ‘‘(III) the advice of the chief ex4 ecutive on whether the status of the 

5 species merits the action requested in 

6 the petition, including information in 

7 support of such advice. 

8 ‘‘(iii) The Secretary may verify by 

9 field testing the information presented in a 

10 petition asserting that a species is a 

11 threatened species or endangered species. 

12 ‘‘(iv) If a chief executive advises under 

13 clause (ii)(III) that the petitioned-for ac14 tion is not warranted, the Secretary may 

15 not proceed with the action unless the Sec16 retary demonstrates that information sub17 mitted in support of such advice by the 

18 chief executive is incorrect and that the ac19 tion is warranted.’’. 

20 (b) REGULATIONS TO IMPLEMENT DETERMINA21 TIONS.—Section 4(b)(5) of the Endangered Species Act 

22 of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(b)(5)) is amended to read as 

23 follows: 

24 ‘‘(5) NOTICE REQUIRED.—With respect to any 

25 regulation proposed by the Secretary to implement a 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 5594 IH

1 determination referred to in subsection (a)(1), the 

2 Secretary shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) not less than 90 days before the ef4 fective date of the regulation— 

5 ‘‘(i) publish a general notice and the 

6 complete text of the proposed regulation in 

7 the Federal Register; 

8 ‘‘(ii) provide notice of the proposed 

9 regulation (including the complete text of 

10 the regulation) to the chief executive of 

11 county and State in which the species is lo12 cated, and invite such chief executive to 

13 submit to the Secretary a determination as 

14 to whether the proposed regulation is war15 ranted; and 

16 ‘‘(iii) if the chief executive notifies the 

17 Secretary that the proposed regulation is 

18 not warranted, provide to the chief execu19 tive a record of decision for such deter20 mination, including information made 

21 available to the Secretary that did not sup22 port the determination and in writing the 

23 reasons for the determination; 

24 ‘‘(B) in cooperation with the Secretary of 

25 State, provide notice of the proposed regulation 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 5594 IH

1 to each foreign nation in which the species is lo2 cated or whose citizens harvest the species on 

3 the high seas, and invite the comment of such 

4 nation thereon; 

5 ‘‘(C) provide notice of the proposed regula6 tion to— 

7 ‘‘(i) each person who requests such 

8 notice; 

9 ‘‘(ii) each person who has submitted 

10 additional data on the proposed regulation; 

11 ‘‘(iii) each county, State, and local 

12 government within the jurisdiction of 

13 which the species is located or that is likely 

14 to experience any effects of any measures 

15 to protect the species under this Act; and 

16 ‘‘(iv) such professional scientific orga17 nizations as the Secretary considers appro18 priate; 

19 ‘‘(D) publish a summary of the proposed 

20 regulation on the internet; and 

21 ‘‘(E) promptly hold one public hearing on 

22 the proposed regulation if any person files a re23 quest for such a hearing within 45 days after 

24 the date of publication of general notice.’’. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 5594 IH

1 (c) CONSULTATION ON FINAL DETERMINATION.— 

2 Section 4(i) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 

3 U.S.C. 1533(i)) is amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘(i) WRITTEN JUSTIFICATION.—If the Secretary 

5 adopts a final regulation in conflict with advise submitted 

6 by the chief executive of a county or State or fails to adopt 

7 a regulation pursuant to an action petitioned for by such 

8 a chief executive under subsection (b)(3), the Secretary 

9 shall submit to the chief executive— 

10 ‘‘(1) a separate written justification explaining 

11 the failure of the Secretary to adopt regulations con12 sistent with the advise or petition of the chief execu13 tive; 

14 ‘‘(2) any determination referred to in subsection 

15 (a)(1) relating to the regulation; and 

16 ‘‘(3) all comments received by the Secretary 

17 that disagreed with all or part of the regulation.’’. 

18 (d) FACA.—Section 4(b) of the Endangered Species 

19 Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(b)) is amended by adding 

20 at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(9) FACA.—Consultation with counties and 

22 States regarding petitions and proposed regulations 

23 under this subsection shall not be subject to the 

24 Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.).’’. 

Æ 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS