I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5694 

To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to require publication on 

the internet of the basis for determinations that species are endangered 

species or threatened species, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 28, 2020 

Mr. MCCLINTOCK (for himself, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mr. CRAWFORD, 

Mr. STAUBER, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. STEWART, Mr. PERRY, Ms. CHENEY, 

Mr. SMITH of Missouri, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. GOHMERT, 

and Mr. ARMSTRONG) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to require 

publication on the internet of the basis for determinations that species are endangered species or threatened 

species, 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 ‘‘Endangered Species 

5 Transparency and Reasonableness Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT TO PUBLISH ON THE INTERNET THE 

2 BASIS FOR LISTINGS. 

3 Section 4(b) of the Endangered Species Act (16 

4 U.S.C. 1533(b)) is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(9) The Secretary shall make publicly available on 

7 the internet the best scientific and commercial data avail8 able that are the basis for each regulation, including each 

9 proposed regulation, promulgated under subsection (a)(1), 

10 except that— 

11 ‘‘(A) at the request of a Governor, State agen12 cy, or legislature of a State, the Secretary shall not 

13 make information available under this paragraph if 

14 such State determines that public disclosure of such 

15 information is prohibited by a law or regulation of 

16 such State, including any law or regulation requiring 

17 the protection of personal information; and 

18 ‘‘(B) within 30 days after the date of the enact19 ment of this paragraph, the Secretary shall execute 

20 an agreement with the Secretary of Defense that 

21 prevents the disclosure of classified information per22 taining to Department of Defense personnel, facili23 ties, lands, or waters.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. DECISIONAL TRANSPARENCY AND USE OF STATE, 

2 TRIBAL, AND LOCAL INFORMATION. 

3 (a) REQUIRING DECISIONAL TRANSPARENCY WITH

4 AFFECTED STATES.—Section 6(a) of the Endangered 

5 Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1535(a)) is amended— 

6 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before the first sentence; 

7 and 

8 (2) by striking ‘‘Such cooperation shall include’’ 

9 and inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘(2) Such cooperation shall include— 

11 ‘‘(A) before making a determination under 

12 section 4(a), providing to States affected by 

13 such determination all data that is the basis of 

14 the determination; and 

15 ‘‘(B)’’. 

16 (b) ENSURING USE OF STATE, TRIBAL, AND LOCAL

17 INFORMATION.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the Endangered 

19 Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1532) is amended— 

20 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (2) 

21 through (21) as paragraphs (3) through (22), 

22 respectively; and 

23 (B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 

24 following: 


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1 ‘‘(2) The term ‘best scientific and commercial data 

2 available’ includes all such data submitted by a State, 

3 Tribal, or county government.’’. 

4 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 7(n) 

5 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1536(n)) is amended by 

6 striking ‘‘section 3(13)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

7 3(14)’’. 

8 SEC. 4. DISCLOSURE OF EXPENDITURES UNDER ENDAN9 GERED SPECIES ACT OF 1973. 

10 (a) REQUIREMENT TO DISCLOSE.—Section 13 of the 

11 Endangered Species Act of 1973 (87 Stat. 902; relating 

12 to conforming amendments which have executed) is 

13 amended to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 13. DISCLOSURE OF EXPENDITURES. 

15 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary of the Interior, 

16 in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, shall— 

17 ‘‘(1) not later than 90 days after the end of 

18 each fiscal year, submit to the Committee on Nat19 ural Resources of the House of Representatives and 

20 the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of 

21 the Senate an annual report detailing Federal Gov22 ernment expenditures for covered suits during the 

23 preceding fiscal year (including the information de24 scribed in subsection (b)); and 


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1 ‘‘(2) make publicly available through the inter2 net a searchable database of the information de3 scribed in subsection (b). 

4 ‘‘(b) INCLUDED INFORMATION.—The report shall in5 clude— 

6 ‘‘(1) the case name and number of each covered 

7 suit, and a hyperlink to the record or decision for 

8 each covered suit (if available); 

9 ‘‘(2) a description of the claims in each covered 

10 suit; 

11 ‘‘(3) the name of each covered agency whose ac12 tions gave rise to a claim in a covered suit; 

13 ‘‘(4) funds expended by each covered agency 

14 (disaggregated by agency account) to receive and re15 spond to notices referred to in section 11(g)(2) or to 

16 prepare for litigation of, litigate, negotiate a settle17 ment agreement or consent decree in, or provide ma18 terial, technical, or other assistance in relation to, a 

19 covered suit; 

20 ‘‘(5) the number of full-time equivalent employ21 ees that participated in the activities described in 

22 paragraph (4); 

23 ‘‘(6) attorneys fees and other expenses (disag24 gregated by agency account) awarded in covered 

25 suits, including any consent decrees or settlement 


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1 agreements (regardless of whether a decree or settle2 ment agreement is sealed or otherwise subject to 

3 nondisclosure provisions), including the bases for 

4 such awards; and 

5 ‘‘(7) any Federal funding used by a person or 

6 a governmental or nongovernmental entity in bring7 ing a claim in a covered suit. 

8 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE INFORMATION.— 

9 The head of each covered agency shall provide to the Sec10 retary in a timely manner all information requested by the 

11 Secretary to comply with the requirements of this section. 

12 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON DISCLOSURE.—Notwithstand13 ing any other provision of this section, this section shall 

14 not affect any restriction in a consent decree or settlement 

15 agreement on the disclosure of information that is not de16 scribed in subsection (b). 

17 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) COVERED AGENCY.—The term ‘covered 

19 agency’ means any agency of the Department of the 

20 Interior, the Forest Service, the National Marine 

21 Fisheries Service, the Bonneville Power Administra22 tion, the Western Area Power Administration, the 

23 Southwestern Power Administration, or the South24 eastern Power Administration. 


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1 ‘‘(2) COVERED SUIT.—The term ‘covered suit’ 

2 means any civil action containing a claim against the 

3 Federal Government, in which the claim arises under 

4 this Act and is based on the action of a covered 

5 agency.’’. 

6 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

7 in the first section of such Act is amended by striking the 

8 item relating to such section and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 13. Disclosure of expenditures.’’. 

9 (c) PRIOR AMENDMENTS NOT AFFECTED.—This sec10 tion shall not be construed to affect the amendments made 

11 by section 13 of such Act, as in effect before the enact12 ment of this Act. 

13 SEC. 5. AWARD OF LITIGATION COSTS TO PREVAILING PAR14 TIES IN ACCORDANCE WITH EXISTING LAW. 

15 Section 11(g)(4) of the Endangered Species Act of 

16 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1540(g)(4)) is amended by striking ‘‘to 

17 any’’ and all that follows through the end of the sentence 

18 and inserting ‘‘to any prevailing party in accordance with 

19 section 2412 of title 28, United States Code.’’. 

Æ 


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