I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3300 

To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to authorize species recovery 

agreements under which the Federal Government is obligated to make 

annual payments or provide other compensation for activities that improve the recovery of one or more species listed under that Act, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 14, 2005 

Mr. GRAVES (for himself, Mr. TERRY, and Mr. MCCAUL of Texas) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to authorize 

species recovery agreements under which the Federal 

Government is obligated to make annual payments or 

provide other compensation for activities that improve 

the recovery of one or more species listed under 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 ‘‘Endangered Species 

5 Improvements Act of 2005’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. COOPERATION PROGRAM. 

2 (a) AGREEMENTS AUTHORIZED.—Section 13 of the 

3 Endangered Species Act of 1973 (consisting of amend4 ments to other laws, which have executed) is amended to 

5 read as follows: 

6 ‘‘SPECIES RECOVERY AGREEMENTS

7 ‘‘SEC. 13. (a) AGREEMENTS AUTHORIZED.—The 

8 Secretary may enter into a species recovery agreement 

9 with a person, other than an agency or department of a 

10 Federal or State government, under which the Secretary 

11 is obligated, subject to the availability of appropriations, 

12 to make annual payments or provide other compensation 

13 to the person to implement the agreement. 

14 ‘‘(b) TERMS OF AGREEMENT.—A species recovery 

15 agreement entered into under this section by the Secretary 

16 with a person— 

17 ‘‘(1) shall require that the person shall carry 

18 out, on land owned or controlled by the person, ac19 tivities that— 

20 ‘‘(A) protect and restore habitat for species 

21 included in a list published under section 4(c), 

22 or that are candidates for such inclusion, in a 

23 manner that is integrated with existing oper24 ations on and use of such land; 
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1 ‘‘(B) contribute to the recovery of one or 

2 more species included in a list published under 

3 section 4(c); and 

4 ‘‘(C) implement a management plan for 

5 such species; 

6 ‘‘(2) shall specify such management plan; 

7 ‘‘(3) shall include the compensation to be pro8 vided by the Secretary to the person under the 

9 agreement, and the terms under which such com10 pensation shall be provided; 

11 ‘‘(4) require the Secretary to provide upon re12 quest technical assistance and management training 

13 to assist the owner or operator of the land that is 

14 subject to the agreement in carrying out the agree15 ment; and 

16 ‘‘(5) shall include— 

17 ‘‘(A) the duties of the person; 

18 ‘‘(B) the duties of Secretary; 

19 ‘‘(C) the terms and conditions under which 

20 the person and the Secretary mutually agree 

21 such agreement may be modified or terminated; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(D) acts or omissions by the person or 

24 the Secretary that shall be considered violations 

25 of the agreement, and procedures under which 
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1 notice and an opportunity to remedy any viola2 tion by the person shall be given. 

3 ‘‘(c) TRANSFER OF PROPERTY.—Upon any convey4 ance or other transfer of interest in land that is subject 

5 to an agreement under this section— 

6 ‘‘(1) the agreement shall continue in effect with 

7 respect to such land, with the same terms and condi8 tions, if the person to whom the land or interest is 

9 conveyed or otherwise transferred notifies the Sec10 retary of the person’s election to continue the agree11 ment by not later than 30 days after the date of the 

12 conveyance or other transfer; 

13 ‘‘(2) the agreement shall terminate if the agree14 ment does not continue in effect under paragraph 

15 (1); and 

16 ‘‘(3) the person to whom the land or interest is 

17 conveyed or otherwise transferred may seek a new 

18 agreement under this section. 

19 ‘‘(d) MODEL FORM OF AGREEMENT.—Not later than 

20 1 year after the date of the enactment of the Endangered 

21 Species Improvements Act of 2005, the Secretary shall 

22 issue regulations that— 

23 ‘‘(1) establish a model form of agreement that 

24 a person may enter into with the Secretary under 

25 this section; and 
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1 ‘‘(2) include in such model agreement— 

2 ‘‘(A) a range of possible management prac3 tices for habitat protections and restoration; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(B) other necessary agreement terms con6 sistent with this section. 

7 ‘‘(e) DURATION OF AGREEMENT; RENEWAL.—An 

8 agreement under this section shall be effective for 5 years, 

9 and may be renewed at the option of the person or upon 

10 the mutual agreement of the Secretary and the person. 

11 ‘‘(f) VOLUNTARY PROGRAM.—The Secretary, or any 

12 other Federal official, may not require a person to enter 

13 into an agreement under this section as a term or condi14 tion of any right, privilege, or benefit, or of any action 

15 or refraining from any action, under this or any other law. 

16 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

17 carry out this section there is authorized to be appro18 priated to the Secretary $50,000,000.’’. 

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

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

21 item relating to section 13 and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 13. Species recovery agreements.’’. 

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