I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 97 

To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to further restrict the Secretary of the Interior from designating certain lands used for national 

defense-related purposes as critical habitats for any species under that 

Act and to broaden exclusions and exemptions from that Act for such 

defense-related purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 9, 2023 

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

on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to further 

restrict the Secretary of the Interior from designating 

certain lands used for national defense-related purposes 

as critical habitats for any species under that Act and 

to broaden exclusions and exemptions from that Act for 

such defense-related 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 ‘‘Armed Forces Endan5 gered Species Exemption Act’’. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•HR 97 IH

1 SEC. 2. EXCLUSION OF MILITARY INSTITUTIONS AS CRIT2 ICAL HABITAT. 

3 Section 4(a)(3)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 

4 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(a)(3)(B)) is amended to read as 

5 follows: 

6 ‘‘(i) The Secretary shall not designate 

7 as critical habitat— 

8 ‘‘(I) any military installation or a 

9 State-owned National Guard installa10 tion, or any portion thereof, as such 

11 terms are defined in section 100 of 

12 the Sikes Act (16 U.S.C. 670); or 

13 ‘‘(II) any other lands, waters, or 

14 geographical area not described in 

15 clause (i) that is otherwise designated 

16 for use by the Secretary of Defense 

17 including by any contractor of the De18 partment of Defense, if the Secretary 

19 of Defense determines in writing and 

20 submitted to the Secretary of the In21 terior that such area is necessary for 

22 military training, weapons testing, or 

23 any other reason determined appro24 priate by such Secretary of Defense. 

25 ‘‘(ii) The Secretary of Defense shall 

26 not be required to consult with the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Jan 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H97.IH H97

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•HR 97 IH

1 retary of the Interior, under section 

2 7(a)(2) of this Act with respect to agency 

3 action, regardless of whether the area de4 scribed in clause (i) is subject to an inte5 grated natural resources management plan 

6 prepared under section 101 of the Sikes 

7 Act (16 U.S.C. 670a).’’. 

8 SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL EXCLUSIONS AND EXEMPTIONS FROM 

9 THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT FOR DE10 FENSE-RELATED OPERATIONS. 

11 Section 10 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

12 (16 U.S.C. 1539) is amended by adding at the end the 

13 following new subsection: 

14 ‘‘(h) EXCLUSION FOR NATIONAL DEFENSE-RELATED

15 OPERATIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) EXCLUSIONS.—The prohibitions under sec17 tion 9 shall not apply with respect to— 

18 ‘‘(A) the taking of any endangered species 

19 or threatened species, or the importation or ex20 portation of any such species taken as prohib21 ited by such section, by military personnel en22 gaged in a national defense-related operation; 

23 ‘‘(B) damaging or destroying any threat24 ened or endangered species, or removing, cut25 ting, digging up, damaging, or destroying any 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•HR 97 IH

1 such species, by military personnel engaged in 

2 a national defense-related operation; or 

3 ‘‘(C) an injury to or mortality of a threat4 ened or endangered species that results from, 

5 but is not the purpose of, a national defense-re6 lated operation, 

7 regardless of whether the operation is conducted on 

8 a military installation or other area described in sec9 tion 4(a)(3)(B)(i). 

10 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this 

11 subsection— 

12 ‘‘(A) the term ‘national defense-related op13 eration’ means— 

14 ‘‘(i) research, development, testing, 

15 and evaluation of military munitions, other 

16 ordnance, and weapons systems; 

17 ‘‘(ii) the training of members of the 

18 Armed Forces in the use and handling of 

19 military munitions, other ordnance, and 

20 weapons systems; 

21 ‘‘(iii) general training and military 

22 preparedness; or 

23 ‘‘(iv) any action or duty that the Sec24 retary of Defense deems necessary to supVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Jan 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H97.IH H97

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
5 

•HR 97 IH

1 port the Department of Defense in its mis2 sion; and 

3 ‘‘(B) the term ‘military personnel’ 

4 means— 

5 ‘‘(i) a member of the Armed Forces; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(ii) a civilian employee or contractor 

8 (including a subcontractor at any tier) of 

9 the— 

10 ‘‘(I) Department of Defense (in11 cluding a nonappropriated fund in12 strumentality of the Department); or 

13 ‘‘(II) any other Federal agency, 

14 or any provisional authority, to the 

15 extent such employment relates to 

16 supporting the mission of the Depart17 ment of Defense overseas.’’. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB