I 

119TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 65 

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 habitat 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 3, 2025 

Mr. BIGGS of Arizona (for himself and Mr. GOSAR) 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 habitat 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’’. 


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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 as crit7 ical habitat— 

8 ‘‘(I) any military installation or a State9 owned National Guard installation, or any por10 tion thereof, as such terms are defined in sec11 tion 100 of the Sikes Act (16 U.S.C. 670); or 

12 ‘‘(II) any other lands, waters, or geo13 graphical area not described in clause (i) that 

14 is otherwise designated for use by the Secretary 

15 of Defense including by any contractor of the 

16 Department of Defense, if the Secretary of De17 fense determines in writing and submitted to 

18 the Secretary of the Interior that such area is 

19 necessary for military training, weapons testing, 

20 or any other reason determined appropriate by 

21 such Secretary of Defense. 

22 ‘‘(ii) The Secretary of Defense shall not be re23 quired to consult with the Secretary of the Interior, 

24 under section 7(a)(2) of this Act with respect to 

25 agency action, regardless of whether the area de26 scribed in clause (i) is subject to an integrated natVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:18 Jan 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H65.IH H65

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•HR 65 IH

1 ural resources management plan prepared under sec2 tion 101 of the Sikes Act (16 U.S.C. 670a).’’. 

3 SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL EXCLUSIONS AND EXEMPTIONS FROM 

4 ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT OF 1973 FOR DE5 FENSE-RELATED OPERATIONS. 

6 Section 10 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

7 (16 U.S.C. 1539) is amended by adding at the end the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(k) EXCLUSION FOR NATIONAL DEFENSE-RELATED

10 OPERATIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) EXCLUSIONS.—The prohibitions under sec12 tion 9 shall not apply with respect to— 

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

14 or threatened species, or the importation or ex15 portation of any such species taken as prohib16 ited by such section, by military personnel en17 gaged in a national defense-related operation; 

18 ‘‘(B) damaging or destroying any threat19 ened or endangered species, or removing, cut20 ting, digging up, damaging, or destroying any 

21 such species, by military personnel engaged in 

22 a national defense-related operation; or 

23 ‘‘(C) an injury to or mortality of a threat24 ened or endangered species that results from, 


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1 but is not the purpose of, a national defense-re2 lated operation, 

3 regardless of whether the operation is conducted on 

4 a military installation or other area described in sec5 tion 4(a)(3)(B)(i). 

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

7 subsection— 

8 ‘‘(A) the term ‘national defense-related op9 eration’ means— 

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

11 and evaluation of military munitions, other 

12 ordnance, and weapons systems; 

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

14 Armed Forces in the use and handling of 

15 military munitions, other ordnance, and 

16 weapons systems; 

17 ‘‘(iii) general training and military 

18 preparedness; or 

19 ‘‘(iv) any action or duty that the Sec20 retary of Defense deems necessary to sup21 port the Department of Defense in its mis22 sion; and 

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

24 means— 


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•HR 65 IH

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

2 and 

3 ‘‘(ii) a civilian employee or contractor 

4 (including a subcontractor at any tier) of 

5 the— 

6 ‘‘(I) Department of Defense (in7 cluding a nonappropriated fund in8 strumentality of the Department); or 

9 ‘‘(II) any other Federal agency, 

10 or any provisional authority, to the 

11 extent such employment relates to 

12 supporting the mission of the Depart13 ment of Defense overseas.’’. 

Æ 


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