I 

119TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 180 

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 3, 2025 

Mr. MCCLINTOCK 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 2025’’. 


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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 of 1973 

4 (16 U.S.C. 1533(b)) is amended by adding at the end the 

5 following: 

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.—Section 3 of the Endangered Species Act 

18 of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1532) is amended— 

19 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through 

20 (10) as paragraphs (3) through (11), respectively; 

21 and 

22 (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol23 lowing: 

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

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

26 Tribal, or county government.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. DISCLOSURE OF EXPENDITURES UNDER ENDAN2 GERED SPECIES ACT OF 1973. 

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

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

5 to conforming amendments which have executed) is 

6 amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 13. DISCLOSURE OF EXPENDITURES. 

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

9 in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, shall— 

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

11 each fiscal year, submit to the Committee on Nat12 ural Resources of the House of Representatives and 

13 the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of 

14 the Senate an annual report detailing Federal Gov15 ernment expenditures for covered suits during the 

16 preceding fiscal year (including the information de17 scribed in subsection (b)); and 

18 ‘‘(2) make publicly available through the inter19 net a searchable database, updated monthly, of the 

20 information described in subsection (b). 

21 ‘‘(b) INCLUDED INFORMATION.—The report shall in22 clude— 

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

24 suit, and a hyperlink to the settlement decisions, 

25 final decision, consent decrees, stipulations of dis26 missal, releases, interim decisions, motions to disVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 Jan 30, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H180.IH H180

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1 miss, partial motions for summary judgement, or re2 lated final documents; 

3 ‘‘(2) a description of each claim or cause of ac4 tion in each covered suit; 

5 ‘‘(3) the name of each covered agency whose ac6 tions give rise to any claim in a covered suit and 

7 each plaintiff in such suit; 

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

9 (disaggregated by agency account) to receive and re10 spond to notices referred to in section 11(g)(2) or to 

11 prepare for litigation of, litigate, negotiate a settle12 ment agreement or consent decree in, or provide ma13 terial, technical, or other assistance in relation to, a 

14 covered suit; 

15 ‘‘(5) the number of full-time equivalent employ16 ees that participated in the activities described in 

17 paragraph (4); 

18 ‘‘(6) any information required to be published 

19 under section 1304 of title 31, United States Code, 

20 with respect to a covered suit; 

21 ‘‘(7) attorneys fees and other expenses 

22 (disaggregated by agency account) awarded in cov23 ered suits, including any consent decrees or settle24 ment agreements (regardless of whether a decree or 

25 settlement agreement is sealed or otherwise subject 


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1 to nondisclosure provisions), including the bases for 

2 such awards; and 

3 ‘‘(8) any Federal funding used by a person or 

4 a governmental or nongovernmental entity in bring5 ing a claim in a covered suit. 

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

7 The head of each covered agency shall provide to the Sec8 retary in a timely manner all information requested by the 

9 Secretary to comply with the requirements of this section. 

10 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON DISCLOSURE.—Notwith11 standing any other provision of this section, this section 

12 shall not affect any restriction in a consent decree or set13 tlement agreement on the disclosure of information that 

14 is not described in subsection (b). 

15 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.— 

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

17 agency’ means any agency of the Department of the 

18 Interior, the Forest Service, the Environmental Pro19 tection Agency, the National Marine Fisheries Serv20 ice, the Bonneville Power Administration, the West21 ern Area Power Administration, the Southwestern 

22 Power Administration, or the Southeastern Power 

23 Administration. 

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

25 means— 


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1 ‘‘(A) any civil action containing any claim 

2 arising under this Act against the Federal Gov3 ernment and based on the action of a covered 

4 agency; and 

5 ‘‘(B) any administrative proceeding under 

6 which the United States awards fees and other 

7 expenses to a third party under section 504 of 

8 title 5, United States Code.’’. 

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

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

11 item relating to section 13 and inserting the following: 

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

12 (c) PRIOR AMENDMENTS NOT AFFECTED.—This sec13 tion shall not be construed to affect the amendments made 

14 by section 13 of such Act, as in effect before the enact15 ment of this Act. 

16 SEC. 5. AWARD OF LITIGATION COSTS TO PREVAILING PAR17 TIES IN ACCORDANCE WITH EXISTING LAW. 

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

19 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1540(g)(4)) is amended by striking ‘‘to 

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

21 and inserting ‘‘in accordance with section 2412 of title 28, 

22 United States Code and section 504 of title 5, United 

23 States Code.’’. 

Æ 


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