II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 658 

To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to improve the processes 

for listing, recovery planning, and delisting, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 16, 2007 

Mr. THOMAS (for himself, Mr. ENZI, Mr. ALLARD, Mr. CRAIG, and Mr. 

HAGEL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to improve 

the processes for listing, recovery planning, and delisting, 

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 Reform Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LISTING PROCESS REFORMS. 

7 (a) BEST SCIENTIFIC AND COMMERCIAL DATA

8 AVAILABLE.— 


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

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

3 (A) by striking the section heading and in4 serting the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS AND GENERAL PROVISIONS.’’; 

6 (B) by striking ‘‘For the purposes of this 

7 Act—’’ and inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act:’’; and 

9 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(b) GENERAL PROVISIONS.—In any case in which 

11 this Act requires the Secretary to use the best scientific 

12 and commercial data available, the Secretary shall obtain 

13 and use scientific or commercial data that are empirical 

14 or have been field-tested or peer-reviewed.’’. 

15 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of 

16 contents in the first section of the Endangered Spe17 cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. prec. 1531) is amended 

18 by striking the item relating to section 3 and insert19 ing the following: 

‘‘Sec. 3. Definitions and general provisions.’’. 

20 (b) FINDING OF SUFFICIENT BIOLOGICAL INFORMA21 TION TO SUPPORT RECOVERY PLANNING.—Section 4(b) 

22 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

23 1533(b)) is amended— 

24 (1) in paragraph (1)(A)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘shall make’’ and inserting 

2 the following: ‘‘shall— 

3 ‘‘(i) make’’; 

4 (B) by striking the period at the end and 

5 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

6 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(ii) determine that a species is an endangered 

8 species or a threatened species only if the Secretary 

9 finds that there is sufficient biological information to 

10 support recovery planning for the species under sub11 section (f).’’; and 

12 (2) in the first sentence of paragraph (3)(A), by 

13 inserting before the period at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘and as to whether the petition presents sufficient 

15 biological information to support recovery planning 

16 for the species under subsection (f)’’. 

17 (c) PETITION PROCESS.—Section 4(b)(3) of the En18 dangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(b)(3)) is 

19 amended by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(E) LISTING PETITION INFORMATION.— 

21 In the case of a petition to add a species to a 

22 list published under subsection (c), a finding 

23 that the petition presents the information de24 scribed in subparagraph (A) shall not be made 

25 unless the petition provides— 


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1 ‘‘(i) documentation from a published 

2 scientific source that the fish, wildlife, or 

3 plant that is the subject of the petition is 

4 a species; 

5 ‘‘(ii)(I) a description of the available 

6 data on the historical and current range 

7 and distribution of the species; 

8 ‘‘(II) an explanation of the method9 ology used to collect the data; and 

10 ‘‘(III) identification of the location 

11 where the data can be reviewed; 

12 ‘‘(iii) an appraisal of the available 

13 data on the status and trends of all extant 

14 populations of the species; 

15 ‘‘(iv) an appraisal of the available 

16 data on the threats to the species; 

17 ‘‘(v) an identification of the informa18 tion contained or referred to in the petition 

19 that has been peer-reviewed or field-tested; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(vi) a description of at least 1 study 

22 or credible expert opinion, from a person 

23 not affiliated with the petitioner, to sup24 port the action requested in the petition. 

25 ‘‘(F) NOTIFICATION TO STATES.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) PETITIONED ACTIONS.—If a peti2 tion is found to present information de3 scribed in subparagraph (A), the Secretary 

4 shall— 

5 ‘‘(I) notify and provide a copy of 

6 the petition to the State agency of 

7 each State in which the species is be8 lieved to occur; and 

9 ‘‘(II) solicit the assessment of the 

10 agency as to whether the petitioned 

11 action is warranted, which assessment 

12 shall be submitted to the Secretary 

13 during a comment period ending 90 

14 days after the date of the notification. 

15 ‘‘(ii) OTHER ACTIONS.—If the Sec16 retary has not received a petition to add a 

17 species to a list published under subsection 

18 (c) and the Secretary is considering pro19 posing to list the species as an endangered 

20 species or a threatened species under sub21 section (a), the Secretary shall— 

22 ‘‘(I) notify the State agency of 

23 each State in which the species is be24 lieved to occur; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) solicit the assessment of the 

2 agency as to whether the listing would 

3 be in accordance with subsection (a), 

4 which assessment shall be submitted 

5 to the Secretary during a comment 

6 period ending 90 days after the date 

7 of the notification. 

8 ‘‘(iii) CONSIDERATION OF STATE AS9 SESSMENTS.—Before publication of a find10 ing described in subparagraph (A) that a 

11 petitioned action is warranted, the Sec12 retary shall consider any assessments sub13 mitted with respect to the species within 

14 the comment period established under 

15 clause (i) or (ii).’’. 

16 (d) IMPROVEMENT OF PUBLIC HEARINGS IN THE

17 LISTING PROCESS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 4(b)(5) of the En19 dangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

20 1533(b)(5)) is amended by striking subparagraph 

21 (E) and inserting the following: 

22 ‘‘(E) promptly hold at least 2 hearings in each 

23 State in which the species proposed for determina24 tion as an endangered species or a threatened spe25 cies is located (including at least 1 hearing in an afVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:24 Feb 23, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S658.IS S658

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1 fected rural area if 1 or more rural areas within the 

2 State are affected by the determination), except that 

3 the Secretary may not be required to hold more than 

4 10 hearings under this subparagraph with respect to 

5 the proposed regulation.’’. 

6 (2) DEFINITION OF RURAL AREA.—Section 3(a) 

7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

8 1532(a)) (as amended by subsection (a)(1)(B)) is 

9 amended— 

10 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (12) 

11 through (14) as paragraphs (11) through (13), 

12 respectively; and 

13 (B) by inserting before paragraph (15) the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(14) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘rural area’ 

16 means a county or unincorporated area that has no 

17 city or town with a population of more than 10,000 

18 individuals.’’. 

19 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 7(n) 

20 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

21 1536(n)) is amended in the first sentence by striking 

22 ‘‘, as defined by section 3(13) of this Act,’’. 

23 (e) EMERGENCY LISTING.—Section 4(b)(7) of the 

24 Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(b)(7)) 

25 is amended in the first sentence by striking ‘‘posing a sigVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:24 Feb 23, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S658.IS S658

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1 nificant risk to the well-being’’ and inserting ‘‘that poses 

2 an imminent threat to the continued existence’’. 

3 (f) OTHER LISTING REFORMS.—Section 4(b) of the 

4 Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(b)) is 

5 amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(9) AVAILABILITY OF LISTING DATA.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara8 graph (B), upon publication of a proposed regu9 lation determining that a species is an endan10 gered species or a threatened species, the Sec11 retary shall make publicly available— 

12 ‘‘(i) all information on which the de13 termination is based, including all sci14 entific studies and data underlying the 

15 studies; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) all information relating to the 

17 species that the Secretary possesses and 

18 that does not support the determination. 

19 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Subparagraph (A) 

20 does not require disclosure of any information 

21 that— 

22 ‘‘(i) is not required to be made avail23 able under section 552 of title 5, United 

24 States Code (commonly known as the 

25 ‘Freedom of Information Act’); or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) is prohibited from being disclosed 

2 under section 552a of title 5, United 

3 States Code (commonly known as the ‘Pri4 vacy Act’). 

5 ‘‘(10) ESTABLISHMENT OF CRITERIA FOR SCI6 ENTIFIC STUDIES TO SUPPORT LISTING.—Not later 

7 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this para8 graph, the Secretary shall promulgate regulations 

9 that establish criteria that must be met for scientific 

10 and commercial data to be used as the basis of a de11 termination under this section that a species is an 

12 endangered species or a threatened species. 

13 ‘‘(11) FIELD DATA.— 

14 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary may 

15 not determine that a species is an endangered 

16 species or a threatened species unless the deter17 mination is supported by data obtained by ob18 servation of the species in the field. 

19 ‘‘(B) DATA FROM LANDOWNERS.—The 

20 Secretary shall— 

21 ‘‘(i) accept and acknowledge receipt of 

22 data regarding the status of a species that 

23 is collected by an owner of land through 

24 observation of the species on the land; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) include the data in the rule2 making record compiled for any determina3 tion that the species is an endangered spe4 cies or a threatened species.’’. 

5 SEC. 3. DEADLINE FOR DEVELOPMENT OF RECOVERY 

6 PLANS. 

7 Section 4(f) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

8 (16 U.S.C. 1533(f)) is amended by adding at the end the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(6) DEADLINE FOR DEVELOPMENT OF RECOV11 ERY PLANS.—The Secretary shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) begin developing a recovery plan re13 quired for a species under paragraph (1) on the 

14 date of promulgation of the proposed regulation 

15 to implement a determination under subsection 

16 (a)(1) with respect to the species; and 

17 ‘‘(B) issue a recovery plan in final form 

18 not later than the date of promulgation of the 

19 final regulation to implement the determina20 tion.’’. 

21 SEC. 4. DELISTING. 

22 Section 4(f) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

23 (16 U.S.C. 1533(f)) (as amended by section 3) is amended 

24 by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(7) EFFECT OF FULFILLMENT OF RECOVERY

2 PLAN CRITERIA.— 

3 ‘‘(A) CHANGE IN STATUS.—If the Sec4 retary finds that the criteria of a recovery plan 

5 have been met for a change in status of the 

6 species covered by the recovery plan from an 

7 endangered species to a threatened species, or 

8 from a threatened species to an endangered 

9 species, the Secretary shall promptly publish in 

10 the Federal Register a notice of the change in 

11 status of the species. 

12 ‘‘(B) REMOVAL FROM LISTING.—If the 

13 Secretary finds that the criteria of a recovery 

14 plan have been met for the removal of the spe15 cies covered by the recovery plan from a list 

16 published under subsection (c), the Secretary 

17 shall promptly publish in the Federal Register 

18 a notice of an intent to remove the species from 

19 the list.’’. 

Æ 


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