IB 

Union Calendar No. 404 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4316 

[Report No. 113–538] 

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

of certain expenditures under that Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 27, 2014 

Mrs. LUMMIS (for herself, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Mr. AMODEI, Mr. 

BISHOP of Utah, Mr. COLLINS of Georgia, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. HUIZENGA

of Michigan, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. LUETKEMEYER, Mr. NEUGEBAUER, 

Mr. SOUTHERLAND, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, and Mr. VALADAO) 

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

Natural Resources 

JULY 17, 2014 

Additional sponsors: Mr. LUCAS, Mr. WALDEN, Mr. COTTON, Mr. CRAMER, 

Mr. GOSAR, Mr. OLSON, Mr. TIPTON, Mr. HUELSKAMP, Mr. JONES, Mr. 

TIBERI, Mr. POMPEO, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. PEARCE, and Mrs. 

MCMORRIS RODGERS

JULY 17, 2014 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 27, 2014] 


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•HR 4316 RH

A BILL 

To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to improve 

the disclosure of certain expenditures under that Act, 

and for other purposes. 


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•HR 4316 RH

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 Re5 covery Transparency Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF EXPENDITURES UNDER ENDAN7 GERED SPECIES ACT OF 1973. 

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

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

10 conforming amendments which have executed) is amended 

11 to read as follows: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 13. DISCLOSURE OF EXPENDITURES. 

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

14 consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, shall— 

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

16 fiscal year, submit to the Committee on Natural Re17 sources of the House of Representatives and the Com18 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Sen19 ate an annual report detailing Federal Government 

20 expenditures for covered suits during the preceding 

21 fiscal year (including the information described in 

22 subsection (b)); and 

23 ‘‘(2) make publicly available through the Inter24 net a searchable database of the information described 

25 in subsection (b). 


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•HR 4316 RH

1 ‘‘(b) INCLUDED INFORMATION.—The report shall in2 clude— 

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

4 suit, and a hyperlink to the record or decision for 

5 each covered suit (if available); 

6 ‘‘(2) a description of the claims in each covered 

7 suit; 

8 ‘‘(3) the name of each covered agency whose ac9 tions gave rise to a claim in a covered suit; 

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

11 (disaggregated by agency account) to receive and re12 spond to notices referred to in section 11(g)(2) or to 

13 prepare for litigation of, litigate, negotiate a settle14 ment agreement or consent decree in, or provide mate15 rial, technical, or other assistance in relation to, a 

16 covered suit; 

17 ‘‘(5) the number of full-time equivalent employ18 ees that participated in the activities described in 

19 paragraph (4); and 

20 ‘‘(6) attorneys fees and other expenses 

21 (disaggregated by agency account) awarded in covered 

22 suits, including any consent decrees or settlement 

23 agreements (regardless of whether a decree or settle24 ment agreement is sealed or otherwise subject to nonVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:05 Jul 18, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4316.RH H4316

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•HR 4316 RH

1 disclosure provisions), including the bases for such 

2 awards. 

3 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE INFORMATION.—The 

4 head of each covered agency shall provide to the Secretary 

5 in a timely manner all information requested by the Sec6 retary to comply with the requirements of this section. 

7 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON DISCLOSURE.—Notwithstanding 

8 any other provision of this section, this section shall not 

9 affect any restriction in a consent decree or settlement 

10 agreement on the disclosure of information that is not de11 scribed in subsection (b). 

12 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.— 

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

14 agency’ means any agency of the Department of the 

15 Interior, the Forest Service, the National Marine 

16 Fisheries Service, the Bonneville Power Administra17 tion, the Western Area Power Administration, the 

18 Southwestern Power Administration, or the South19 eastern Power Administration. 

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

21 means any civil action containing a claim against 

22 the Federal Government, in which the claim arises 

23 under this Act and is based on the action of a covered 

24 agency.’’. 


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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents in 

2 the first section of such Act is amended by striking the item 

3 relating to such section and inserting the following: 

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

4 (c) PRIOR AMENDMENTS NOT AFFECTED.—This sec5 tion shall not be construed to affect the amendments made 

6 by section 13 of such Act, as in effect before the enactment 

7 of this Act. 


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Union Calendar No. 404 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4316 

[Report No. 113–538] 

A BILL 

To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to 

under that Act, and for other purposes. improve the disclosure of certain expenditures 

JULY 17, 2014 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


tjames on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS