II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2491 

To terminate certain rules issued by the Secretary of the Interior and the 

Secretary of Commerce relating to endangered and threatened species, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2019 

Mr. UDALL (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, 

Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. MENENDEZ, and Ms. WARREN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 

Public Works 

A BILL 

To terminate certain rules issued by the Secretary of the 

Interior and the Secretary of Commerce relating to endangered and 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 ‘‘Protect America’s 

5 Wildlife and Fish in Need of Conservation Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) global wildlife populations have fallen by 60 

2 percent over 4 decades due to habitat loss, pollution, 

3 deforestation, climate change, and other anthropo4 genic factors; 

5 (2) current rates of species extinction are up to 

6 1,000 times greater than the natural rate of extinc7 tion; and 

8 (3) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 

9 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) is one of the most popular and 

10 successful environmental laws of the United States. 

11 SEC. 3. TERMINATION OF REGULATIONS RELATING TO EN12 DANGERED AND THREATENED SPECIES AND 

13 RESTORATION OF PRIOR REGULATIONS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The amendments to parts 17, 

15 402, and 424 of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations, 

16 made by the following final rules are void: 

17 (1) The final rule promulgated by the Secretary 

18 of the Interior entitled ‘‘Endangered and Threatened 

19 Wildlife and Plants; Regulations for Prohibitions to 

20 Threatened Wildlife and Plants’’ (84 Fed. Reg. 

21 44753 (August 27, 2019)). 

22 (2) The final rule promulgated by the Secretary 

23 of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce enti24 tled ‘‘Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and 


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1 Plants; Regulations for Interagency Cooperation’’ 

2 (84 Fed. Reg. 44976 (August 27, 2019)). 

3 (3) The final rule promulgated by the Secretary 

4 of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce enti5 tled ‘‘Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and 

6 Plants; Regulations for Listing Species and Desig7 nating Critical Habitat’’ (84 Fed. Reg. 45020 (Au8 gust 27, 2019)). 

9 (b) EFFECTIVENESS.—Parts 17, 402, and 424 of 

10 title 50, Code of Federal Regulations, shall be in effect 

11 as if the amendments voided under subsection (a) had not 

12 been made. 

13 (c) PROMULGATION OF NEW RULES.—Any rule pro14 posed by the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary 

15 of Commerce after the date of enactment of this Act to 

16 amend part 17, 402, or 424 of title 50, Code of Federal 

17 Regulations (other than any rule that is necessary to carry 

18 out subsections (a) and (b))— 

19 (1) shall analyze and incorporate the impacts of 

20 climate change, including long-term impacts, on— 

21 (A) species listed as threatened species or 

22 endangered species under the Endangered Spe23 cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and 

24 species that are candidates to be so listed; and 


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1 (B) the habitats of species described in 

2 subparagraph (A); 

3 (2) may analyze and incorporate alternatives 

4 for providing automatic protections under section 

5 9(a) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 

6 U.S.C. 1538(a)) in the case of species listed as 

7 threatened species under that Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 

8 et seq.); and 

9 (3) may not— 

10 (A) analyze or incorporate any positive or 

11 negative economic impacts associated with the 

12 decision of whether to list a species as a threat13 ened species or an endangered species under the 

14 Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

15 1531 et seq.); 

16 (B) limit the authority of the Secretary of 

17 the Interior or the Secretary of Commerce to 

18 consider the impacts of climate change, includ19 ing the long-term impacts; or 

20 (C) interfere in any manner with the best 

21 available science. 

22 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

23 It is the sense of Congress that— 

24 (1) Congress recognizes the potential benefit of 

25 clarifying inconsistencies in— 


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1 (A) the past practices of the United States 

2 Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Ma3 rine Fisheries Service under the Endangered 

4 Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); 

5 and 

6 (B) interpretations by those agencies of 

7 regulations under that Act, especially under 

8 section 7 of that Act (16 U.S.C. 1536); and 

9 (2) Congress acknowledges the importance of 

10 providing incentives for landowners to conserve spe11 cies, especially by rewarding the landowners for— 

12 (A) helping to prevent the need to add spe13 cies to the list of threatened species or endan14 gered species under that Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 

15 et seq.); and 

16 (B) successfully conserving species listed 

17 as endangered species under that Act to the 

18 point that the species can be downlisted to the 

19 list of threatened species under that Act. 

Æ 


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