I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 518 

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 25, 2023 

Mr. MCCLINTOCK (for himself, Mr. BENTZ, Mr. VALADAO, Mr. STAUBER, and 

Mr. JACKSON of Texas) 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 2023’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 518 IH

1 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT TO PUBLISH ON THE INTERNET THE 

2 BASIS FOR LISTINGS. 

3 Section 4(b) of the Endangered Species Act (16 

4 U.S.C. 1533(b)) is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

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.’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 518 IH

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.— 

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

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

20 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (2) 

21 through (21) as paragraphs (3) through (22), 

22 respectively; and 

23 (B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 

24 following: 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 518 IH

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

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

3 Tribal, or county government.’’. 

4 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 7(n) 

5 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1536(n)) is amended by 

6 striking ‘‘section 3(13)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

7 3(14)’’. 

8 SEC. 4. DISCLOSURE OF EXPENDITURES UNDER ENDAN9 GERED SPECIES ACT OF 1973. 

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

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

12 to conforming amendments which have executed) is 

13 amended to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 13. DISCLOSURE OF EXPENDITURES. 

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

16 in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, shall— 

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

18 each fiscal year, submit to the Committee on Nat19 ural Resources of the House of Representatives and 

20 the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of 

21 the Senate an annual report detailing Federal Gov22 ernment expenditures for covered suits during the 

23 preceding fiscal year (including the information de24 scribed in subsection (b)); and 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 518 IH

1 ‘‘(2) make publicly available through the inter2 net a searchable database, updated monthly, of the 

3 information described in subsection (b). 

4 ‘‘(b) INCLUDED INFORMATION.—The report shall in5 clude— 

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

7 suit, and a hyperlink to the settlement decisions, 

8 final decision, consent decrees, stipulations of dis9 missal, releases, interim decisions, motions to dis10 miss, partial motions for summary judgement, or re11 lated final documents; 

12 ‘‘(2) a description of each claim or cause of ac13 tion in each covered suit; 

14 ‘‘(3) the name of each covered agency whose ac15 tions give rise to any claim in a covered suit and 

16 each plaintiff in such suit; 

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

18 (disaggregated by agency account) to receive and re19 spond to notices referred to in section 11(g)(2) or to 

20 prepare for litigation of, litigate, negotiate a settle21 ment agreement or consent decree in, or provide ma22 terial, technical, or other assistance in relation to, a 

23 covered suit; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 518 IH

1 ‘‘(5) the number of full-time equivalent employ2 ees that participated in the activities described in 

3 paragraph (4); 

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

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

6 with respect to a covered suit; 

7 ‘‘(7) attorneys fees and other expenses 

8 (disaggregated by agency account) awarded in cov9 ered suits, including any consent decrees or settle10 ment agreements (regardless of whether a decree or 

11 settlement agreement is sealed or otherwise subject 

12 to nondisclosure provisions), including the bases for 

13 such awards; and 

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

15 a governmental or nongovernmental entity in bring16 ing a claim in a covered suit. 

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

18 The head of each covered agency shall provide to the Sec19 retary in a timely manner all information requested by the 

20 Secretary to comply with the requirements of this section. 

21 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON DISCLOSURE.—Notwith22 standing any other provision of this section, this section 

23 shall not affect any restriction in a consent decree or set24 tlement agreement on the disclosure of information that 

25 is not described in subsection (b). 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 518 IH

1 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.— 

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

3 agency’ means any agency of the Department of the 

4 Interior, the Forest Service, the Environmental Pro5 tection Agency, the National Marine Fisheries Serv6 ice, the Bonneville Power Administration, the West7 ern Area Power Administration, the Southwestern 

8 Power Administration, or the Southeastern Power 

9 Administration. 

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

11 means— 

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

13 arising under this Act against the Federal Gov14 ernment and based on the action of a covered 

15 agency; and 

16 ‘‘(B) any administrative proceeding under 

17 which the United States awards fees and other 

18 expenses to a third party under section 504 of 

19 title 5, United States Code.’’. 

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

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

22 item relating to section 13 and inserting the following: 

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

23 (c) PRIOR AMENDMENTS NOT AFFECTED.—This sec24 tion shall not be construed to affect the amendments made 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 518 IH

1 by section 13 of such Act, as in effect before the enact2 ment of this Act. 

3 SEC. 5. AWARD OF LITIGATION COSTS TO PREVAILING PAR4 TIES IN ACCORDANCE WITH EXISTING LAW. 

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

6 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1540(g)(4)) is amended by striking ‘‘to 

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

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

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

10 States Code.’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS