Endangered Species Transparency and Reasonableness Act of 2023

Subjects: Environmental Protection

Summary:  <p><b>Endangered Species Transparency and Reasonableness Act of 2023</b></p> <p>This bill revises requirements concerning determinations on whether a species is a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) and caps attorney's fees to prevailing parties in ESA citizen suits.</p> <p>The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) must publish online, subject to privacy or administrative limitations, the best scientific and commercial data available that are the basis for each determination. </p> <p>The bill states that the term <i>best scientific and commercial data available</i> includes all data submitted by a state, tribal, or county government. Thus, the USFWS and NMFS would no longer consider whether data from those sources are the best scientific and commercial data available. Instead, the data would be automatically deemed the best scientific and commercial data available regardless of the quality of the data.</p> <p>Before making a determination on whether a species is an endangered or threatened species, the USFWS and NMFS must provide affected states with all of the data that is the basis of the determination.</p> <p>The Department of the Interior must also publish and maintain an online searchable database that discloses federal expenditures related to litigation under the ESA.</p>

<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 518 Introduced in House (IH)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Endangered Species Transparency and 
Reasonableness Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT TO PUBLISH ON THE INTERNET THE BASIS FOR LISTINGS.

    Section 4(b) of the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1533(b)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(9) The Secretary shall make publicly available on the internet 
the best scientific and commercial data available that are the basis 
for each regulation, including each proposed regulation, promulgated 
under subsection (a)(1), except that--
            ``(A) at the request of a Governor, State agency, or 
        legislature of a State, the Secretary shall not make 
        information available under this paragraph if such State 
        determines that public disclosure of such information is 
        prohibited by a law or regulation of such State, including any 
        law or regulation requiring the protection of personal 
        information; and
            ``(B) within 30 days after the date of the enactment of 
        this paragraph, the Secretary shall execute an agreement with 
        the Secretary of Defense that prevents the disclosure of 
        classified information pertaining to Department of Defense 
        personnel, facilities, lands, or waters.''.

SEC. 3. DECISIONAL TRANSPARENCY AND USE OF STATE, TRIBAL, AND LOCAL 
              INFORMATION.

    (a) Requiring Decisional Transparency With Affected States.--
Section 6(a) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1535(a)) 
is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(1)'' before the first sentence; and
            (2) by striking ``Such cooperation shall include'' and 
        inserting the following:
            ``(2) Such cooperation shall include--
                    ``(A) before making a determination under section 
                4(a), providing to States affected by such 
                determination all data that is the basis of the 
                determination; and
                    ``(B)''.
    (b) Ensuring Use of State, Tribal, and Local Information.--
            (1) In general.--Section 3 of the Endangered Species Act of 
        1973 (16 U.S.C. 1532) is amended--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (21) as 
                paragraphs (3) through (22), respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
    ``(2) The term `best scientific and commercial data available' 
includes all such data submitted by a State, Tribal, or county 
government.''.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--Section 7(n) of such Act (16 
        U.S.C. 1536(n)) is amended by striking ``section 3(13)'' and 
        inserting ``section 3(14)''.

SEC. 4. DISCLOSURE OF EXPENDITURES UNDER ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT OF 
              1973.

    (a) Requirement To Disclose.--Section 13 of the Endangered Species 
Act of 1973 (87 Stat. 902; relating to conforming amendments which have 
executed) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 13. DISCLOSURE OF EXPENDITURES.

    ``(a) Requirement.--The Secretary of the Interior, in consultation 
with the Secretary of Commerce, shall--
            ``(1) not later than 90 days after the end of each fiscal 
        year, submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House 
        of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural 
        Resources of the Senate an annual report detailing Federal 
        Government expenditures for covered suits during the preceding 
        fiscal year (including the information described in subsection 
        (b)); and
            ``(2) make publicly available through the internet a 
        searchable database, updated monthly, of the information 
        described in subsection (b).
    ``(b) Included Information.--The report shall include--
            ``(1) the case name and number of each covered suit, and a 
        hyperlink to the settlement decisions, final decision, consent 
        decrees, stipulations of dismissal, releases, interim 
        decisions, motions to dismiss, partial motions for summary 
        judgement, or related final documents;
            ``(2) a description of each claim or cause of action in 
        each covered suit;
            ``(3) the name of each covered agency whose actions give 
        rise to any claim in a covered suit and each plaintiff in such 
        suit;
            ``(4) funds expended by each covered agency (disaggregated 
        by agency account) to receive and respond to notices referred 
        to in section 11(g)(2) or to prepare for litigation of, 
        litigate, negotiate a settlement agreement or consent decree 
        in, or provide material, technical, or other assistance in 
        relation to, a covered suit;
            ``(5) the number of full-time equivalent employees that 
        participated in the activities described in paragraph (4);
            ``(6) any information required to be published under 
        section 1304 of title 31, United States Code, with respect to a 
        covered suit;
            ``(7) attorneys fees and other expenses (disaggregated by 
        agency account) awarded in covered suits, including any consent 
        decrees or settlement agreements (regardless of whether a 
        decree or settlement agreement is sealed or otherwise subject 
        to nondisclosure provisions), including the bases for such 
        awards; and
            ``(8) any Federal funding used by a person or a 
        governmental or nongovernmental entity in bringing a claim in a 
        covered suit.
    ``(c) Requirement To Provide Information.--The head of each covered 
agency shall provide to the Secretary in a timely manner all 
information requested by the Secretary to comply with the requirements 
of this section.
    ``(d) Limitation on Disclosure.--Notwithstanding any other 
provision of this section, this section shall not affect any 
restriction in a consent decree or settlement agreement on the 
disclosure of information that is not described in subsection (b).
    ``(e) Definitions.--
            ``(1) Covered agency.--The term `covered agency' means any 
        agency of the Department of the Interior, the Forest Service, 
        the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Marine 
        Fisheries Service, the Bonneville Power Administration, the 
        Western Area Power Administration, the Southwestern Power 
        Administration, or the Southeastern Power Administration.
            ``(2) Covered suit.--The term `covered suit' means--
                    ``(A) any civil action containing any claim arising 
                under this Act against the Federal Government and based 
                on the action of a covered agency; and
                    ``(B) any administrative proceeding under which the 
                United States awards fees and other expenses to a third 
                party under section 504 of title 5, United States 
                Code.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in the first section 
of such Act is amended by striking the item relating to section 13 and 
inserting the following:

``Sec. 13. Disclosure of expenditures.''.
    (c) Prior Amendments Not Affected.--This section shall not be 
construed to affect the amendments made by section 13 of such Act, as 
in effect before the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 5. AWARD OF LITIGATION COSTS TO PREVAILING PARTIES IN ACCORDANCE 
              WITH EXISTING LAW.

    Section 11(g)(4) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 
1540(g)(4)) is amended by striking ``to any'' and all that follows 
through the end of the sentence and inserting ``in accordance with 
section 2412 of title 28, United States Code and section 504 of title 
5, United States Code.''.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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