I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6356 
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to provide for improved 
precision in the listing, delisting, and downlisting of endangered species 
and potentially endangered species. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 12, 2018 
Mr. BIGGS (for himself, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. 
DUNCAN of South Carolina, Mr. GIANFORTE, Mr. MULLIN, Mr. NORMAN, 
Mr. PEARCE, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. ABRAHAM, Mr. 
LUETKEMEYER, Mr. SMITH of Missouri, Mr. BANKS of Indiana, Mr. 
STEWART, Mrs. NOEM, Mr. OLSON, Mr. COLLINS of Georgia, Mr. 
MCCLINTOCK, Mr. ESTES of Kansas, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. NEWHOUSE, 
and Mrs. LESKO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to provide 
for improved precision in the listing, delisting, and 
downlisting of endangered species and potentially endan-
gered species. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Less Imprecision in 
Species Treatment Act of 2018’’ or the ‘‘LIST Act of 
2018’’. 
SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT TO INITIATE DELISTING. 
(a) REQUIREMENT IN CASE OF RECOVERY.—Section 
4(b) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 
1533(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(9)(A) The Secretary shall initiate the procedures 
in accordance with subsection (a)(1) to remove a species 
from a list published under subsection (c) if— 
‘‘(i) the goals of a recovery plan for the species 
developed under subsection (f) have been met; or 
‘‘(ii) the goals for recovery of the species have 
not been developed under subsection (f), and the 
Secretary determines that the species has recovered 
sufficiently to no longer require the protection of the 
Act. 
‘‘(B) Notwithstanding the requirement of subsection 
(c)(2) that each determination under subparagraph (B) of 
that subsection shall be made in accordance with the pro-
visions of subsections (a) and (b), the Secretary shall re-
move a species from any list published under subsection 
(c) if the Department of the Interior has produced or re-
ceived substantial scientific or commercial information 
demonstrating that the species is recovered or that recov-
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ery goals set for the species under subsection (f) have been 
met. 
‘‘(C) In the case of a species removed under subpara-
graph (A) from a list published under subsection (c), the 
publication and notice under subsection (b)(5) shall con-
sist solely of a notice of such removal.’’. 
(b) REQUIREMENT
IN
CASE
ERRONEOUSLY
OR 
WRONGFULLY LISTED.—Section 4(b)(3) of the Endan-
gered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(a)), as amend-
ed by subsection (a), is further amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(H)(i) Not later than 90 days after the date the De-
partment of the Interior receives or produces under this 
subsection information described in clause (ii) regarding 
a species included in a list under subsection (c), the Sec-
retary shall to the maximum extent practicable find 
whether the inclusion of such species in such list was less 
than likely to have occurred in the absence of the scientific 
or commercial information referred to in clause (ii). 
‘‘(ii) Information referred to in clause (i) is any infor-
mation demonstrating that the listing was determined on 
the basis of scientific or commercial information available 
to, or received or produced by, the Department under 
paragraphs (1) and (3) of subsection (b) that at the time 
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the scientific or commercial information was available to 
or received or produced by the Department it was— 
‘‘(I) inaccurate beyond scientifically reasonable 
margins of error; 
‘‘(II) fraudulent; or 
‘‘(III) misrepresentative. 
‘‘(iii) Notwithstanding the requirement under sub-
section (c)(2)(B) that each determination under subpara-
graph (B) shall be made in accordance with the provisions 
of subsections (a) and (b), the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(I) remove from any list published under sub-
section (c) any species for which a positive finding 
is made under clause (i); and 
‘‘(II) promptly publish in the Federal Register 
notice of such finding that includes such information 
as was received or produced by the Department 
under such clause. 
‘‘(iv) Any positive finding by the Secretary under 
clause (i) shall not be subject to judicial review. 
‘‘(v) Any negative finding by the Secretary under 
clause (i) shall be subject to judicial review. 
‘‘(vi) In the case of a species removed under clause 
(iii) from a list, the publication and notice under sub-
section (b)(5) shall consist solely of a notice of such re-
moval. 
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‘‘(vii) If the Secretary finds that a person submitted 
a petition that is the subject of a positive finding under 
clause (i) knowing that it contained scientific or commer-
cial information described in clause (ii), then during the 
10-year period beginning on the date of the finding under 
this clause the person shall not be considered an interested 
person for purposes of subparagraph (A) with respect to 
any petition submitted by the person after the date the 
person submitted such scientific or commercial informa-
tion.’’. 
SEC. 3. EXPANDED CONSIDERATION DURING FIVE-YEAR 
REVIEW. 
Section 4(c) (16 U.S.C. 1533(c)) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) Each determination under paragraph (2)(B) 
shall consider one of the following: 
‘‘(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B) 
of this paragraph, the criteria required under sub-
section (f)(1)(B) in the recovery plan for the species. 
‘‘(B) If the objective, measurable criteria under 
subsection (f)(1)(B)(ii) are not established, the fac-
tors for the determination that a species is an en-
dangered species or a threatened species set forth in 
subsections (a)(1) and (b)(1). 
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‘‘(C) A finding of error in the determination 
that the species is an endangered species, a threat-
ened species, or extinct. 
‘‘(D) A determination that the species is no 
longer an endangered species or threatened species 
or in danger of extinction, based on an analysis of 
the factors that are the basis for listing in sub-
sections (a)(1) and (b)(1).’’. 
Æ 
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