I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1253
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to establish special require-
ments for determining whether the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse 
is an endangered species or threatened species. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 12, 2003
Mr. TANCREDO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Resources 
A BILL 
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to establish 
special requirements for determining whether the 
Preble’s meadow jumping mouse is an endangered spe-
cies or threatened species.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Common Sense 
Preble’s Conservation Act’’.
SEC. 2. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS REGARDING PREBLE’S 
MEADOW JUMPING MOUSE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 13 of the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973 is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS REGARDING PREBLE’S 
MEADOW JUMPING MOUSE 
‘‘SEC. 13. (a) USE OF BEST SCIENTIFIC AND COM-
MERCIAL DATA AVAILABLE.—In any case in which the 
Secretary is required by this Act to use the best scientific 
and commercial data available with respect to determining 
whether the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse is an endan-
gered species or a threatened species, the Secretary—
‘‘(1) in evaluating comparable data, shall give 
greater weight to scientific or commercial data that 
are empirical or have been field-tested or peer-re-
viewed; and 
‘‘(2) shall include, in data used with respect to 
that species, data regarding population numbers of 
the species. 
‘‘(b) FIELD DATA.—
‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary may not 
determine under section 4 that the Preble’s meadow 
jumping mouse is an endangered species or a threat-
ened species unless the determination is supported 
by data obtained by observation of the species in the 
field.
‘‘(2) DATA
FROM
LANDOWNERS.—The Sec-
retary shall—
‘‘(A) accept and acknowledge receipt of 
data regarding the status of that species that is 
collected by an owner of land through observa-
tion of the species on the land; and 
‘‘(B) include the data in the rulemaking 
record compiled for any determination that the 
species is an endangered species or a threatened 
species. 
‘‘(c) INDEPENDENT SCIENTIFIC REVIEW REQUIRE-
MENTS.—
‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) ACTION.—The term ‘action’ means—
‘‘(i) 
the 
determination 
that 
the 
Preble’s meadow jumping mouse is an en-
dangered species or a threatened species 
under section 4(a); and 
‘‘(ii) the determination under section 
4(a) that the Preble’s meadow jumping 
mouse should be removed from any list 
published under section 4(c)(1). 
‘‘(B) QUALIFIED INDIVIDUAL.—The term 
‘qualified individual’ means an individual with 
expertise in the biological sciences—
‘‘(i) who through publication of peer-
reviewed scientific literature or other 
means, has demonstrated scientific exper-
tise on the Preble’s meadow jumping 
mouse or a similar species or other sci-
entific expertise relevant to the decision of 
the Secretary under section 4(a) or (f); 
‘‘(ii) who does not have, or represent 
any person with, a conflict of interest with 
respect to the determination that is the 
subject of the review; 
‘‘(iii) who is not a participant in any 
petition or proposed or final determination 
before the Secretary; and 
‘‘(iv) who has no direct financial in-
terest, and is not employed by any person 
with a direct financial interest, in opposing 
the action under consideration. 
‘‘(2) LIST OF INDEPENDENT SCIENTIFIC RE-
VIEWERS.—The Secretary shall solicit recommenda-
tions from the National Academy of Sciences and 
develop and maintain a list of qualified reviewers to 
participate in independent scientific review of ac-
tions.
‘‘(3) APPOINTMENT
OF
INDEPENDENT
SCI-
ENTIFIC REVIEWERS.—(A) Before any action shall 
become final, the Secretary shall appoint randomly, 
from among the list prepared in accordance with 
this section, 3 qualified individuals who shall review 
and report to the Secretary on the scientific infor-
mation and analyses on which the proposed action is 
based. 
‘‘(B) The selection and activities of the review-
ers selected pursuant to this section shall not be 
subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 
U.S.C. App.). 
‘‘(C) Reviewers shall be compensated for con-
ducting the independent review. 
‘‘(4) OPINION
OF
PEER
REVIEWERS.—Inde-
pendent reviewers shall provide the Secretary, within 
3 months, their opinion regarding all relevant sci-
entific information and assumptions relating to the 
taxonomy, population models, and supportive biologi-
cal and ecological information for the Preble’s mead-
ow jumping mouse. 
‘‘(5) FINAL DETERMINATION.—If the referees 
have made a recommendation on a proposed action, 
the Secretary shall evaluate and consider the infor-