IIB 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3824 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
SEPTEMBER 30, 2005 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 
Public Works 
AN ACT 
To amend and reauthorize the Endangered Species Act of 
1973 to provide greater results conserving and recovering 
listed species, and for other purposes. 
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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act of 
2005’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1.
Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2.
Amendment references. 
Sec. 3.
Definitions. 
Sec. 4.
Determinations of endangered species and threatened species. 
Sec. 5.
Repeal of critical habitat requirements. 
Sec. 6.
Petitions and procedures for determinations and revisions. 
Sec. 7.
Reviews of listings and determinations. 
Sec. 8.
Secretarial guidelines; State comments. 
Sec. 9.
Recovery plans and land acquisitions. 
Sec. 10. Cooperation with States and Indian tribes. 
Sec. 11. Interagency cooperation and consultation. 
Sec. 12. Exceptions to prohibitions. 
Sec. 13. Private property conservation. 
Sec. 14. Public accessibility and accountability. 
Sec. 15. Annual cost analyses. 
Sec. 16. Reimbursement for depredation of livestock by reintroduced species. 
Sec. 17. Authorization of appropriations. 
Sec. 18. Miscellaneous technical corrections. 
Sec. 19. Clerical amendment to table of contents. 
Sec. 20. Certain actions deemed in compliance. 
Sec. 21. Consolidation of programs. 
Sec. 22. Review of protective regulations. 
Sec. 23. Provision of information regarding compliance costs of Federal power 
administrations. 
Sec. 24. Survey of BLM lands and Forest Service lands for management for 
recovery of listed species. 
Sec. 25. Relationship between section 7 consultation and incident take author-
ization under Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. 
SEC. 2. AMENDMENT REFERENCES. 
Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in 
this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 
of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi-
sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to such
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section or other provision of the Endangered Species Act 
of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
(a) BEST AVAILABLE SCIENTIFIC DATA.—Section 3 
(16 U.S.C. 1532) is amended by redesignating paragraphs 
(2) through (21) in order as paragraphs (3), (4), (5), (6), 
(7), (8), (9), (10), (11), (13), (14), (15), (16), (17), (18), 
(19), (20), (21), and (22), respectively, and by inserting 
before paragraph (3), as so redesignated, the following: 
‘‘(2)(A) The term ‘best available scientific data’ 
means scientific data, regardless of source, that are avail-
able to the Secretary at the time of a decision or action 
for which such data are required by this Act and that the 
Secretary determines are the most accurate, reliable, and 
relevant for use in that decision or action. 
‘‘(B) Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of the Threatened and Endangered Species Re-
covery Act of 2005, the Secretary shall issue regulations 
that establish criteria that must be met to determine 
which data constitute the best available scientific data for 
purposes of subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(C) In carrying out subparagraph (B), the Secretary 
shall undertake necessary measures to assure— 
‘‘(i) compliance with guidance issued under sec-
tion 515 of the Treasury and General Government
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Appropriations Act of 2001 (Public Law 106–554; 
114 Stat. 2763A–171) by the Director of the Office 
of Management and Budget and the Secretary; 
‘‘(ii) data consists of empirical data; or 
‘‘(iii) data is found in sources that have been 
subject to peer review by qualified individuals rec-
ommended by the National Academy of Sciences to 
serve as independent reviewers for a covered action 
in a generally acceptable manner.’’. 
(b) PERMIT OR LICENSE APPLICANT.—Section 3 (16 
U.S.C. 1532) is further amended by amending paragraph 
(13), as so redesignated, to read as follows: 
‘‘(13) The term ‘permit or license applicant’ means, 
when used with respect to an action of a Federal agency 
that is subject to section 7(a) or (b), any person that has 
applied to such agency for a permit or license or for formal 
legal approval to perform an act.’’. 
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 7(n) (16 
U.S.C. 1536(n)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 3(13)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘section 3(14)’’. 
(d) CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 3 (16 
U.S.C. 1532) is further amended in paragraph (18), as 
redesignated by subsection (a) of this section, by striking 
‘‘Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands’’ and inserting 
‘‘Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands’’.