I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4671 
To provide for greater county and State consultation with regard to petitions 
under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 22, 2021 
Mr. SMITH of Missouri introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To provide for greater county and State consultation with 
regard to petitions under the Endangered Species Act 
of 1973, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Ensuring Meaningful 
Petition Outreach While Enhancing Rights of States Act’’ 
or the ‘‘EMPOWERS Act’’. 
SEC. 2. GREATER COUNTY AND STATE INVOLVEMENT. 
(a) COUNTY AND STATE CONSULTATION ON PETI-
TIONS.—Section 4(b)(3) of the Endangered Species Act 
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of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(b)(3)) is amended by adding at 
the end the following: 
‘‘(E) LISTING PETITION REVIEW REQUIRE-
MENTS.— 
‘‘(i) Not later than 30 days before 
submitting to the Secretary a petition to 
list, delist, or reclassify a species that oc-
curs in the United States, or to revise a 
designation of critical habitat of such a 
species, the petitioner shall provide to the 
chief executive of each county and State in 
which the species is located a notice of in-
tent to submit such petition. 
‘‘(ii) The Secretary shall, upon finding 
that a petitioned action to list a species as 
a threatened species or endangered species 
may be warranted, solicit from the chief 
executive of each county and State in 
which the species is located— 
‘‘(I) 
information 
regarding 
threats to the species and efforts by 
the county or State, respectively, to 
protect the species; 
‘‘(II) information about the an-
ticipated effects of the action re-
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quested in the petition in that county 
or State, respectively; and 
‘‘(III) the advice of the chief ex-
ecutive on whether the status of the 
species merits the action requested in 
the petition, including information in 
support of such advice. 
‘‘(iii) The Secretary may verify by 
field testing the information presented in a 
petition asserting that a species is a 
threatened species or endangered species. 
‘‘(iv) If a chief executive advises under 
clause (ii)(III) that the petitioned-for ac-
tion is not warranted, the Secretary may 
not proceed with the action unless the Sec-
retary demonstrates that information sub-
mitted in support of such advice by the 
chief executive is incorrect and that the ac-
tion is warranted.’’. 
(b) REGULATIONS
TO
IMPLEMENT
DETERMINA-
TIONS.—Section 4(b)(5) of the Endangered Species Act 
of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(b)(5)) is amended to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(5) NOTICE REQUIRED.—With respect to any 
regulation proposed by the Secretary to implement a 
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determination referred to in subsection (a)(1), the 
Secretary shall— 
‘‘(A) not less than 90 days before the ef-
fective date of the regulation— 
‘‘(i) publish a general notice and the 
complete text of the proposed regulation in 
the Federal Register; 
‘‘(ii) provide notice of the proposed 
regulation (including the complete text of 
the regulation) to the chief executive of 
county and State in which the species is lo-
cated, and invite such chief executive to 
submit to the Secretary a determination as 
to whether the proposed regulation is war-
ranted; and 
‘‘(iii) if the chief executive notifies the 
Secretary that the proposed regulation is 
not warranted, provide to the chief execu-
tive a record of decision for such deter-
mination, 
including 
information 
made 
available to the Secretary that did not sup-
port the determination and in writing the 
reasons for the determination; 
‘‘(B) in cooperation with the Secretary of 
State, provide notice of the proposed regulation 
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to each foreign nation in which the species is lo-
cated or whose citizens harvest the species on 
the high seas, and invite the comment of such 
nation thereon; 
‘‘(C) provide notice of the proposed regula-
tion to— 
‘‘(i) each person who requests such 
notice; 
‘‘(ii) each person who has submitted 
additional data on the proposed regulation; 
‘‘(iii) each county, State, and local 
government within the jurisdiction of 
which the species is located or that is likely 
to experience any effects of any measures 
to protect the species under this Act; and 
‘‘(iv) such professional scientific orga-
nizations as the Secretary considers appro-
priate; 
‘‘(D) publish a summary of the proposed 
regulation on the internet; and 
‘‘(E) promptly hold one public hearing on 
the proposed regulation if any person files a re-
quest for such a hearing within 45 days after 
the date of publication of general notice.’’. 
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(c) CONSULTATION ON FINAL DETERMINATION.— 
Section 4(i) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 
U.S.C. 1533(i)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(i) WRITTEN JUSTIFICATION.—If the Secretary 
adopts a final regulation in conflict with advise submitted 
by the chief executive of a county or State or fails to adopt 
a regulation pursuant to an action petitioned for by such 
a chief executive under subsection (b)(3), the Secretary 
shall submit to the chief executive— 
‘‘(1) a separate written justification explaining 
the failure of the Secretary to adopt regulations con-
sistent with the advise or petition of the chief execu-
tive; 
‘‘(2) any determination referred to in subsection 
(a)(1) relating to the regulation; and 
‘‘(3) all comments received by the Secretary 
that disagreed with all or part of the regulation.’’. 
(d) FACA.—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) FACA.—Consultation with counties and 
States regarding petitions and proposed regulations 
under this subsection shall not be subject to the 
Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.).’’. 
Æ 
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