I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3973 
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 
JUNE 17, 2021 
Mr. BIGGS (for himself, Mr. PERRY, Mr. ROSENDALE, Mr. STEWART, Mr. 
MCCLINTOCK, Mr. MANN, Mrs. BOEBERT, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. NEWHOUSE, 
and Ms. CHENEY) 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, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Less Imprecision in 
Species Treatment Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘LIST Act of 
2021’’. 
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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 proce-
dures 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 sub-
section (c)(2) that each determination under sub-
paragraph (B) of that subsection shall be made in 
accordance with the provisions of subsections (a) 
and (b), the Secretary shall remove a species from 
any list published under subsection (c) if the De-
partment of the Interior has produced or received 
substantial scientific or commercial information 
demonstrating that the species is recovered or that 
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recovery goals set for the species under subsection 
(f) have been met. 
‘‘(C) In the case of a species removed under 
subparagraph (A) from a list published under sub-
section (c), the publication and notice under sub-
section (b)(5) shall consist 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 Department of the Interior receives or 
produces under this subsection information de-
scribed in clause (ii) regarding a species in-
cluded 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 information demonstrating that the listing 
was determined on the basis of scientific or 
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‘‘(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 re-
view. 
‘‘(vi) In the case of a species removed 
under clause (iii) from a list, the publication 
and notice under subsection (b)(5) shall consist 
solely of a notice of such removal. 
‘‘(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 commercial 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 consid-
ered an interested person for purposes of sub-
paragraph (A) with respect to any petition sub-
mitted by the person after the date the person 
submitted such scientific or commercial infor-
mation.’’. 
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