(b) EXTENSION OF PERIOD FOR PUBLIC REVIEW AND 
COMMENT ON APPLICATIONS.—Section 10(c) (16 U.S.C. 
1539(c)) is amended in the second sentence by striking 
‘‘thirty’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘45’’. 
(c) EXPERIMENTAL POPULATIONS.—Section 10(j) (16 
U.S.C. 1539(j)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘For purposes’’ 
and all that follows through the end of the paragraph 
and inserting the following: ‘‘For purposes of this sub-
section, the term ‘experimental population’ means 
any population (including any offspring arising 
therefrom) authorized by the Secretary for release 
under paragraph (2), but only when such population 
is in the area designated for it by the Secretary, and 
such area is, at the time of release, wholly separate 
geographically from areas occupied by nonexperi-
mental populations of the same species. For purposes 
of this subsection, the term ‘areas occupied by non-
experimental populations’ means areas characterized 
by the sustained and predictable presence of more 
than negligible numbers of successfully reproducing 
individuals over a period of many years.’’; 
(2) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking ‘‘informa-
tion’’ and inserting ‘‘scientific data’’; and
(3) in paragraph (2)(C)(i), by striking ‘‘listed’’ 
and inserting ‘‘determined to be an endangered spe-
cies or a threatened species’’. 
(d) WRITTEN DETERMINATION OF COMPLIANCE.—Sec-
tion 10 (16 U.S.C. 1539) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(k) WRITTEN DETERMINATION OF COMPLIANCE.—(1) 
A property owner (in this subsection referred to as a ‘re-
quester’) may request the Secretary to make a written deter-
mination that a proposed use of the owner’s property that 
is lawful under State and local law will comply with sec-
tion 9(a), by submitting a written description of the pro-
posed action to the Secretary by certified mail. 
‘‘(2) A written description of a proposed use is deemed 
to be sufficient for consideration by the Secretary under 
paragraph (1) if the description includes— 
‘‘(A) the nature, the specific location, the lawful-
ness under State and local law, and the anticipated 
schedule and duration of the proposed use, and a 
demonstration that the property owner has the means 
to undertake the proposed use; and 
‘‘(B) any anticipated adverse impact to a species 
that is included on a list published under 4(c)(1) that 
the requestor reasonably expects to occur as a result 
of the proposed use.
‘‘(3) The Secretary may request and the requestor may 
supply any other information that either believes will assist 
the Secretary to make a determination under paragraph 
(1). 
‘‘(4) If the Secretary does not make a determination 
pursuant to a request under this subsection because of the 
omission from the request of any information described in 
paragraph (2), the requestor may submit a subsequent re-
quest under this subsection for the same proposed use. 
‘‘(5)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), the Secretary 
shall provide to the requestor a written determination of 
whether the proposed use, as proposed by the requestor, will 
comply with section 9(a), by not later than expiration of 
the 180-day period beginning on the date of the submission 
of the request. 
‘‘(B) The Secretary may request, and the requestor 
may grant, a written extension of the period under sub-
paragraph (A). 
‘‘(6) If the Secretary fails to provide a written deter-
mination before the expiration of the period under para-
graph (5)(A) (or any extension thereof under paragraph 
(5)(B)), the Secretary is deemed to have determined that 
the proposed use complies with section 9(a).