IB 
Union Calendar No. 479 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 1662 
[Report No. 108–785] 
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to require the Secretary 
of the Interior to give greater weight to scientific or commercial data 
that is empirical or has been field-tested or peer-reviewed, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 8, 2003 
Mr. WALDEN of Oregon (for himself, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. GIBBONS, Mr. 
HERGER, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Mr. OTTER, Mr. 
PEARCE, Mr. PAUL, Mr. CANNON, Mr. MCINNIS, Mrs. CUBIN, Mr. STEN-
HOLM, Mr. NETHERCUTT, Mr. REHBERG, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. RENZI, 
and Mr. BRADY of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Resources 
NOVEMBER 19, 2004 
Additional sponsors: Mr. RADANOVICH, Mr. THORNBERRY, Mr. BISHOP of 
Utah, Mr. EDWARDS, Mr. OSBORNE, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. 
WICKER, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. DOOLEY of California, Mr. LINDER, Mr. 
GARY G. MILLER of California, Mr. AKIN, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. CARDOZA, 
Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. NUNES, Ms. DUNN, Mr. JONES of North Carolina, 
Mr. TERRY, Mr. TANCREDO, Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. PICK-
ERING, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. TURNER of Texas, Mr. HEFLEY, Mr. 
ISSA, Mr. ROSS, Mr. PUTNAM, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. PETERSON 
of Pennsylvania, Mr. PITTS, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART 
of Florida, Mr. BLUNT, Mrs. MUSGRAVE, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. OSE, Mr. 
FLAKE, Mr. FEENEY, Mr. NEUGEBAUER, Ms. HART, Mr. HAYWORTH, 
Ms. HARRIS, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. BONNER, Mr. CRAMER, 
Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky, and Mr. DUNCAN 
NOVEMBER 19, 2004 
Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House 
on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 8, 2003] 
A BILL 
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to require 
the Secretary of the Interior to give greater weight to 
scientific or commercial data that is empirical or has 
been field-tested or peer-reviewed, and for other pur-
poses. 
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 ‘‘Endangered Species 
Data Quality Act of 2004’’. 
SEC. 2. SOUND SCIENCE. 
(a) BEST SCIENTIFIC AND COMMERCIAL DATA AVAIL-
ABLE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1532) is amended— 
(A) by amending the section heading to 
read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS AND GENERAL PROVISIONS.’’. 
(B) by striking ‘‘For the purposes of this 
Act—’’ and inserting the following: 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act:’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(b) USE OF CERTAIN DATA.—In any case in which 
the Secretary is required by this Act to use the best scientific 
and commercial data available or the best scientific data 
available, the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(1) ensure that such data comply with guide-
lines issued under section 515 of the Treasury and 
General Government Appropriations Act, 2001 (Pub-
lic Law 106–554; 114 Stat. 2763A–171) by the Direc-
tor of the Office of Management and Budget, and any 
guidance issued by the Secretary pursuant to such 
guidelines, except as provided in this Act; 
‘‘(2) ensure that such data include timely field 
survey data to the extent such data are available; and 
‘‘(3) give greater weight to interpretations of 
data derived from or verified by timely field work 
(commonly referred to as ‘empirical data’) that have 
been subjected to peer-review.’’. 
(2) CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—The table of 
contents in the first section of the Endangered Species 
Act of 1973 is amended by striking the item relating 
to section 3 and inserting the following: 
‘‘Sec. 3. Definitions and general provisions.’’. 
(b) USE OF SOUND SCIENCE IN LISTING.—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) ESTABLISHMENT
OF
CRITERIA
FOR
SCI-
ENTIFIC DATA TO SUPPORT LISTING.—Not later than 
1 year after the date of the enactment of this para-
graph, the Secretary shall promulgate regulations 
that establish criteria that must be met in order to 
determine under this section that data is the best sci-
entific and commercial data available and for best 
scientific data available to be used as the basis of a 
determination under this section that a species is an 
endangered species or a threatened species. 
‘‘(10) FIELD DATA.— 
‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary may 
not determine that a species is an endangered 
species or a threatened species unless the deter-
mination or designation, respectively, is sup-
ported by data obtained by timely fields. 
‘‘(B) DATA FROM REAL PROPERTY OWNERS 
AND OPERATORS.—The Secretary shall— 
‘‘(i) accept data during the appro-
priate public comment period regarding the 
status of a species that is collected by an in-
dividual who is an owner of real property 
or who holds or is an applicant for a con-
tract, lease, or other permit for real prop-
erty through observation of the species on 
the real property; and 
‘‘(ii) acknowledge receipt of data sub-
mitted under clause (i) and include such 
data in the rulemaking record compiled 
under this section for any determination 
that the species is an endangered species or 
a threatened species.’’. 
(c) USE OF SOUND SCIENCE IN RECOVERY PLAN-
NING.—Section 4(f) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 
(16 U.S.C. 1533(f)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(6) ADDITIONAL DATA.— 
‘‘(A) 
IDENTIFICATION.—The 
Secretary 
shall— 
‘‘(i) identify and publish in the Fed-
eral Register with the notice of a proposed 
regulation published pursuant to subsection 
(b)(5)(A)(i), and with notice of any final 
regulation published pursuant to subsection 
(b)(6), a description of additional scientific 
and commercial data that would assist in 
the preparation of a recovery plan; 
‘‘(ii) invite any person to submit such 
data to the Secretary; and