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104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1714
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to require that species
which are being considered for listing under that Act or are currently
listed under that Act are expeditiously reviewed for listing or continued
listing, respectively, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 25, 1995
Mr. DOOLEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on Resources
A BILL
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to require
that species which are being considered for listing under
that Act or are currently listed under that Act are expe-
ditiously reviewed for listing or continued listing, respec-
tively, 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 ‘‘Endangered Species
Relisting Act of 1995’’.
SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT TO REVIEW SPECIES.
(a) REQUIREMENT.—Section 4 of the Endangered
Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following new subsection:
‘‘(j) PETITION AND REVIEW REQUIRED FOR CER-
TAIN SPECIES TO BE LISTED.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—After the end of the 12-
month period beginning on the date of enactment of
the Endangered Species Relisting Act of 1995, a
covered species shall not be considered to be an en-
dangered species or threatened species for purposes
of this Act and shall not be included or considered
to be included in any list published under subsection
(c) unless before the end of such 12-month period
either—
‘‘(A) in the case of a species described in
paragraph (4)(A), a petition is filed under sec-
tion 553(e) of title 5, United States Code, to
relist that species on such list and the review of
such petition is completed by the Secretary ac-
cording to the criteria set forth in subsection
(k); or
‘‘(B) in response to a petition or on the
Secretary’s own initiative, the Secretary deter-
mines in accordance with paragraph (2) that
the species is certain to become extinct, or will
be placed on an irreversible course to extinction,
over the 24-month period beginning on the date
of the determination.
‘‘(2) EMERGENCY LISTING REQUIREMENTS.—
‘‘(A) A determination under paragraph
(1)(B) must be based on the best scientific and
commercial data available, and must be subject
to comment, after publication in the Federal
Register, for a period of 60 days, prior to tak-
ing effect.
‘‘(B) The Secretary may utilize informa-
tion contained in a recovery plan developed
prior to the date of the enactment of the En-
dangered Species Relisting Act of 1995 with re-
spect to a species, in making a determination
under paragraph (1)(B).
‘‘(C) A determination of the Secretary
under paragraph (1)(B)—
‘‘(i) shall be published in the Federal
Register;
‘‘(ii) shall contain a response to all
comments filed under subparagraph (B);
and
‘‘(iii) shall be subject to judicial re-
view.
‘‘(D) After the end of the 24-month period
beginning on the date the Secretary publishes a
determination under paragraph (1)(B) for a
species, the species shall not be considered to be
an endangered species or threatened species for
purposes of this Act and shall not be included
or considered to be included in any list pub-
lished under subsection (c), unless before the
end of that period the Secretary determines in
accordance with subsections (a), (b), and (c) to
add the species to such a list.
‘‘(3) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year
after the date of the enactment of the Endangered
Species Relisting Act of 1995 and annually there-
after, the Secretary shall submit a report to the
Congress on the implementation of this subsection,
including on progress made in considering petitions
referred to in paragraph (1) (A) and (B).
‘‘(4) COVERED SPECIES DEFINED.—In this sub-
section the term ‘covered species’ means a species—
‘‘(A) which on the date of enactment of the
Endangered Species Relisting Act of 1995 is in-
cluded in a list published under subsection (c);
or
‘‘(B) for which a notice is published under
subsection (b)(5)(A)(i) before that date of en-
actment.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 4(b)(3)(A)
of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1533(b)(3)(A)) is amended in the
first sentence by inserting ‘‘, to relist a species on,’’ after
‘‘add a species to,’’.
SEC. 3. PEER REVIEW REQUIREMENT.
Section 4 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16
U.S.C. 1533) is further amended by adding at the end
the following new subsection:
‘‘(k) PEER REVIEW REQUIREMENTS.—
‘‘(1) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary—
‘‘(A) may not take any action described in
paragraph (2) based on any data, result, or de-
termination unless the data, result, or deter-
mination has undergone peer review in accord-
ance with subparagraph (B); and
‘‘(B) shall submit to peer review, by at
least 3 independent reviewers selected by the
Secretary from among individuals recommended
by the National Academy of Sciences—
‘‘(i) all data, results, and determina-
tions that are the basis of an action de-
scribed in paragraph (2), and
‘‘(ii) all data that is timely submitted
to the Secretary by any person likely to be
affected by an action described in para-
graph (2), and that the Secretary deter-
mines to be of substantial scientific value.
‘‘(2) ACTIONS
DESCRIBED.—The actions re-
ferred to in paragraph (1) are the following:
‘‘(A) The inclusion of a species in, reten-
tion of a species on, or removal of a species
from a list published under subsection (c).
‘‘(B) The development, revision, approval,
or implementation of a recovery plan under sub-
section (f).
‘‘(3) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall pub-
lish—
‘‘(A) the results of any peer review con-
ducted under paragraph (1); and
‘‘(B) in the case of peer review conducted
under paragraph (1) for an action described in
paragraph (2), all other materials that are rel-
evant to the decision to take the action.
‘‘(4) 
OBTAINING
RECOMMENDATIONS.—The
Secretary shall—
‘‘(A) take appropriate action to obtain
from the National Academy of Sciences rec-
ommendations of individuals to perform peer
review under paragraph (1)(B); and
‘‘(B) in the case of economic analyses, con-
sult with appropriate scientific board to obtain
recommendations of individuals with economic
expertise to perform peer review under para-
graph (1)(B).’’.
SEC. 4. DEADLINE FOR DEVELOPMENT OF RECOVERY
PLANS.
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 new paragraph:
‘‘(6) The Secretary shall—
‘‘(A) begin developing a recovery plan re-
quired for a species under paragraph (1) and
publish notice of the intent of the Secretary to
develop such a plan, before the end of the 30-
day period beginning on the date the Secretary
publishes notice of the listing of the species
under subsection (c); and
‘‘(B) issue such a plan in final form, or
submit to the appropriate committees of the
Congress the reasons why such a plan has not
been issued, before the end of the 12-month pe-
riod beginning on the date of publication of
such notice.
‘‘(7)(A) Any person affected by the listing of a species
under subsection (c) may submit a proposed recovery plan
for the species to the Secretary. The Secretary, in the no-
tice required under paragraph (6)(A), shall encourage sub-
mission of such proposed recovery plans.
‘‘(B) For any species for which one or more proposed
recovery plans are submitted under subparagraph (A) that
would adequately promote the conservation and survival
of a species, the Secretary shall adopt as the final recovery
plan required for the species under this subsection the pro-
posed plan that, among all proposed plans submitted,
would—
‘‘(i) impose the lowest costs on persons affected
by the plan;
‘‘(ii) to the greatest extent possible, apply to
more than one species; and
‘‘(iii) not result in a prohibition of use of the
land or water for other purposes.’’.
SEC. 5 INCIDENTAL TAKE IN COURSE OF NORMAL ACTIVI-
TIES.
Section 4 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16
U.S.C. 1533) is further amended by adding at the end
the following new subsection:
‘‘(l) INCIDENTAL TAKE.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the provi-
sions of section 9(a), a taking that occurs in the
course of an activity described in paragraph (2) is
not prohibited by this Act if the taking is de minimis
in nature and merely incidental to the activity.
‘‘(2) COVERED ACTIVITIES.—The activities re-
ferred to in paragraph (1) are the following:
‘‘(A) Any action by a State or local govern-
ment agency to respond to, prevent, or mitigate
an emergency.
‘‘(B) Operation, repair, or minor alteration
of an existing facility.
‘‘(C) Construction of a minor structure ad-
jacent to an existing facility.
‘‘(D) Clearing of land adjacent to an exist-
ing structure to comply with a fire code, or to
reasonably protect property.
‘‘(E) Use of land for agricultural produc-
tion, or, if previously zoned for agricultural pro-
duction, for any use not more intensive than
agricultural activity.
‘‘(F) Any action reasonably needed to pro-
tect a human from injury or death.
‘‘(G) Any other lawful activity that is ap-
proved by a State or local government.’’.
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