I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1662
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 
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 ‘‘Sound Science for En-
dangered Species Act Planning Act of 2003’’.
SEC. 2. SOUND SCIENCE. 
(a) BEST
SCIENTIFIC
AND
COMMERCIAL
DATA 
AVAILABLE.—
(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 sci-
entific and commercial data available, the Secretary, in 
evaluating comparable data, shall give greater weight to 
scientific or commercial data that is empirical or has been 
field-tested or peer-reviewed.’’. 
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of 
contents in the first section of the Endangered Spe-
cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. prec. 1531) is amended 
by striking the item relating to section 3 and insert-
ing 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 STUDIES TO SUPPORT LISTING.—Not later 
than 1 year after the date of enactment of this para-
graph, the Secretary shall promulgate regulations 
that establish criteria that must be met for scientific 
and commercial data to be used as the basis of a de-
termination 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 is supported by data obtained by ob-
servation of the species in the field. 
‘‘(B) DATA
FROM
LANDOWNERS.—The 
Secretary shall—
‘‘(i) accept and acknowledge receipt of 
data regarding the status of a species that 
is collected by an owner of land through 
observation of the species on the land; and 
‘‘(ii) include the data in the rule-
making record compiled for any determina-
tion that the species is an endangered spe-
cies 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)(A) The Secretary shall identify and publish in 
the Federal Register with the notice of a proposed regula-
tion pursuant to paragraph (5)(A)(i) a description of addi-
tional scientific and commercial data that would assist in 
the preparation of a recovery plan and—
‘‘(i) invite any person to submit the data to the 
Secretary; and 
‘‘(ii) describe the steps that the Secretary plans 
to take for acquiring additional data. 
‘‘(B) Data identified and obtained under subpara-
graph (A)(i) shall be considered by the recovery team and 
the Secretary in the preparation of the recovery plan in 
accordance with section 5.’’. 
SEC. 3. PEER REVIEW. 
Section 4 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 
U.S.C. 1533) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(j) INDEPENDENT SCIENTIFIC REVIEW REQUIRE-
MENTS.—
‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) ACTION.—The term ‘action’ means—
‘‘(i) the determination that a species 
is an endangered species or a threatened 
species under subsection (a); 
‘‘(ii) the determination under sub-
section (a) that an endangered species or 
a threatened species be removed from any 
list published under subsection (c)(1); 
‘‘(iii) the development of a recovery 
plan for a threatened species or endan-
gered species under subsection (f); and 
‘‘(iv) the determination that a pro-
posed action is likely to jeopardize the con-
tinued existence of a listed species and the 
proposal of any reasonable and prudent al-
ternatives by the Secretary under section 
7(b)(3). 
‘‘(B) QUALIFIED INDIVIDUAL.—The term 
‘qualified individual’ means an individual with 
expertise in the biological sciences—
‘‘(i) who through publication of peer-
reviewed scientific literature or other 
means, has demonstrated scientific exper-
tise on the species or a similar species or
other scientific expertise relevant to the de-
cision of the Secretary under subsection 
(a) or (f); 
‘‘(ii) who does not have, or represent 
any person with, a conflict of interest with 
respect to the determination that is the 
subject of the review; 
‘‘(iii) who is not a participant in any 
petition or proposed or final determination 
before the Secretary; and 
‘‘(iv) who has no direct financial in-
terest, and is not employed by any person 
with a direct financial interest, in opposing 
the action under consideration. 
‘‘(2) LIST OF INDEPENDENT SCIENTIFIC RE-
VIEWERS.—The Secretary shall solicit recommenda-
tions from the National Academy of Sciences and 
develop and maintain a list of qualified reviewers to 
participate in independent scientific review actions. 
‘‘(3) APPOINTMENT
OF
INDEPENDENT
SCI-
ENTIFIC REVIEWERS.—(A) Before any action shall 
become final, the Secretary shall appoint randomly, 
from among the list prepared in accordance with 
this section, 3 qualified individuals who shall review 
and report to the Secretary on the scientific infor-
mation and analyses on which the proposed action is 
based. 
‘‘(B) The selection and activities of the referees 
selected pursuant to this section shall not be subject 
to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. 
App.). 
‘‘(C) Reviewers shall be compensated for con-
ducting the independent review. 
‘‘(4) OPINION
OF
PEER
REVIEWERS.—Inde-
pendent reviewers shall provide the Secretary, within 
3 months, their opinion regarding all relevant sci-
entific information and assumptions relating to the 
taxonomy, population models, and supportive biologi-
cal and ecological information for the species in 
question. 
‘‘(5) FINAL DETERMINATION.—If the referees 
have made a recommendation on a proposed action, 
the Secretary shall evaluate and consider the infor-
mation that results from the independent scientific 
review and include in the final determination—
‘‘(A) a summary of the results of the inde-
pendent scientific review; and 
‘‘(B) in a case in which the recommenda-
tion of a majority of the referees who conducted 
the independent scientific review is not followed,
an explanation as to why the recommendation 
was not followed. 
‘‘(6) PUBLIC NOTICE.—The report of the peer 
reviewers shall be included in the official record of 
the proposed action and shall be available for public 
review prior to the close of the comment period on 
the proposed action.’’. 
SEC. 4. IMPROVED RECOVERY PLANNING. 
(a) USE OF INFORMATION PROVIDED BY STATES.—
Section 7(b)(1) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 
(16 U.S.C. 1536(b)(1)) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(C) USE
OF
STATE
INFORMATION.—In 
conducting a consultation under subsection 
(a)(2), the Secretary shall actively solicit and 
consider information from the State agency in 
each affected State.’’. 
(b) OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE IN CONSULTA-
TIONS.—Section 7(b)(1) of the Endangered Species Act 
of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536(b)(1)) (as amended by sub-
section (a)) is further amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(D) OPPORTUNITY
TO
PARTICIPATE
IN 
CONSULTATIONS.—
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—In conducting a 
consultation under subsection (a)(2), the 
Secretary shall provide any person who has 
sought authorization or funding from a 
Federal agency for an action that is the 
subject of the consultation, the opportunity 
to—
‘‘(I) before the development of a 
draft biological opinion, submit and 
discuss with the Secretary and the 
Federal agency information relevant 
to the effect of the proposed action on 
the species and the availability of rea-
sonable and prudent alternatives (if a 
jeopardy opinion is to be issued) that 
the Federal agency and the person 
can take to avoid violation of sub-
section (a)(2); 
‘‘(II) receive information, on re-
quest, subject to the exemptions speci-
fied in section 552(b) of title 5, 
United States Code, on the status of 
the species, threats to the species, and 
conservation measures, used by the 
Secretary to develop the draft biologi-
cal opinion and the final biological 
opinion, including the associated inci-
dental taking statements; and 
‘‘(III) receive a copy of the draft 
biological opinion from the Federal 
agency and, before issuance of the 
final biological opinion, submit com-
ments on the draft biological opinion 
and discuss with the Secretary and 
the Federal agency the basis for any 
finding in the draft biological opinion. 
‘‘(ii) EXPLANATION.—If reasonable 
and prudent alternatives are proposed by a 
person under clause (i) and the Secretary 
does not include the alternatives in the 
final biological opinion, the Secretary shall 
explain to the person why those alter-
natives were not included in the opinion. 
‘‘(iii) PUBLIC
ACCESS
TO
INFORMA-
TION.—Comments and other information 
submitted to, or received from, any person 
(pursuant to clause (i)) who seeks author-
ization or funding for an action shall be 
maintained in a file for that action by the 
Secretary and shall be made available to
the public (subject to the exemptions speci-
fied in section 552(b) of title 5, United 
States Code).’’.
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