I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5467 
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to increase transparency, 
to support regulatory certainty, and to reauthorize that Act, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 17, 2019 
Mr. TIPTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to increase 
transparency, to support regulatory certainty, and to re-
authorize that Act, 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 ‘‘Land Ownership Col-
laboration Accelerates Life Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘LOCAL 
Act of 2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. CONSERVATION AGREEMENTS AS REGULATORY 
MECHANISMS. 
Section 4(f) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 
(16 U.S.C. 1533) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(6) TREATMENT.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A conservation agreement 
(including any agreement described in subparagraph 
(B)) entered into or endorsed by the Secretary shall 
be considered to be a regulation for purposes of de-
termining whether to include a species on the list of 
threatened species or endangered species pursuant 
to this section. 
‘‘(B) 
DESCRIPTION
OF
AGREEMENTS.—An 
agreement referred to in subparagraph (A) in-
cludes— 
‘‘(i) a voluntary wildlife conservation 
agreement under paragraph (3); 
‘‘(ii) a candidate conservation agreement 
with assurances under paragraph (4); 
‘‘(iii) a candidate conservation agreement; 
or 
‘‘(iv) a plan that— 
‘‘(I) relates to the conservation of a 
species; 
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‘‘(II) affects the viability of the spe-
cies; and 
‘‘(III) is implemented, or proposed to 
be implemented, by— 
‘‘(aa) a State; 
‘‘(bb) 2 or more States; 
‘‘(cc) a unit of local government; 
or 
‘‘(dd) 2 or more units of local 
government.’’. 
SEC. 3. VOLUNTARY WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AGREE-
MENTS. 
Section 4(f) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 
(16 U.S.C. 1533(f)) is further amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(3) VOLUNTARY
WILDLIFE
CONSERVATION 
AGREEMENTS.— 
‘‘(A) 
ESTABLISHMENT.—The 
Secretary 
shall establish procedures for developing and 
entering into voluntary wildlife conservation 
agreements, including by establishing conserva-
tion goals and other criteria for the agreements, 
with 1 or more entities, including— 
‘‘(i) a State, Tribal, or local govern-
ment; 
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‘‘(ii) a private landowner; 
‘‘(iii) a lessee; 
‘‘(iv) a private third-party conserva-
tion organization; or 
‘‘(v) any other entity that the Sec-
retary determines appropriate. 
‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—A voluntary wildlife 
conservation agreement entered into under this 
paragraph shall include provisions establishing 
that— 
‘‘(i) a party to the agreement that is 
in compliance with the agreement shall not 
be required to carry out any additional 
mitigation measure for a species covered 
by the agreement, if the additional meas-
ure would require— 
‘‘(I) any additional expenditure 
of resources by the party to the agree-
ment; or 
‘‘(II) the adoption of any addi-
tional use, development, or manage-
ment restriction on land, water, or a 
water-related right of the party to the 
agreement that would otherwise be 
available under the agreement; and 
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‘‘(ii) a conservation agreement or an 
activity proposed to be carried out under 
such an agreement may be modified only— 
‘‘(I) under extraordinary cir-
cumstances; and 
‘‘(II) with the consent of all par-
ties to the agreement. 
‘‘(C) STREAMLINING REQUIREMENTS.—To 
reduce the time and expense required to enter 
into a voluntary wildlife conservation agreement 
under this paragraph, the Secretary shall, to 
the maximum extent practicable— 
‘‘(i) implement standard procedures 
and encourage widespread use of templates 
in developing the agreements; 
‘‘(ii) simplify the application and ap-
proval processes relating to the agree-
ments; 
‘‘(iii) reduce the burdens associated 
with reporting and monitoring under the 
agreements; and 
‘‘(iv) provide for the protection of sen-
sitive personal and business-related infor-
mation of any party to the agreements.’’. 
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SEC. 4. CANDIDATE CONSERVATION AGREEMENTS WITH 
ASSURANCES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4(f) of the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(f)) (as amended by 
section 4) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(4) CANDIDATE CONSERVATION AGREEMENTS 
WITH
ASSURANCES.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, in entering into or carrying out any 
candidate conservation agreement under this Act, 
the Secretary— 
‘‘(A) shall honor the terms of the agree-
ment, as in existence before March 21, 2017; 
‘‘(B) shall enact regulations— 
‘‘(i) to expedite the process for enter-
ing into a conservation agreement; and 
‘‘(ii) to protect sensitive personal and 
business-related information of each party 
to the agreement; 
‘‘(C) may not take into consideration 
whether the implementation of the agreement, 
in the Secretary’s judgement, will provide a net 
conservation benefit to a species covered by the 
agreement; 
‘‘(D) shall take into consideration whether 
the implementation of the agreement, in the 
Secretary’s judgement, will preclude or remove 
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any need to list a species covered by the agree-
ment as a threatened species or an endangered 
species under this section; and 
‘‘(E) may not preclude a party to the 
agreement from receiving Federal funds under 
any other conservation program.’’. 
(b) EFFECT
ON REGULATIONS.—Notwithstanding 
any other provision of law— 
(1) the amendments to part 17 of title 50, Code 
of Federal Regulations, made by the final rule pro-
mulgated by the Secretary of the Interior entitled 
‘‘Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 
Revisions to the Regulations for Candidate Con-
servation Agreements With Assurances’’ (81 Fed. 
Reg. 95053 (December 27, 2016)) shall have no 
force or effect; 
(2) such part shall be in effect as if those 
amendments had not been made; and 
(3) the Secretary of Commerce and the Sec-
retary of the Interior shall not make any amend-
ments to such part that are substantially similar to 
the amendments made by the final rule described in 
paragraph (1), unless specifically authorized to do so 
by Act of Congress. 
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SEC. 5. SAFE HARBOR AGREEMENTS. 
Section 4(f) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 
(16 U.S.C. 1533(f)) (as amended by section 5(a)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(5) SAFE
HARBOR
AGREEMENTS.—The Sec-
retary may offer to enter into an agreement, to be 
known as a ‘safe harbor agreement’, with 1 or more 
entities, including a State or local government, a pri-
vate landowner, a lessee, private third-party con-
servation organization, or any other entity that the 
Secretary determines appropriate, that— 
‘‘(A) shall provide for the taking of any ad-
ditional threatened species or endangered spe-
cies that— 
‘‘(i) is not covered under another 
agreement under this subsection; and 
‘‘(ii) is drawn to the property covered 
by that agreement due to the improved 
conditions on that property generated by 
recovery activities for the benefit of the 
species covered by the agreement; and 
‘‘(B) may provide for the taking of any 
threatened species or endangered species cov-
ered under another agreement under this sub-
section and any additional threatened species or 
endangered species not covered under that 
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agreement that is drawn to an adjacent prop-
erty not covered by the agreement due to the 
improved conditions on the property covered by 
the agreement generated by recovery activities 
for the benefit of the species covered by the 
agreement.’’. 
Æ 
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