I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 717 
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to require review of the 
economic cost of adding a species to the list of endangered species 
or threatened species, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 27, 2017 
Mr. OLSON (for himself, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. GOHMERT, and Mr. BABIN) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 
Resources 
A BILL 
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to require 
review of the economic cost of adding a species to the 
list of endangered species or threatened species, 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 ‘‘Listing Reform Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. CONSIDERATION OF ECONOMIC COST IN REVIEW 
OF LISTING PETITIONS UNDER ENDANGERED 
SPECIES ACT OF 1973. 
(a) CONSIDERATION REQUIRED.—Section 4(b)(3) of 
the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 
1533(b)(3)) is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (A)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘To the maximum extent 
practicable, within 90 days after’’ and inserting 
‘‘(i) After’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(ii) The Secretary may prioritize the consideration 
of petitions under this subparagraph other than in the 
order in which the petitions are received, except the Sec-
retary may not give general priority to petitions to add 
species to such a list over petitions to remove a species 
from such a list.’’; 
(2) in subparagraph (B)— 
(A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by 
striking ‘‘Within 12 months’’ and inserting ‘‘As 
expeditiously as practicable’’. 
(b) CONSIDERATION OF SIGNIFICANT, CUMULATIVE 
ECONOMIC EFFECTS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Section 4(b)(3)(B) of the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 
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1533(b)(3)(B)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(iv)(I) In the case of a petition to add a spe-
cies to a list of threatened species, the petitioned ac-
tion may be warranted but is precluded due to the 
likelihood of significant, cumulative economic effects 
that would result from listing or, to the extent it can 
be determined, from the likely resulting designation 
of critical habitat of the species. 
‘‘(II) The Secretary may not reconsider such 
finding unless— 
‘‘(aa) the Secretary determines there is 
endangerment of extinction of the species; or 
‘‘(bb) the Secretary receives a new petition 
to add such species to such list that includes a 
written qualitative and quantitative analyses re-
examining the incremental and significant, cu-
mulative economic effects of likely actions to 
protect the petitioned species and its potential 
habitat upon each State and locality that is af-
fected by the petitioned species listing and that, 
in the opinion of the Secretary, credibly con-
cludes that alternative actions are possible 
other than those resulting in significant, cumu-
lative economic effects. 
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‘‘(III) In this clause the term ‘significant, cu-
mulative economic effects’ includes economic effects 
on— 
‘‘(aa) public land and, to the maximum ex-
tent practicable, private land and property val-
ues; 
‘‘(bb) the provision of water, power, or 
other public services; 
‘‘(cc) employment; and 
‘‘(dd) revenues available for State and 
local governments.’’. 
(2) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 
4(b)(1) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 
U.S.C. 1533(b)(1)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(except 
as provided in clause (iv) of paragraph (3)(B))’’ 
after ‘‘solely’’. 
Æ 
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