I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 65 
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to further restrict the Sec-
retary of the Interior from designating certain lands used for national 
defense-related purposes as critical habitat for any species under that 
Act and to broaden exclusions and exemptions from that Act for such 
defense-related purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 3, 2025 
Mr. BIGGS of Arizona (for himself and Mr. GOSAR) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to further 
restrict the Secretary of the Interior from designating 
certain lands used for national defense-related purposes 
as critical habitat for any species under that Act and 
to broaden exclusions and exemptions from that Act for 
such defense-related 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 ‘‘Armed Forces Endan-
gered Species Exemption Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. EXCLUSION OF MILITARY INSTITUTIONS AS CRIT-
ICAL HABITAT. 
Section 4(a)(3)(B) of the Endangered Species Act of 
1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(a)(3)(B)) is amended to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(i) The Secretary shall not designate as crit-
ical habitat— 
‘‘(I) any military installation or a State- 
owned National Guard installation, or any por-
tion thereof, as such terms are defined in sec-
tion 100 of the Sikes Act (16 U.S.C. 670); or 
‘‘(II) any other lands, waters, or geo-
graphical area not described in clause (i) that 
is otherwise designated for use by the Secretary 
of Defense including by any contractor of the 
Department of Defense, if the Secretary of De-
fense determines in writing and submitted to 
the Secretary of the Interior that such area is 
necessary for military training, weapons testing, 
or any other reason determined appropriate by 
such Secretary of Defense. 
‘‘(ii) The Secretary of Defense shall not be re-
quired to consult with the Secretary of the Interior, 
under section 7(a)(2) of this Act with respect to 
agency action, regardless of whether the area de-
scribed in clause (i) is subject to an integrated nat-
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ural resources management plan prepared under sec-
tion 101 of the Sikes Act (16 U.S.C. 670a).’’. 
SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL EXCLUSIONS AND EXEMPTIONS FROM 
ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT OF 1973 FOR DE-
FENSE-RELATED OPERATIONS. 
Section 10 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 
(16 U.S.C. 1539) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(k) EXCLUSION FOR NATIONAL DEFENSE-RELATED 
OPERATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) EXCLUSIONS.—The prohibitions under sec-
tion 9 shall not apply with respect to— 
‘‘(A) the taking of any endangered species 
or threatened species, or the importation or ex-
portation of any such species taken as prohib-
ited by such section, by military personnel en-
gaged in a national defense-related operation; 
‘‘(B) damaging or destroying any threat-
ened or endangered species, or removing, cut-
ting, digging up, damaging, or destroying any 
such species, by military personnel engaged in 
a national defense-related operation; or 
‘‘(C) an injury to or mortality of a threat-
ened or endangered species that results from, 
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but is not the purpose of, a national defense-re-
lated operation, 
regardless of whether the operation is conducted on 
a military installation or other area described in sec-
tion 4(a)(3)(B)(i). 
‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this 
subsection— 
‘‘(A) the term ‘national defense-related op-
eration’ means— 
‘‘(i) research, development, testing, 
and evaluation of military munitions, other 
ordnance, and weapons systems; 
‘‘(ii) the training of members of the 
Armed Forces in the use and handling of 
military munitions, other ordnance, and 
weapons systems; 
‘‘(iii) general training and military 
preparedness; or 
‘‘(iv) any action or duty that the Sec-
retary of Defense deems necessary to sup-
port the Department of Defense in its mis-
sion; and 
‘‘(B) 
the 
term 
‘military 
personnel’ 
means— 
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‘‘(i) a member of the Armed Forces; 
and 
‘‘(ii) a civilian employee or contractor 
(including a subcontractor at any tier) of 
the— 
‘‘(I) Department of Defense (in-
cluding a nonappropriated fund in-
strumentality of the Department); or 
‘‘(II) any other Federal agency, 
or any provisional authority, to the 
extent such employment relates to 
supporting the mission of the Depart-
ment of Defense overseas.’’. 
Æ 
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