OSBORNE, Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE 
JOHNSON of Texas, and Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas 
Deleted sponsor: Mr. OWENS (added September 22, 2005; deleted September 
27, 2005) 
SEPTEMBER 27, 2005 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on September 19, 2005] 
A BILL 
To amend and reauthorize the Endangered Species Act of 
1973 to provide greater results conserving and recovering 
listed 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act of 
2005’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Amendment references. 
Sec. 3. Definitions. 
Sec. 4. Determinations of endangered species and threatened species. 
Sec. 5. Repeal of critical habitat requirements. 
Sec. 6. Petitions and procedures for determinations and revisions. 
Sec. 7. Reviews of listings and determinations. 
Sec. 8. Secretarial guidelines; State comments. 
Sec. 9. Recovery plans and land acquisitions. 
Sec. 10. Cooperation with States and Indian tribes. 
Sec. 11. Interagency cooperation and consultation. 
Sec. 12. Exceptions to prohibitions. 
Sec. 13. Private property conservation.
Sec. 14. Public accessibility and accountability. 
Sec. 15. Annual cost analyses. 
Sec. 16. Reimbursement for depredation of livestock by reintroduced species. 
Sec. 17. Authorization of appropriations. 
Sec. 18. Miscellaneous technical corrections. 
Sec. 19. Clerical amendment to table of contents. 
Sec. 20. Certain actions deemed in compliance. 
SEC. 2. AMENDMENT REFERENCES. 
Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in 
this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of 
an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, 
the reference shall be considered to be made to such section 
or other provision of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
(a) BEST AVAILABLE SCIENTIFIC DATA.—Section 3 
(16 U.S.C. 1532) is amended by redesignating paragraphs 
(2) through (21) in order as paragraphs (3), (4), (5), (6), 
(7), (8), (9), (10), (11), (13), (14), (15), (16), (17), (18), 
(19), (20), (21), and (22), respectively, and by inserting be-
fore paragraph (3), as so redesignated, the following: 
‘‘(2)(A) The term ‘best available scientific data’ means 
scientific data, regardless of source, that are available to 
the Secretary at the time of a decision or action for which 
such data are required by this Act and that the Secretary 
determines are the most accurate, reliable, and relevant for 
use in that decision or action. 
‘‘(B) Not later than one year after the date of the en-
actment of the Threatened and Endangered Species Recov-
ery Act of 2005, the Secretary shall issue regulations that 
establish criteria that must be met to determine which data 
constitute the best available scientific data for purposes of 
subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(C) If the Secretary determines that data for a deci-
sion or action do not comply with the criteria established 
by the regulations issued under subparagraph (B), do not 
comply with guidance issued under section 515 of the Treas-
ury and General Government Appropriations Act, 2001 
(Public Law 106–554; 114 Stat. 2763A–171) by the Direc-
tor of the Office of Management and Budget and the Sec-
retary, do not consist of any empirical data, or are found 
in sources that have not been subject to peer review in a 
generally acceptable manner— 
‘‘(i) the Secretary shall undertake the necessary 
measures to assure compliance with such criteria or 
guidance; and 
‘‘(ii) the Secretary may— 
‘‘(I) secure such empirical data; 
‘‘(II) seek appropriate peer review; and 
‘‘(III) reconsider the decision or action 
based on any supplemental or different data pro-
vided or any peer review conducted pursuant to 
this subparagraph.’’.
(b) PERMIT OR LICENSE APPLICANT.—Section 3 (16 
U.S.C. 1532) is further amended by amending paragraph 
(13), as so redesignated, to read as follows: 
‘‘(13) The term ‘permit or license applicant’ means, 
when used with respect to an action of a Federal agency 
that is subject to section 7(a) or (b), any person that has 
applied to such agency for a permit or license or for formal 
legal approval to perform an act.’’. 
(c) JEOPARDIZE THE CONTINUED EXISTENCE.—Sec-
tion 3 (16 U.S.C. 1532) is further amended by inserting 
after paragraph (11) the following: 
‘‘(12) The term ‘jeopardize the continued existence’ 
means, with respect to an agency action (as that term is 
defined in section 7(a)(2)), that the action reasonably would 
be expected to significantly impede, directly or indirectly, 
the conservation in the long-term of the species in the 
wild.’’. 
(d) CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 7(n) (16 
U.S.C. 1536(n)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 3(13)’’ and 
inserting ‘‘section 3(14)’’. 
SEC. 4. DETERMINATIONS OF ENDANGERED SPECIES AND 
THREATENED SPECIES. 
(a) REQUIREMENT TO MAKE DETERMINATIONS.—Sec-
tion 4 (16 U.S.C. 1533) is amended by striking so much 
as precedes subsection (a)(3) and inserting the following:
‘‘DETERMINATION OF ENDANGERED SPECIES AND 
THREATENED SPECIES 
‘‘SEC. 4. (a) IN GENERAL.—(1) The Secretary shall 
by regulation promulgated in accordance with subsection 
(b) determine whether any species is an endangered species 
or a threatened species because of any of the following fac-
tors: 
‘‘(A) The present or threatened destruction, 
modification, or curtailment of its habitat or range 
by human activities, competition from other species, 
drought, fire, or other catastrophic natural causes. 
‘‘(B) 
Overutilization 
for 
commercial, 
rec-
reational, scientific, or educational purposes. 
‘‘(C) Disease or predation. 
‘‘(D) The inadequacy of existing regulatory 
mechanisms, including any efforts identified pursuant 
to subsection (b)(1). 
‘‘(E) Other natural or manmade factors affecting 
its continued existence. 
‘‘(2) The Secretary shall use the authority provided by 
paragraph (1) to determine any distinct population of any 
species of vertebrate fish or wildlife to be an endangered 
species or a threatened species only sparingly.’’. 
(b) BASIS FOR DETERMINATION.—Section 4(b)(1)(A) 
(16 U.S.C. 1533(b)(1)(A)) is amended—