I 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4284 
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to encourage greater State 
input and authority over species and habitat management by allowing 
States to propose and implement State Protective Action before species 
are listed under that Act, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 24, 2014 
Mr. NEUGEBAUER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to encourage 
greater State input and authority over species and habi-
tat management by allowing States to propose and imple-
ment State Protective Action before species are listed 
under 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 ‘‘ESA Improvement Act 
of 2014’’. 
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SEC. 2. ENDANGERED AND THREATENED SPECIES STATE 
PROTECTIVE ACTIONS. 
Section 4(c) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 
(16 U.S.C. 1533(c)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), in the first sentence, by 
striking ‘‘The Secretary shall’’ and inserting ‘‘Ex-
cept as provided in paragraph (3), the Secretary 
shall’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) STATE PROTECTIVE ACTION.— 
‘‘(A) EXCLUSION FROM LISTS.—The Sec-
retary shall not include in a list under this sub-
section any population of a species in a State 
if the Secretary has approved a State Protective 
Action for such population in accordance with 
this paragraph. 
‘‘(B) PUBLICATION OF NOTICE.—Not later 
than 90 days before proposing to add a species 
to a list under this subsection, the Secretary 
shall notify each State in which a population of 
the species occurs of the opportunity to submit 
to the Secretary a proposed State Protective 
Action for the species in that State, including 
specification of the criteria for approval of such 
an action under this paragraph. 
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‘‘(C) SUBMISSION BY STATE.—Each State 
notified under subparagraph (B), or group of 
such States, may submit to the Secretary a pro-
posed State Protective Action for the species in 
such State or States within the period specified 
by the Secretary for the submission of public 
comment regarding the inclusion of the species 
in the list. 
‘‘(D) 
GUIDANCE
TO
STATES.—During 
preparation of a proposed State Protective Ac-
tion under subparagraph (A), the Secretary 
shall provide guidance to the State regarding 
such preparation. 
‘‘(E) APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL; RESUB-
MISSION.—The Secretary shall— 
‘‘(i) approve or disapprove a proposed 
State Protective Action by not later than 
45 days after the date it is submitted; 
‘‘(ii) approve such an action if the 
Secretary determines that it meets the cri-
teria specified for approval in the notifica-
tion under subparagraph (B); 
‘‘(iii) upon disapproving such an ac-
tion— 
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‘‘(I) provide the written com-
ments explaining specifically why the 
action was not approved; 
‘‘(II) allow the proposed action to 
be resubmitted at any time before the 
end of the 45-day period beginning on 
the date the Secretary provides such 
comments; and 
‘‘(III) by not later than 30 days 
after the end of such period, issue a 
final decision regarding the proposed 
action. 
‘‘(F) LIMITATION
ON
FINAL
LISTING.— 
The Secretary may not add a population of a 
species to a list before the date the Secretary 
has made a final determination regarding ap-
proval of each State Protective Action for such 
population that has been submitted in accord-
ance with this paragraph. 
‘‘(G) QUALIFICATION
FOR
GRANTS.—For 
purposes of subsection (d), a State Protective 
Action approved by the Secretary under this 
paragraph shall be treated as a cooperative 
agreement entered into pursuant to this sub-
section. 
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‘‘(H) REVIEW OF PLANS.—Every 5 years 
after approving a State Protective Action, the 
Secretary shall review the implementation and 
effectiveness of the action, and if necessary pro-
vide guidance on improvements or revisions that 
are required to maintain the Secretary’s ap-
proval of the action. 
‘‘(I) REVOCATION
OF
APPROVAL.—The 
Secretary may revoke approval of a State Pro-
tective Action for a population and propose 
adding such species to a list under this sub-
section if at any time after completion of the 
first review under subparagraph (H) the Sec-
retary determines that— 
‘‘(i) the State has failed to implement 
the action; or 
‘‘(ii) the action has failed to make 
measurable progress toward achieving the 
recovery criteria for the population. 
‘‘(J) TERMINATION.—The Secretary may 
terminate the effectiveness of a State Protective 
Action approved under this paragraph, includ-
ing review regarding the action under subpara-
graph (H), if the Secretary determines that re-
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covery criteria for the population have been 
achieved.’’. 
Æ 
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