I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3706
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to provide a public right-
to-know for landowners in implementing the Endangered Species Act.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 7, 2002
Mr. POMBO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Resources
A BILL
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to provide
a public right-to-know for landowners in implementing
the Endangered Species Act.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. LANDOWNER AND PUBLIC RIGHT-TO-KNOW.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 13 of the Endangered
Species Act of 1973 is amended to read as follows:
‘‘SEC. 13. PROVISION OF INFORMATION TO AFFECTED PER-
SONS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any person who is the owner of
record of privately owned land, or the Governor of any
State, may submit to the Secretary a request for informa-
tion described in subsection (b) with respect to the pri-
vately owned land or land owned by the State, respectively,
that is described in the request and affected by the appli-
cation of this Act.
‘‘(b) INFORMATION AVAILABLE.—The information
referred to in subsection (a) is, with respect to the land
described in the request, all of the following information
that is in the possession of any agency under the adminis-
trative jurisdiction of the Secretary:
‘‘(1) A description of the location where the
species is known to occur on the land, and of how
the occurrence of the species on that land originally
became known to the Secretary.
‘‘(2) The presence or absence on the land of
species listed or proposed for listing under section
4(c).
‘‘(3) Any regulations or restrictions that may
apply under this Act to the land as a result of pro-
tections under this Act of such species/species listed
under section 4(c).
‘‘(4) The impact that any pending proposal to
list a species under section 4(c) as an endangered
species or threatened species could have on use and
management of the land.
‘‘(5) The impact that a designation under this
Act (including any pending proposed designation) of
the land as critical habitat would have on the use
and management of the land.
‘‘(6) A response as to whether any action speci-
fied in the request constitutes a taking of a species
prohibited under this Act, and a description of ac-
tions that must be taken by the person to avoid such
a taking.
‘‘(7) A description of what other actions relat-
ing to the land will constitute a taking prohibited
under this Act, and the actions that must be taken
to avoid such a taking.
‘‘(8) Any other information that could affect
the use or management of the land.
‘‘(c) DEADLINE FOR RESPONSE.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide
in writing to the owner of privately owned land or
the Governor of a State the information described in
subsection (b) by not later than the expiration of the
90-day period beginning on the date the Secretary
receives a request under subsection (a) from the
owner or Governor, respectively.
‘‘(2) RESTRICTION
ON
ENFORCEMENT.—After
the period referred to in paragraph (1), this Act
may not be enforced with respect to actions occur-
ring on the land that is the subject of the request
unless the Secretary has provided the information
described in subsection (b) pursuant to the request.
‘‘(d) STATE ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary may
delegate to any State the authority to carry out a program
established by the Secretary to implement this section with
respect to land located in the State, if the State dem-
onstrates it has the authority and the funds necessary for
that implementation.
‘‘(e) RELIANCE ON INFORMATION PROVIDED.—Any
act or omission by a person that is based on the good faith
reliance by the person on information provided to the per-
son in writing under this section shall not be treated as
a violation of this Act.’’.
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents
in the first section of the Endangered Species Act of 1973
is amended by striking the item relating to section 13 and
inserting the following:
‘‘Sec. 13. Provision of information to affected persons.’’.
SEC. 2. REGULATIONS ESTABLISHING REQUIREMENTS FOR
CONDUCTING PUBLIC HEARINGS.
Section 4(b)(5)(E) of the Endangered Species Act of
1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(b)(5)(E)) is amended by striking
‘‘if any person files a request for such a hearing’’ and in-
serting ‘‘in accordance with section 556 of title 5, United
States Code,’’.
SEC. 3. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit, re-
place, or interfere with other opportunities for public com-
ment on, participation in, or influence on agency decision
making pursuant to the National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969, chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code (pop-
ularly known as the ‘‘Administrative Procedure Act’’), or
any other law or policy that provides for such opportuni-
ties.
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