109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 3824
AN ACT 
To amend and reauthorize the Endangered Species 
Act of 1973 to provide greater results conserving 
and recovering listed species, and for other pur-
poses.
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3824
AN ACT 
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. 21. Consolidation of programs. 
Sec. 22. Review of protective regulations. 
Sec. 23. Provision of information regarding compliance costs of Federal power 
administrations. 
Sec. 24. Survey of BLM lands and Forest Service lands for management for 
recovery of listed species. 
Sec. 25. Relationship between section 7 consultation and incident take author-
ization under Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972.
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 provi-
sion, 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 
before paragraph (3), as so redesignated, the following: 
‘‘(2)(A) The term ‘best available scientific data’ 
means scientific data, regardless of source, that are avail-
able 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 
enactment of the Threatened and Endangered Species Re-
covery 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) In carrying out subparagraph (B), the Secretary 
shall undertake necessary measures to assure—
‘‘(i) compliance with guidance issued under sec-
tion 515 of the Treasury and General Government