Title: Endangered Species Transparency and Reasonableness Act
Policy area: Environmental Protection

Summary:
Endangered Species Transparency and Reasonableness Act
This bill amends the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) to require the Department of the Interior or the Department of Commerce, as appropriate, to make publicly available on the Internet, subject to privacy or administrative limitations, the best scientific and commercial data available that are the bases for the determination of whether a species is an endangered species or a threatened species, including each proposed regulation for the listing of a species.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3608 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3608

 To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to require publication on 
     the Internet of the basis for determinations that species are 
   endangered species or threatened species, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 28, 2017

Mr. McClintock (for himself, Mr. Huizenga, Mr. LaMalfa, Mr. Jones, Mr. 
  Gianforte, and Mr. Tipton) introduced the following bill; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to require publication on 
     the Internet of the basis for determinations that species are 
   endangered species or threatened species, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Endangered Species Transparency and 
Reasonableness Act''.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT TO PUBLISH ON THE INTERNET THE BASIS FOR LISTINGS.

    Section 4(b) of the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1533(b)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(9) The Secretary shall make publicly available on the Internet 
the best scientific and commercial data available that are the basis 
for each regulation, including each proposed regulation, promulgated 
under subsection (a)(1), except that, at the request of a Governor, 
State agency, or legislature of a State, the Secretary shall not make 
available under this paragraph information regarding which the State 
has determined public disclosure is prohibited by a law or regulation 
of that State, including any law or regulation requiring the protection 
of personal information; and except that within 30 days after the date 
of the enactment of this paragraph, the Secretary shall execute an 
agreement with the Secretary of Defense that prevents the disclosure of 
classified information pertaining to Department of Defense personnel, 
facilities, lands, or waters.''.

SEC. 3. DECISIONAL TRANSPARENCY AND USE OF STATE, TRIBAL, AND LOCAL 
              INFORMATION.

    (a) Requiring Decisional Transparency With Affected States.--
Section 6(a) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1535(a)) 
is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(1)'' before the first sentence; and
            (2) by striking ``Such cooperation shall include'' and 
        inserting the following:
            ``(2) Such cooperation shall include--
                    ``(A) before making a determination under section 
                4(a), providing to States affected by such 
                determination all data that is the basis of the 
                determination; and
                    ``(B)''.
    (b) Ensuring Use of State, Tribal, and Local Information.--
            (1) In general.--Section 3 of the Endangered Species Act of 
        1973 (16 U.S.C. 1532) is amended--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (21) as 
                paragraphs (3) through (22), respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
    ``(2) The term `best scientific and commercial data available' 
includes all such data submitted by a State, tribal, or county 
government.''.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--Section 7(n) of such Act (16 
        U.S.C. 1536(n)) is amended by striking ``section 3(13)'' and 
        inserting ``section 3(14)''.

SEC. 4. DISCLOSURE OF EXPENDITURES UNDER ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT OF 
              1973.

    (a) Requirement To Disclose.--Section 13 of the Endangered Species 
Act of 1973 (87 Stat. 902; relating to conforming amendments which have 
executed) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 13. DISCLOSURE OF EXPENDITURES.

    ``(a) Requirement.--The Secretary of the Interior, in consultation 
with the Secretary of Commerce, shall--
            ``(1) not later than 90 days after the end of each fiscal 
        year, submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House 
        of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural 
        Resources of the Senate an annual report detailing Federal 
        Government expenditures for covered suits during the preceding 
        fiscal year (including the information described in subsection 
        (b)); and
            ``(2) make publicly available through the Internet a 
        searchable database of the information described in subsection 
        (b).
    ``(b) Included Information.--The report shall include--
            ``(1) the case name and number of each covered suit, and a 
        hyperlink to the record or decision for each covered suit (if 
        available);
            ``(2) a description of the claims in each covered suit;
            ``(3) the name of each covered agency whose actions gave 
        rise to a claim in a covered suit;
            ``(4) funds expended by each covered agency (disaggregated 
        by agency account) to receive and respond to notices referred 
        to in section 11(g)(2) or to prepare for litigation of, 
        litigate, negotiate a settlement agreement or consent decree 
        in, or provide material, technical, or other assistance in 
        relation to, a covered suit;
            ``(5) the number of full-time equivalent employees that 
        participated in the activities described in paragraph (4);
            ``(6) attorneys fees and other expenses (disaggregated by 
        agency account) awarded in covered suits, including any consent 
        decrees or settlement agreements (regardless of whether a 
        decree or settlement agreement is sealed or otherwise subject 
        to nondisclosure provisions), including the bases for such 
        awards; and
            ``(7) any Federal funding used by a person or a 
        governmental or nongovernmental entity in bringing a claim in a 
        covered suit.
    ``(c) Requirement To Provide Information.--The head of each covered 
agency shall provide to the Secretary in a timely manner all 
information requested by the Secretary to comply with the requirements 
of this section.
    ``(d) Limitation on Disclosure.--Notwithstanding any other 
provision of this section, this section shall not affect any 
restriction in a consent decree or settlement agreement on the 
disclosure of information that is not described in subsection (b).
    ``(e) Definitions.--
            ``(1) Covered agency.--The term `covered agency' means any 
        agency of the Department of the Interior, the Forest Service, 
        the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Bonneville Power 
        Administration, the Western Area Power Administration, the 
        Southwestern Power Administration, or the Southeastern Power 
        Administration.
            ``(2) Covered suit.--The term `covered suit' means any 
        civil action containing a claim against the Federal Government, 
        in which the claim arises under this Act and is based on the 
        action of a covered agency.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in the first section 
of such Act is amended by striking the item relating to such section 
and inserting the following:

``Sec. 13. Disclosure of expenditures.''.
    (c) Prior Amendments Not Affected.--This section shall not be 
construed to affect the amendments made by section 13 of such Act, as 
in effect before the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 5. AWARD OF LITIGATION COSTS TO PREVAILING PARTIES IN ACCORDANCE 
              WITH EXISTING LAW.

    Section 11(g)(4) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 
1540(g)(4)) is amended by striking ``to any'' and all that follows 
through the end of the sentence and inserting ``to any prevailing party 
in accordance with section 2412 of title 28, United States Code.''.
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