LIST Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5579 To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to provide for improved precision in the listing, delisting, and downlisting of endangered species and potentially endangered species. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 10, 2020 Mr. GIANFORTE (for himself, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mr. CRAWFORD, and Mr. MCCLINTOCK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to provide for improved precision in the listing, delisting, and downlisting of endangered species and potentially endan- gered species. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Less Imprecision in 4 Species Treatment Act of 2020’’ or the ‘‘LIST Act of 5 2020’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:34 Jan 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5579.IH H5579 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5579 IH SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT TO INITIATE DELISTING. 1 (a) REQUIREMENT IN CASE OF RECOVERY.—Section 2 4(b) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 3 1533(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(9)(A) The Secretary shall initiate the procedures 5 in accordance with subsection (a)(1) to remove a species 6 from a list published under subsection (c) if— 7 ‘‘(i) the goals of a recovery plan for the species 8 developed under subsection (f) have been met; or 9 ‘‘(ii) the goals for recovery of the species have 10 not been developed under subsection (f), and the 11 Secretary determines that the species has recovered 12 sufficiently to no longer require the protection of the 13 Act. 14 ‘‘(B) Notwithstanding the requirement of subsection 15 (c)(2) that each determination under subparagraph (B) of 16 that subsection shall be made in accordance with the pro- 17 visions of subsections (a) and (b), the Secretary shall re- 18 move a species from any list published under subsection 19 (c) if the Department of the Interior has produced or re- 20 ceived substantial scientific or commercial information 21 demonstrating that the species is recovered or that recov- 22 ery goals set for the species under subsection (f) have been 23 met. 24 ‘‘(C) In the case of a species removed under subpara- 25 graph (A) from a list published under subsection (c), the 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Jan 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5579.IH H5579 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5579 IH publication and notice under subsection (b)(5) shall con- 1 sist solely of a notice of such removal.’’. 2 (b) REQUIREMENT IN CASE ERRONEOUSLY OR 3 WRONGFULLY LISTED.—Section 4(b)(3) of the Endan- 4 gered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(a)), as amend- 5 ed by subsection (a), is further amended by adding at the 6 end the following: 7 ‘‘(H)(i) Not later than 90 days after the date the De- 8 partment of the Interior receives or produces under this 9 subsection information described in clause (ii) regarding 10 a species included in a list under subsection (c), the Sec- 11 retary shall to the maximum extent practicable find 12 whether the inclusion of such species in such list was less 13 than likely to have occurred in the absence of the scientific 14 or commercial information referred to in clause (ii). 15 ‘‘(ii) Information referred to in clause (i) is any infor- 16 mation demonstrating that the listing was determined on 17 the basis of scientific or commercial information available 18 to, or received or produced by, the Department under 19 paragraphs (1) and (3) of subsection (b) that at the time 20 the scientific or commercial information was available to 21 or received or produced by the Department it was— 22 ‘‘(I) inaccurate beyond scientifically reasonable 23 margins of error; 24 ‘‘(II) fraudulent; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Jan 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5579.IH H5579 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5579 IH ‘‘(III) misrepresentative. 1 ‘‘(iii) Notwithstanding the requirement under sub- 2 section (c)(2)(B) that each determination under subpara- 3 graph (B) shall be made in accordance with the provisions 4 of subsections (a) and (b), the Secretary shall— 5 ‘‘(I) remove from any list published under sub- 6 section (c) any species for which a positive finding 7 is made under clause (i); and 8 ‘‘(II) promptly publish in the Federal Register 9 notice of such finding that includes such information 10 as was received or produced by the Department 11 under such clause. 12 ‘‘(iv) Any positive finding by the Secretary under 13 clause (i) shall not be subject to judicial review. 14 ‘‘(v) Any negative finding by the Secretary under 15 clause (i) shall be subject to judicial review. 16 ‘‘(vi) In the case of a species removed under clause 17 (iii) from a list, the publication and notice under sub- 18 section (b)(5) shall consist solely of a notice of such re- 19 moval. 20 ‘‘(vii) If the Secretary finds that a person submitted 21 a petition that is the subject of a positive finding under 22 clause (i) knowing that it contained scientific or commer- 23 cial information described in clause (ii), then during the 24 10-year period beginning on the date of the finding under 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Jan 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5579.IH H5579 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5579 IH this clause the person shall not be considered an interested 1 person for purposes of subparagraph (A) with respect to 2 any petition submitted by the person after the date the 3 person submitted such scientific or commercial informa- 4 tion.’’. 5 SEC. 3. EXPANDED CONSIDERATION DURING FIVE-YEAR 6 REVIEW. 7 Section 4(c) (16 U.S.C. 1533(c)) is amended by add- 8 ing at the end the following: 9 ‘‘(3) Each determination under paragraph (2)(B) 10 shall consider one of the following: 11 ‘‘(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B) 12 of this paragraph, the criteria required under sub- 13 section (f)(1)(B) in the recovery plan for the species. 14 ‘‘(B) If the objective, measurable criteria under 15 subsection (f)(1)(B)(ii) are not established, the fac- 16 tors for the determination that a species is an en- 17 dangered species or a threatened species set forth in 18 subsections (a)(1) and (b)(1). 19 ‘‘(C) A finding of error in the determination 20 that the species is an endangered species, a threat- 21 ened species, or extinct. 22 ‘‘(D) A determination that the species is no 23 longer an endangered species or threatened species 24 or in danger of extinction, based on an analysis of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Jan 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5579.IH H5579 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5579 IH the factors that are the basis for listing in sub- 1 sections (a)(1) and (b)(1).’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Jan 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5579.IH H5579 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS