ESA Amendments Act of 2025
A BILL
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to optimize conservation through resource prioritization, incentivize wildlife conservation on private lands, provide for greater incentives to recover listed species, create greater transparency and accountability in recovering listed species, streamline the permitting process, eliminate barriers to conservation, and restore congressional intent.
Sec. 2 Endangered Species Act of 1973 definitions
Foreseeable future— Section 3(20) Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1532(20)) is amended by—
striking “The term” and inserting “(A) The term”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(B) For the purposes of applying subparagraph (A), the term “foreseeable future” means the period of time extending into the future within which the Secretary, based on the best scientific and commercial data available, is able to determine that a factor described in subparagraphs (A) through (E) of section 4(a)(1) is likely to occur with respect to the species.”
Commercial activity— Section 3(2) Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1532(2)) is amended by inserting “or public display or education aimed at the preservation or conservation of a species” after “organizations”.
Conserve; conserving; conservation— Section 3(3) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1532(3)) is amended by striking “and transplantation, and, in the extraordinary case where population pressures within a given ecosystem cannot be otherwise relieved, may include” and inserting “transplantation, and, at the discretion of the Secretary,”.
Habitat— Section 3(5) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1532(5)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(D)
“(i) For the purpose of designating critical habitat for a threatened species or an endangered species under this Act, the term habitat—
“(I) means the abiotic and biotic setting that currently or periodically contains the resources and conditions necessary to support 1 or more life processes of the threatened species or endangered species; and
“(II) does not include an area—
“(aa) outside the current or historic range of the threatened species or endangered species; or
“(bb) visited by only vagrant individual members of the threatened species or endangered species.
“(ii) If the setting described in clause (i)(I) does not support all of the life processes of the relevant threatened species or endangered species, the threatened species or endangered species must be able to access, from the setting, other areas necessary to support its remaining life processes.”
Best scientific and commercial data available— Section 3 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1532) is amended—
by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (10) as paragraphs (3) through (11), respectively; and
by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
“(2) The terms best scientific and commercial data available and “best scientific data available”—
“(A) mean all relevant and objective scientific and commercial information available at the time of the agency action; and
“(B) include credible and reliable data, quantitative analyses, conceptual and numerical models, and model results that—
“(i) account for known or potential sources or error;
“(ii) are applied using prevailing principles, methods, tools, and professional standards of practice; and
“(iii) are impartially gathered and objectively applied without reliance on precautionary assumptions in favor of a species or other assumptions or policy prescriptions that bias the application.”
Environmental baseline— Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(q) Environmental baseline defined—In this section, the term environmental baseline—
“(1) means the condition of the species or the critical habitat of the species in the area directly affected by the agency action at the time of the proposed agency action, without the consequences to the species or the critical habitat of the species caused by the proposed action; and
“(2) includes—
“(A) the past and present effects of all Federal, State, local, and private actions and other human activities in the area directly affected by the agency action;
“(B) the anticipated effects of each proposed Federal project within the area directly affected by the agency action for which a consultation under this section has been completed;
“(C) the effects of State and private actions that are contemporaneous with the consultation in process;
“(D) existing structures and facilities and the past, present, and future effects of the physical existence of such structures and facilities on the species or the critical habitat of the species; and
“(E) the effects of Federal actions being carried out at the time of the proposed agency action and existing Federal facilities that are not within the discretion of the Secretary to modify.”
Sec. 3 Authorization of appropriations
in subsection (a)—
by striking “subsection (b), (c), and (d)” and inserting “subsections (b) and (c)”;
in paragraph (1)—
by striking “and” after “fiscal year 1991,”; and
by inserting “, and $287,978,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2031” after “fiscal year 1992”;
in paragraph (2)—
by striking “and” after “fiscal years 1989 and 1990,”; and
by inserting “, and $105,400,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2031” after “fiscal years 1991 and 1992”; and
in paragraph (3)—
by striking “and” after “fiscal years 1989 and 1990,”; and
by inserting “and $2,600,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2031” after “fiscal years 1991 and 1992,”;
in subsection (b), by inserting “and $600,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2031” after “1992”; and
in subsection (c)—
by striking “and” after “fiscal years 1988, 1989, and 1990,”; and
by inserting “and $9,900,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2031,” after “fiscal years 1991 and 1992,”.
Technical amendment— Section 15(b) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1542(b)) is amended by striking “sections 7 (e), (g), and (h)” and inserting “subsections (e), (g), and (h) of section 7”.
Sec. 4 Rule of construction
Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act may be construed to enlarge or diminish the authority, jurisdiction, or responsibility of a State (as that term is defined in section 3 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1532)) to manage, control, or regulate fish and wildlife on lands and waters, including Federal lands and waters, within the State.
Sec. 5 Renaming of Endangered Species Act of 1973 to Endangered Species Recovery Act
Renaming— The first section of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 note; Public Law 93–205) is amended by striking “may be cited as the “Endangered Species Act of 1973”” and inserting “may be cited as the “Endangered Species Recovery Act””.
References— Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, or other record of the United States to the “Endangered Species Act of 1973” shall be deemed to be a reference to the “Endangered Species Recovery Act”.