Endangered Species Law & Policy

The Committee on Natural Resources (Committee) in the U.S. House of Representatives is considering a number of bills regarding wildlife, including bills to reauthorize the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). While it is unclear whether any of these will gain traction, collectively they represent a significant effort to reform federal wildlife law. Below is a summary of the Committee’s efforts:

ESA Reauthorization: Committee Chair Westerman (R-Arkansas) is the lead sponsor of H.R. 1897. The Committee held a hearing on this bill on March 25 ...

On March 26, 2015, House of Representatives Republican Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) introduced a bill (H.R. 1667) to amend Section 4(b) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to require the Secretary of Interior to make publicly available on the Internet the best scientific and commercial data available that are the basis for reach regulation, including each proposed regulation for listing decisions regarding endangered or threatened status for wildlife and plant species.  H.R. 1667 does not require the Secretary of the Interior to post information that is prohibited from disclosure ...