Conservation Benefit Agreements with private landowners exist only through executive action and agency orders, not in the endangered species law itself.
This bill updates the Endangered Species Act to enhance wildlife conservation by making it easier for private landowners to help and improving the recovery process for endangered species.
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ESA Amendments Act of 2025This bill reauthorizes through FY2031 the Endangered Species Act and generally narrows protections provided under the act. The bill directs the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service to submit a National Listing Work Plan that establishes a five-year schedule and plan for addressing listing of endangered or threatened species and designation of critical habitats for such species. Under the plan, the bill gives the Services flexibility on the timing of acting on listing petitions and eliminates the requirement for the Services to act within 12 months on listing petitions. The bill limits what land may be designated as critical habitat for an endangered or threatened species. It also limits protections provided to threatened species and allows a state to regulate the recovery of such species if the Services determine the state's proposed recovery strategy would conserve the species. The bill provides statutory authority for Conservation Benefit Agreements, which allow private landowners to voluntarily enter agreements to reduce threats to candidate species in exchange for being allowed to continue their operations if the species is later listed. The bill also modifies the permitting process for certain other voluntary conservation agreements, including by exempting incidental take permits (e. g., permits to harm or kill a species) from environmental review requirements. The bill also makes a variety of other changes to the act, including limiting consultation requirements, judicial review, and awards for attorneys’ fees in certain cases.
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