ESA Amendments Act of 2025

Incentivizing Private Land Conservation: The bill introduces Conservation Benefit Agreements which allow covered parties, such as private property owners, to enter into agreements to enhance the propagation or survival of affected species (Section 201).

Providing Assurances to Landowners: Under the new Conservation Benefit Agreements, the Secretary provides assurances that if a species becomes listed, no additional conservation measures or land use restrictions will be imposed on the covered party (Section 201).

Increased Transparency in Decision Making: The bill requires the Secretary to make the best scientific and commercial data used for regulations available on a public website (Section 401).

Greater Accountability for Expenditures: The legislation requires an annual report detailing Federal Government expenditures for covered suits, which will be made available through a searchable internet database (Section 403).

Support for State Management: The bill provides for the possibility of State management of a species once specific, objective, incremental recovery goals are met (Section 301).

Streamlining Permitting for Economic Stability: The bill expands the exemption process for agency actions that may otherwise impair national security or result in significant adverse national or regional economic impacts (Section 506).

Limitations on Critical Habitat Designation: The Secretary may determine it is not prudent to designate critical habitat if the species is listed due to human activity and the designation would increase that activity, or if the species occurs in areas with negligible conservation value (Section 304).

Restrictions on Critical Habitat for Private Lands: The Secretary may be prohibited from designating critical habitat on privately owned or controlled land that is subject to certain land management plans (Section 304).

Changes to Judicial Review: The removal of a species from a list is not subject to judicial review during certain established periods (Section 303).

Increased Limits on Litigation Costs: The bill implements specific caps on the amount of attorney and expert witness fees that can be awarded in a single suit (Section 404).