Sponsors (2)
The bill prioritizes uninterrupted military readiness and legal certainty for DoD personnel and contractors by narrowing ESA constraints, at the cost of reduced environmental protections, oversight, and enforcement that could raise ecological harms and public cleanup liabilities.
Military personnel and reserve forces can carry out testing, training, and other defense operations with fewer interruptions or legal risks, supporting readiness and national defense.
DoD civilian employees and defense contractors face clearer legal protections and fewer ESA §7 consultation requirements, reducing delays and liability uncertainty for defense projects (including overseas operations).
Defense contractors gain clearer coverage and reduced compliance uncertainty for activities on DoD‑designated lands, which can lower program delays and administrative costs.
Species and habitats on military and DoD‑designated lands and adjacent areas could lose critical‑habitat protections, increasing extinction risk and harming recovery prospects.
Removing or limiting ESA §7 consultation and related environmental review reduces oversight, raising the risk of habitat degradation, unmitigated impacts from testing/training, and threats to local public health and ecosystems.
Taxpayers and local governments could shoulder higher cleanup, mitigation, or reputational/legal costs (domestic and abroad) if environmental damage from defense activities increases.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Prevents critical habitat designations on designated military lands and creates an ESA Section 9 exemption for military personnel during defense‑related operations, including training and testing.
Official title: To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to further restrict the Secretary of the Interior from designating certain lands used for national defense-related purposes as critical habitat for any species under that Act and to broaden exclusions and exemptions from that Act for such defense-related purposes.
Introduced January 3, 2025 by Andrew S. Biggs · Last progress January 3, 2025
Prohibits the Interior Department from designating critical habitat on U.S. military installations, National Guard installations, and any areas designated for Department of Defense use when the Defense Secretary certifies the area is needed for military activities. It also creates a categorical exemption from the Endangered Species Act’s take and related prohibitions for specified actions by military personnel during "national defense–related operations," covering incidental or intentional injury, removal, or import/export of listed species tied to training, weapons testing, RDT&E, and other activities the Defense Secretary deems necessary. The bill broadens DoD authority over lands and activities that might otherwise be regulated under the ESA by (1) blocking critical-habitat designations and (2) removing consultation requirements for covered areas, and (3) exempting many defense-related actions and personnel (including DoD contractors) from Section 9 prohibitions on take and related activities.