The bill renames the Act while preserving legal continuity and minimizing administrative disruption, at the cost of only small update expenses and possible short-term public confusion.
Federal agencies, courts, and the public: all existing statutes, regulations, and legal references to the Act will continue to operate under the new short title, preventing legal ambiguity or disruption.
Implementing agencies and subnational partners (Interior, FWS, NOAA, state/local implementers): avoid the administrative burden of updating cross-references, allowing enforcement and program delivery to continue without interruption.
Members of the public and stakeholders: short-term confusion about whether the renaming reflects substantive policy changes could prompt inquiries, media attention, or litigation to clarify intent.
Nonprofits, schools, universities, and other stakeholders: small administrative costs to update signage, guidance, and educational materials to reflect the new short title.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Renames the statute’s short title to "Endangered Species Recovery Act" and treats existing references to the old short title as references to the new name.
Renames the short title of the Endangered Species Act from the "Endangered Species Act of 1973" to the "Endangered Species Recovery Act" and states that any existing references to the old short title in laws, regulations, documents, and other U.S. records will be treated as references to the new name. The change is textual only and does not alter the Act’s findings, purposes, policies, rights, duties, deadlines, or substantive protections.
Introduced July 31, 2025 by Cynthia M. Lummis · Last progress July 31, 2025