Sponsors (3)
The bill trades program-level environmental oversight and broader protections for clearer, faster decision-making and cost savings for land managers and taxpayers, increasing ecological risk and shifting conservation burdens and permitting uncertainty onto projects, local governments, and the public.
Federal land managers (Forest Service and BLM) will have clearer, more stable obligations because new species listings or critical-habitat designations will no longer automatically trigger program-level ESA reconsultations.
Taxpayers and agency staff are likely to save time and money because the bill reduces repeated program-level consultations.
Residents near federal lands (particularly rural communities) face higher ecological risk because new species listings or habitat designations won't automatically prompt plan-level ESA reconsultations to address landscape-scale impacts.
Developers, utilities, and local governments may face greater permitting uncertainty and higher compliance costs because conservation obligations are more likely to be shifted to project-level reviews.
Species and critical-habitat protections could be weakened, which may create health and safety harms for people who depend on intact ecosystems (including some patients with chronic conditions or disabilities) if newly discovered impacts are not addressed at the program level.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Narrows when Forest Service and BLM program-level plans must trigger reinitiation of ESA consultation after new species listings or new plan-effect information.
Official title: To amend the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to provide that the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior are not required to reinitiate consultation on a land management plan or land use plan under certain circumstances, and for other purposes.
Introduced January 21, 2025 by Ryan Zinke · Last progress January 21, 2025
Amends federal land planning law to say the federal government (Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management) is not required to reinitiate Endangered Species Act (ESA) consultation for approved or revised land management or land use plans when a new species or critical habitat is listed or when new information shows plan effects that were not previously considered. In short, the bill narrows when program-level Forest Service and BLM plans must trigger ESA reconsultation, limiting one avenue for updating plans to address newly listed species or newly discovered effects. The change reduces a legal trigger for further environmental review at the program/plan level. This affects federal land managers, Tribes and rural communities that use or depend on these lands, conservation groups and species protection efforts, and project proponents who build or operate on federal lands. It may reduce administrative and legal burdens for agencies and developers but could raise concerns about species protections and litigation over ESA implementation.