Sponsors (2)
The bill eases development and lowers regulatory costs for nearby landowners and energy developers by removing federal protections for the dunes sagebrush lizard, trading localized economic relief for increased extinction risk, degraded ecosystem services, and shifted costs and liabilities onto state and local governments and taxpayers.
Landowners and energy companies near dunes sagebrush lizard habitat will face fewer federal land-use and development restrictions, making it easier and cheaper to pursue projects on affected lands.
Rural communities, local governments, and regional ecosystems will face a higher risk of dunes sagebrush lizard population decline or extinction and attendant loss of ecosystem services if federal protections are removed.
State and local governments and taxpayers will bear increased economic and legal risk because states and federal agencies would lose a tool (ESA protections) to limit development that harms the species, shifting costs and liabilities downward.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Introduced April 1, 2025 by August Pfluger · Last progress April 1, 2025
Removes the dunes sagebrush lizard from the threatened and endangered species lists under the Endangered Species Act and adds a statutory bar preventing the Secretary from listing or relisting that species under the ESA's listing provisions. A separate short section only establishes the Act's short title and does not change policy or funding. The change is a direct statutory exclusion: federal agencies would no longer treat the dunes sagebrush lizard as a listed species under section 4(a) of the ESA, and the Secretary is expressly prohibited from making any future determination that the species is threatened or endangered under that provision.