A bill to amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to establish a procedure for approval of certain settlements.
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This bill amends the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to revise provisions governing citizen suits against the Department of the Interior or the Department of Commerce, as appropriate, that allege a failure of the relevant department to perform an act or duty related to an endangered species or threatened species. Interior must publish the complaint in a citizen suit within 30 days of being served. Affected parties shall be given a reasonable opportunity to intervene in the suit. If affected parties intervene, the court must refer the action to a mediation program or magistrate judge to facilitate settlement discussions.
The court is prohibited from: (1) awarding litigation costs in a citizen suit that is settled by a consent decree, or (2) awarding litigation costs to a plaintiff in a citizen suit that is settled.
Interior must provide notice of a proposed settlement to each state or county in which an affected species occurs. A settlement can only be approved if states or counties approve the settlement or fail to respond.
Committee on Environment and Public Works. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-37.
- Introduced in Senate Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML
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U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 293: A bill to amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to establish a procedure for approval of certain settlements.. 114th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/114-S-293/
"S. 293: A bill to amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to establish a procedure for approval of certain settlements.." 114th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/114-S-293/.
S. 293, 114th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/114-S-293/.
[S. 293: A bill to amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to establish a procedure for approval of certain settlements.](https://openamerica.io/bill/114-S-293/)