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H.R. 65 119th Congress House

Armed Forces Endangered Species Exemption Act

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 … Show full official titleShow less

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 Introduced by: Andy Biggs Republican · Arizona See on congress.gov
Environmental Protection Endangered and threatened speciesMilitary facilities and propertyMilitary procurement, research, weapons developmentWildlife conservation and habitat protection
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 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Jan 3, 2025
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Jan 3, 2025
Introduced in House
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What's happening now January 3, 2025

Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Armed Forces Endangered Species Exemption Act

This bill establishes exemptions from the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) for defense-related operations.

First, the bill prohibits the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) from designating military installations or state-owned National Guard installations as critical habitat under the ESA. It also prohibits FWS and NMFS from designating other lands, waters, or geographical areas as critical habitats if the Department of Defense (DOD) determines that the areas are necessary for military training, weapons testing, or other reasons. While DOD must submit such determinations in writing to the FWS, DOD is not required to consult with the FWS under the ESA about such determinations. 

Next, the bill exempts military personnel engaged in national defense-related operations (actions or duties that DOD deems necessary to support its mission) from ESA prohibitions on (1) taking (e.g., harming or killing) of endangered species or threatened species; (2) importing or exporting such species; and (3) damaging, destroying, removing, cutting, or digging up such species. Further, the bill exempts any injury to or mortality of a threatened or endangered species that results from, but is not the purpose of, a national defense-related operation.

The term military personnel means a member of the Armed Forces as well as a civilian employee or contractor of (1) DOD; or (2) any other federal agency, or any provisional authority, to the extent such employment relates to supporting the mission of DOD overseas.

 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
 Lobbying activity 2

Registered lobbyists who named this bill in their disclosure filings. Source: federal Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.

Bodies those filers lobbied

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 Cosponsors 1
All 1 Republican 1
R
Gosar, Paul A.
Arizona · Jan 3, 2025
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APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 65: Armed Forces Endangered Species Exemption Act. 119th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-65/
MLA
"H.R. 65: Armed Forces Endangered Species Exemption Act." 119th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-65/.
Bluebook (legal)
H.R. 65, 119th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-65/.
Markdown link
[H.R. 65: Armed Forces Endangered Species Exemption Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-65/)
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