The bill
ESA Amendments Act of 2025
HR. 1897, 119th Congress — read as touching Construction & Engineering.
Sponsored by
Rep. Westerman, Bruce [R-AR-4]
ID: W000821
Follow the money
The bill
HR. 1897, 119th Congress — read as touching Construction & Engineering.
The sponsor
Every bill has someone who introduced it. That name is where the paper trail starts.
The money
30 itemised contributions to this sponsor, pulled from FEC filings.
The alignment
This bill's text tracks the "Introduction" section, p. 566-568 of the Mandate for Leadership.
Track this bill's progress through the legislative process
Latest Action
Rules Committee Resolution H. Res. 1189 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 4690, H. Res. 1182, H.R. 1897 and H.R. 5587. The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 4690, H. Res. 1182, H.R. 1897, and H.R. 5587 under a closed rule with one hour of general debate on each measure. The resolution provides for one motion to recommit on H.R. 4690, H.R. 1897, and H.R. 5587.
April 19, 2026
📍 Current Status
Next: The full House will vote on whether to pass the bill.
1. Introduction: A member of Congress introduces a bill in either the House or Senate.
2. Committee Review: The bill is sent to relevant committees for study, hearings, and revisions.
3. Floor Action: If approved by committee, the bill goes to the full chamber for debate and voting.
4. Other Chamber: If passed, the bill moves to the other chamber (House or Senate) for the same process.
5. Conference: If both chambers pass different versions, a conference committee reconciles the differences.
6. Presidential Action: The President can sign the bill into law, veto it, or take no action.
7. Became Law: If signed (or if Congress overrides a veto), the bill becomes law!
Another masterpiece of legislative theater, courtesy of the 119th Congress. The ESA Amendments Act of 2025 is a bill that promises to "optimize conservation" and "incentivize wildlife conservation on private lands." How quaint. How utterly predictable.
**Main Purpose & Objectives:** The main purpose of this bill is to gut the Endangered Species Act (ESA) under the guise of "streamlining" and "improving" it. The real objective is to appease corporate interests, particularly those in the fossil fuel, agriculture, and real estate development sectors, by reducing regulatory hurdles and allowing them to exploit natural resources with greater ease.
**Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law:** The bill introduces a plethora of changes, including:
* Redefining key terms like "foreseeable future" and "habitat" to limit the scope of species protection * Exempting certain activities from environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) * Creating new loopholes for private landowners to avoid conservation measures * Limiting the ability of citizens to challenge decisions made by federal agencies regarding endangered species
These changes are designed to undermine the effectiveness of the ESA and pave the way for increased exploitation of natural resources.
**Affected Parties & Stakeholders:** The affected parties include:
* Endangered species (obviously) * Private landowners and corporations seeking to exploit natural resources * Federal agencies responsible for enforcing the ESA, such as the Fish and Wildlife Service * Environmental organizations and advocacy groups * Indigenous communities whose lands and resources are often impacted by development projects
**Potential Impact & Implications:** The potential impact of this bill is devastating. By weakening the ESA, it will:
* Accelerate species extinction and ecosystem degradation * Increase greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to climate change * Disproportionately harm indigenous communities and low-income populations who rely on natural resources for their livelihoods * Undermine the integrity of the scientific review process and allow politics to dictate conservation decisions
In short, this bill is a Trojan horse for corporate interests, disguised as a "conservation" measure. It's a cynical attempt to dismantle environmental protections and prioritize profits over people and the planet. How delightfully predictable. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have better things to do than watch the slow-motion train wreck of American politics.
Rep. Westerman, Bruce [R-AR-4]
Congress 119 • 2024 Election Cycle
No PAC contributions found
No committee contributions found
No individual contributions found
This bill has 10 cosponsors. Below are their top campaign contributors.
ID: H001096
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Hub layout: Politicians in center, donors arranged by type in rings around them.
Showing 98 nodes and 45 connections (89 secondary connections hidden)
Total contributions: $172,900
Showing top 25 donors by contribution amount
Which industries are materially affected by specific provisions in this bill. 3 helped, 11 harmed.
Section 506 expands exemption process eligibility under Section 7 of the ESA for agency actions that may violate subsection (a)(2) if a reasonable and prudent alternative would impair national security or result in significant adverse national or regional economic impacts. This streamlines permitting for federal projects, benefiting construction and engineering firms involved in such actions by reducing ESA-related delays and mitigation requirements.
Section 405 requires analysis of effects on human health and safety when determining endangered/threatened status, which could increase regulatory scrutiny and costs for hospitals/health systems if species protections impact facility operations or land use near medical facilities.
Section 201's Conservation Benefit Agreements directly incentivize wildlife conservation on private lands, which could require crop producers to implement conservation measures that may restrict certain farming practices or land use.
Section 506 allows exemptions for agency actions where a reasonable and prudent alternative necessary to comply with ESA subsection (a)(2) may impair national security or cause significant adverse economic impacts. This could apply to energy infrastructure projects (e.g., pipelines, transmission lines) facing ESA consultations, reducing regulatory barriers and permitting delays.
Section 506's expansion of exemption eligibility under Section 7 for actions where reasonable and prudent alternatives may cause significant adverse national or regional economic impacts could benefit surface transportation projects (e.g., rail, highway) by streamlining ESA compliance and reducing mitigation requirements.
Section 405's mandated analysis of human health and safety effects could lead to stricter species protections that indirectly affect health insurance costs through potential healthcare access disruptions or increased medical service costs in affected areas.
+ 8 more industries not shown.
For each industry this bill affects, here's what the sponsor (Rep. Westerman, Bruce [R-AR-4])received from donors associated with that industry during the 2022–present cycles. Donations are not proof of intent — they are a record of who funds the people writing the law.
This bill shows semantic similarity to the following sections of the Project 2025 policy document.
— 534 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise l Delist the grizzly bear in the Greater Yellowstone and Northern Continental Divide Ecosystems and defend to the Supreme Court of the United States the agency’s fact-based decision to do so.84 l Delist the gray wolf in the lower 48 states in light of its full recovery under the ESA.85 l Cede to western states jurisdiction over the greater sage-grouse, recognizing the on-the-ground expertise of states and preventing use of the sage-grouse to interfere with public access to public land and economic activity. l Direct the Fish and Wildlife Service to end its abuse of Section 10(j) of the ESA by re-introducing so-called “experiment species” populations into areas that no longer qualify as habitat and lie outside the historic ranges of those species, which brings with it the full weight of the ESA in areas previously without federal government oversight.86 l Direct the Fish and Wildlife Service to design and implement an impartial conservation triage program by prioritizing the allocation of limited resources to maximize conservation returns, relative to the conservation goals, under a constrained budget.87 l Direct the Fish and Wildlife Service to make all data used in ESA decisions available to the public, with limited or no exceptions, to fulfill the public’s right to know and to prevent the agency’s previous opaque decision-making. l Abolish the Biological Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey and obtain necessary scientific research about species of concern from universities via competitive requests for proposals. l Direct the Fish and Wildlife Service to: (1) design and implement an Endangered Species Act program that ensures independent decision- making by ending reliance on so-called species specialists who have obvious self-interest, ideological bias, and land-use agendas; and (2) ensure conformity with the Information Quality Act.88 Office of Surface Mining. The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) was created by the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA)89 to administer programs for controlling the impacts of surface coal mining operations. Although the coal industry is contracting, coal constitutes — 535 — Department of the Interior 20 percent of the nation’s electricity and is a mainstay of many regional economies. The following actions should ensure OSM’s ability to perform its mission while com- plying with SMCRA and without interfering with the production of high-quality American coal: l Relocate the OSM Reclamation and Enforcement headquarters to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to recognize that the agency is field-driven and should be headquartered in the coal field.90 l Reduce the number of field coal-reclamation inspectors to recognize the industry is smaller. l Reissue Trump’s Schedule F executive order to permit discharge of nonperforming employees.91 l Permit coal company employees to benefit from the OSM Training Program, which is currently restricted to state and federal employees. l Revise the Applicant Violator System, the nationwide database for the federal and state programs, to permit federal and state regulators to consider extenuating circumstances. l Maintain the current “Ten-Day Notice” rule, which requires OSM to work with state regulators in determining if a SMCRA violation has taken place in recognition of the fact that a coal mining state with primacy has the lead in implementing state and federal law. l Preserve Directive INE-26, which relates to approximate original contour, a critical factor in permitting efficient and environmentally sound surface mining, especially in Appalachia.92 Western Water Issues. The American West, from the Great Plains to the Cas- cades Range, is arid, as recognized by John Wesley Powell during his famous trip across a large part of its length. Pursuant to an Executive Order signed by President Trump, and consistent with its authority along with other federal agencies, DOI’s Bureau of Reclamation must take the following actions: l Develop additional storage capacity across the arid west, including by: 1. Updating dam water control manuals for existing facilities during routine operations; and
Policy matches are calculated using semantic similarity between bill summaries and Project 2025 policy text. A score of 60% or higher indicates meaningful thematic overlap. This does not imply direct causation or intent, but highlights areas where legislation aligns with Project 2025 policy objectives.