09/15/2026 at 10:15AM
On Tuesday, September 15, 2026, at 10:15 a.m., in room 1324 Longworth House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources will meet to consider legislation.
Legislation expected to move by regular order:
- H.R. 181 (Rep. McClintock), To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to provide that artificially propagated animals shall be treated the same under that Act as naturally propagated animals, and for other purposes. (ANS)
- H.R. 184 (Rep. McClintock), “Action Versus No Action Act” (ANS), to fast-track forest management plans
- H.R. 1555 (Rep. Bice), “Bureau of Land Management Mineral Spacing Act” (ANS), to fast-track directional drilling perits
- H.R. 5745 (Rep. Ezell), “Marine Fisheries Habitat Protection Act” (ANS)
- H.R. 9621 (Rep. Baumgartner), “Northwest Endangered Salmon Predation Prevention Act of 2026” (ANS)
Expected to move by unanimous consent:
- H.R. 4598 (Rep. Leger Fernandez), “Technical Corrections to the Northwestern New Mexico Rural Water Projects Act, Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act, and Aamodt Litigation Settlement Act”
- H.R. 7254 (Rep. Huffman), To amend the National Trails System Act to direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study on the feasibility of designating the Bay Area Ridge National Scenic Trail, and for other purposes.
- H.R. 7954 (Rep. Hurd), “Don Young Doug LaMalfa Indian Buffalo Management Act”
- H.R. 8195 (Rep. Walberg), “Responsible Cormorant Management and Control Act of 2026”
- H.R. 8483 (Rep. Issa), “Barona Group of Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians Land Transfer Act of 2026”
- H.R. 9269 (Rep. Clyburn), “Renewing the African American Civil Rights Network Act”
- H.R. 9600 (Rep. Raskin), “Common Sense 250 Act of 2026”
- H.R. 9640 (Rep. Wittman), “Earth MRI Reauthorization Act of 2026”
- H.R. 9785 (Rep. Johnson of SD), “South Dakota Water Feasibility Studies Act”
- H.R. 10136 (Rep. Westerman), “Crossett Experimental Forest Act of 2026”
- H.R. 10306 (Rep. Amodei), “Technical Correction to the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation Water Rights Settlement Act of 2025”
- S. 675 (Sen. Hoeven), “Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Act”
Under the current regulatory framework, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively, the Services) are responsible for determining whether species should be listed as threatened or endangered, as well as for designating critical habitat.
In many cases, the Services establish recovery goals or population thresholds to guide conservation and mitigation actions. The ESA does not explicitly require artificially propagated animals to be treated the same as naturally propagated animals, leaving it to the Services’ discretion whether to consider them when making determinations under the Act.
H.R. 181, introduced by Representative Tom McClintock (R-CA-05), and as amended by the Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (ANS), amends Section 7(a) of the ESA to require the Services to consider both naturally propagated and artificially propagated populations of a species for purposes of consultations under ESA Section 7. The bill also requires the Services to authorize the use of artificial propagation of a species for mitigation proposed by a federal action agency or applicant under the ESA.
H.R. 5745 provides a more streamlined process for owners and operators to reef in place inactive offshore oil and gas infrastructure within two years. At markup, an ANS will be offered that closes potential loopholes by shortening timelines, adding withdrawal consequences to prevent abuse of withdrawals of notices of intent to reef in place, and encouraging good-faith efforts. The ANS also removes pipelines from the bill and shifts primary responsibility for the program to DOI