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A bill to amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to establish a procedure for approval of certain settlements.

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

Official summary

Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · May 13, 2019

This bill revises provisions governing citizen suits against the Department of the Interior or the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration that allege a failure of the relevant department to perform its duties 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 must 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 awarding litigation costs in such citizen suits that are settled.

Interior must provide notice of a proposed settlement to each affected state or county. A settlement may not be approved if states or counties object.

Read the summary on Congress.gov
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Who introduced it

Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX] · R–TX

Committees

  • Environment and Public Works Committee
10 cosponsorship records, including any withdrawals

Actions

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  1. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

  2. Introduced in Senate

Bill text & related measures

Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.

Related bills identified by Congress.gov

Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.

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