Pentagon gets blank check to kill endangered species, no questions asked
H.R. 65 — Armed Forces Endangered Species Exemption Act · Filed by Andy Biggs (R-AZ) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Jan 3, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill exempts the Department of Defense and its contractors from the Endangered Species Act. It prevents the government from designating military installations as critical habitat for endangered species, allows the military to kill endangered animals during training and weapons testing without consultation with wildlife agencies, and gives the Secretary of Defense unilateral authority to declare any land or water off-limits to species protection if deemed necessary for defense purposes.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is to carve out the Department of Defense from environmental law. While framed as a military necessity measure, it functionally eliminates endangered species protections on military lands and during military operations, with no offsetting conservation requirement.
What the text implies
- The definition of 'national defense-related operation' is extraordinarily broad—it includes 'any action or duty that the SecDef deems necessary,' giving the Secretary of Defense essentially unlimited discretion to exempt any activity from species protection.
- The exemption applies not only to military installations but to 'any other lands, waters, or geographical area' designated by the SecDef for military use, potentially covering vast private or public lands used by contractors.
The full analysis lists 5 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
defense contractors; weapons manufacturers; military training facilities