Cormorant Relief Act of 2025
Latest action · Dec 10, 2025 Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMar 24, 2025
- Passed HouseDec 9, 2025
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Cormorant Relief Act of 2025
This bill requires the Department of the Interior to reissue the depredation order for double-crested cormorants at aquaculture facilities in certain states. (The previous order was vacated in 2016 by court order.)
Depredation orders allow for the taking (i.e., capturing, killing, dispersing, or transport of the carcass) of a specified species without a permit, generally to reduce damage caused by the species or to protect interests like health or property. Reissuing this order authorizes landowners, operators, tenants, and employees of entities engaged in aquaculture to take double-crested cormorants that are causing or threatening harm at aquaculture facilities and state and federal fish hatcheries.
Interior must reissue the depredation order with updates, including an expansion of (1) the number of states covered by the order, and (2) the entities to whom the order applies (i.e., private lake and pond managers who are licensed by the state).
Under the bill, Interior must renew the depredation order every five years.
Cosponsors 3
Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on Mar 24, 2025.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-MS | Bennie G. Thompson | Original | Mar 24, 2025 |
| R-MS | Michael Guest | Original | Mar 24, 2025 |
| R-MS | Trent Kelly | Original | Mar 24, 2025 |
Committees 2
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Natural Resources Committee | Referred Mar 24, 2025Discharged Jul 15, 2025Markup Jul 15, 2025Reported Sep 15, 2025 |
| Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Subcommittee | Referred Apr 1, 2025Hearings Apr 8, 2025 | |
| Senate | Environment and Public Works Committee | Referred Dec 10, 2025 |
Actions 15
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Dec 10, 2025Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
- Dec 9, 2025Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H5076-5077)
- Dec 9, 2025Mr. Hurd (CO) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
- Dec 9, 2025Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H5076-5077)
- Dec 9, 2025DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 2293.
- Dec 9, 2025Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- Sep 15, 2025Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 119-285.
- Sep 15, 2025Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 241.
- Jul 15, 2025Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Discharged
- Jul 15, 2025Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
- Jul 15, 2025Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by Unanimous Consent.
- Apr 8, 2025Subcommittee Hearings Held
- Apr 1, 2025Referred to the Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries.
- Mar 24, 2025Introduced in House
- Mar 24, 2025Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
In the Congressional Record 1
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| House | Debate and remarks H5076, H5077Text printed H5076 | Emily Randall D-WA, Jeff Hurd R-CO, Mike Ezell R-MS | Dec 9, 2025 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Committee report
Congressional Budget Office cost estimate
- Sep 29, 2025H.R. 2293, Cormorant Relief Act of 2025As reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources on September 15, 2025
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 171, no. 53, March 24, 2025, page H1219.
Printed hearings 1
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serial No. 119-17 | H.R. 839, H.R. 2293, and H.R. 231654 pages | Natural Resources Committee | Apr 8, 2025 |
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 1255 | Cormorant Relief Act of 2025 | Related bill | Apr 2, 2025 |
Titles 6
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To require the Secretary of the Interior to reissue certain regulations relating to the taking of double-crested cormorants at aquaculture facilities.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Cormorant Relief Act of 2025
- Short Title(s) as Reported to House
- Cormorant Relief Act of 2025
- Short Title(s) as Passed House
- Cormorant Relief Act of 2025
- Short Titles from RFS (Referred to Senate) bill text
- Cormorant Relief Act of 2025
- Official Title from EH (Engrossed in House) bill text
- To require the Secretary of the Interior to reissue certain regulations relating to the taking of double-crested cormorants at aquaculture facilities.
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Animals.
- Alabama
- Animals
- Aquaculture
- Arkansas
- Birds
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kentucky
- Lakes and rivers
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- New Jersey
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Wildlife conservation and habitat protection
- Wisconsin
Text 4
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Dec 10, 2025Referred in Senate
- Dec 9, 2025Engrossed in House
- Sep 15, 2025Reported in House
- Mar 24, 2025Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
