§ 5410. Location confidential

(a) The Secretary shall not disclose information regarding the specific location of threatened or endangered species sites except that the Secretary shall disclose information regarding the location of the threatened or endangered species to:

(1) the owner of land upon which the species is located;

(2) a potential buyer of land upon which the species is located who has a bona fide contract to buy the land and applies to the Secretary for disclosure of threatened or endangered species information; or

(3) qualified individuals or organizations, public agencies and nonprofit organizations for scientific research or for preservation and planning purposes when the Secretary determines that the preservation of the species is not further endangered by the disclosure.

(b) When the Secretary issues a permit under this chapter to take a threatened or endangered species or destroy or adversely impact critical habitat and when the Secretary designates critical habitat by rule under section 5402a of this title, the Secretary shall disclose only the municipality and general location where the threatened or endangered species or designated critical habitat is located. When the Secretary designates critical habitat under section 5402a of this title, the Secretary shall notify the municipality in which the critical habitat is located and shall disclose the general location of the designated critical habitat. (Added 1995, No. 159 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; amended 2015, No. 145 (Adj. Sess.), § 28.)