its regular, procedural evaluation of a petition. (7) Accordingly, such listings and designations are agreed or adhered to contrary to the public interest insofar as the public benefits from faithful execution of duly passed laws. (8) A statutory remedy is necessary to address the backlog of the Service and to prevent such statutory abuse while maintaining proper open channels for qualifying species to be listed as threatened species or endangered species. (b) Purposes The purposes of this Act are the following: (1) To maintain safeguards and pathways to listing of species as endangered species or threatened species, along with all corresponding protections thereof, for any imperiled species. (2) To limit unnecessary legal liability of the Federal Government arising from any backlog of petitions received under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. (3) To prevent adverse court orders and settlements arising when such liability is exploited in litigation. (4) To accomplish all of the foregoing by reducing and eliminating the backlog of excess petitions received by the Service under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. 3. Definitions Section 2 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 ( 16 U.S.C. 1531 ) is amended— (1) by inserting before the text the following: (a) In general