FLC OF S80 LANDS WITHOUT CLRNC DUE TO CHKLIST CHANGE AND CLRED TO LAND NO LONGER ON THE CHKLIST.

Narrative

ATC FACILITY: HOUSTON APCH. LOCATION: 23 MI NW OF ARPT ON ILS RWY 14L. IAH APCH CTL VERY BUSY. HAD BEEN CLRED TO INTERCEPT LOC FOR RWY 14L. ONLY 23 MI OUT AND APCH HELD US AT 10000 FT. FINALLY GOT DSCNT CLRNC TO DSND TO 4000 FT; CALL ARPT IN SIGHT. DID SO; BUT WE WERE PREOCCUPIED WITH GETTING THE AIRPLANE IN THE SLOT FOR A SUCCESSFUL LNDG. WE WERE LATE GETTING CHKLIST DONE. IT WAS THE NEW CHKLIST AND THE LAST 2 SPACES WE USED TO USE FOR 'CLRED APCH' AND 'CLRED TO LAND' ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE. AFTER LNDG; GND CTL ASKED IF WE HAD BEEN CLRED TO LAND. WE SAID YES. I CALLED TRACON FROM GATE AND THEY SAID THEY FLASHED US GREEN LIGHT FOR CLRNC TO LAND. THERE WAS NO CONFLICT AND WE WERE CLRED TO LAND. HOWEVER; SEEMS TO BE SAME OLD STORY OF GETTING DISTR IN THE COCKPIT. I ALSO FEEL THAT IF WE HAD HAD THE FINAL CHK FOR CLRED TO LAND AS WE DID ON THE OLD CHKLIST; THIS OMISSION MAY NOT HAVE OCCURRED. RIGHT NOW I'M SEARCHING FOR SOMETHING ELSE THAT I CAN USE IN THE COCKPIT TO REPLACE THOSE MISSING LAST 2 ITEMS ON THE CHKLIST. YES; I SUPPOSE DEICE TAIL AND HYD PUMPS ON ARE IMPORTANT ADDITIONS; BUT I FEEL THAT CLRED APCH AND CLRED TO LAND ARE FAR MORE IMPORTANT. I USED ACRONYM 'HABIT' AS DID MANY OTHERS WHICH INCLUDED ICE TAIL AND WE'VE ALL HEARD THAT LOUD SILENCE AFTER GEAR LEVER SELECTED DOWN. IT WAS THEN JUST A RACE WHO COULD TURN ON HYD PUMPS FIRST.