[env-trinity] Species act gets rewrite in House

[Josh Allen]

Species act gets rewrite in House

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.mercedsun-star.com/local/story/11288510p-12038118c.html 


By Michael Doyle 
SUN-STAR WASHINGTON BUREAU
<mailto:jescoto at modbee.com?subject=Species%20act%20gets%20rewrite%20in%2
0House> 

Last Updated: September 30, 2005, 07:00:39 AM PDT

WASHINGTON -- The House on Thursday passed some of most sweeping changes
in the Endangered Species Act since the landmark environmental bill was
born 32 years ago.

The House approval by a 229-193 margin marks a triumph of persistence
for Tracy Republican Richard Pombo, who has unsuccessfully sought
changes in the law for more than a decade. But with environmentalists
and moderate Republicans still skeptical, the bill's long-term prospects
are uncertain.

"We knew the Endangered Species Act had problems," Pombo said. "We knew
there were things that needed to get fixed, that weren't working in
current law."

Co-authored by Merced Democrat Dennis Cardoza, and backed by a
deep-pocketed coalition of developers, farmers and private property
advocates, the bill fundamentally rewrites endangered species
protections. It's particularly important in California, currently home
to 304 federally protected species.

The Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act replaces the much-
maligned "critical habitat" system with something more narrowly focused.
For the first time, it reduces protections for "threatened" species
compared to "endangered" species.

It gives property owners a greater say in developing species recovery
plans and restricts the kind of information scientists can present when
seeking to protect plants and animals. It pays property owners when
their plans are thwarted by species protections.

"It's a longstanding right in this country to be compensated when the
government takes your property away," Cardoza said.

But many other Democrats, and some moderate Republicans primarily
hailing from East Coast states, contend the bill undercuts important
environmental protections.

"The Endangered Species Act is a safety net for wildlife, fish and
plants that are on the brink of extinction," House Minority Leader Nancy
Pelosi of San Francisco said. "It really comes as no surprise that
(Republicans) would bring a bill today that would shred the safety net."

The proposed changes would be costly.

The federal government currently spends about $379 million annually on
endangered species activities. The new bill could boost this to more
than $600 million annually, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office
estimated.

Some of the added cost would come from modifying agency rules and
meeting new planning deadlines, the budget analysts say. Some of the
added cost would come from having to pay fair-market value to landowners
with frustrated development plans.

"This bill creates an endless slush fund for developers," Massachusetts
Democrat Jim McGovern charged. "We would pay landowners not to break the
law."

The Bush administration has likewise raised concerns about the property
owner compensation plan as being a potentially open-ended commitment of
federal funds. The administration formally supported the bill Thursday,
while still raising red flags.

"(A provision in the) bill, as well as various statutory deadlines, may
generate new litigation and further divert agency resources from
conservation efforts," the White House Office of Management and Budget
declared Thursday, further warning of a "significant budgetary impact."

Ironically, an effort to cut ESA funding in June 1993 marked Pombo's
first foray into endangered species politics. The former rancher and
Tracy City Council member charged then that the law was being used "as a
method of implementing a social agenda of a chosen few."

Pombo failed in his 1993 effort to cut spending, as he did in later
efforts during the 1990s to rewrite the entire law. Since then, though,
the 44-year-old lawmaker has gained clout as chairman of the House
Resources Committee. Significantly, key Democrats also began conceding
the original 1973 law needed updating.

While the House on Thursday rejected an alternative bill backed by
environmentalists, liberal lawmakers now accept key points long
championed by conservatives. Notably, the environmentalists' bill also
aided aggrieved landowners and eliminated the much- criticized "critical
habitat" system likewise targeted by Pombo's bill.

"There is broad consensus in Congress to reform the Endangered Species
Act," moderate New Jersey Republican James Saxton said before adding
that Pombo's bill went too far.

Critical habitat reform is one of the key components of the new bill,
along with landowner compensation.

Currently, federal officials must designate critical habitat to identify
the land necessary for survival and recovery of a vulnerable species.
Recently, for instance, officials designated 199,109 acres as critical
habitat for the California tiger salamander and 1.7 million acres as
critical habitat for Central Valley vernal pool species.

Federal agencies must consult with environmental regulators if a federal
action -- like issuing a permit -- may affect a protected species.
Currently, for actions on land designated as critical habitat, anything
that causes an "adverse modification" to the habitat must be offset by
other measures.

"The impacts of this inflexible law have been real and devastating,"
Chico Republican Wally Herger declared, citing examples like the cutoff
of irrigation water to the Klamath Basin in northern California and
southern Oregon.

The House bill replaces critical habitat with a narrower "recovery
habitat." Fewer acres would be designated for each species. Moreover, a
harder-to-meet standard would be established requiring action only if
the species is put in actual "jeopardy."

The bills' controversial compensation provision would allow landowners
to seek an Interior Department ruling on whether their property plans
comply with the endangered species law. If the Interior Department
didn't rule within 180 days, that would count as permission to develop.
If the department tells the landowner the plans violate the ESA, the
landowner could demand compensation for the lost land value.

The next step is up to the Senate, where moderate-to-liberal Republican
Sen. Lincoln Chaffee of Rhode Island will take charge of the
legislation. Chaffee has asked a Colorado-based arbitration group called
the Keystone Council to bring together opposing sides and come up with a
proposed compromise by next February, Chaffee spokesman Stephen Hourahan
said Thursday. 

 

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