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Statement of Philip E. Clapp, President, National Environmental Trust on the House Vote on the Pombo Endangered Species Act Bill

Posted on: Thursday, 29 September 2005, 18:00 CDT

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Following is a statement by Philip E. Clapp, president, National Environmental Trust, on the House vote on the Pombo Endangered Species Act Bill:

"With plummeting poll numbers, an indicted leader, two hurricanes, a war and an exploding budget deficit, House members have now added outright repeal of a major environmental law to their list of political liabilities.

"This is the most sweeping attack on a major environmental law in a decade. We've gone straight back to the bad old days of the Gingrich Congress.

"The bill is so extreme that instead of roaring through the House with the 300 votes Congressman Pombo thought he had, he squeaked through with a majority of 11. Most House members had little idea what they were voting on because Chairman Pombo introduced the bill, rammed it through his committee and across the House floor in the space of a week - while everybody else was wrestling with the aftermath of Katrina and Rita.

"The Pombo bill guts the critical habitat provision of the law, it ties the federal government's hands in how it can protect species, and then for good measure it busts the budget. It is one of the most ill-conceived, hastily-considered pieces of legislation ever rammed through Congress."

BACKGROUND

This afternoon the House of Representatives voted to pass Rep. Richard Pombo's (R-Calif.) "Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act" by a vote of 229 to 193. Three key provisions of the bill:

GIVES AWAY WILDLIFE HABITAT

The bill repeals the existing critical habitat provisions of the law, which are the key to federal government obligations to recover species.

The ESA currently requires federal agencies to ensure that none of their actions will result in the destruction or adverse modification of "critical habitat" - the specific areas both inside and outside the geographical area occupied by the species at the time it is listed that are essential to its conservation and recovery. This is the only provision in current law that makes it absolutely clear that the Federal government cannot destroy habitat needed to recover species.

Rep. Pombo claims to have replaced critical habitat with a recovery planning process that would require the identification of areas of "special value" to wildlife conservation, but does not include specific requirements to protect those areas.

Because critical habitat designations have the greatest impact on federal lands, special corporate interests seeking greater access to those lands for logging, mining, and energy exploration stand to benefit the most from these changes in Pombo's bill.

LIMITS HOW THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CAN PROTECT SPECIES

The current ESA places a greater burden to recover species on the Federal government than it does on private property owners. Currently, government agencies must consider whether any of their actions will impact recovery efforts.

Rep. Pombo's bill narrows the scope of impacts that agencies must take into consideration when deciding if their own actions will harm species, preventing them from considering the cumulative impacts of all actions. In other words, the government is prohibited from considering whether a dozen separate permit requests for logging or irrigation will drive a species toward extinction or impact its ability to recover; instead, each individual permit request would be considered in isolation. This forces agencies into poor planning for species conservation, and means that the first permit requests through the pipeline will force a much heavier burden onto those last in line.

Industries with the funds and resources to force early consideration of their projects are likely to bear the least of the recovery responsibility. Small landowners are likely to suffer the most from this change.

MASSIVE NEW ENTITLEMENT PROGRAM FOR PROPERTY OWNERS

The bill creates "conservation aid grants" to private property owners whose actions would harm species on their property - regardless of whether the harm could be easily mitigated, or whether the property owner is a small farmer or a corporate giant. Compensation is based on forgone (i.e. planned, as well as actual) use of the land and even loss of business profits. This is a new major government entitlement program forcing taxpayers to pay for compliance with the law. Pombo's analyses of the bill makes no attempt to determine how much this program may cost or its impact on taxpayers.

http://www.usnewswire.com

Source: U.S. Newswire

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