ENDANGERED SPECIES: GOP bills to reform ESA scheduled to hit floor this week
Emily Yehle, E&E reporter
E&E: Monday, July 28, 2014
Republicans are moving forward with their effort to reform the 40-year-old Endangered Species Act, with a package of bills set to hit the House floor this week.
H.R. 4315 rolls four bills into one, with Republicans adding on H.R. 4316, H.R. 4317 and H.R. 4318. They are the first salvo in a broader effort to reform the ESA, using a Republican report from February as a guide (Greenwire, April 30).
House Natural Resources Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) has pledged to turn the report's recommendations into piecemeal legislation, and he has characterized the first four bills as "very simple, straightforward, and common sense bills." But Democrats and environmentalists say they are part of an effort to gut the ESA under the guise of reform.
Among other things, the package would require federal agencies to publicly release all data used to make listing decisions, report funds spent on ESA-related lawsuits and specify that the "best" scientific data available include state data.
Defenders of Wildlife argues that the package would "severely curtail the ESA's ability to protect the nation's most imperiled species." For example, forcing agencies to use state data -- regardless of their quality -- could result in listing decisions that are "less scientifically based," according to the group.
Some of the package's provisions target ESA lawsuits. In particular, Republicans have been critical of the Fish and Wildlife Service's 2011 mega-settlements with environmental groups. Though the settlements do not require the listing of any animal as endangered or threatened, they did set a five-year timeline for FWS to decide whether to list hundreds of species.
In addition to requiring more information on how much agencies spend on such lawsuits and settlements, the ESA package would cap how much agencies can reimburse the plaintiff's attorneys' fees in successful ESA lawsuits.
