House Republicans trumpet ESA changes in wildlife bill
House Republicans on Thursday promoted their new wildlife conservation proposal that so far lacks the bipartisan support once enjoyed by its predecessor legislation.
Democrats, however, seethed at the new bill, with one prominent House lawmaker calling it "toxic."
Dubbed the "America's Wildlife Habitat Conservation Act," the GOP-authored measure would authorize but not mandate hundreds of millions of dollars for state-run wildlife conservation programs.
It would also rearrange the Endangered Species Act and rescind unspent Interior Department allocations from past funding packages.
"This is a logical and forward-looking solution to restore and maintain habitat for America's wildlife,'' Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), the sponsor of the bill, said at a Capitol Hill news conference, adding that "it's time to implement the common-sense, financially responsible programs that are in this bill."
Westerman, chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, was joined by six GOP colleagues in touting the bill that was formally introduced Feb. 20 but has largely been kept under wraps since then. The measure, H.R. 7408, has 20 co-sponsors, all Republicans.
It amounts to a conservative alternative to another conservation bill that has been put forward since 2016 under the name "Recovering America's Wildlife Act," or "RAWA." The new measure is smaller than "RAWA," and unlike the latter legislation it does not guarantee funding. It also stretches into some other long-standing conservative priorities.
One provision, for instance, would direct the Fish and Wildlife Service to write tailored and possibly looser rules for protecting every threatened species. Currently, the agency has the option but not the orders to do so. This flexibility does not extend to species designated as endangered.
States would also gain new clout to propose their own recovery plans for threatened species under the Westerman bill, and the GOP members who gathered Thursday spoke more about the ESA's shortcomings than about the bill's conservation funding.
"While noble in its intentions, the Endangered Species Act in many ways has failed in its mission to recover and delist species," said Republican Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington, the chair of the Congressional Western Caucus.
'Toxic'
For the Democrats who have long supported "RAWA," the new bill's ESA provisions are distasteful.
"It's what I expected," Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) said in an interview. "They've taken a really good, bipartisan bill and made it toxic."
Citing in particular the bill's ESA provisions, Huffman added that it's "just the usual GOP agenda now masquerading as a habitat bill."
Huffman is ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries. That panel will hold a hearing next week on the bill, Westerman said.
Along with the ESA adjustments, the "America's Wildlife Habitat Conservation Act" is a funding measure.
It would authorize the Interior Department to "allocate not more than" $300 million annually to a new Wildlife Habitat Conservation and Restoration program. This would fall under an existing account set up by the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act.
Lawmakers first approved the Pittman-Robertson law in 1937. It's funded through excise taxes paid on firearms and ammunition and has long enjoyed bipartisan support. It would not otherwise be directly affected by establishment of the new conservation program.
The new House GOP bill would authorize up to $20 million over five years for a separate tribal account.
The legislation would also allocate 10 percent of the total to be distributed through a competitive grant program. Funding would be distributed through a formula that takes into account the number of endangered species in the state, among other factors
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By: Michael Doyle
Source: E&E Daily
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