The Republican-led House Natural Resources Committee passed a package of bills Thursday to modify the Endangered Species Act, which the GOP views as cumbersome and restrictive to developers.
The bills would give greater weight to science submitted by states and local governments for federal decisions on whether to protect species and limit lawsuits filed by environmental groups over listing and delisting decisions.
They are part of a package of nine bills that the Congressional Western Caucus introduced in July to change the Endangered Species Act.
“Everything needs to be updated occasionally,” Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, the committee’s chairman, said of the 1973 Endangered Species Act during a hearing Wednesday focused on some of the bills that passed Thursday. “It’s been far too long since this was updated. The Endangered Species Act is not being maligned. It is just not working. It has not focused enough on recovery and delisting of species.”
Republicans note the law has only recovered about 1 percent of the species that have been placed on the endangered species list.
Democrats and environmentalists counter that the GOP bills, coupled with rule changes proposed by the Trump administration, would weaken a law credited with saving the bald eagle, humpback whale, American alligator, and others. They say the law has successfully kept 99 percent of listed species from becoming extinct.
And they argue Republicans aim to benefit miners, farmers, rangers, and oil and gas companies that in the course of operations have to avoid harming species protected by the law.
“They aren’t meant to fix the Endangered Species Act,” Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, the committee’s top Democrat, said of the GOP bills during the Wednesday hearing. “They are bad faith proposals designed to destroy the law and give handouts to oil and gas companies. These attacks are old, tired, and not fooling anyone.”
“They are an embarrassment and waste of time,” Grijalva added.
He said the GOP-led committee has passed numerous bills over recent years chipping away at the Endangered Species Act, but they rarely get votes on the House floor.
Environmentalists, however, view the current GOP push as the biggest threat to the law in years because of the Trump administration’s backing.
Rules proposed by the Interior Department would change how the Fish and Wildlife Service identifies threatened and endangered species — requiring a stricter burden of proof — and how it designates critical habitats for those animals. It would also streamline how federal agencies consult with each other when considering applications to protect species.
The deadline for the public to comment on the proposed changes ended Monday, and the agency will finalize the rules in coming weeks.
