The Congressional Western Caucus recently introduced a series of bills to codify changes made during the Trump administration to the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
The five pieces of legislation come after U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced on Oct. 26 it was seeking public comments to revise the definition of “habitat” and critical habitat exclusions. In June, the Biden administration announced it would revise or reverse changes made to the ESA following President Joe Biden’s executive order reviewing agency actions issued or adopted during the Trump administration.
“We are pushing back against the tone-deaf rollback of Trump-era ESA reforms with the introduction of these bills,” said Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR-04) in a statement. “The Biden administration’s proposed changes will result in greater inefficiency in the federal permitting process and less proactive conservation work to help save species. By reinstating these reforms and codifying them into law, we are putting the power back in the hands of Americans.”
The proposed bills are the following.
• A bill was introduced by Western Caucus Chairman Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA-04) to maintain Section 4(b)(2) of the ESA. Section 4(b)(2) states the Interior secretary must designate critical habitat based on the best scientific and commercial data available after considering the economic impact and any other relevant impacts.
• Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ-04) introduced legislation to uphold Section 7 regulations to ensure a timely interagency consultation process for listing decisions. Section 7 guides federal agencies working with USFWS when any action the agency carries out, funds or authorizes (such as through a permit) may affect a listed endangered or threatened species or designated critical habitat.
• A bill introduced by Rep. Yvette Herrell (R-NM-02) would codify the rule that gave USFWS the authority to exclude areas from being designated critical habitat under the ESA if the economic impact of doing so outweighs the benefit to the species.
• H.R. 5708, introduced by Rep. Cliff Bentz (R-OR-02), would make permanent changes to the definition of critical habitat under Section 4 of the ESA, requiring that land must be the habitat for the species.
• Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO-04) reintroduced legislation preserving changes to the “blanket 4(d) rule,” which maintained different protection rules for endangered versus threatened species. USFWS removed the blanket rule so that every newly listed threatened species must have a species-specific 4(d) rule that defines prohibited actions and protections on a case-by-case basis.
All bills were referred to the House Natural Resources Committee for consideration. — Charles Wallace, WLJ editor
