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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Species act gets rewrite in House<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a
href="http://www.mercedsun-star.com/local/story/11288510p-12038118c.html">http://www.mercedsun-star.com/local/story/11288510p-12038118c.html</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a
href="mailto:jescoto@modbee.com?subject=Species%20act%20gets%20rewrite%20in%20House"><br>
By Michael Doyle <br>
SUN-STAR WASHINGTON BUREAU</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-style:italic'>Last Updated: September 30, 2005,
07:00:39 AM PDT</span></font></i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>WASHINGTON</span></font></st1:place></st1:State>
-- The House on Thursday passed some of most sweeping changes in the Endangered
Species Act since the landmark environmental bill was born 32 years ago.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The House approval
by a 229-193 margin marks a triumph of persistence for Tracy Republican Richard
Pombo, who has unsuccessfully sought changes in the law for more than a decade.
But with environmentalists and moderate Republicans still skeptical, the bill's
long-term prospects are uncertain.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"We knew the
Endangered Species Act had problems," Pombo said. "We knew there were
things that needed to get fixed, that weren't working in current law."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Co-authored by
Merced Democrat Dennis Cardoza, and backed by a deep-pocketed coalition of
developers, farmers and private property advocates, the bill fundamentally
rewrites endangered species protections. It's particularly important in <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>, currently
home to 304 federally protected species.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The Threatened and
Endangered Species Recovery Act replaces the much- maligned "critical
habitat" system with something more narrowly focused. For the first time,
it reduces protections for "threatened" species compared to
"endangered" species.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>It gives property
owners a greater say in developing species recovery plans and restricts the
kind of information scientists can present when seeking to protect plants and
animals. It pays property owners when their plans are thwarted by species
protections.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"It's a
longstanding right in this country to be compensated when the government takes
your property away," Cardoza said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>But many other
Democrats, and some moderate Republicans primarily hailing from East Coast
states, contend the bill undercuts important environmental protections.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"The
Endangered Species Act is a safety net for wildlife, fish and plants that are
on the brink of extinction," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">San Francisco</st1:place></st1:City> said.
"It really comes as no surprise that (Republicans) would bring a bill
today that would shred the safety net."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The proposed
changes would be costly.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The federal
government currently spends about $379 million annually on endangered species
activities. The new bill could boost this to more than $600 million annually,
the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Some of the added
cost would come from modifying agency rules and meeting new planning deadlines,
the budget analysts say. Some of the added cost would come from having to pay
fair-market value to landowners with frustrated development plans.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"This bill
creates an endless slush fund for developers," Massachusetts Democrat Jim
McGovern charged. "We would pay landowners not to break the law."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The Bush
administration has likewise raised concerns about the property owner
compensation plan as being a potentially open-ended commitment of federal
funds. The administration formally supported the bill Thursday, while still
raising red flags.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"(A provision
in the) bill, as well as various statutory deadlines, may generate new
litigation and further divert agency resources from conservation efforts,"
the White House Office of Management and Budget declared Thursday, further
warning of a "significant budgetary impact."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Ironically, an
effort to cut ESA funding in June 1993 marked Pombo's first foray into
endangered species politics. The former rancher and Tracy City Council member
charged then that the law was being used "as a method of implementing a
social agenda of a chosen few."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Pombo failed in
his 1993 effort to cut spending, as he did in later efforts during the 1990s to
rewrite the entire law. Since then, though, the 44-year-old lawmaker has gained
clout as chairman of the House Resources Committee. Significantly, key
Democrats also began conceding the original 1973 law needed updating.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>While the House on
Thursday rejected an alternative bill backed by environmentalists, liberal
lawmakers now accept key points long championed by conservatives. Notably, the
environmentalists' bill also aided aggrieved landowners and eliminated the
much- criticized "critical habitat" system likewise targeted by
Pombo's bill.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"There is
broad consensus in Congress to reform the Endangered Species Act,"
moderate New Jersey Republican James Saxton said before adding that Pombo's
bill went too far.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Critical habitat
reform is one of the key components of the new bill, along with landowner
compensation.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Currently, federal
officials must designate critical habitat to identify the land necessary for
survival and recovery of a vulnerable species. Recently, for instance,
officials designated 199,109 acres as critical habitat for the <st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State> tiger salamander and 1.7 million acres as
critical habitat for <st1:place w:st="on">Central Valley</st1:place> vernal
pool species.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Federal agencies
must consult with environmental regulators if a federal action -- like issuing
a permit -- may affect a protected species. Currently, for actions on land
designated as critical habitat, anything that causes an "adverse
modification" to the habitat must be offset by other measures.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"The impacts
of this inflexible law have been real and devastating," Chico Republican
Wally Herger declared, citing examples like the cutoff of irrigation water to
the <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Klamath</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Basin</st1:PlaceType>
in northern <st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State> and southern <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oregon</st1:place></st1:State>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The House bill
replaces critical habitat with a narrower "recovery habitat." Fewer
acres would be designated for each species. Moreover, a harder-to-meet standard
would be established requiring action only if the species is put in actual
"jeopardy."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The bills'
controversial compensation provision would allow landowners to seek an Interior
Department ruling on whether their property plans comply with the endangered
species law. If the Interior Department didn't rule within 180 days, that would
count as permission to develop. If the department tells the landowner the plans
violate the ESA, the landowner could demand compensation for the lost land
value.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The next step is
up to the Senate, where moderate-to-liberal Republican Sen. Lincoln Chaffee of
Rhode Island will take charge of the legislation. Chaffee has asked a
Colorado-based arbitration group called the Keystone Council to bring together
opposing sides and come up with a proposed compromise by next February, Chaffee
spokesman Stephen Hourahan said Thursday. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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