[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 101 (Friday, July 24, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1425]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        INTRODUCTION OF THE ENDANGERED SPECIES CONSOLIDATION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. DON YOUNG

                               of alaska

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 24, 1998

  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing the 
Endangered Species Consolidation Act which is a very simple, good 
government bill. This bill will reduce the number of federal agencies 
with direct responsibility for implementing and enforcing the 
Endangered Species Act.
  The Endangered Species Act was originally enacted in 1973 to provide 
a federal program to insure that our plant and wildlife resources were 
protected from extinction. The Endangered Species Act or ESA as it is 
more commonly called, divides responsibility for its implementation and 
enforcement between two different federal agencies in two separate 
federal Departments. The Fish and Wildlife Service within the 
Department of the Interior is the primary federal agency with 
responsibility for enforcing the law. The 1997 budget for direct 
endangered species enforcement within the Fish and Wildlife Service is 
approximately $80 million. The Fish and Wildlife Service is responsible 
for listing and developing rules to protect all land based endangered 
or threatened species and all fresh water fish.
  The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), a division of the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) within the 
Department of Commerce has responsibility to implement and enforce the 
Endangered Species Act when it involves fish in the oceans or which 
migrate to the oceans, as well as marine mammals and sea turtles. Their 
annual buget is approximately $20 million.
  The Fish and Wildlife Service has approximately 800 employees 
assigned to protect endangered species, while the National Marine 
Fisheries Service has approximately 270 employees assigned to protect 
endangered species.
  With the listing of various species of salmon which can migrate 
hundreds of miles inland to spawn, the jurisdictional reach of the 
National Marine Fisheries Service now overlaps that of the Fish and 
Wildlife Service. Many companies and individuals are being required to 
obtain permits for land based activities from both the Fish and 
Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service for the same 
activities because of the presence of species that are under the 
regulation of both agencies. In addition, federal agencies that impact 
endangered species must conduct consultations with both the Fish and 
Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service in many 
cases. For example, a timber company in Washington with land adjacent 
to a stream where salmon migrate and with spotted owl habitat will have 
to obtain a permit from both agencies to conduct its business.
  Having two agencies with overlapping responsibility is a waste of 
taxpayer funding and takes away resources that can be spent directly on 
species recovery.
  This bill would simply transfer authority for enforcement of the 
Endangered Species Act to the Fish and Wildlife Service. The National 
Marine Fisheries Service would continue to regulate all other fishing 
activities and fisheries management, as well as continuing to protect 
all marine mammals.
  Under the ESA, all federal agencies are required to use their 
resources and authorities to protect endangered species. Whenever the 
actions of any federal agencies are likely to impact an endangered 
speices, that federal agency is required to enter into a consultation 
with the federal agency that has primary responsibility for endangered 
species--The Fish and Wildlife Service, except when the species is one 
under the jurisdiction of the National Marine Fisheries Service. In 
that case, the agency must consult with NMFS. This duplication of 
effort and overlapping of responsibility has become very burdensome, 
expensive, and time consuming, not just for private citizens but for 
federal agencies as well.
  It is time for us to consolidate the ESA functions of these two 
agencies into one primary agency. This means that when the NMFS will 
conduct an activity that affects an endangered species, such as issuing 
fishing permits, it will also be required to consult with the Fish and 
Wildlife Service, to insure that its activities do not harm those 
species.
  This bill will save time and money for everyone involved in 
protecting endangered species and most of all will give the taxpayers 
the most and best conservation for our taxpayer dollars.




                          ____________________