[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 9 (Thursday, February 7, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E120-E121]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             INTRODUCTION OF ENDANGERED SPECIES LEGISLATION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. RICHARD W. POMBO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, February 7, 2002

  Mr. POMBO. Mr. Speaker, the endangered species program is supposed to 
be geared to protect endangered and threatened species and restore them 
to a secure standing in their environment. It is a complex balance of 
priorities and responsibilities that needs to be examined with all 
affected parties in mind. But, we all know that the current 
administration of the ESA is creating situations in which landowner's 
rights are compromised and the overzealous environmental agenda is 
advanced without a sufficient scientific basis, instead of actually 
recovering the species.
  Some middle ground needs to be reached in reforming the ESA rather 
than forcing rigorous and inflexible implementation of federal 
regulations that have sweeping and often unintended effects.
  First and foremost, the Secretary of the Interior needs to be 
required to use the best available science in all of the decisions made 
and needs to give greater preference to information that is empirical 
and peer reviewed. That means that we can all have greater confidence 
in the decisions made under the ESA. No federal agency, and certainly 
not the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, are infallible or free from 
political agendas.
  There has to be a new emphasis on the need to use sound science in 
every aspect of the ESA from the listing process through recovery. Too 
often rhetoric and emotion are

[[Page E121]]

used in place of facts. One of the pieces of legislation that I am 
introducing today is based on sound science. It will set up an improved 
petition process for the potential listing of a species; it also sets 
up an independent review board, free of political agendas, to evaluate 
the evidence and scientific findings of all petitions for listing and 
review jeopardy opinions affiliated with candidate species; and it will 
set limitations on re-petitioning so that the process can be finalized 
and settled without a drawn out, fruitless process that bogs down our 
legal and political system.
  Also, the ESA needs to have stronger provisions to recognize private 
property rights. Private landowners must have the ability to 
voluntarily participate in the recovery of a species, and they 
especially need to have a stronger voice in public hearings. One of the 
other bills I am introducing will streamline the lines of communication 
and the process to convey information to all affected parties; and it 
will also establish requirements for conducting public hearings, namely 
that the Administrative Procedure Act has to be followed.
  Actions carried out in the name of the Endangered Species Act have 
had unintended consequences, especially on local growth and private 
property rights. We need to address these occurrences to make 
compliance with the ESA more agreeable and ensure that unfortunate 
situations that recently happened in the Klamath Basin will no longer 
occur.
  The last bill I am introducing will set requirements to designate 
habitat. These improved protections for endangered species habitats 
will help the species recover, but will also enable the Secretary of 
the Interior to make the best decision for all.
  I urge my colleagues to support prompt passage of these bills to 
provide common sense reform to the ESA so that we can help threatened 
and endangered species, but we can also provide incentives and 
assurances to all Americans that the ESA will not be used as a tool of 
the environmental movement to lock up lands. People need to believe 
that their Federal Government is making decisions, which affect their 
lives on a daily basis, are scientifically sound and have their best 
interests in mind. I believe that my three bills are a step in that 
direction.