Environment & Energy

Endangered Species Act Reform

Issue
The 1972 Endangered Species Act (ESA) has achieved some notable successes over the years in restoring a handful of species to healthy and sustainable populations. Overall however, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports that less than one percent of the approximately 1300 species listed under the ESA have been recovered. This lack of progress, coupled with the heavy regulatory burdens and costs imposed on property owners by the Act, has led to calls for needed updates to the ESA to better accomplish its mission of species recovery.

In the 109th Congress, a bipartisan effort in the House of Representatives resulted in passage of an ESA reform bill, the Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act (TESRA). TESRA included a number of reforms, including the replacement of the ESA’s critical habitat program with a system of recovery plans that include the identification of lands important to the conservation and recovery of species. The bill also required the Interior Department to provide offsetting payments to landowners who are economically affected by the ESA-based government actions and created incentives for local, state, tribal and federal governments to develop sound species conservation management plans.

In addition, a congressional effort has been initiated to overturn an ESA regulation adopted by the previous Administration. H.J. Res. 18 seeks to disapprove the ESA rule allowing waiver of the current inter-agency consultation requirement with the Fish & Wildlife Service & National Marine Fisheries Service for a minor federal action if the federal agency taking the action (such as approving a permit) believes that little harm to a species will result from the project in question. The rule is intended to allow projects to move more quickly and allow FWS and NMFS to focus consultations on more potentially harmful projects. It will also streamline the consultation process for routine development activities and reduce delays for small parcels of land.

ACEC Position
ACEC supports the reforms included in the TESRA bill, and urges Congress to take up similar legislation in the current session. ACEC also opposes efforts to overturn the ESA inter-agency consultation rule.