[MPWG] Fwd: [Hellbenders] Act Now to Defend the Endangered Species Act

Wed Sep 21 09:20:16 CDT 2005

RE:  Reform of the Endangered Species Act (by a senator who wanted it 
repealed entirely)
PLEASE COMMENT TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS
FYI below attached discussion from Allegheny National Forest Defense 
Counci, if the pdf's do not make it through and you would like to see 
them, email me and I will forward them to you.,
regards, jennifer chesworth

-----Original Message-----
From: Arthur Stamoulis <astamoulis at cleanair.org>
To: Cafesombra at aol.com
Sent: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 09:46:18 -0400
Subject: RE: [Hellbenders] Act Now to Defend the Endangered Species Act

   Hi Jennifer,

  Thanks for writing. The action alert that went out over the 
Hellbenders list yesterday is a bit outdated; I submitted it last week, 
before Rep. Pombo's bill was formally introduced, but the moderator did 
not approve it until yesterday.

  The draft legislation that Rep. Pombo's office circulated this summer 
did call for repeal of the Act. This week's version of his bill does 
not. (Both versions are attached as PDF files.)

  Here are the three biggest problems I see w/ the current version of 
the "reform" legislation (there are other problematic elements to the 
legislation as well):

  1) The bill repeals the existing critical habitat provisions of the 
law, which are the key to federal government obligations to recover 
species.

  ? The ESA currently requires federal agencies to ensure that none of 
their actions will result in the destruction or adverse modification of 
"critical habitat" - the specific areas both inside and outside the 
geographical area occupied by the species at the time it is listed that 
are essential to its conservation and recovery. Critical habitat 
designations do not apply to private property, unless a landowner is 
seeking federal funding or their action requires a federal permit (such 
as filling a wetland). (Section 5)

  ? Special corporate interests - logging and paper, mining, and energy 
companies - are those who stand to benefit the most from this language, 
since they seek greater unfettered access to public lands, including 
national forests and grasslands.

  2) The bill weakens the ESA by undermining the federal government's 
duty to recover species.

  ? The law currently requires federal agencies to ensure that their 
actions will not jeopardize the recovery of protected species. Pombo's 
bill weakens this standard by making agreements to implement recovery 
discretionary. (Section 10)

  ? The Pombo bill also narrows the scope of impacts that agencies must 
take into consideration when deciding if their own actions will harm 
species. (Section 12)

  3) The bill eliminates the current requirement to issue regulations to 
provide for the conservation and recovery of threatened species, and 
instead makes such regulations completely discretionary. Without a 
requirement to protect and recover threatened species, there's a very 
good chance that this bill will actually serve to move more species 
along the path to endangerment. (Section 8)

  I hope that you will be able to make a call to your elected officials, 
and will encourage others to do the same. It's my understanding that 
the bill is scheduled for mark-up tomorrow (where there may be 
additional changes); it's likely that it will come to the floor shortly 
thereafter.

 Many thanks,

  Arthur

  ***********

 Arthur Stamoulis

 Director of Government Affairs

 CLEAN AIR COUNCIL

 135 S. 19th St, Ste 300

 Philadelphia, PA 19103

 (215) 567-4004, x107 phone

 (215) 567-5791 fax

 astamoulis at cleanair.org

 http://www.cleanair.org

 -----Original Message-----
 From: Cafesombra at aol.com [mailto:Cafesombra at aol.com]
 Sent: Tuesday, September 20, 2005 5:28 PM
  To: astamoulis at cleanair.org; 
hellbenders-alleghenydefense.org at lists.alleghenydefense.org
 Subject: Re: [Hellbenders] Act Now to Defend the Endangered Species Act

   Hello,

   Would you please point out exactly where in the draft legistlation it 
calls for repeal of the ESA in 2015? I have read the draft and do not 
see this anywhere, nor do I see it in Pombo's background or summary 
information on his homepage.

   The only way to really understand the revisions is to compare the 
legaleasy jargon of US Code Title 16 1533 et al. with the legaleasy 
jargon of Pombo's revisions, a tedious task to say the least. HOWEVER, 
in spite of the tedium or maybe because of it, I see no call to repeal 
ESA entirely.

  Where exactly do you see that?

   What I see that makes me nervous are statements like, for example, 
page 22 lines 19 through 22 "...identification of the least costly 
alternatives are not required to be based on the best scientic data 
available..."

   and page 24 "...the Secretary may determine that a recovery team is 
not necessary or advisable " and may wave processes for appointing a 
team "... including procedures to solicit public comment on such 
determinations."

  and there's more, of course, though I'm still wading through it.

  So, which page, and which line(s) call for repeal?

  thanks in advance for pointing that out,

  Jennifer Chesworth

   In a message dated 9/20/2005 4:39:02 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
astamoulis at cleanair.org writes:

    Congress is gearing up for its first real fight about the Endangered 
Species Act in a decade. House Resources Committee Chair Richard Pombo 
is expected to mark up his "reform" bill on September 22nd, and it 
should come to the floor for a vote shortly thereafter. The draft 
legislation we've seen would dramatically weaken, and eventually 
repeal, the Endangered Species Act.

 The first draft on Rep. Pombo's legislation:

   * Makes it much harder to add new species to the endangered species 
list

  * Significantly weakens protections for threatened species

  * Removes many important habitat protection provisions

  * Repeals the Endangered Species Act entirely in 2015

  Even if the final legislation voted upon is not this horrendously bad, 
it deserves our opposition. The Endangered Species Act is critical 
legislation that protects over 1,250 rare plants and animals across the 
country; it seeks not just to keep them from extinction, but to aid in 
their ultimate recovery. Please write or call your Member of Congress 
today and ask them to oppose Rep. Pombo's bill that would weaken the 
Endangered Species Act.

 ACTION:

  Please call your Member of Congress today and say: "Please oppose Rep. 
Pombo's bill that would weaken the Endangered Species Act."

 Rep. Castle: (202) 225-4165 or (302) 428-1902

 Rep. Brady: (202) 225-4731 or (215) 389-4627

 Rep. Fattah: (202) 225-4001 or (215) 387-6404

 Rep. English: (202) 225-5406 or (814) 456-2038

 Rep. Hart: (202) 225-2565 or (412) 492-0161

 Rep. Peterson: (202) 225-5121 or (814) 238-1776

 Rep. Gerlach: (202) 225-4315 or (610) 594-1415

 Rep. Weldon: (202) 225-2011 or (610) 259-0700

 Rep. Fitzpatrick: (202) 225-4276 or (215) 752-7711

 Rep. Shuster: (202) 225-2431 or (814) 696-6318

 Rep. Sherwood: (202) 225-3731 or (570) 585-8190

 Rep. Kanjorski: (202) 225-6511 or (570) 825-2200

 Rep. Murtha: (202) 225-2065 or (814) 535-2642

 Rep. Schwartz: (202) 225-6111 or (215) 335-3355

 Rep. Doyle: (202) 225-2135 or (412) 241-6055

 Rep. Dent: (202) 225-6411 or (610) 861-9734

 Rep. Pitts: (202) 225-2411 or (717) 393-0667

 Rep. Holden: (202) 225-5546 or (717) 234-5904

 Rep. Murphy: (202) 225-2301 or (412) 344-5583

 Rep. Platts: (202) 225-5836 or (717) 600-1919

 You can look up your Representative at: www.house.gov

  Congress is now back in session, so this is the perfect time to call 
and voice your support for the Endangered Species Act. We would also 
like to hear feedback from your member or their office as we are 
closely tracking efforts to make sure enough voices are heard. In 
addition to calling, if you are interested in requesting a meeting with 
your member, writing a letter, or writing a letter to the editor, 
please email me. I can help you with your efforts.

 Many thanks,

  Arthur Stamoulis

 ***********

 Arthur Stamoulis

 Director of Government Affairs

 CLEAN AIR COUNCIL

 135 S. 19th St, Ste 300

 Philadelphia, PA 19103

 (215) 567-4004, x107 phone

 (215) 567-5791 fax

 astamoulis at cleanair.org

 http://www.cleanair.org

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