Miller bill seeks to counter Pombo's

Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, will lead a move today to counter environmental legislation he says will burden taxpayers and do little to save endangered animals and plants.

Miller, along with seven colleagues including several Republicans, will submit substitute language for a bill written by Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, that represents the most significant effort to rewrite the nation's Endangered Species Act in three decades.

"It's very clear that the American people want to protect endangered species, and my bill makes substantial changes to that will make the act work like the public expects," Miller said late Wednesday. "There's a big constituency in this country that wants to make sure this is about reform and not about repeal."

The House Resources Committee, which Pombo chairs, passed his bill last week.

Pombo's version and Miller's substitute are scheduled for a vote of the full House today, setting the stage for an intense debate over one of the nation's most controversial land-use laws.

"(Pombo) appreciates this group's very sudden, yet passionate interest in reforming the Endangered Species Act and protecting private property owners," said Pombo spokesman Brian Kennedy. "Having said that, I'm sure he will stick with his own bipartisan bill, which already has about 100 co-sponsors from 36 states."

Each version boasts ayes on both sides of the political aisle, although Pombo holds a stronger hand because Republicans have the numbers to pass bills with or without Democrats. The fate of these reforms, however, rests with the U.S. Senate. It must pass a bill of its own or endorse the House version before a new law could land on President Bush's desk.

The largest difference between the two House bills rests with how they treat private property owners.

Under Pombo's bill, federal agencies could no longer label broad swaths of privately held land as interim critical habitat for endangered and threatened species.

Instead, biologists would write detailed recovery plans that identify specific lands essential for the species' long-term survival.

In the most significant departure from current law, Pombo's bill says that landowners in recovery areas would be eligible to receive fair market value for their properties as well cash they might have banked if they had been allowed to proceed with their plans.

The bill also permits landowners to collect grants for the cost of managing their land to the benefit of the species.

Under Miller's bill, co-authored by House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y., landowners who help conserve species on their lands are eligible for technical assistance and grant money.

But the presence of species should not force taxpayers to buy the property or pay the landowner for real or imagined lost development potential, Miller said.

"We have the Fifth Amendment and very well defined case law that says that if government deprives a landowner of the substantial use of his property, then we have to pay him. And we should," he said. "But we regulate property in all kinds of ways in this country, everything from telling you that you can't park your RV in front of your house to zoning restrictions. It is not considered a taking. It's part of the cost of living in society."

The alternative legislation would also:

• Rely on private lands for species recovery only if public lands, such as national parks, forests and wildlife refuges, are inadequate.

• Focus on improved federal and state cooperation on decisions to list species as well as the creation and implementation of recovery plans.

• Create a science advisory board that would help arbitrate disputes among project proponents and scientists over the impacts of proposed developments on species.