Allison A. Freeman, E&E Daily reporter
Efforts to revamp the Endangered Species Act will heat up on both sides of the Hill this week -- with the House Resources Committee holding a hearing and a vote on an ESA reform bill and Senate panels continuing to meet on the issue.
House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo (R-Calif.) plans to introduce his panel's ESA overhaul this week, with a hearing on the bill Wednesday, followed by a markup Thursday.
Earlier drafts of his bill have met criticism from environmental groups, which say it would put species in peril, and property rights advocates who say it would not make enough payments to landowners.
Over 80 conservative, property-rights, landowner and corporate groups -- including the American Conservative Union, Frontiers of Freedom and the Christian Coalition of America -- last week sent a letter to Pombo that called his draft ESA revision a "weak effort."
But another, more recent draft bill circulated last week increased the payments to private citizens who have species on their land, including a new program of "species recovery agreements" to pay private landowners for activities they undertake to improve the recovery of species on their land.
It also includes a proposal to require the Interior Department to pay landowners for all lost use of their property, totalling the entire fair market value of the affected portion of the land. Environmentalists argue this provision would bankrupt the act, leaving no money for species conservation.
The draft would also throw out the act's critical habitat requirements, exempt some projects and actions to from independent review, codify the "No Surprises" policy, increase requirements for listing a species, and eliminate the "God squad," a seldom-invoked Cabinet-level panel that can be called for species emergencies.
The bill would also require the completion of recovery plans within two years of listing and strengthen the act's jeopardy standard, defining it by "recovery" rather than "survival."
Chafee to examine state's roles
Across the Hill, Sen. Lincoln Chafee's (R-R.I.) Wildlife Subcommittee will hold a hearing this week on the roles of states, local governments and tribes in ESA.
Chafee has said he would like to examine states' roles as part of a long-term effort to examine ESA before drafting any legislation. Chafee has also begun the process of inviting different stakeholders to a summit that will convene in Keystone, Colo., in late October, where they will try to find consensus on the contentious critical habitat issue.
If the House passes an ESA overhaul similar to the Pombo draft, it is unlikely the bill would make it through the more closely divided Senate.
Chafee -- facing re-election next year in an environmentally conscious state -- sees environmentalists and Democrats as key to any ESA bill moving in the Senate and earlier this summer said he had "apprehension" about an earlier Pombo draft.
Working group looks at farm bill, tax options
Sens. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) are also working on draft language to revise ESA, as part of a "Wildlife Recovery Working Group" they formed last month.
A Crapo spokesman said the group has been very active and taking a lot of inquiries about the opportunities Crapo and Lincoln could have to improve ESA's incentives through their positions on the Agriculture and Finance committees.
The senators serve as the chairman and ranking member of the Agriculture Conservation Subcommittee, which has oversight over farm bill programs to pay farmers who make environmental improvements or enhance wildlife habitat on their land.
The farm bill has a much bigger coffer than ESA -- with billions of dollars for conservation payments alone.
The senators are still working to draft language, and suggestions about improving incentives have been "very informative," according to the Crapo spokesman.
Members of the working group say their goals are to focus on incentives, greater involvement of state governments and revisions to focus the act on species recovery, as well as protection. They are also aiming to propose changes to the critical habitat and science requirements of the act, according to a document circulating among senators.
Schedule: The House Resources hearing is set for 10 a.m., Wednesday, Sept. 21, in 1324 Longworth. Their markup is the following day, Sept. 22, at 10 a.m. in 1324 Longworth. The Senate hearing is at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 21, in Dirksen 406.