Lawmaker says landmark law lacks flexibility
By Tim Hearden, Redding Record Searchlight
July 6, 2005
U.S. Rep. Wally Herger is taking another crack at
changing the Endangered Species Act, a feat he's tried in virtually every
Congress since 1997.
The Chico Republican aims to add flexibility to the landmark 1973
environmental legislation by ensuring that levee repairs and other efforts to
protect human life aren't hampered by lengthy delays.
Herger's latest legislation amends the ESA's "consultation" process
to allow flood protection districts and other agencies to avoid such maintenance
hang-ups.
"I can't imagine that anyone ever envisioned that protecting species
would take precedence over protecting people when Congress adopted the ESA over
30 years ago," Herger said. "The Endangered Species Act is a well
intentioned law, but it provides absolutely no flexibility."
Herger last week sent a letter to Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, who chairs the
House Resources Committee, requesting that his bill be included in a larger
package of Endangered Species Act reforms.
The effort is only Herger's latest volley against the act that's often
maligned by loggers, farmers and developers. Last summer, he was one of four
members of Congress who attended a meeting on proposed ESA changes in Klamath
Falls, Ore., where protests resulted from the shutoff of water to farmers in
2001 to save endangered fish.
Herger has tried to change the act to hasten levee repairs since 1997, when a
levee break in Arboga, near Marysville, resulted in three deaths. The U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers had warned seven years earlier that the levee was in dire
need of repair, but efforts to preserve the Valley Longhorn Elderberry Beetle
slowed repairs.
Herger's bill requires consultation between the Corps and U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service to be completed within 60 days if levees have been determined
to pose a major risk to human life. After 60 days, endangered species can be
"rescued" to make way for repairs.
"It is absolutely critical that the ESA's goal of protecting endangered
species does not prevent essential structural improvements that can save human
life," Herger said.
In other business, Herger has signed on as a co-sponsor of fellow Republican
Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan's bill to encourage homeownership among veterans.
The "American Veterans Homeownership Act of 2005" would enable
veterans of recent military operations to qualify for special, low-interest
mortgage loans. It removes a requirement that veterans must have served before
1977.
Reporter Tim Hearden can be reached at 225-8224 or at thearden@redding.com.
Source: http://www1.redding.com/redd/nw_local/article/0,2232,REDD_17533_3906459,00.html