Rights, farms, environment ping.Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this list.
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Posted on 09/29/2005 4:42:21 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON – The House on Thursday passed legislation that could greatly expand private property rights under the environmental law that is credited with helping keep the bald eagle from extinction but also has provoked bitter fighting.
By a vote of 229-193, lawmakers approved a top-to-bottom overhaul of the 1973 Endangered Species Act, perhaps the nation's most powerful environmental law. The law has led to contentious battles over species such as the spotted owl, the snail darter and the red-legged frog.
The rewrite faces an uncertain future in the Senate, where Republican Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, head of the panel that oversees the law, has expressed concerns about the House bill.
The bill would require the government to compensate property owners if steps to protect species thwarted development plans. It also would make political appointees responsible for some scientific determinations and would stop the government from designating "critical habitat," which limits development.
The changes were pushed through by the chairman of the House Resources Committee, GOP Rep. Richard Pombo. The California rancher contends the current rules unduly burden landowners and lead to costly lawsuits while doing too little to save plants and animals.
"You've got to pay when you take away somebody's private property. That is what we have to do," Pombo told House colleagues. "The only way this is going to work is if we bring in property owners to be part of the solution and to be part of recovering those species."
Many Democrats and moderate Republicans said Pombo's bill would eliminate important protections for species and clear the way for large handouts from the government to property owners.
The bill sets a "dangerous precedent that private individuals must be paid to comply with an environmental law," said Rep. Nick Rahall of West Virginia, the committee's top Democrat.
"What's next? Paying citizens to wear seat belts? ... This bill will not improve species' ability to recover," he said.
A White House statement on Thursday supported the bill. But it noted that payments to private property owners could have a "significant" impact on the budget.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that those payments would run less than $20 million a year. The bill's opponents predicted a much higher total.
The Fish and Wildlife Service says there are 1,268 threatened and endangered plants and animals in the United States. About a dozen have gone off the list over the years after they were determined to have recovered; nine have become extinct.
Just this week, a toad that environmentalists say is being killed off by an invasive fungus that may have originated in Africa is no longer a candidate for protection under the act, the agency said. It said the boreal toad is a subspecies of a toad whose habitat ranges from Alaska to New Mexico.
Pombo's bill would:
–Eliminate critical habitat. That is area now required to be designated when a species is listed and is protected from adverse actions by federal agencies. Instead, "recovery plans" for species, including designation of habitat, would have to be developed within two years. The recovery plans would not have regulatory force and the habitat would not be protected from federal actions.
–Specify that landowners with development plans are due answers from the interior secretary within 180 days, with a 180-day extension possible, about whether the development would harm protected species. If the government fails to respond in time, the development could go forward. If the government blocks the development, the landowner would be paid the fair market value of the proposed development.
–Give the interior secretary the job of determining what constitutes appropriate scientific data for decision-making under the law.
An alternative from a group of Democrats and moderate Republicans would have strengthened the recovery plans, eliminated the payments to landowners for blocked developments and created a scientific advisory board to assist the interior secretary. The proposal failed by a 216-206 vote.
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On the Net: Endangered Species Act: www.fws.gov/endangered/esa.html
Read this statement slowly 10 times and see if your attitude towards government and politicians improves or not.
Typical complete lack of reasoning by a Democrat.
Rights, farms, environment ping.
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BTTT
Yes, the lady did go to jail for feeding deer, but it had nothing to do with the ESA. It is illegal to feed wild deer. It causes them to congregate and spreads disease, ecourages dependence and overpopulation. Tame deer are more likely to get shot by hunters.
She had a whole herd of them she fed by hand and watered.
BTTT
BTTT
I like it! What a great phrase. I'll be sure to add that one to my lingo.
There is no need to "expand" property rights; all you need to do is respect them.
"The bill sets a "dangerous precedent that private individuals must be paid to comply with an environmental law," said Rep. Nick Rahall of West Virginia, the committee's top Democrat.
Brass ones, considering, in West Virginia, "enn..vI..ro... men...duh...lizm" consists of limiting the number of leaking, abandoned cars in your yard to no more than seven.
It exceeded Congress' authority right out of the gate, starting with that "substantial effects" crap.
The bald eagle (which has been repopulated in IN) is now plentiful in Indiana....As is the timber rattler that was repopulated into our area. Farmers find them in their barns, the crawl up on the patios in the subdivisions.....and it's illegal to kill them.....My neighbor just turns them into "trick" snakes: "Roll over play dead! Roll over play dead!" It only takes a few times for them to learn the trick!
You hate to say it, I hate to hear it. If republicans don't stand up for republican values then they are no better than the worthless liberals.
I was riding my bike down the neighborhood street earlier this week and did a double take when I saw two birds I thought were female turkeys walking along in front of a house. I asked the neighbor and he said prairie chickens. it was a breeding pair and they were tending to a nest in his garden. 6 eggs. The woods behind his property was bulldozed for an apt complex. Prarie chickens ar not real plentiful in the wild in SE Texas. This was my first eye opener as respects nature vs development. I felt sorry for the magnificent wildlife that was being displaced. That's all.
The most endangered species in America to day is the free citizen.
A real Republican there...
That would be Communism. - Not that there is much difference.
That's the basis of arguement I use with an enviro-whacko I work with who thinks that no species should ever be allowed to go extinct and that the only reason extinction occurs is human over consumption of resources. The last time we had a go at it I asked when was the last time he saw a sabre toothed tiger and just exactly what resource human's wasted that caused the extinction of the dinosaur.
Now that's an exaggeration...it also includes planting flowers in any toilet that's sitting in the front yard. Let's give credit where credit is due.
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