Endangered Species Law & Policy

This morning, the House Committee on Natural Resources is holding a legislative hearing on six proposed amendments to the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  The live video webcast of the hearing can be accessed here.  The six proposed amendments are:

H.R. 1314 - establishing a procedure for approval of certain types of settlements

H.R. 1927 - providing congressional direction for implementation of the ESA as it relates to operation of the Central Valley Project and the California State Water Project and for water relief in the State of California

H.R. 4256 - requiring the wildlife agencies to include the number of species on State and private lands as determined by the State in counting the number of a species in a State for purposes of determining whether the species is an endangered or threatened species

H.R. 4284 - amending the ESA to encourage greater State input and authority over species and habitat management by allowing States to propose and implement State Protective Action before species are listed under the ESA

H.R. 4319 - requiring the Secretary of the Interior to publish and make available for public comment a draft economic analysis at the time a proposed rule to designate critical habitat is published

H.R. 4866 - reversing the Department of Interior's listing of the lesser prairie chicken as a threatened species under the ESA, preventing further consideration of listing such a species as a threatened species or endangered species under the ESA pending implementation of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies' Lesser Prairie-Chicken Range-Wide Conservation Plan and other conservation measures.