As lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives return this week from a spring recess, one decision they’re expected to take up soon is whether to approve a suite of proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act.
Many wildlife conservationists have concerns about the proposed changes, which were introduced last year in the House Committee on Natural Resources. The bill was reported out of that committee last month and is ready to be heard on the full House floor.
One big concern for conservationists is the need to protect critical habitat.
Jewel Tomasula, national policy director for the Endangered Species Coalition, said the proposed legislation “shrinks and fragments critical habitat” for endangered and threatened species, by limiting critical habitat designations to areas where those species already currently exist.
“These are species whose populations have been so reduced that they're at this risk of extinction. Where they currently are is not where they need to be to recover,” Tomasula said. “Critical habitat designations really need to take into account where [species] used to be, or where they could go to as they recover. But this bill completely takes that option off the table.”
Originally enacted in 1973, the ESA directs federal agencies to protect animals, plants and their habitats. Animals and plants protected by the ESA get “listed” in one of two categories: endangered or threatened.
Endangered species are those in danger of extinction, throughout either all or a significant portion of their range. Threatened species are those likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future.
Endangered and threatened animal species alike call Florida home, including different species of sea turtles. Sea Turtle Conservancy Policy Coordinator Stacey Gallagher calls Florida the national “hot spot for turtles.”
“It cannot be overstated how important the Central East Coast in Florida is for sea turtles, in the U.S. and globally,” Gallagher said. “Our beaches host the highest level of loggerhead sea turtle nesting in the world.”
Loggerheads are a turtle species currently listed as threatened in Florida and endangered elsewhere. Other listed turtle species found in Florida include the Kemp’s ridley (endangered), green (threatened) and leatherback (endangered) sea turtles.
“Particularly, on Florida's Central East Coast, within the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge, 40% of all sea turtle nesting in the U.S. happens here,” Gallagher said.
Archie Carr is a refuge spanning some 20 miles in Brevard and Indian River counties. It serves as “one of the most productive nesting sites for Loggerhead sea turtles in the world,” according to its website.
Many of those who want to see changes to the existing ESA say the law as currently written requires too much bureaucratic red tape and infringes on private property rights. The American Energy Alliance and other groups recently sent a letter to House lawmakers, urging them to pass the bill to create “a more effective and predictable regulatory framework.”
Right now, federal rules require decisions to classify a species as endangered or threatened to be made “without reference” to possible economic impacts. The proposed ESA changes would remove that language and require an economic analysis, along with consideration of conservation outcomes.
Gallagher worries the proposed ESA changes would weaken protections for sea turtles, by preventing what she calls “reasonable measures” to minimize harm to species listed as threatened or endangered.
“For sea turtles in particular, this could look like more boat strikes happening, with the elimination of vessel slow zones,” Gallagher said. “Projects could get a pass to harm sea turtles and their nests that maybe wouldn't now. And it would result in faster [development] permitting and fewer protections.”
Those behind the bill argue such boating “slow zones” are one key example of how federal agencies have “exploited” the ESA “against congressional intent,” according to a committee report published last month by the bill’s lead sponsor, Arkansas Republican Rep. Bruce Westerman.
The committee report accuses the National Marine Fisheries Service, also known as NOAA Fisheries, of such so-called exploitation by using the ESA as “a justification for issuing regulations that lower the chance of taking [basically, harming] a listed species.”
The committee report cites a rule that restricts boating speeds in areas populated by the endangered North Atlantic right whale. NOAA Fisheries announced last year it was withdrawing that rule. The agency is accepting public comments through June 2 on another, related proposed rule intended to “to reduce unnecessary regulatory and economic burdens on the regulated community.”
RELATED: Marine scientists celebrate rare, mama-and-calf whale sighting near Merritt Island
Lawmakers in the U.S. House are expected to consider and vote on the bill to overhaul the ESA sometime soon, potentially as soon as this month.
