1. APPROPRIATIONS:

• Appropriations Process Overview

• House Begins Agriculture Appropriations Floor Action

• Senate Interior Floor Action Delayed until July

• House Passes Interior Appropriations Bill

• Senate Passes Labor-HHS Bill Without Arctic Drilling Provision

• House Passes Commerce-Justice-State Appropriations Bill

2. ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT:

• "ESA Nonsense Protections" bill Cleared for House Floor Action

• HR 1142, Bad ESA Takings Bill Also Passes Resources

3. WILDLIFE & WILDLANDS:

• Neotropical Bird Conservation Bill Passes House

• Everglades Restoration Bill Marked Up

• CARA Mark Up Postponed

• Great Apes Conservation Bill to Be Marked Up

• House Passes Bill To Create Cat Island Refuge

CONGRESSIONAL CALENDAR

APPROPRIATIONS

• APPROPRIATIONS PROCESS OVERVIEW

  This week, the House passed the FY2001 Energy & Water (HR4733) appropriations bill and began, but did not finish work on the Agriculture appropriations bill before leaving for the Independence Day recess. Including last week’s action on the VA-HUD (HR 4635) and Legislative Branch (HR 4516) appropriations bills, 9 of the 13 annual spending bills have now been passed by the House. The House Appropriations Committee also cleared the Foreign Operations bill for the floor leaving only the District and Treasury bills awaiting mark up. The Senate this week passed the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill (S 2553, S. Rpt. 106-293). So far the Senate has passed 4 of the 13 appropriations bills including Transportation, Military Construction, Defense and Labor-HHS. Commerce-Justice-State, VA-HUD, Treasury and the District are still waiting action by the Senate Appropriations Committee. Two appropriations bills (Defense and Transportation) remain stalled in conference while the military construction appropriations bill conference report was approved by both the House and Senate this week and sent to the President for his signature. Rumors abounded that the Senate conferees were going to attach a number of ant-environmental riders currently on the Senate Ag Approps bill to the Mil Con Approps bill in conference. Fierce opposition from the national environmental community and grassroots has apparently persuaded Senate Appropriations Chairman Ted Stevens that attaching the anti-environmental riders would only delay final passage of Military Construction along with the badly needed FY'00 supplementals which include important disaster relief money. For a current list of the status of all 13 federal appropriations bills click here: http://lcweb.loc.gov/global/legislative/appover.html

• HOUSE BEGINS AGRICULTURE APPROPRIATIONS FLOOR ACTION

  The House took up the Agriculture Appropriations Bill (HR 4461) this week after coming to an agreement on the Cuba sanctions issue, but left for the Independence day recess late Thursday night before completing work on the bill. Representative Sue Kelly (R-NY) successfully offered an amendment to strike an anti-environmental rider in the bill which would have prohibited conservation funding from being used for the American Heritage Rivers Initiative. Consideration of the remainder of the bill will likely resume on July 10 when the House reconvenes. A vote is still expected on an amendment by Representatives Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Connie Morella (R-MD) and Charlie Bass (R-NH) to restrict federal funding for lethal predator control under the Wildlife Services’ "livestock protection program." For a current list of all anti-environmental riders attached to this and other appropriations bills click here: http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/riders/riders.html

• SENATE INTERIOR FLOOR ACTION DELAYED UNTIL JULY

  Rumors circulated all week that the Interior appropriations bill might come to the Senate floor. However, a crowded schedule and numerous controversial riders forced the Senate to delay consideration of the bill until after the July 4 recess. Last week, Interior appeared to be on the Senate's fast track after it was quickly passed by both the subcommittee and full committee. In subcommittee, Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO.) was able to attach a rider requiring the Forest Service to study the economic impacts of its new management plan on the White River Forest in Colorado. Likewise a rider by Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) seeks to at least temporarily block the administration's roadless initiative in the White Mountains National Forest. The full Appropriations Committee markup went relatively quickly with a minimum of contentious wrangling among members. Committee Chairman Gorton asked members to hold controversial amendments until the bill reached the Senate floor and to forgo riders on non-pressing issues that could be fixed by the "next administration." Although Idaho Senator Larry Craig did not try to attach riders at the mark up, he did promise to bring three controversial riders to the floor. One of Sen. Craig's riders would establish a FACA (Federal Advisory Committee Act) Committee to review the administration's roadless initiative and DEIS, and report to the Secretary. The Secretary would then be prohibited from expending any funds from Interior or any other bill to work on, or implement, the roadless policy until that report is received. Craig's rider is based on the bogus claim first cooked up by the House Resource Committee that the administration's development of the roadless policy failed to comply with the record keeping procedures of FACA, Craig also announced he would bring two other amendments to the floor one to study how to eliminate the largest breeding colony of Caspian Terns in North America and another to reverse the NPS ban on snowmobiles. Sen. Craig also talked a lot about the lower Snake River dam breaching issue, but was not clear about whether he intends to offer any riders. The bill (HR 4578), as approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee, provides about $15.47 billion in discretionary spending, an increase of $628 million over last year but still almost $1 billion below the president's request. The Senate version of Interior provides for a $258 million increase for the four major land management agencies over current spending levels. The FWS budget for endangered species programs was increased $10.9 million to $11.9 million. Refuges and wildlife programs get $348 million, up $24.9 million from current funding and $3 million over that provided by the House. The bill still faces considerable opposition from the administration since the bulk of the funding shortfall comes at the expense of the president's Lands Legacy initiative ($221 million was allocated for the Land and Water Conservation Fund including $40 million for grants to states). For a current list of all anti-environmental riders attached to this and other appropriations bills click here: http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/riders/riders.html

• HOUSE PASSES INTERIOR APPROPRIATIONS BILL

  After several late nights and numerous votes on various controversial riders and amendments, the House passed the FY'01 Interior Appropriations bill in the early hours of Friday morning 6/16 by a vote of 204-172. A rider to delay the Interior Columbia Ecosystem Management Project which was removed earlier in the deliberations was later restored after a number of sleepy Democrats left for the night when the House rejected on a 188-184 vote a motion to recommit the bill (HR 4578, H. Rpt. 106-646) to the Appropriations Committee with instructions to increase funding for key programs that they favored. Perhaps the biggest victory for environmentalists came by way of effort by Rep. Norm Dicks (D-WA) to reverse funding prohibitions for national monuments designated by President Clinton after 1999. A motion by Resources national parks subcommittee Chairman Jim Hansen (R-UT) to drop the national monuments language from the Dicks amendment was defeated, on a 234-187 vote and the the Dicks amendment passed on a 243-177 vote.  For a current list of all anti-environmental riders attached to appropriations and other bills click here: http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/riders/riders.html

• SENATE PASSES LABOR-HHS BILL WITHOUT ARCTIC DRILLING PROVISION

  Senators Frank Murkowski (R-AK) and Trent Lott (R-MS) had announced plans to attach an unrelated "rider" to a the Labor-HHS appropriations bill which would have rolled back environmental protections and offered a range of tax breaks and giveaways for the oil, coal, and nuclear industries. Most egregiously, the amendment would have also mandated oil drilling in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The coastal plain is often called "America’s Serengeti" because of its abundant caribou, polar bear, grizzly bear, wolf and other wildlife populations and represents the last five-percent of Alaska’s Arctic Slope not already open to development. Due to time constraints and strong resistence from the environmental community, Senator Murkowski did not end up offering the amendment. Nearly 2,000 faxes were sent by DEN activists to targeted Senators urging them to oppose the Murkowski/Lott amendments. However, a similar provision could resurface on other appropriations bills.

• HOUSE PASSES COMMERCE-JUSTICE-STATE APPROPRIATIONS BILL

  The House on Monday 6/26 passed by a 214-195 margin the FY'01 Commerce-Justice-State Appropriations bill (HR 4690, H. Rpt. 106-680), funding the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration which includes the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and various ESA programs for marine species. An amendment by Rep. John Olver (D-MA) was able to soften, but not fix, a rider in the bill designed to limit activities related to the Kyoto greenhouse emissions treaty by clarifying that it "shall not apply to activities which are otherwise authorized by law." The bill provides almost $35 billion in discretionary spending for the departments of Commerce, Justice and State and the judiciary. The bill contains only $58 million of the $160 million sought by the administration for the Pacific Salmon Recovery Fund and no money for Washington state fishing license buyouts. Due to the deep spending cuts and failure to provide the $60 million for the U.S.-Canada salmon treaty the White House budget office is recommending that the bill in its current form be vetoed.

ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT

• "ESA NONSENSE PROTECTIONS" BILL CLEARED FOR HOUSE FLOOR ACTION

  The House Resources Committee marked up and passed HR 3160, "Common Sense Protections for the Endangered Species Act (ESA)," a bill to reauthorize the ESA sponsored by Rep. Don Young (R-AK) and Richard Pombo (R-CA). The bill guts the ESA and is now available to come to the floor of the House at any time. HR 3160 creates harmful procedural hurdles and roadblocks and makes compliance with much of the ESA’s existing regulatory requirements voluntary. Why HR 3160 is a bad deal for endangered species: 1. Allow States To Block additions to the Endangered Species List - Under this bill, the Secretary may not propose listing of any species in any state in which the Governor objects to the listing. 2. Eliminates Mandatory Critical Habitat Designation - The bill ostensibly adopts some of the language found the Endangered Species Recovery Act (HR 960) such as making critical habitat more of the recovery planning process, but then it substitutes the mandatory "shall" with the voluntary "may." 3. Create Loopholes for ESA Protections - The Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Forest Service and other agencies could find many ways to duck endangered species protections under the Young/Pombo bill. For example, the bill would allow agency core" missions" (such as damming rivers, or maximizing forest harvest) to override the ESA’s regulations that federal agencies not jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered or threatened species. 4. Weaken Habitat Conservation Plans - Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs) cover millions of acres of endangered species habitat in this country. Landowners receive permits for development and other habitat destruction by developing HCPs and the Young/Pombo bill would significantly weaken HCP approval standards. Public review would be discouraged, mitigation requirements would be whatever the developer or timber company thinks is reasonable, and the permits would be locked in with no changes under ANY circumstances, including no adaptive management for unlimited amounts of time. 5. Weaken Endangered Species Recovery Plans - Recovery Plans are supposed to set out the fastest, most reliable plan to achieve endangered species recovery. But not under the Young/Pombo bill. The least cost is the bottom line, and a group of economists, wise use lawyers, and property owners with direct economic conflicts would make up the recovery planning team. Recovery plans could be replaced by "functional equivalents" (such as giant HCPs) or could be taken over by hostile state governors. 6. Authorizes Inadequate Funding Levels - Right now the agencies receive about $200 million each year for endangered species protection far below what is needed to implement the current Act. The Young/Pombo bill would authorize less money to cover more endangered species and more bureaucratic requirements. To look up detailed information on this bill (i.e., bill text, legislative history, and cosponsors) click here: http://thomas.loc.gov/

• HR 1142, BAD ESA TAKINGS BILL ALSO PASSES RESOURCES

  The House Resources Committee also marked up and passed HR 1142, a bill that would threaten ESA protection for endangered and threatened species. HR 1142 is another of Rep. Richard Pombo's thinly disguised attempts to gut the ESA under the guise of protecting property rights. This bill would pay private property owners for obeying the law and protecting endangered species on their land. In addition, this bill would create procedural roadblocks that would prevent quick action to save critically imperiled species. If enacted the bill would provide a taxpayer financed windfall for private landowners who had endangered species on their property and encourage developers to propose bogus schemes just to collect money for obeying the ESA. No other environmental or regulatory law has such a provision. Contrary to recent Supreme Court decisions this bill radically expand the standards for determining when government actions to protect species would result in a "taking of private property" that requires compensation. To look up detailed information on this bill (i.e., bill text, legislative history, and cosponsors) click here: http://thomas.loc.gov/

WILDLIFE AND WILDLANDS

• NEOTROPICAL BIRD CONSERVATION BILL PASSES HOUSE

  The House on 6/16 passed S 148 the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (S. Rpt. 106-36), a Senate-passed bill to increase U.S. efforts to aid declining populations of neotropical migratory birds. The bill provides authorization of $8 million for protecting habitat for many of the 500 species of U.S. birds that migrate from other nations. Of primary concern, are the neotropical migrants which winter in Latin America and the Caribbean and breed in the U.S. Many are among the 90 U.S. bird species now listed as threatened or endangered under the ESA or the 124 identified as "Migratory Non-Game Birds of Management Concern. The Senate bill was modeled after conservation programs for elephants, rhinos and tigers. Half of the annual authorization was to be spent on international projects but U.S. individuals and organizations can also get grants from the Secretary of the Interior for preserving vital habitat, research and public education or implementing conservation plans. The House also passed HR 4408, to reauthorization the Atlantic Striped Bass Conservation Act. To look up detailed information on this bill (i.e., bill text, legislative history, and cosponsors) click here: http://thomas.loc.gov/

• EVERGLADES RESTORATION BILL MARKED UP

  The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed the Restoring the Everglades - an American Legacy Act (REAL) by a comfortable margin of 17-1. This historic bill will provide more than $7.8 billion in federal funds to be used over the next ten years for the restoration of the Florida Everglades, the nation’s largest expanse of wetlands. REAL is the most expansive environmental restoration project in history where decades of damage - from canals, dykes, and drainage - will be mitigated through a series of 14 projects throughout the Everglades ecosystem. However, language in the legislation needs to be strengthened, including provisions allocating an up-front designation of water for the natural system, appointing an independent scientific advisory panel, and including programmatic regulations that ensure the true restoration of the Everglades ecosystem. A full vote on the Senate floor is expected later this summer. For more information on Everglades Restoration click here: http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/eglades/everglades.html

• CARA MARK UP POSTPONED

  This week's Senate mark up of the House passed Conservation and Reinvestment Act (HR 701/S 2123) was postponed after Senate Energy Committee Chair Frank Murkowski could not come to agreement with ranking committee minority member Sen. Jeff Bingaman. Sen. Bingaman's alternative to CARA, the Conservation and Stewardship Act (S 2181) has significant support in committee and in the Senate. Sen. Murkowski needs Bingaman's support to get a bill past property rights advocates on the committee but is reportedly unwilling to drop restrictions on federal land acquisition money. Bingaman's bill greatly reduces and redistributes the amount of coastal impact money, which is a major concern to some environmental groups who see the potential for CARA's $1 billion in coastal impact money being used for environmentally harmful projects such as building infrastructure. Sen. Bingaman's bill would also provide for additional programs not included in CARA. A new mark up is tentatively scheduled for July 18. For more information on Land and Water Conservation Funding click here: http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/lands/landslegacy.html

• GREAT APES CONSERVATION BILL TO BE MARKED UP

  The House Resources Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans subcommittee is scheduled to mark up HR 4320 which would create a program to fund conservation of the chimpanzee, gorilla, bonobo and orangutan. The bill authorizes funding of $5 million for each of the next five years under the Multinational Species Conservation Fund. All the species are listed under the ESA and are under severe threats due to loss of habitat, human encroachment, population fragmentation, hunting, live capture and the bushmeat trade. To look up detailed information on this bill (i.e., bill text, legislative history, and cosponsors) click here: http://thomas.loc.gov/

• HOUSE PASSES BILL TO CREATE CAT ISLAND REFUGE

  The House passed a bill HR 3292 to establish the 36,500-acre Cat Island National Wildlife Refuge north of Baton Rouge. Cat Island is the southern most unleveed portion of the Mississippi River still influenced by its "natural dynamics." The island is covered by virgin bald cypress and provides vital habitat for neotropical songbirds, waterfowl, dear turkey, mink and bobcats. To look up detailed information on this bill (i.e., bill text, legislative history, and cosponsors) click here: http://thomas.loc.gov/

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