Natural Resources Committee Blog Entries

Federal Agencies’ Selective Enforcement of the Endangered Species Act

Thu, 30 Jul 2015 04:00:00 GMT

Replay the Environmental Protection Agency’s apparent disregard for the Endangered Species Act requirements through the very animals they are affecting.

The EPA thought they had it all figured out. They were going to shut down some power plants, solidify the President’s climate legacy, and nothing was going to stand in their way.

Unfortunately, they forgot one minor detail: the law.

Under the Endangered Species Act, federal agencies must make sure their actions do not jeopardize listed species or destroy critical habitat.

Had the EPA followed the Endangered Species Act, it would have gone something like this:
Step 1) Check to see if a threatened or endangered species or critical habitat is present.

Step 2) Check to see if the agency’s plans may affect listed species or critical habitat.

Step 3) Check to see if the agency’s plans may “adversely” affect the listed species or critical habitat.

However, the EPA appears to have skipped all of those steps and did not consider the affects their power plant rules may have on listed species. Had EPA simply followed the law, it would have realized the rules may affect listed species, including endangered manatees and sea turtles.

Congress saw what was going on and decided to do something about it. They sent multiple letters asking the EPA why it did not follow the Endangered Species Act when it developed these wide-ranging and hugely impactful rules.

The questions went unanswered.

When Congress asked the agencies involved to come testify and explain their rationale, the EPA declined, claiming "EPA does not have a witness that could speak thoroughly on this topic.”

In summation: If you find it troubling that the agency responsible for the proposed rules is not fully equipped to discuss them, you are not alone

H.R. 2898: The Bill Where Everybody Wins

Wed, 15 Jul 2015 04:00:00 GMT

The current regulatory framework for water in the West is wrought with twists, turns, obstacles, and wasted resources. Follow the path and find how H.R. 2898, The Western Water and American Food Security Act, provides relief from challenges caused by inconsistent laws, court decisions, and regulations at the state and federal levels. To learn more about the bill, click here.

How H.R. 2647 Solves Five Causes of Catastrophic Wildfires

Tue, 07 Jul 2015 04:00:00 GMT

Chairman Rob Bishop on Hugh Hewitt

Fri, 15 May 2015 04:00:00 GMT

The Top 10 Ways the ESA is outdated, as told by other outdated things from 1973

Thu, 14 May 2015 04:00:00 GMT

On the 10th annual Endangered Species Day, we're taking a look back at all of the ways the Endangered Species Act is stuck in the 70s, as told by other things that happened (and are no longer relevant) in 1973.

P.S. There's a bonus you won't want to miss.

1. It is not recovering species

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is supposed to prevent species from going extinct, but the results just aren’t there. Since the law was enacted in 1973, more than 1,500 U.S. domestic species and sub-species have been listed as endangered; however, only, at best, two percent have been recovered. The long lines and red tape of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as it relates to the ESA is more like a traffic jam than a fluid stream. The stagnant nature of the endangered species list is reminiscent of another historical event from 1973: The Oil Crisis. OPEC placed an oil embargo on the United States and as oil supplies shrunk, lines at the pump grew. Desperation and thievery became so commonplace, sales of gasoline tank locks increased dramatically and their prices doubled. The difference is that once the oil market rebounded, the lines disappeared and gas pumps were unlocked. Unfortunately our recovered species haven’t been as lucky.

2. Just what is the goal here?

Many ESA champions point to its effectiveness as a land preservation tool, but its supposed intent is to preserve species. The question becomes which is which: Are you saving species to preserve the land, or the land to preserve the species? And just where do private property owners fit into all of this? The confusion and veiled ulterior motives are eerily similar to the year’s highest grossing movie, The Sting. The elaborate schemes and lengths the key players go to in order to get what they want are so in step with the controversy surrounding the ESA, it begs the question are America’s landowners getting conned? Given the ESA’s two percent recovery rate for designated species, we may be on to something.

3. Either way, the correlation just isn’t there

The largest quarantined areas are for the desert tortoise and northern spotted owl. But giving these species huge swaths of land has not stopped them from declining. Non-human caused catastrophic wildfires tear through the habitat making it uninhabitable for the animals. So now we have a situation where economies suffer because development is banned, designated habitats are charred, and the government solution falls flat. The idea of government regulating land to save species seemed to make sense...but then again so did “the big freeze,” and the impending doom of another ice age. Just a couple of years after the ESA was enacted, scientists around the world made headlines for plans to cover the Arctic with black soot in order to save the planet from global cooling.

4. Endangered Species Act or Endangered “Species” Act

Going back to number two, the question of the ESA’s overall goal, it is starting to look less like preservation and more like blatant government control. The law includes broad legal provisions that were originally designed to enable citizen suits to enforce the act. Increasingly, ESA designations are driven not by science but litigation – litigation that is primarily driven not by citizens but national special interest environmental groups. These groups go to great lengths to make sure the federal government has involvement far beyond necessary. Under the current ESA, environmental groups have the ability to file 10, 15 and 20 lawsuits and petitions at a time for hundreds of species simply because these animals range over landscapes they covet. Those who use the ESA for personal or political gain are definitely in step with the times, as there is no song more fitting for this totalitarian attitude than the number one single of 1973: You’re So Vain by Carly Simon. Like the inspiration for the song, why D.C. bureaucrats need to be involved with state-specific issues is also still a mystery.

5. Did you say 20 lawsuits at a time?

Yes, yes we did. Since 1973, the ESA has become a favorite among litigation abusers. Due to unrealistic timelines and purposely ambiguous language, the ESA is basically asking for frivolous lawsuits. In its own work plan, the FWS states, “Limited resources and an ever-increasing workload have led to litigation over nearly every aspect of the listing program. Litigation obligations have made it difficult for the Service to manage its workload based on biological priorities.” The ESA only gives the federal government 90 days to respond to a petition to list a species, and if that time elapses, environmental groups can sue and almost always get attorneys' fees paid. These lawsuits have nothing to do with whether or not the species risks extinction, but only that a deadline was missed by the FWS. If anyone else is calling for order in the court, don’t worry. You are not alone. 1973 was about more than mythological ice ages and 8-track cassettes. It was also the year of one of the most prolific courtroom dramas in American history: the Watergate Scandal. After dominating headlines for the majority of the year, it culminated in the resignation of President Nixon, the indictment of 69 people, and the incarcerations of 48 White House administration officials. Isn't it time to bring the ESA into slightly more modern and transparent times?

6. It’s irrelevant

We aren’t saying the ESA wasn’t groundbreaking at the time. It most certainly was; however, many of the dominant practices in species recovery, like adaptive management, only came along in the late 1970s and 1980s, which was after all of the major environmental laws were passed. So the concerns that drove the legislation of the 1960s and ’70s aren't the same concerns that people are dealing with now. The concerns that drove the ESA’s enactment aren’t the only things obsolete from the 1970's. It’s also a decade defined by the disco era's bell-bottoms, hip huggers, and platform shoes. These fashion trends share a lot in common with the ESA. Both have connections to foxes and were immensely popular back then. Unlike most people's since-retired catsuits, the ESA is still actively dancing its way across the American West.

7. It tends to over complicate things

Of the less than roughly two percent of species that have recovered since 1973, almost all recoveries are due to relatively simple problems. If a species is endangered due to over-hunting or another man-made problem, the logical solution is to stop that activity until the species has recovered. The difficulty we have now is when the ESA blocks economic activity for problems not caused by humans. Case in point: the Northern Long-Eared Bat threatened by a fungus. The solution doesn’t always fit the problem. The ESA wasn't the only over-complicated technology born in 1973. The year also boasts the invention of the personal computer and the cell phone. But that’s where the similarities end. While the cellphone and the computer continued evolving into the sleek, modern tools we all know and love, the ESA stayed stagnant. Today, it is more like that the first, two-pound version of the mobile phone than the smartphones they've grown into.

8. BAD Science

The ESA has created a faulty system where many species are listed under false premises at the start. The government relies on speculation, information from biased government agencies, and insufficient measurable data. The FWS draws conclusions using “the best scientific information available.” The problem with using the Best Available Data – or BAD – Science is the loophole it creates. This strategy allows federal agencies to implement sweeping and often economically devastating regulations based on information that does not need to be verified, reliable, conclusive, adequate, verifiable, accurate, or even good. The problem with relying on the “best available data” is the argument that hindsight is 20-20. There is no better example of this than the seven awards given to O.J. Simpson for various moral and athletic achievements in 1973. Simpson’s decline is a clear indication of just how much things can change over the course of 42+ years.

9. We need better arrangements with the states

While the ESA says that the states and federal government “should cooperate wherever practicable,” it does not say what that means. Those who are familiar with the time period should not be surprised. 1973 is the essence of all things basic – after all, it was the time of only seven television channels. While the television and broadcasting has continued to evolve, fish and game experts are left wondering how to apply the outdated verbiage to entice state fish and game agencies. According to one environmental scientist, finding a solution is essential, as these agencies “have more credibility with the local populations, because they’re the ones that make sure there are ducks in the pond so you can go hunting next year. If we could do a better job with that, it would go a ways toward fixing things.”

10. It might be by the people, but is it for the people?

When Congress passed the ESA in 1973, it explicitly stated economics should play no role in species listings or in the designation of critical habitat. The U.S. Supreme Court supported this stand, ruling Congress’ clear intent was to prevent species extinction, “whatever the cost." Interestingly enough, the ESA isn’t the only big spending trend that started in 1973. It was also the year of the first major Super Bowl commercial advertising Noxzema shaving cream featuring Joe Namath and Farrah Fawcett and the cost was $88,000. Since then, economics has become a central part of both Super Bowl advertisements and the ESA debate. The majority of endangered or threatened species inhabit private land, and therefore a significant portion of the ESA costs are put on the backs of private land owners. By ignoring the economics of species management is not only counterproductive to species recovery; it casts aside the essence of entrepreneurial Americans and their problem solving talents. Just think about all of those landscapes from Ram Truck’s “ Farmer” commercial being shut down for an animal nobody has seen in that area in more than fifty years (ps. The cost of that commercial was more than $18 million).

BONUS ITEM: It wouldn’t be right to discuss the outdated nature of the Endangered Species Act without giving credit to those who worked on its most recent update in 1988. To put things in perspective, this is a photo of the House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Congressman Rob Bishop in 1989. We think it’s safe to say a lot has changed.

Thinking about skipping the Natural Resources Subcommittees’ Budget Hearings?

Fri, 13 Mar 2015 04:00:00 GMT

1. Itchy Palms – According to the superstition, if the right hand itches, money is coming in, but if the left hand itches money is going out. The Administration's budget request for the U.S. Department of the Interior includes millions of new taxpayer dollars, so there will definitely be some cash flow. Tune in to see the federal government try to purchase even more federal lands, despite an existing deferred maintenance backlog estimated at $23 billion! We don’t think that can be treated with calamine lotion.

2. Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue – These hearings will cover all of your superstitious bases. Something Old – The Committee’s commitment to protecting and preserving the driving forces for the United States of America. Something New – In case you missed it, the new Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) brings ‘humor and candor’ to the natural resource debate. Something borrowed – the billions of tax dollars the federal government is seeking to spend beyond that which the nation can afford. Something Blue – Many of our resources themselves (i.e. water, oceans, and energy resources).

3. Opening an umbrella indoors - Most trace the belief back to the Victorian era when umbrellas’ metal spokes were a legitimate indoor hazard. Similar to those metal spokes, the increasing federal taxes and fees put American security at risk by discouraging energy research.

4. Breaking Mirrors – The general idea here is breaking a mirror is expensive, hard to clean up, and will cause seven years of bad luck. Similarly, the Department of the Interior’s bureaus and sub-agencies have proposed and/or finalized more than 200 new costly and restrictive rules and regulations. And that’s just in the last six months. Think about what they could do in seven years.

5. Walking Under Ladders – This one goes back to Ancient Egypt - a ladder resting against a wall forms a triangle, which the Egyptians regarded as sacred and believed walking through one did nothing but harm. Well today, our worries are less about the federal government walking under a ladder, and more about it not using a ladder at all. The sad truth is that a large portion of money spent within the Department of Interior’s jurisdiction will never reach the ground floor, and therefore never deliver tangible benefits. Replace the ancient sacred triangles with agencies consumed by growing litigation costs and layers of prescriptive environmental regulations, and we have more of the same: policies that cause more harm than good.

6. Spilling Salt - Long ago, salt was a valuable and precious commodity, and therefore wasting it was considered extremely bad luck. If wasting expensive and indispensable resources is bad luck, then it is safe to say the federal Government is in trouble. Our national debt currently exceeds $18 trillion, and yet the Administration’s overall federal budget includes a $13 billion budget for the Department of the Interior. This disappointing trend of runaway federal spending fails to put forward creative solutions to ongoing problems, and in contrast, almost makes spilling a few grains of salt seem lucky.

7. Knock on Wood – We’ll leave this explanation to the master: “It's meant to harden your knuckles so you don't break them if you get into a fight. It also has the added benefit of knocking on wood. My father believed that success is a mixture of preparation and luck. Tapping the table kills both birds with one stone." –Frank Underwood

Well what better way to prepare than education on the issues at stake? Though we can’t guarantee it will be solely responsible for your success, the information in these hearings will always be useful in whatever battles are on the horizon (#KeystoneXL anyone?).

8. Black Cats – This is another one that stems from the ancient Egyptians, who formerly believed that cats were good luck. According to historians, it wasn’t until King Charles I lamented over the death of his cat claiming his luck was gone that the belief was shifted. Based on the Feds’ recent actions, we’d say irrational responses to changing landscapes are pervasive among authority figures. Take the Northern Long Eared Bat (NLEB) for example. Despite admission from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that the most significant threat to the NLEB is not caused by human development activities, but rather a fungal disease known as white-nose syndrome (WNS), the FWS has plans to restrict economic activities in 38 states that have little or no impact on the species.

9. Four Leaf Clovers - The Celts believed that these rare finds were powerful objects that could ward off evil. We can’t promise you safety from evil spirits, but we can promise the information in these hearings is powerful and will prove to be extremely useful to those lucky enough to attend.

10. Throwing coins in a fountain for luck - This started with the ancient Romans as an act of appeasing the water gods. A few things might have changed in the last half century or so, but water and the rights of those responsible for it are still at risk. Currently, the U.S. Forest Service is proposing a Directive on Groundwater Resource Management that has the potential to infringe on States’ Rights and usurp state management of groundwater. We’re guessing the cost is going to be slightly higher than the change collected from the reflecting pool.

11. Considering a Horseshoe good luck - A horseshoe is considered lucky because, according to legend, the Devil can only move in a circle so when he sees a horseshoe, the gap in the middle confuses him and he turns back and won't bother you. The Devil isn’t the only thing that goes in circles, if 1,300 new federal workers are added to the Department, this will not solve the problem and the process will continue to go in circles too. Let’s hope these hearings take the shape of a horseshoe and save everyone the confusion caused by long lines and bureaucratic red tape.

12. Step on a crack and break your mother's back – While the origin of this one is a mystery, it can be traced back to the early 20^th Century. What else started in the 20^th Century? The Endangered Species Act, and the current onslaught of listing decisions pose harmful consequences for the economy and could potentially undermine ongoing species restoration at the state and regional level.

13. The Unlucky 13 - Also known as triskaidekaphobia, fear of the number 13 originates from the notion that 12 is a perfect number. There are 12 months in a year; days are split into two-12 hour halves, etc. For this superstition, we’ll leave you with one question: considering the fact that the fate of America’s Energy Independence is at stake (for 2016), does missing these hearings really seem like the best idea?

House Natural Resources Committee Accomplishments for the 113th Congress

Mon, 22 Dec 2014 05:00:00 GMT

House Natural Resources Committee Accomplishments
for the 113^th Congress

Click here to view

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ICYMI: Wall Street Journal OP ED: Welders Make $150,000? Bring Back Shop Class

Wed, 23 Apr 2014 16:00:00 GMT

OP ED: Welders Make $150,000? Bring Back Shop Class
Josh Mandel
Wall Street Journal

In American high schools, it is becoming increasingly hard to defend the vanishing of shop class from the curriculum. The trend began in the 1970s, when it became conventional wisdom that a four-year college degree was essential. As Forbes magazine reported in 2012, 90% of shop classes have been eliminated for the Los Angeles unified school district's 660,000 students. Yet a 2012 Bureau of Labor Statistics study shows that 48% of all college graduates are working in jobs that don't require a four-year degree.

Too many young people have four-year liberal-arts degrees, are thousands of dollars in debt and find themselves serving coffee at Starbucks or working part-time at the mall. Many of them would have been better off with a two-year skilled-trade or technical education that provides the skills to secure a well-paying job.

A good trade to consider: welding. I recently visited Pioneer Pipe in the Utica and Marcellus shale area of Ohio and learned that last year the company paid 60 of its welders more than $150,000 and two of its welders over $200,000. The owner, Dave Archer, said he has had to turn down orders because he can't find enough skilled welders.

According to the 2011 Skills Gap Survey by the Manufacturing Institute, about 600,000 manufacturing jobs are unfilled nationally because employers can't find qualified workers. To help produce a new generation of welders, pipe-fitters, electricians, carpenters, machinists and other skilled tradesmen, high schools should introduce students to the pleasure and pride they can take in making and building things in shop class.

American employers are so yearning to motivate young people to work in manufacturing and the skilled trades that many are willing to pay to train and recruit future laborers. CEO Karen Wright of Ariel Corp. in Mount Vernon, Ohio, recently announced that the manufacturer of gas compressors is donating $1 million to the Knox County Career Center to update the center's computer-integrated manufacturing equipment, so students can train on the same machines used in Ariel's operations.

In rural Minster, Ohio, near the Indiana border, electrician and entrepreneur Jack Buschur is creating the Auglaize & Mercer County Business Education Alliance, which will use private-sector dollars to fund a skilled-trade ambassador to walk the halls of local high schools with the mission of recruiting teenagers into these fields. This ambassador will also work to persuade school guidance counselors and administrators to change their tune that college is the only route to prosperity, and to encourage them to inform their students about the many opportunities in skilled trades.

At Humtown Products in Columbiana, Ohio, near the Pennsylvania border, CEO Mark Lamoncha is coordinating tours for local high-school guidance counselors to visit his company so that they can learn about job opportunities in advanced manufacturing and 3-D printing. Rather than having students seeing posters only for Ohio State, Pitt, Harvard and Yale in their high-school hallways, he wants to convince the schools' guidance counselors to also post signs for the Choffin Career & Technical Center in Youngstown and the New Castle School of Trades in Pulaski, Pa.

The Ohio School Board Association recently heard a similar message—from the actor John Ratzenberger, whom you might remember as Cliff Clavin, the mailman from the 1980s sitcom "Cheers." Mr. Ratzenberger these days is devoting considerable charitable time and dollars toward raising the profile of America's skilled laborers as role models for young people.

He began this effort in 2004 with a TV show called "Made in America," focusing attention on the rewarding labor of blue-collar workers making everything from Steinway pianos and Wonder Bread to Caterpillar equipment and Chris Craft yachts. Now he's crisscrossing the country urging schools to invest in vocational education. On "Cheers," Cliff Clavin never appeared to be overly industrious, but in promoting the restoration of shop class in U.S. high schools, Mr. Ratzenberger is working hard to put young Americans in good jobs. Educators could learn a thing or two from him.

Mr. Mandel is the treasurer of Ohio.

To read the whole story, click here

What would you ask Interior Secretary Sally Jewell?

Mon, 31 Mar 2014 04:00:00 GMT

Click on the 'Comment' link and post your question to the Secretary here.

Post by House Committee on Natural Resources.

FOX News: Farmers Rally to End Man-Made Drought

Fri, 21 Mar 2014 14:15:00 GMT

Wednesday, March 19th the Committee on Natural Resources held an oversight field hearing in Fresno, CA on "California Water Crisis and Its Impacts: The Need for Immediate and Long-Term Solutions." This field hearing is designed to focus on the need to resolve differences in order to bring immediate and long-term water supplies to the San Joaquin Valley and other parts of California.

The lack of rainfall has exacerbated the man-made drought caused by federal regulations and environmental lawsuits. On January 17, 2014, California Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for California due to the drought.

For more information on the hearing, click here.