Griffin Votes to Prioritize Species Recovery and Prevent Waste of Taxpayer Dollars

Press Release

Congressman Tim Griffin (AR-02) issued the following statement today after the House passed the Endangered Species Transparency and Reasonableness Act (H.R. 4315):

"As the federal government seeks to classify endangered species in Arkansas and other states, we must ensure full transparency in the classification process and evaluate the impact of endangered species listings on our local and national economies. This common sense bill modernizes the outdated Endangered Species Act (ESA) to prioritize species recovery, make classification data publicly available, limit needless ESA-related lawsuits and prevent waste of taxpayer dollars and federal resources."

According to the House Committee on Natural Resources, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was created in 1973 to preserve, protect and recover key domestic species. Since that time, over 1,500 U.S. domestic species and sub-species have been listed. However, today the law is failing to achieve its primary purpose of species recovery and has only a 2 percent recovery rate. According to the Department of Justice, from fiscal year 2009-2012, the federal expenditures on attorney fees for ESA-related lawsuits cost taxpayers over $3.1 million in the southeast region of the United States that includes Arkansas.

H.R. 4315 would:

* Require data used by federal agencies for ESA listing decisions to be made publicly available and accessible through the Internet, while respecting state data privacy laws and private property. (Sec. 2 reflects the text of H.R. 4315 as reported)

* Require the federal government to disclose to affected states data used prior to an ESA listing decision and it would require the "best available scientific and commercial data" used by the federal government to incorporate data provided by states, tribes and local county governments. (Sec. 3 reflects the text of H.R. 4317)

* Require the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to track, report to Congress and make available online the federal taxpayer funds used to respond to ESA lawsuits, the number of employees dedicated to ESA litigation and attorneys' fees awarded in the course of ESA litigation and settlement agreements. (Sec. 4 reflects the text of H.R. 4316)

* Prioritize species protection and protect taxpayer dollars by placing reasonable caps on attorneys' fees to make the ESA consistent with existing federal law. For example, the federal government limits the prevailing attorneys' fees to $125 per hour in most circumstances, including federal suits involving veterans, Social Security and disability. But under the ESA, attorneys are being awarded huge sums, in many cases, at a rate much as $600 per hour. (Sec. 5 reflects the text of H.R. 4318)

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