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0024 /0 6 Reauthorization of Endangered Species Act Awaits l03rd Congress When the 103rd Congress convenes in January, it will face a banle over reautho- rization of the Endangered Species Act. The debate, which has already begun, is likely to become intense, if not acrimo- nious. The issue has become framed as one Ihat pits the preservation of species againslthe preservation of jobs, fueling highly emotional and increasingly polar- ized banles. With approximately 675 domestic species now listed as endangered or threat- ened, and more than 3,000 listed as candi- date species, the debate is not likely to cool. And the issue of whether protection of plant and animal species can be balanced with economic issues lies al the hean of the controversy over the Endangered Species Act. The Act in Effect Passed in 1973 as a "last resort" mea- sure to protect plants and animals alike from extinction, the Endangered Species Acl defmes a species as endangered if it is "in danger of extinction thfoughout all or a significant portion of its range," and threat- ened if the species "is likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant por- tion of its range." The ESA is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior, and for marine species, by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of the Dep~nt of the Commerce. The process of listing begins with either a determination by the appropriate depanment thaI a species warranlS study or by a petition from a group or private indi- vidual requesling that a species be listed. The department must follow an eXlensive procedure, including public participation, to collect scientific data on the status of the species in question. During the interval between the proposal to list and any final action, the species is designated a "candi- date species" to prevent any further harm during the waiting period, although the departments are not required to make sig- nificant resource commibnents to protect- ing the species at this lime. In determining whether 10 list a species, the Secretary of Interior (or Com- merce) is specifically prohibited from con- sidering the possible economic effects of such a listing; the designation is required to be based enlirely on the best available sci- entific data. However, the Secretary is allowed to consider economics in deciding whether to designate an area as critical habitat for a species--,md during the 20 years the act has been in force, crilical habital has been designated in only a few . cases. Once a species is listed, the depart- ment must devise a recovery plan to help the species attain a stable population. The departmenl may use funds to acquire land deemed necessary to the recovery plan, and must work io cooperation with the stales where those species exist. Perbaps the most well-Imowo part of the ESA is Section 7, which requires feder- al agencies to ensure that their actions are not likely to "jeopardize the continued exis- tence" of a listed species. Those actions include the issuance of permits and licenses to other entities or individuals. Thus log- ging, mining, grazing and other activities on federal lands, or that require permining through the federal govemmem, are subject to restrictions under the ESA. "The God Squad" There is one avenue of appeal avail- able under the ESA that has only been allempted three times-the so-called "God Squad," formally known as the Endangered Species Comminee, created through a 1978 amendment to the ESA. The comminee is empowered to grant exemptions for certain actions that might harm a listed species. The comminee consists of six federal officials-the Secretaries of Interior, Agri- culture and the Army, the Administrators of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Pro- teclion Agency, and the Chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advi- sors-and a seventh person named by the governor of the state involved in the case. . If more than one state is involved, the gov- ernor of each state may appoim one repre- sentative but all share a single vote. The affirmative vote of at least five members is required to grant an exemption. In 1978, the request for an exemption for the Tellico dam in Tennessee became the first case to go before the comminee. It had been determined in 1975 that conslruc- tion of the dam would destroy the primary habitat of th~ endangered snail darter, a Mid-West Reporter Fall 1992 " r 1- i~ I I ( I \ !