http://www.nwf.org/enviroaction/inde...202&issueId=25
Senate Rejects ESA Exemptions
Small Victory For Wildlife
In a dramatic and unexpected victory for the environment, the Senate in May denied the Bush administration's request to grant the military a far-reaching exemption from the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
In a narrow vote of 51 to 48, the Senate passed an amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill that gives the Defense Department some flexibility to obtain waivers from the ESA's critical habitat designation requirement on a case-by-case basis, but denies the broad ESA exemption requested by the administration. The amendment, offered by Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Jim Jeffords (I-VT), Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and Joe Lieberman (D-CT), was supported by nearly all Senate Democrats. Four Republican senators, Lincoln Chafee (RI), Arlen Specter (PA), Olympia Snowe (ME) and Susan Collins (ME), also voted in favor of the amendment.
"In a victory for people and wildlife, the Senate chose to adopt a flexible case-by-case approach to species protection on our nations military bases, rather than the rigid nationwide exemptions sought by the Department of Defense," says NWF Senior Counsel John Kostyack. "This vote recognizes the military's already longstanding approach of working through ESA compliance issues on a case-by-case basis-a tactic that has proven successful for both wildlife and military preparedness."
Unfortunately, the House version of the defense bill, which also passed in May, grants broad exemptions from not only the Endangered Species Act, but the Marine Mammal Protection Act as well. The bill also includes language (not even requested by the Defense Department) exempting the military from responsibility for off-base water withdrawals from Arizona's San Pedro River. Excessive water use and ground-water pumping by the Army's Fort Huachuca is threatening the river, which supports 400 species of birds, 180 species of butterflies, 87 species of mammals, and 68 amphibians and reptiles. The San Pedro has the highest diversity of vertebrate species in the inland United States, the second highest diversity of land-mammals in the world and is one of the state's last free-flowing waterways. The House leadership denied environmental champions any opportunity to offer amendments to remove these exemptions when the defense bill was debated on the House floor.
The Defense Authorization Bill now moves to conference committee, where members of the House and Senate will be tasked with ironing out the differences between the two bills.
Copyright 2002 National Wildlife Federation. All rights reserved. The above article may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without prior written consent of National Wildlife Federation.
