Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2822) making appropriations for the Department of the Interior, environment, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2016, and for other purposes:

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Chair, this amendment is critically important. The designation of the Northern Long Eared Bat as threatened has had a significant impact on the Ninth District of Georgia, despite the fact that the only evidence it is there is a geo-tagged dot on a map.

These bats are listed as threatened because White Nose Syndrome has led to a drastic decline in their population. Humans don't cause White Nose Syndrome but they are being penalized for it. There are some counties in my district where the bat has never been seen, but because they're in the bat's ``range'' they are subject to burdensome restrictions.

A construction project for a new interchange in my home, Hall County, was delayed because of the need to survey for the bat.

What's worse, even if no bats are found during the preconstruction bat survey, Fish and Wildlife Service requires a clearing restriction in construction contracts for prime-building months if certain factors contributing to a quality bat habitat are present. These types of restrictions increase prices and create unnecessary and burdensome delays on important infrastructure projects. Similar restrictions can also negatively affect other sectors such as forestry, ranching, and utilities.

The underlying bill takes important steps to address the problematic requirements associated with the bat's status as a threatened species. This amendment goes the extra step to prevent the current situation from getting even worse by prohibiting the use of funds to list the Northern Long Eared Bat as endangered.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

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