Western Caucus Denounces Fish and Wildlife Service's Overreaching Compensatory Mitigation Policy

Statement

Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) and Executive Vice-Chairman Scott Tipton (CO-03) issued the following statements in response to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announcing the agency's final Endangered Species Act (ESA) Compensatory Mitigation Policy (CMP):

"Despite losing control of the House, Senate and White House on his watch, President Obama still doesn't seem to get the message that the American people have rejected his extremist environmental agenda. By desperately seeking to enact almost 100 midnight regulations during the last few weeks of a lame duck presidency, Obama has selfishly put his own legacy ahead of the well-being of hard-working Americans," said Chairman Gosar. "The Service's final CMP is the direct result of a lawless directive issued by President Obama in November 2015. With help from his extremist environmental allies, the president has blatantly abused his executive power to instruct federal agencies to unilaterally rewrite environmental laws originally passed by Congress. The Service's new CPM will have devastating consequences for local communities and job creators while causing significant regulatory confusion. You can add this misguided policy to the growing list of midnight regulations that Congress and the Trump Administration will expunge early in the 115th Congress."

"This final rule further muddies the regulatory waters, creating unnecessary burdens, confusion and delays in the permitting process for everything from responsible, job-creating energy development projects to important environmental conservation projects," said Vice-Chairman Tipton. "It's consistent with the Administration's final push to do everything possible to make life difficult for rural Americans to earn a living."

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