21st Century Endangered Species Transparency Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of this legislation.

H.R. 4315 is an important first step in reforming the Endangered Species Act, and undertaking long overdue.

This legislation is about three things: increasing government ransparency, requiring better state and local data and input, and limiting excessive payments for lawyers who sue the Federal government under ESA.

First, the bill requires the Federal Government to publish on the internet and make publicly available the data that was used to make the determination that a species should be considered for listing under the ESA.

Secondly, the legislaion would require the Federal Government to include and consider data provided by state, local and tribal governments. The purpose of this is to ensure that the best ``on the ground'' input is taken into account when making such listing.

Finally, H.R. 4315 would limit attorneys' fees when individuals or organizations sue the government under the ESA and prevail.

In my home state of Pennsylvania, we are currently seeing firsthand why these changes need to be legislated. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service recently proposed the Northern Long-Eared bat for listing under ESA--despite significant scientific debate over its population levels.

While the species is unquestionably being impacted by White Nose Syndrome, considerably more research still is needed before sweeping federal regulations go into effect.

This species has an enormous geographical footprint and is found in 38 states. Listing this bat species would have an enormous impact, including harming a large number of economic sectors that pose no threat to this population.

During the open public comment period, the Fish &

Wildlife Service received a significant number of public comments discussing this lack of adequate data, and since then, the Service has acknowledged that the economic activities most affected by the proposed listing have had little impact on population numbers or the decline of the species.

As a result, the agency has now decided to extend the comment period to further review these disparities.

H.R. 4315 is a package of commonsense reforms that will improve local control and increase government transparency and accountability.

I strongly urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

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