House panel erupts over Endangered Species Act debate
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by MEGAN R. WILSON, THEHILL.COM ouse Democrats recently decried the vilification of so-called sue-and-settle tactics by Republicans and business groups, calling the criticism a “scare tactic” used against liberal groups. The debate broke out in a House Natural Resources Committee hearing about potential reforms to the Endangered Species Act (ESA), which environmental advocacy organizations have used as a platform to sue – and settle with – the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in order to safeguard species under the law. Democrats claimed factors – such as small budgets and political obstruction – often keeps federal regulators from doing their job, bringing on the suits. “Sue and settle is a catchy phrase,” said Rep. Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam), in her opening statement. “However, the fact that the majority is using it as an excuse to shut down the right of people to protect the actions of their government is inappropriate and runs counter to its own Tea Party principles.” The practice generally occurs when a regulator fails to issue rules – or in this case, list a species as threatened or endangered – by deadlines set by law. Although some court settlements have ordered the FWS to put a species on the list within a certain time frame, the protections don’t kick in until the animal is officially listed. Meanwhile, Rep. Chris Stewart (RUtah) said it waged “fish-in-the-barrel litigation” against agencies, wasting precious resources. The Chamber of Commerce recently released a study showing environmental groups successfully sued the federal government in 2011 and forced them to schedule more than 720 plants and animals for placement on the endangered species list. “This mega-listing case that people are talking about . . . those are schedules. They make no substantive decisions,” Patrick Parenteau, a law professor at Vermont Law School and a litigator of several sue-and-
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