Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 1467 - Endangered Species Act Reauthorization

(House Rules)
(Rep. Studds (D) Massachusetts and 22 others)

The administration would support enactment of H.R. 1467 if it were amended as noted below.

The administration recommends that the appropriation authorizations included in H.R. 1467, which are more than twice the President's budget request of $27,967,000 for 1988, be reduced to conform with the administration's recommended level. In addition, the administration recommends deletion of section 5(c) of H.R. 1467, which would expand the earmarking of receipts from civil and criminal penalties for violations of the Act, to be used for implementation of recovery plans. Such earmarking is inconsistent with sound budgetary principles, removing the funded program from normal competition for scarce Federal resources and disconnecting the level of funding from the relative need for such funds.

Moreover, the administration opposes any amendment to H.R. 1467 that would delay implementation in offshore waters of the sea turtle conservation regulations issued by the Department of Commerce last June. Over 11,000 sea turtles drown in shrimp trawls annually. The regulations designed to prevent such drownings are based on the best information available, were published after extensive public hearings, and should be implemented without delay.