Statement of Administration Policy: S. 675 - Endangered Species Act Reauthorization

(Senate)
(Senator Mitchell (D) Maine and 14 others)

The Administration supports reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act, and has submitted a proposal to accomplish this. Because of numerous objectionable features, however, the Administration must oppose enactment of S. 675 because it would:

—    Create in Section 5 a "cooperative endangered species conservation fund," into which considerable sums from the Treasury would be deposited annually (beginning with about $16 million in 1989) to be available without appropriation for State endangered species conservation programs. Unless Section 5 is deleted, the President's senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill;

—    Authorize appropriations that substantially exceed the levels contemplated under the Bipartisan Budget Agreement;

—    Expand in Section 7(c) the earmarking of receipts from civil and criminal penalties for violations of the Act, to be used for implementation of endangered species recovery plans; and

—    Require Interior and Commerce to develop and implement recovery plans for species listed as endangered or threatened, explicitly "without regard to taxonomic classification" of the species involved, which would unduly restrict the Departments' ability to allocate resources to the highest priorities.

The earmarking and permanent appropriation features of Sections 5 and 7(c) of S. 675 are inconsistent with sound budgetary principles, removing the funded programs from normal competition for scarce Federal resources and disconnecting the level of funding from the relative need for such funds. Moreover, the Administration has proposed termination of the State grants program, which would be nearly quadrupled under Section 5 of S. 675 (from $4.3 million in 1988 to about $16 million next year), because it has accomplished its primary objective of promoting State involvement in the conservation of endangered species. Many States have initiated their own funding mechanisms for these programs. The Administration expects that no essential recovery program would be terminated from the loss of State grant funds.