The House plans to take up Republican legislation this week to overhaul the bedrock environmental law meant to protect imperiled animals and plants from extinction.
The “ESA Amendments Act,” H.R. 1897, from Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), would amend the more than 50-year-old Endangered Species Act. It’s been a GOP priority for years.
The legislation includes requiring economic impact analyses to accompany listing decisions, capping attorneys’ fees awarded in endangered species lawsuits and clipping protections for species as they begin to recover.
After the committee advanced the bill at a markup last December, Westerman said the Endangered Species Act has been “weaponized” and that the changes would boost the law’s intent of providing species recovery. He has pointed out that few species leave the ESA list after being added to it.
