Congress Widens Scope of Military Assault on Environmental Protections

WASHINGTON – The U.S. House of Representatives Resources Committee today approved H.R. 1835, which goes far beyond even the measures requested by the Department of Defense in exempting all federal agencies from central provisions of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and undermining the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Defenders of Wildlife President Rodger Schlickeisen today called these moves "a cynical bid to put the Pentagon and all federal agencies above the law" and noted that no objective analysis had turned up a single case where existing environmental or wildlife laws had harmed national security or military readiness.

"The Pentagon brass and their backers in Congress are concentrating their rhetorical fire on a handful of endangered animals to win exemptions from environmental laws, and they’re proposing that all federal agencies no longer need to safeguard the places endangered wildlife live," Schlickeisen said.

Going far beyond the Pentagon’s original request, the bill would amend the ESA to require the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service to designate critical habitat for endangered species only if it were deemed "necessary," effectively giving the Bush Administration broad discretion to eliminate critical habitat altogether. The bill goes even further on military lands, explicitly eliminating designation of critical habitat on all lands "owned or controlled" by the military, where some of the best habitat remains for more than 300 species on the brink of extinction.

"It’s a free pass for federal agencies to drill, log, mine, dam, or drain pretty much anytime, anywhere, and say it’s just too darn inconvenient to worry about habitat for endangered wildlife while they’re doing it," Schlickeisen said. "They’re laying down a bogus smokescreen about national security to launch a sneak attack on the Endangered Species Act and other laws that protect wildlife and people."

The bill also undermines another landmark wildlife protection statute, the Marine Mammal Protection Act. H.R. 1835 tries to give the Pentagon a blank check for exemptions to bypass many of its requirements to protect whales, dolphins, sea otters and other marine mammals and to renew the exemptions indefinitely. The bill also goes far beyond what DOD requested and amends the MMPA to allow more actions by any party - not just the military - that could harm or injure marine mammals without oversight by federal wildlife agencies, public comment, monitoring or mitigation.

Yet another damaging provision was added to the bill by Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ). Renzi’s amendment could provide the Pentagon a unique and nationwide exemption from analysis and mitigation of indirect effects of its actions on endangered species that would threaten ecological treasures, such as the San Pedro River – identified as a "Globally Important Bird Area" by the American Bird Conservancy – located near Fort Huachuca in Arizona.

Schlickeisen noted that the military already can get case-by-case exemptions from these laws in the interests of national security. For the most part, the military hasn't even bothered to ask the president for these exemptions. He also pointed to a June 2002 report by the General Accounting Office, which could not find a single case where environmental protections had harmed military readiness, and concluded that the exemptions already in place are sufficient.

In fact, close examination of the "cases" cited by Pentagon spokespersons involved in this campaign show a pattern of exaggeration, intentional mis-statement, and selective omission to make the military’s case for ignoring endangered species protection. For example, the Pentagon’s frequent claims that all 17 miles of coastline at Camp Pendleton in California are closed to amphibious landing training due to endangered species restrictions are simply false. In fact, the ESA limits only large-unit amphibious landings on less than three miles of coast, and only during the nesting seasons of the endangered Western snowy plover and California least tern. The Pentagon never mentions the main limits on its operations at Camp Pendleton, which include Interstate 5, and active railroad line, and the San Onofre nuclear plant.

Defenders of Wildlife is a leading nonprofit conservation organization recognized as one of the nation's most progressive advocates for wildlife and its habitat. With more than 430,000 members and supporters, Defenders of Wildlife is an effective leader on environmental issues. For timely information on environmental issues, visit www.defenders.org and subscribe to DENLines, a free e-mail alert newsletter.

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