WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) released the following statement after joining ten of his colleagues in contacting Dan Ashe, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), to raise serious concerns and request an extension of the comment period for proposed revisions to the Service Mitigation Policy:
Today, U.S. Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) released the following statement after joining ten of his colleagues in contacting Dan Ashe, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), to raise serious concerns and request an extension of the comment period for proposed revisions to the Service Mitigation Policy:
“During the Obama Administration’s last few months, it’s clear that the president will attempt to force through as many ‘legacy items’ as possible without regard for the consequences of his actions. Last November, Obama quietly released a job-killing mitigation memo by executive fiat that aims to significantly alter the permitting process and undermine important projects throughout the country. The Fish and Wildlife Service was the first agency to take the bait and release a flawed proposal that will cause significant harm to local communities and job creators. The agency’s proposed revisions to its mitigation policy will create significant regulatory confusion, stifle job creation and limit economic growth. The Service should drop these proposed revisions and Congress should utilize the power of the purse to defund the unconstitutional ‘Presidential Memorandum’ on mitigation.”
Background:
The full text of the letter to Director Dan Ashe can be found HERE.
The “Presidential Memorandum” on mitigation seeks to provide new instructions and guidance for all federal agencies within the Executive Branch. The Fish and Wildlife Service proposed changes to the agency’s mitigation policy on March 7, 2016 as a result of this memo and is currently accepting comments through June 13, 2016.
(Courtesy of the House Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations): Last November 3, 2015 President Obama issued another significant Memorandum to the Departments of Agriculture, Defense and Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) requiring sweeping changes to their policies regarding mitigation of natural resource impacts from approved projects and activities. Specifically, the new policy requires agencies considering permitting of projects to incorporate a standard of ensuring a “net benefit” or at minimum “no net loss” of important, scarce, or sensitive natural resources before a permit can be issued.
The Memorandum mandates federal agencies to design policies to require more compensatory mitigation, including advance compensation prior to project approval and mitigation banking methods facilitated by environmental groups and other non-governmental entities that participate in the banking business.
The Memorandum appears to create sweeping new statutory authority through unilateral executive action, and represents a substantial re-write of public land use and water policy by the Obama Administration. The new “net benefit” standard exceeds statutory standards set in law by Congress, and represents a substantial raising of the threshold that will likely result in the rejection of a host of economic and energy-related projects that would otherwise have been approved under the law, and potentially increase the cost and regulatory burden for those projects that are already permitted.
