09/29/2005
CONTACT: Michael J. Donohue, (202) 554-9000
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National Federation of Independent Business, the nation’s largest small-business advocacy group, today announced it will “key vote” legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives to reauthorize and reform the Endangered Species Act. The bipartisan bill, H.R. 3824, the Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act of 2005 (TESRA), is expected to come to the House floor later this week.
NFIB members have long supported common sense reforms that balance the desire to protect endangered species and preserve and promote property rights of America’s landowners. Because 90 percent of endangered species in the U.S. have habitat on private land, it is imperative that Congress takes action to encourage the cooperation of landowners.
NFIB members support environmental stewardship practices that provide landowners with proper and appropriate compensation when federal actions reduce the value of their property. Likewise, they believe that changes to the ESA should place greater emphasis on the economic consequences of species protection.
The Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act will ensure that the private property rights of small-business owners are respected and considered throughout the species recovery process. NFIB strongly endorses H.R. 3824 and efforts to reduce regulatory burdens on small-business owners
A summary of TESRA is included below:
H.R. 3824: the Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act of 2005 updates and improves the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by recognizing that landowners are partners in the government’s effort to recover species. TESRA insures that private property owners have access to remedies that allow them to assist with recovery activities on their land without enduring the financial hardships placed on small-business owners in the past. Finally, H.R. 3824 aims to improve the quality of science used to make policy decisions--a practice that has long been supported by Main Street.
The National Federation of Independent Business is the nation’s largest small-business advocacy group. A nonprofit, nonpartisan organization founded in 1943, NFIB represents the consensus views of its 600,000 members in Washington, D.C., and all 50 state capitals.
