ESA Policy News June 3: America COMPETES narrowly passes, Clean Water Rule finalized, Sage grouse protection plan released
Here are some highlights from the latest ESA Policy News by Policy Analyst Terence Houston. Read the full Policy News here. 
RESEARCH: AMERICA COMPETES REAUTHORIZATION NARROWLY PASSES HOUSE
On May 20, the US House of Representatives passed H.R. 1806, the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act, by a vote of 217-205. No Democrats supported the bill and 23 Republicans broke with party leaders in voting against it.
Sponsored by House Science, Space and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX), the bill authorizes small increases for the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Standards and Technology, and the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science. Within the aforementioned federal agencies, it cuts funding for biological and environmental research at DOE as well as geoscience and social science research at NSF. A total of 12 amendments were voted on.
The Ecological Society of America joined with other scientific societies in sending correspondence to Congress opposing the bill. ESA members relayed concerns to congressional offices in person during the 2015 Biological and Ecological Sciences Coalition congressional visits last month. The Society co-organizes the congressional visits day with the American Institute of Biological Sciences.
While a comprehensive Senate bill has yet to be introduced, early efforts suggest Senate legislation will be comparatively more bipartisan. A Senate bill introduced May 20 to reauthorize funding for DOE research would increase the agency’s Office of Science funding from $5.3 billion in FY 2016 to $6.2 billion in FY 2020 and does not include cuts to environmental research as H.R. 1806 does. The bill (S. 1398) was introduced by Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Chris Coons (D-DE).
For additional information on the America COMPETES Reauthorization, see the May 20 edition of ESA Policy News.
WATER: OBAMA ADMINISTRATION FINALIZES CLEAN WATER RULE
On May 27, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and US Army Corps of Engineers finalized the Clean Water Rule, clarifying jurisdiction over streams and wetlands of the United States.
Supreme Court rulings over the past decade, including Solid Waste Agency of North Cook County (SWANCC) v. United States Army Corps of Engineers (2001) and Rapanos v. United States (2006) called into question what “navigable waters” as defined under the Clean Water Act can be regulated by the federal government. The new rule clarifies that streams and wetlands that can carry pollution into larger waterways also fall under jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act.
The rule includes exclusions for groundwater, artificial lakes and ponds, puddles and water-filled depressions from construction and grass swales. The rule will only apply to ditches that function like streams and can carry pollution downstream. Administration officials emphasize that the rule only protects waters that have been historically covered by the Clean Water Act.
Click here for a one-page fact sheet on the rule.
Click here for additional information on the rule.
INTERIOR: SAGE GROUSE PROTECTION PLAN FINALIZED
On May 28, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the US Forest Service released their finalized plan to protect the greater sage grouse.
The comprehensive plan includes 14 environmental impact statements and will cover ten states: California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. Over half of existing sage grouse habitat is on federal land.
The plan will seek to 1) minimize disturbance to avoid fragmentation of sage grouse habitat 2) improve conditions of existing sagebrush habitat and 3) reduce the threat of wildfires to grouse habitats.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to make a final determination over whether the sage grouse warrants Endangered Species Act protection this September. It is BLM’s hope that the plans will negate the need to list the animal under the protection of the Endangered Species Act, a move which would lead to tighter federal restrictions on lands occupied by the sage grouse. Nonetheless, key leaders in Congress claim the plan is a case of federal regulatory overreach.
While the sage grouse plan does include limits on energy development, Department of Interior Secretary Sally Jewell stated that 90 percent of sage grouse habitat will remain available for oil and gas development. The plan has the support of Gov. Matt Mead (R-WY), who appeared with Jewell during the announcement of the plan. Wyoming has the largest sage grouse population in the United States.
Click here for additional information on the sage grouse conservation plan.
Click here to view the House Natural Resources Committee sage grouse hearing.
OCEANS: EPA, COAST GUARD ISSUE ORDER FOR CALIFORNIA SPILL CLEANU
On May 29, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Coast Guard issued a joint Clean Water Act order, setting deadlines for pipeline operators to clean up a crude oil spill in the vicinity of Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara, CA.
The May 19 pipeline breach caused roughly 105, 000 gallons of crude oil to spill into Refugio State Beach. About 21,000 gallons from that amount made its way into the Pacific Ocean. The cause of the pipeline failure is being investigated by EPA and the US Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
The order requires Plains All American Pipeline, the company responsible for the oil spill, to submit a work plan to EPA and the Coast Guard by June 6 for clean-up and environmental sampling.
Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Edward Markey (D-MA) have written Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration seeking details on the pipeline rupture and Plains Pipeline’s response efforts. To view the Senators’ letter, click here.
Click here for additional information on the oil spill and response efforts.