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Pennsylvania could lose $27 million over bills to amend endangered species laws GOP measures would cost two state agencies more than 20% of their budgets, the U.S. Interior Department warns. August 28, 2013 HARRISBURG — Republican-backed bills to give the Legislature more control over the protection of endangered and threatened wildlife could cost the state more than $27 million annually, according to the federal government. If the bills become law, Pennsylvania could lose eligibility in two of the nation's oldest grant programs geared toward preserving, restoring and protecting wildlife and waterways, according to an Aug. 9 letter the state Game Commission got from the U.S. Interior Department's Fish and Wildlife Service. "I have significant concerns with this bill and the risk it presents to the Game Commission relative to loss of federal funding," wrote John F. Organ, chief of the division of Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration. But Rep. Jeff Pyle, R-Armstrong, the prime sponsor of the House bill, said the legislation does not strip the Game or Fish and Boat commissions of their authority. Rather, he said, the bill, which was the subject of a public hearing Monday, is meant to check the commissions' authority. Pyle said they are the only state agencies that do not have their policy decisions vetted through the Independent Regulatory Review Commission, which sets up public forums for new government regulations prior to final approval by lawmakers. The bill is needed, Pyle said, because the Game Commission made his local school district spend extra money to preserve Indiana bats, which are endangered, even though the bats were not on the land where a new school was being built. "Those guys are the judge, jury and executioner," he said. The threat of losing federal money is "hollow," Pyle added. House Republican Caucus lawyers, Pyle said, have assured him that the state would not lose federal money because other state agencies, such as the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) also have jurisdiction over environmental protection. "We got a bunch of safety checks built into this thing," said Pyle. Drew Crompton, chief of staff to Sen. Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson, who has sponsored a similar bill in that chamber, said the federal government's concerns can "be easily addressed" in the legislative process. But Rep. Steve McCarter, D-Montgomery, a critic of the bills, said the threat of lost federal revenue should be taken seriously. The bills are meant to appease industry at the expense of the environment, he said, because they would create a prolonged, 11-step process to having species listed or delisted as threatened and endangered through the Independent Regulatory Process. "The chance of any species getting through the process would be impossible," McCarter said. In addition to putting the commissions under the scrutiny of the regulatory review process, the bills call for the commissions, plus the state Agricultural Department and DCNR, to create a centralized database to replace the decades-old computerized system of endangered species and fauna. The commissions argue that the database would jeopardize wildlife because it would pinpoint their locations. The bills also would require the agencies to remove species from the endangered or threatened lists within two years if the agencies cannot produce "acceptable data" that the species' numbers remain weak. The agencies also could not define new endangered or threatened species if their numbers are acceptable outside of Pennsylvania, or if they are not already covered under the federal Endangered Species Act. Those changes could make the state ineligible for federal funds, says Organ's letter to Game Commission Executive Director Carl Roe. According to the letter, Game Commission could lose $19 million — or 24 percent of its 2012-13 budget — because it may not be eligible for the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Program. The program dates to 1937 and is used to "restore, conserve, manage and enhance wild birds and mammals" while making their habitats accessible for hunting, shooting and other recreation. The Fish and Boat Commission could lose $8.3 million — 29 percent of its 2012-13 budget — from the federal Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Program. That program, started in 1950 and modeled after Pittman-Robertson, seeks to make fishing and boating more accessible to the public. To be eligible for both grants, state have to have fish and wildlife agencies that have sole discretion over how revenue for fishing and hunting licenses are used. The agencies also have to have the authority to ensure "the conservation of fish and wildlife."