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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T





SPONSOR: Komadina DATE TYPED: 03/06/01 HB
SHORT TITLE: Endangered Species Act of 1973 SB SM 29
ANALYST: Dotson


APPROPRIATION



Appropriation Contained
Estimated Additional Impact
Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY01 FY02 FY01 FY02
None None



(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)



Duplicates/Relates to Appropriation in The General Appropriation Act Relates to HJM 42, HJM 33, SJM 46, SB538 and SB 507



SOURCES OF INFORMATION



Energy, Mineral and Natural Resources Department, Environment Department.



SUMMARY



Synopsis of Bill



Senate Memorial 29 requests that the New Mexico congressional delegation, the president and the appropriate cabinet secretaries consider amending the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to require that credible and sufficient scientific data be available before any federal agency lists, declares habitat or issues a management plan for an endangered species.



The memorial suggests that economic harm has resulted from declaration of critical habitat based on insufficient data. The memorial provides that compensation should be made to individuals that suffer any economic damages due to faulty decisions.



Significant Issues



According to the Department of Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources, the current process requires federal agencies to acquire all data on distribution, habitat requirements, species abundance and impacts to local economies.



According to the Department of Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources, some species have been removed from the list because they were found to be more abundant or less threatened than was believed when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service produced the list. With this amendment, the federal government would be responsible for compensating individuals who suffer economic damage from faulty decisions.



OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES



Problems implementing the intent of this memorial include who is responsible for determining and evaluating the level of credible and sufficient scientific data, what constitutes a faulty decision and how compensation is to be calculated.



PD/njw