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Minutes for HB2669 - Committee on Agriculture

Short Title

Requiring the secretary of wildlife, parks and tourism to establish state threatened and endangered species lists that are based on the federal threatened and endangered species lists.

Minutes Content for Tue, Feb 18, 2020

The Chair opened the Hearing on HB2669 at 4:34pm.

Kyle Hamilton, Assistant Revisor, Office of The Revisor of Statutes, provided an overview of HB2669 and the statutes that it affects. (Attachment 9) There is a Fiscal Note for HB2669.

Due to a delay of the Proponent being available, the Chair asked the Opponents to testify first.

OPPONENTS

Brad Loveless, Secretary, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT), appeared before the Committee in opposition of HB2669.  (Attachment 10)    The proposed amendments to the Kansas Non-game and Endangered Species Conservation Act (KNESCA) remove the local and state species petitioning process, ultimately requiring petitioners to petition the federal government for species to be listed at the federal level. This also removes the ability for the emergency petition process through which the KDWPT Secretary could consider immediate threats to wildlife species and provide adequate protections to keep species from becoming extirpated or extinct - an important tool for the conservation of species with limited ranges/populations in the event of catastrophic circumstances (e.g. man-made or natural disaster).  If the proposed amendments are enacted, species petitions would all occur first at the federal level, not allowing for immediate action to avoid the potential loss of the species from the state.

The Department contends this bill is unnecessary and the Department is hardly heavy handed in enforcing the provisions of the KNESCA. The concepts of avoidance, minimization and, in a last resort, mitigation have served the Department and all Kansans well. In the 38 years of the program, the Department statewide reviewed 29,038 publicly funded or publicly permitted projects. Of those, 1,116 required an action permit (3.84%), and of those, 82 required some sort of compensatory mitigation (0.28%). The numbers speak for themselves and clearly show that this process does not impose a large regulatory footprint.

Mr Loveless stood for questions from the Committee.

Ron Klataske, Executive Director, Audubon of KS, appeared before the Committee in opposition of HB2669.  (Attachment 11)    We support our state wildlife agency’s ability to maintain authority to provide effective wildlife management based on sound biological principles. KDWPT's mission is "To conserve and enhance Kansas' natural heritage, its wildlife and its habitats to ensure future generations the benefits of the state's diverse living resources." In 1975 the Kansas Legislature enacted the Kansas Non-game and Endangered Species Conservation Act and it has proven to be an important part of the state's effort to try to provide balanced stewardship of our wildlife heritage. There are no significant flaws in the Act. If anything, the only flaw has been that the agency does not have sufficient available funds to support more proactive conservation initiatives for imperiled species. 

If enacted as introduced, HB2669 would eliminate the locally and state-driven petition process for listing state threatened or endangered species, and would require petitions be submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the down listing or inclusion of a species on the Kansas list. HB2669 would also eliminate the emergency petition process that currently allows the secretary of KDWPT to quickly provide protections for species under immediate threat of extirpation or extinction in Kansas. Kansas legislation should not result in the state's ceding ability to care for its environment to the federal government.

Mr Klaraske stood for questions from the Committee.

Zack Pistora, Kansas Sierra Club, appeared before the Committee in opposition of HB2669.  (Attachment 12)     If state protections for threatened and endangered species are eliminated, endangered species groups will immediately petition the federal government to put the species on the federal list, and without protections at the state level, there is a strong chance that the federal government will have to list the species. If so, federal authorities will undoubtedly cause Kansans more trouble with a slower, less-locally knowledgeable protection effort with more complex and inconvenient permitting. Ultimately, this situation would be inevitably worse for the species too.

Mr Pistora stood for questions from the Committee.

Written only testimony in opposition of HB2669 was received from:

PROPONENT

Kyle Hoffman, Representative 116th District, Kansas House of Representatives, appeared before the Committee in support of HB2669.  (Attachment 17)     Although the Act is important, it must be balanced with humanity and our need to progress, which has always been the struggle.  I introduced HB2669 because I felt that somewhere along the way, the balance has gotten out of balance.   Currently, it is my understanding, that Kansas has 46 animals on the Threatened and Endangered list, while the Federal list only contains 14.  In some cases, Kansas has animals listed as endangered, while the Feds only list them as threatened.  This impacts individuals, companies, cities, counties, and the State of Kansas.  These impacts can be anywhere from increased fees, project delays, all the way to not even allowing a project to go forward. 

My intention of HB2669 is to bring our Kansas list in line with the Federal list. I do not see a reason to cause our Kansas citizens more expense, time, and frustration, by having a more extensive list than the Federal Government.  HB2669 retains most of the power and procedures currently in law, it only requires that in order for a species to be listed in Kansas it must also be on the Federal list.

There were no Neutrals of HB2669.

The Chair closed the Hearing on HB2669 at 5:05pm.