The House narrowly voted Thursday to overturn the federal listing of the longfin smelt as an endangered species, as GOP lawmakers argued that protecting the small fish was jeopardizing critical water supplies for agriculture in the Central Valley.
The House approved, 216-195, a Congressional Review Act resolution that would nullify the Fish and Wildlife Service listing if the measure is also approved by the Senate and signed by President Donald Trump. Three Democrats supported the measure, including Central Valley Reps. Jim Costa and Adam Gray.
With the support of 35 Democrats, the House also voted, 246-164, to nullify the Biden administration’s granting of a federal waiver for a California Air Resources Board rule that would ban the sale of new gas-powered cars and pickups by 2035.
However, that CRA resolution has a more uncertain future. The Government Accountability Office ruled that the CRA process couldn’t be used to overturn the waivers. The Senate parliamentarian affirmed that opinion. Senate Republicans would have to decide to break precedent and overrule the parliamentarian.
The longfin smelt gained federal endangered species status last July. This spring the protections have upended California’s water deliveries to farms and cities, as the state cuts pumping operations in half for two months.
Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., said the Endangered Species Act designation was the “latest weapon” being used by environmentalists “to take water away from farmers, take water away from people.
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“We grow some of the richest crops int he great Central Valley of California, and that will be denied to the whole country, tomatoes, pistachios and almonds that will not come from somewhere else unless we import them.”
Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., argued that the issue was bigger than protecting the fish. Other benefits of restricting water diversions include preserving drinking water supplies.
The issue is “not just about a single fish, it’s about protecting the ecological health of the entire Bay delta, the largest estuary on the west coast of the Americas,” Huffman said.
He said critics of the ESA designation were “turning a small fish into a very large scapegoat pretending that it will somehow provide real support for farmers.”
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., was the lone Republican to oppose the resolution.
The Senate has 60 session days to act on the measure.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statement denouncing the House vote to nullify the clean-car waiver.
“Trump Republicans are hellbent on making California smoggy again. Clean air didn’t used to be political. In fact, we can thank Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon for our decades-old authority to clean our air,” the statement said.
“The only thing that’s changed is that big polluters and the right-wing propaganda machine have succeeded in buying off the Republican Party – and now the House is using a tactic that the Senate’s own parliamentarian has said is lawless.”
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