A legislator then anonymously placed a hold on the bill, stalling a vote until Congress resumed in January. The current process by which imperiled species are listed has come under fire by environmentalists in recent years.
Conservationists say the process is too slow and lacks protection for candidate species.
S. 1180 would cause further delays in the listing process by requiring hearings on proposed listings in up to five states and mandating a peer review of listing decisions even in uncontroversial cases. While almost 4000 species await listing, many species are becoming extinct before preventative measures can be taken. The High Rock Spring tui chub, Marianas euploea butterfly, and three species of Hawaiian pomace flies joined a lengthening list of vanished species. HCPs allow for the destruction of a listed species' critical habitat in one location in exchange for saving it in another. Support from the Clinton administration, which was strong at the Kempthorne bill's introduction, is weakening as controversy swells around the measure.