mr. chairman , reforming the endangered species act is long overdue . 
today the house has an opportunity to enact significant improvements to esa that restore balance and protections to species as well as landowners . 
one of the most effective ways to protect species habitat is through development of habitat conservation plans . 
the bill improves and encourages habitat conservation plans by codifying the no-surprise policy and eliminating unnecessary red tape that required multiple consultations regarding already approved actions . 
these important provisions will free up limited government and landowner resources and ultimately improve conservation of species habitat by encouraging more habitat conservation plans . 
my district in california is home to a large comprehensive habitat conservation plan both in riverside and orange counties . 
in fact , the west riverside county multi-species conservation plan is the largest in the nation covering over 1 million acres of land . 
the plan cost tens of millions of dollars to develop , years to put into effect , and will cost upward of $ 1 billion to implement . 
once fully implemented , 500 , 000 acres in western riverside county will be set aside for species habitat . 
it is our responsibility to ensure when landowners and local authorities undertake an extensive planning like that back in my district , the federal government lives up to its part of the agreement . 
this bill does just that and removes unnecessary regulatory burdens that do nothing to benefit the species . 
i just discovered in the miller-boehlert substitute that the habitat conservation plans that we put a lot of time in to work out in southern california may be put at risk . 
that would be very , very difficult for areas that spent large amounts of money to put this into effect , not to mention time . 
i want to make sure that we defeat the substitute , and i thank the gentleman from california ( mr. pombo ) xz4003220 for working with me to include language that improves habitat conservation plans . 
