Endangered Species Act Amendments of 1978
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| Long title | An Act To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to establish an Endangered Species Interagency Committee to review certain actions to determine whether exemptions from certain requirements of that Act should be granted for such actions. |
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| Acronyms (colloquial) | ESA, God Squad |
| Enacted by | the 95th United States Congress |
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| Public law | 95–632 |
| Statutes at Large | 92 Stat. 3751 |
| Codification | |
| Titles amended | 16 U.S.C.: Conservation |
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The Endangered Species Act (ESA) was first passed in 1973 and forms the basis of biodiversity and endangered species protection in the United States. The original purpose of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 was to prevent species endangerment and extinction due to the human impact on natural ecosystems. The three most powerful sections of the ESA are Sections 4,7 and 9. Section 4 allows the Secretaries of Interior and Commerce to list species as threatened or endangered based on best available data. Section 7 requires federal agencies to consult with Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) or National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) before taking any action that may threaten a listed species. Section 9 forbids the taking of an endangered species. The first amendment to the ESA was passed by the 95th United States Congress in 1978 to "introduce some flexibility into the Endangered Species Act."
The snail darter case was important for the ESA because it made Congress realize how powerful the ESA really was. In 1966, the Tennessee Valley Authority began construction on the Tellico Dam on the Little Tennessee River. For years, environmentalists tried to shut down the project, but their actions were unsuccessful until the discovery of the snail darter, a small fish that feeds off aquatic snails. The snail darter was listed as an endangered species in 1975 and part of the Little Tennessee River was designated as critical habitat. The completion of the Tellico Dam threatened the survival of the snail darter, which was thought to be native only to the Little Tennessee River. In 1976, battle in the courts between the Tennessee Valley Authority and environmentalists began over the fate of the snail darter. Over the next three years, the decision was appealed all the way to the Supreme Court. In Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of protecting the species "whatever the cost". The Endangered Species Act was clear in stating that no federal project should be exempt from the provisions of Section 7.
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