Its supporters have proudly labeled it the "pit bull of environmental laws." In the words of a staff member for the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries it is "cold blooded, cut and dried." The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is, in fact, the most severe, least flexible of all environmental laws. As a result, the ESA has supplanted other statutes as the favorite weapon for mounting administrative and judicial attacks on legitimate economic enterprise.

This paper provides an overview of the law followed by a description of various difficulties and an update on the Endangered Species Protection Program being developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for pesticide registration. The paper closes with a summary of pending legislation to amend the ESA.