HONOLULU (KHON2) — The God Squad is a special committee that has the power to decide whether to allow federal projects to move forward even if they might cause the extinction of an endangered or indigenous species.

The Endangered Species Committee, colloquially known as the ‘God Squad’ was created by Congress in 1978 as amendments to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973.

The Associated Press reported that the President of the United States intends to utilize the God Squad to initiate deforestation of national protected lands. So, KHON2.com did a bit of digging and found these 10 facts to know about the God Squad:

1. Members: The committee includes high-level government officials, such as:
   • The Secretary of Agriculture.
   • The Secretary of the Army.
   • The Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality.
   • The Administrator of the EPA.
   • The Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
   • One appointed representative from each affected state.
2. What it does: The Endangered Species Committee’s purpose is to review special requests to allow actions that might harm endangered and/or indigenous species, even if the ESA protects them.
3. How it decides: Decisions require that at least five members of the committee must agree that:
   • There are no other good options to avoid harming the species if there is a significant amount of money to made.
   • The financial benefits of the action are greater than the harm to the species.
   • The action is important financially for the country or region.
   • No one broke the rules by harming the species before approval was given.
4. Helping the species: If an exemption is granted, the group responsible must help the species by protecting its habitat, moving animals or doing other conservation work.
5. Permanent exemptions: Once a species is granted an exemption, the order remains in effect unless one or both of the following occur:
   • A new species is found to be in danger.
   • The Secretary of Defense decides a species needs to have its exemption negated for reasons of national security.
6. Public involvement: The committee has the ability to:
   • Involve the public by asking for people to send in written opinions.
   • The committee can also hold public meetings in which people can share their thoughts, data, cultural information, etc….
7. Meetings and voting: There must be at least five members of the committee present for a meeting to take place and only government-based committee members can vote while the state representatives must all share a single vote. However, these meetings are open to the public.
8. Special powers: The committee has the power to do enact the following:
   • They can ask federal agencies for information that will help with their decision(s).
   • They can require witnesses to testify if needed.
   • The committee members can make rules to help the committee do its job.
9. History: Over the years since its creation, the God Squad has rarely met. As a matter of fact, they have only met a few times in the last 47 years of the committee’s existence.
10. Exemption authority: The committee has the power to allow a project to continue despite harming an endangered species but only under strict conditions.

You can click here to learn more about the EPA. You can click here to read the legislation that created the God Squad. You can click here to read the Associated Press article.

The God Squad has never dealt with an issue that is specifically related to Hawaiʻi. But we do have four national parks/forests:

1. Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park.
2. Haleakalā National Park.
3. Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park.
4. Ka’ūpūlehu National Forest.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established during Richard Nixon’s presidency in 1970.

Following this in 1973, Congress created the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

It was believed that our ecosystems provide “esthetic, ecological, educational, recreational and scientific value to our nation and its people.”

This act was created to protect North American indigenous plants and animals that were/are at risk of extinction due to deforestation and other destructive environmental endeavors.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who oversee land and freshwater animals, and the National Marine Fisheries Service, who oversee sea animals like Hawaiʻi’s monk seals and honu (turtles), work to fulfill the mission of the ESA.