Obama Administration Flips Bush Endangered Species Ruling
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obama administration flips bush endangered species rule
Obama Administration <m> Flips </m> Bush Endangered Species Ruling
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Obama Administration <m> Flips </m> Bush Endangered Species Ruling
04 / 28 / 09 07 : 35 PM ET
Federal agencies again will have to consult with government wildlife experts before taking actions that could have an impact on threatened or endangered species .
The Obama administration said Tuesday it was overturning a rule change made in the final weeks of the Bush presidency .
Officials at the Interior and Commerce departments said they have reimposed the consultation requirement that assured the government's top biologists involved in species protection will have a say in federal action that could harm plants , animals and fish that are at risk of extinction .
Such consultation had been required for more than two decades until the Bush administration made it optional in rules issued last December , just weeks before the change in administrations .
Environmentalists argued that the change severely reduced the protection afforded under the federal Endangered Species Act .
"By rolling back this eleventh - hour regulation , we are ensuring that threatened and endangered species continue to receive the full protection of the law" and that top science will be the foundation of the decision making , said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar .
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke added : "Our decision affirms the administration's commitment to using sound science to promote conservation and protect the environment . "
Agencies in the two department's share responsibility for managing and enforcing the Endangered Species Act and employ the government's top scientists in species protection .
In March , President Barack Obama issued an executive order putting the Bush rule change on hold .
Congress followed by giving specific authorization for the Interior and Commerce departments to revoke the action , avoiding a long and complicated regulatory process .
Environmentalists widely praised Tuesday's action , but some expressed dismay that Salazar didn't also rescind a rule that limits the protection to the polar bear , which last year was declared as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act because of disappearing Arctic sea ice as a result of climate change .
The Bush administration issued a rule that prohibits an agency from taking into account indirect adverse impacts on the polar bear from activities outside of the Arctic region : For example carbon dioxide emissions that are linked to global warming and , therefore , the loss of Arctic sea ice .
Congress authorized that rule to be revoked as well , but the Interior Department said no decision had yet been made on the matter .
"From our perspective the job is half done , " said Noah Greenwald of the Center for Biological Diversity , an advocacy group .
"The polar bear's Arctic sea ice habitat is melting away .
If the ( Bush ) special rule is not struck down the polar bear is likely to be the first large mammal to go extinct due to global warming in the United States . "
The end of the long - standing requirement _ dating back to 1986 _ of interagency consultation with the Interior and Commerce agencies on endangered species protection produced a firestorm in both Congress and within the environmental and conservation communities .
For years , agencies involved in thousands of federal activities _ from issuing clean air rules to approving highway or dam construction _ have had to consult not only their own experts but also biologists at the U . S . Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to ensure the activities did not harm plants , animals or fish that are protected by the Endangered Species Act .
Developers and business groups argued that the consultation caused unneeded delays and increased the cost of projects .
The Bush administration made the independent consultation optional , arguing that it was a minor shift in policy .
One impetus for the rule change was concern by the Bush administration that the Endangered Species Act might be used as a back door to regulate greenhouse gases as a way to combat climate change .
The Interior Department earlier had declared the polar bear a threatened species because of the loss of Arctic sea ice , a change attributed to global warming .
Salazar and Lock said the two departments will jointly decide if any changes are needed to improve the interagency consultation procedures .
The Fish and Wildlife Service , which is part of the Interior Department , has jurisdiction over plants and animals , while NOAA , part of the Commerce Department , deals with fish species that are at risk of extinction .