Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and Secretary of the Interior Ken
Salazar yesterday announced that the two departments are revoking an
eleventh-hour Bush administration rule that undermined Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections.
Their decision requires federal agencies to once again consult with
federal wildlife experts at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration–the two agencies that
administer the ESA–before taking any action that may affect threatened
or endangered species.
The Bush rule change was intended to keep global climate change and the
loss of wildlife habitat from being used under the ESA as a reason to
curtail industry activities, such as oil and gas drilling in Alaska.
The rule was instituted by the Bush Administration following the highly contentious listing
of polar bears under the ESA. A decision on a separate special Bush
administration rule limiting federal polar bear protections is due by
May 10, according to Bruce Woods, spokesman for the Fish and Wildlife
Service in Alaska.
"By rolling back this 11th hour regulation, we are ensuring that
threatened and endangered species continue to receive the full
protection of the law," Salazar said. "Because science must serve as
the foundation for decisions we make, federal agencies proposing to
take actions that might affect threatened and endangered species will
once again have to consult with biologists at the two departments."
"For decades, the Endangered Species Act has protected threatened
species and their habitats," said Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. "Our
decision affirms the Administration’s commitment to using sound science
to promote conservation and protect the environment."
In March, President Obama directed the Secretaries to review the
previous Administration’s Section 7 regulation of the ESA–which
governs interagency consultation–and Congress, in the 2009 Omnibus
Appropriations Act, specifically authorized the Secretaries to revoke
the regulation.
Locke and Salazar said the two departments will conduct a joint review
of the 1986 consultation regulations to determine if any improvements
should be proposed.
The Endangered Species Act was signed into law in 1973 to protect
imperiled species from extinction, as well as conserve the ecosystems
and habitats necessary for their survival.
Earlier this week the Obama Administration said it also wants to overturn the Bush administration’s rule change concerning mountaintop removal coal mining operations.
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