e360 digest

12 Aug 2008: Bush Administration Seeks
To Ease Rules on Endangered Species

The U.S. Department of the Interior has proposed new regulations that would permit federal agencies to proceed with projects that might threaten endangered species without conducting a scientific review. Under current law, any federal agency seeking to approve a dam, highway construction, or other project must first ask federal biologists to conduct an independent scientific assessment of the project’s impact. Critics contend that the Bush administration, which has chafed under restrictions of the Endangered Species Act, is attempting to circumvent the law by approving regulatory changes allowing agencies to proceed with projects at their own discretion. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne described the proposed rule as a “narrow regulatory change,” but one conservation group likened it to “asking the fox to guard the chicken coop.” The Interior Department said the new rule also would not permit consideration of a project’s impact on climate change to play a role in endangered species decisions.

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